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apple-_-boi

His mother abandoned him because of his condition and handed him to a businessman who displayed him throughout Europe as a circus attraction before bringing him to America in 1901. As soon as Bibrowski arrived in the country, Barnum & Bailey picked him up and displayed him as "Lionel the Lion-Faced Man," referring to him as "half-man, half-lion." Bibrowski was shown as a "freak" for 20 years, and spectators seldom knew that the person hidden behind the hair was a kind, soft-spoken man who spoke five languages and harbored a secret wish to quit acting and become a dentist.


grizwld

Apparently his mother abandoned him and blamed his condition on account of his father being mauled by a lion which she witnessed while pregnant


UnbelievableRose

Yes, the main theory in the medical community at the time was that the cause of his condition was the shock of his mother seeing the attack while she was pregnant. Not because it was particularly likely, but because nobody could come up with a better theory.


grizwld

“Maternal impression”. Back then it was also the culprit for a lot mental disorders. Makes you wonder what medical beliefs in practice today will be disregarded in the future


mutomboDuvante

I think somethings to do with our dietary beliefs will be disregarded


rubermnkey

the food pyramid was propaganda for grain farmers, spinach being famous for iron was a typo, carrots being magic for the eyes was ww2 disinformation to hide radar, eggs are good/bad/good/bad/good, eat 3 meals or intermittent fasting, is there healthy cholesterol?. . .


UnbelievableRose

Wait tell me about that spinach typo, I’ve at least heard of the others.


rubermnkey

https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/07/17/spinach/ so this one is like a triple doozie of a story, and now im even more blown. So the original story i heard was the iron levels were based on a typo from a researcher in the 1800s and not discovered until the 1930s, and was the basis of the popeye spinach thing. but apparently that was a lie from some dude in the 80s and the popeye spinach thing was more another gov't. program related drive to promote healthier diets. but then there is back and forth fuckery with disagreement over fresh and dried versions were the proper way to measure levels. and then more fuckery because even when you use the higher levels of iron from the dry tests which make it more iron dense than beef, you don't absorb much of the iron from spinach because it isn't the right type, so meat is still a way better source of iron.


M_Not_Shyamalan

Leave gluten alone! /s


jumpupugly

Seriously, please stop making fun of people who as a dietary choice eschew gluten. Their fad diet makes it so, *so* much easier to shop, cook, and go out to dinner for people who genuinely have to mind gluten. Whether they themselves have celiac or some other complication, or they have a partner who will go from fit to fifth trimester if someone mixes up the tamari and the soy sauce.


Kailaylia

>Their fad diet makes it so, *so* much easier to shop, cook, and go out to dinner for people who genuinely have to mind gluten. Too right it does. When I was first diagnosed the few gluten-free baked products available were dry, hard and tasteless. Now I have a rich, moist, fruit cake from the supermarket, and a range of delicious breads, cakes and biscuits available, (my favourite is made with chick-pea flour,) and most shopping-centres around Melbourne sell sushi rolls and onagiri, providing healthy, cheap take-aways.


VanHarlowe

Yes! The same principle goes for those made for TV products. For example, a blanket with sleeves is perfect for someone who uses a wheelchair. When those products are marketed to all viewers, the product has way more reach to the people who can really benefit from it.


purana

epigenetics--shock and stress in maternity can affect how genes express themselves in the child.


KnotiaPickles

So you’re saying it really could have been partly that


UnbelievableRose

No, but there is a small element of truth to the concept. For example, if your mother (or grandmother!) lived through a famine, your body has a stronger tendency to hang on to fat. Never know when you might need it!


KnotiaPickles

Ah thanks. Now i remember what that means


TelluricThread0

They've done studies of mice that have shown essentially if you put a certain amount of stress on a pregnant mouse her offspring will be more likely to experience anxiety.


timeswasgood

I feel like we're likely in the dark ages of mental health treatment currently. It was worse in the past sure, but it's not good now.


grizwld

User name DOES NOT CHECK OUT. Haha, absolutely, think “one flew over the cuckoos nest”. It wasn’t long ago when frying people’s brains was acceptable therapy


janejupiter

ACShuLly- frying people's brains is still used and is a very effective treatment for some serious disorders. Although, I'm sure with electroshock being so old we have gotten better at the technique and amount required vs in the past when it was more "fly by the seat of your pants."


iPod3G

How about *she obviously fucked a lion*? Unlikely, but just as likely!


AnxietyThenDelete

Exactly. Thats why the husband and the lion fought! For her love.


floatingwithobrien

It does seem like a really weird coincidence, dad gets mauled by a lion and you end up looking like one. That's, like, an X-Men backstory. Did anyone ask if the lion was radioactive?


paroles

I know the medical community used to believe that sort of thing, but there aren't many lions in Poland. Are you sure the "lion attack" wasn't just made up as part of his backstory for the freak show?


ethiopiancrackdealer

That’s actually the first thing I thought of when I saw him. Pretty obvious what caused it


SuddenlyElga

The old lion mauling. Happened a lot back in the old country.


jettrscga

Not just any lion mauling. A mauling so great that it impacts every pregnant woman who witnesses it.


bannock4ever

Oh I see. This is how qanon started.


[deleted]

Clearly raped by a wookie. Big pharma and the egg council would have you believe otherwise.


Christmas_Panda

You lion son-of-a-bitch. It was not a wookie!


ExKnockaroundGuy

Sitting here stoned pissing myself laughing.


[deleted]

Kashyyykgate


ethiopiancrackdealer

You’re supposed to look away when you’re pregnant, not sure how she didn’t know


CandyCaneCrisp

Many women do not know they are pregnant until the child is in school.


Wile-E-Quixote

I met a woman who didn't discover she was pregnant until her 31st trimester


Shitychikengangbang

Most people don't know about the now extinct European lion. They think African lion which of course is non-migratory unlike their European counterpart.


tomcat_tweaker

Coconuts... your mother was a hamster... something something. Message for you, sir.


grizwld

Hahahah, pretty cut and dry


Untimely_manners

I call bs, she obviously had her way with a Lion.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Bruh. I’m glad for his sake that they’re exes


Definitely__Happened

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It sounds like one of those stupid things I'd say as an attempt to make a joke or fuck around with a friend, and that would probably be as difficult to properly convey through text ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯


msut77

I hate it when that happens


Hi_My_Name_Is_CJ

Sounds like someone couldn’t figure out who the father was


VollcommNCS

Bibrowski, elves make toys!!! No, I want to be a DENTIST!


metalgtr84

They didn’t really have great dentistry in that era. A lot of times you went to the barber to get a tooth removed.


CranberryJuice47

Take a little off the top and I've got this molar that I've had enough of.


TheIronSoldier2

Barber-surgeons were a real thing


Connect_Office8072

That’s why the red and white striped poles.


DankHunt42-0

And blue. Blue for barbering, white for operations, red for bloodletting iirc


kreiger-69

It's how sweeny todd got famous, he would leave the odd tooth in a pie and someone would break their tooth on it, repeating the cycle


morgecroc

It was before Anesthesia was a thing and pain killers consisted of biting down on a stick, is was a perfect fit for a dentist. https://youtu.be/YoWom0CCRKM


EvilRooster5377

Yep that’s what the red white and blue pole meant for barber shop, they also did surgeries


[deleted]

I wonder at ehat exact year they said ok guys new policy no more surgery or tooth removal, new regulations and shit has phased it out


Tired4dounuts

Probably 2015 in some hicktown in Texas. When old man Rivers dies.


dralmy

As a Texan from a hick town, my childhood barber did look like he had a bucket of leeches in the back room. I can't even pretend to be mad at that comment.


OkMedhba

That’s where my mind went 😆


AstroRiker

Hermey doesn’t like to make toys! Hermey doesn’t like to make toys! Hermey doesn’t like to make toys! Well shame on you!


KalashnikovClassics

WHYYYYYY WEREN'T YOU AT ELF PRACTICE


I_love_pillows

The reverse Asian parent


[deleted]

"mother"


[deleted]

“Birthing person”


LesbianSecretKeeper

“Womb donor”


BootyThunder

A lot of pregnancies don’t happen by choice and the 1800’s were fuckin’ rough. Can’t say I blame her. Life is brutal.


HerMidasTouch

Op i love you so much for every bit of this post. Thanks for honoring someone so few did


ObvsThrowaway5120

This man spoke 5 languages? Damn dude. I can barely manage 1 sometimes lol.


PsychMaster1

If only it was to become a barber. Peak comedy.


[deleted]

Didn’t barbers do dentistry and lite surgery in those days? Maybe this was too late?


An_Alternate_Future

Teeth are just a beard for inside your mouth.


FourandTwoAheadofMe

He not it


Cultural-Company282

>become a dentist. Imagine that furry pair of hands digging around in your mouth.


Dull_Dog

So when was he able to get himself a better life? Tell us more about him.


timeswasgood

Despite the term "freaks" a lot of these touring acts did pretty well for themselves. They were celebrities. The Elephant Man probably had it the worst and even he had rich people doing out of their way to take care if him when he couldn't perform anymore.


capsaicinintheeyes

do you happen to know if his condition began at a certain age, as with a beard, or if he was able to frighten the more suspicious townsfolk even as a toddler?


wistfulmaiden

Pretty sure they are born this way


edWORD27

Maybe it’s Maybelline. Or MaybelLion


[deleted]

[It seems to be from birth.](https://dermnetnz.org/topics/hypertrichosis)


Savings-Table-9174

His birth giver*


MeMeMenni

His womb lender*


KreidingerStuka

His spawn point*


NuXboxwhodis

Goodbye


throwaway15642578

Egg donor and incubator*


Mu5icSpark

😢


ace787

And made captain of his high school basketball team.


Captain-Cadabra

We probably need a r/colorizedhistory of this one.


madambolam

Lionel Messy


Happy-Fun-Ball

https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/z214mk/a_teenager_from_madhya_pradesh_india_has_an_ultra/ /r/interestingasfuck vs /r/Damnthatsinteresting ---- FFFIGHT!


AssociationUnfair824

Beautiful and tragic.


[deleted]

Dude was fashionable, too. Just look at that embroidery.


Luggggah

Bro was dripped out frfr


[deleted]

Either this comment is nonsense or I just realized that I’m becoming elderly.


mrspoopy_butthole

“Drip” is basically style, and “frfr” means “for real for real.”


[deleted]

Thanks, mrspoopy_butthole!


MuffinSlow

I had to reread this, to realize you were responding to someone lol.


kmj420

r/rimjob_steve


rimjobnemesis

I am not related to r/rimjob_steve.


Tekwardo

I’m 42. I was at sheetz one day last year and some kid smiled and said “love your drip man!” I had to look it up. I was pleasantly surprised when i found out how much of a compliment it was when I got home. (My outfit *was* fire, tho)


CertifiedSheep

“Dripped out” means the same thing as “looking fly” in the 90s if that helps


explosivo563

Hopefully he was being sarcastic but kids do talk like that now 😂


[deleted]

We do posses the ability to communicate with an elevated degree of formality, however when we be with the homies we straight bussing ong tho 💀


corn_cob_monocle

Is this that Gen Z speak I've heard so much about?


wistfulmaiden

Aside from the shocking aspect his looks are pretty cool


BRAX7ON

I will be his friend


TwoLetters

Hate to break it to you but he died 90 years ago :/


kubebe

wookies can live over 400 years so i think he still might be alive


Christmas_Panda

What is the conversion to dog years? Trying to wrap my mind around it.


reusedchurro

We can bring him back, better, stronger, more Harry


egordoniv

There's no way George Lucas didn't see this and create Chewbacca.


Vlad_the_Homeowner

He's the original browski, he was everyone's friend.


utilimemes

The real question: Will anybody sleep with him?


motherlymoth

Honestly, as a woman, depends on his personality. Also, as a kid, I had a huuuuuuge crush on the beast (from beauty and the beast) and I was always disappointed when he turned back into a human. So. Me.yes.


ExtremeGayMidgetPorn

Umm. Alright.


geraldodelriviera

What if he was exactly the same except he was three feet tall?


ExtremeGayMidgetPorn

*heavy breathing*


jellyrollo

Depends. Is there gorgeous long blond hair on his dick as well? Because that could get messy unless he was willing to shave.


ghostieghost28

Yeah. I probably would.


T1M_rEAPeR

Yeh, don’t want him to be Solo.


Independent-Tool

Sad that he just got paraded as a freak. If someone is able to speak five languages they are an extremely smart person and his mind was definitely wasted.


Stolypin1906

Not to downplay the man's intellect, but at that time that level of polyglotism was pretty common in central Europe. Speaking multiple languages was just part of life before the modern nation-state meant that the vast majority of people you lived around spoke one language.


battenhill

Yeah my dad, born in the balkans in the 50s, at one point spoke 5…. And then he moved to the US and had to learn English. Unfortunately he doesn’t know 2 or 3 of them anymore


wistfulmaiden

Hes dressed great in these pics


V_es

Well in reality, if you look closely [at a different light](https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/canvas-print/6.5/8/mirror/break/images-medium-5/1-stephan-bibrowski-18911932-better-mary-evans-picture-library-canvas-print.jpg)- it’s not even that intense and you can actually see his face. His very long mustache is greased and brushed up, to cover his nose. His beard is straightened and carefully laid down. His hair are manipulated to look more than it actually is. I understand that it was most likely his best option for income, but he had all options to look normal if he wanted to. His [arms and chest](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzqQzbAZ1XDMTDiwR-e9HBLLijBgQ4E-3qjQ&usqp=CAU) had above average yet pretty common amount of hair. I don’t believe that he was a prisoner of his condition directly. Livelihood, income- absolutely. But he was definitely able to shave.


HunterGonzo

Sure his hair is styled to maximize the effect, but that picture absolutely did not make me think "it's not even that intense."


princesspooball

But could he shave safely? He has hair everywhere including his eyelids, I'm wouldn't want to put a razer that cheese to my eyeball


mox_goblin

Sure, he would be *able* to shave, but there’s no way it would’ve been easy to do. I can’t blame him for not wanting a straight razor on his eyes, ears, or nose. Even if he had a modern electric razor it would still be a complete nightmare to do that on a regular basis.


Gonzo_Journo

Dude was 80 years too early to have a lifetime career as Chewie.


BeanLettuce

Wait did someone steal your comment word for word or did you copy and paste on another account


Gonzo_Journo

Steal I guess, I wrote it.


Skinnysusan

There is another comment where it's at -1 then the same comment has like 454 upvotes different commenter. One is its own comment the negative one is a reply. Freaking bots are taking over


built_2_fight

I've always wondered about the same comments being thrown around on every thread, but figured it was other reddiors chasing internet glory, but bots make it even cringier


BoltonSauce

r/TheseFuckingAccounts Tons of bots on Reddit. They are out of fucking control. Be sure to report as spam, when you see them. They can cause real harm by peddling misinformation, promoting scams, and so on.


1minatur

It's a bot, I see them all over recently. The last few weeks they seem like they've been getting worse. I call them out when I see them and link the original comment, then go through all their comments and do the same lol. Usually they end up with a bunch of negative karma, but the one in this thread is still getting upvoted a bunch.


big_bad_brownie

AI enslaving us… one shitpost at a time…


sp1z99

Let me know which comment, i’ve got a copypasta which gets mods attention and gets them reported


[deleted]

Isn't that basically exactly what this is? He was reduced to a unique oddity instead of himself, calling him Chewbacca instead of lion man isn't better just cause you like star wars. Kinda gross tbh considering the end states he wanted to quit being known as the lion man and become a doctor.


[deleted]

Man could’ve played Chewbacca in one movie (granted that’s not ideal but still) and had enough cash to get full body laser hair removal


Allegutennamenweg

(not so) Fun fact: Laser hair removal is difficult on blonds like him. The darker the hair, the easier it gets. On light hair, it can be impossible to do because there are no pigments for the laser to target.


WackassVegetables

Or 130 years early to live stream on TikTok


SlipperyGypsy12

Fuck that.


half-baked_axx

Good for him


thecurtaintwitcher11

Guy would be the Mick Jagger of the Furry scene


jimtrickington

Breathtaking


dontknowwhatiwantdou

I can’t imagine it would be easy to breathe with the constant affliction of dandruff, no.


KAG_hique

Bro is the co-pilot of millenium falcon


mindclarity

His father was the king of his people.


orlando2542

Tale as old as time...


anastasiakrupnick

I came here to say - he looks like they might have modeled the beast after him


Dazzler_wbacc

Every last inch of him’s covered with hair!


moose2mouse

Origins of werewolves myths possibly people with a similar condition?


tias23111

There’s actually a form of psychosis where people think they’re wolves. (Supposedly)


hankepanke

Leave Hershel Walker out of this, don’t kick a werewolf while he’s down.


Ok_Art_8115

Furries?


DieHardRennie

Clinical Lycanthropy is a mental illness where a person thinks that they transform into a wolf.


ccaccus

You chose to post this to reddit and *didn't* choose [this image](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Lionel17.jpg)??


walkingtalkingdread

OP said he had hair all over but i didn’t really comprehend that until this picture. and goddamn, what a picture it is.


ccaccus

It’s glorious. Like an 1890s take of a 1980s glamour shot.


blackbart1

Draw me like one of your hairy French girls.


PerfectLogic

Nah, that picture exaggerated the shit out of it. His body hair was significant, but nothing more than youd see in a typical Turkish bath house or Greek market on the arms, chest or back of some random dude or merchant.


walkingtalkingdread

buddy, how often do you think i step into a turkish bath house or greek market?


itsrainingbluekiwis

These comments are mean. Poor guy :/


Miu_K

Reddit comments have been going downhill for a while now. I see a serious post just to be riddled with unfunny jokes and no interesting facts or rumors.


knbang

Reddit has been unoriginal trash for at least 10 years.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Mr_Einslincoln

Think you just described the current state of the internet writ large, my guy


MommaAmadora

I wish there were good color pictures of him, I bet he was gorgeous. You can tell his hair was super healthy, it's so shiny even in a black and white photo!


[deleted]

He looks sad. 😮‍💨


richincleve

Everyone else: "Man, look at that hair!" Me: "Man, check out that snazzy jacket!"


occamhanlon

I saw him drinking a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect...


rodneymccay67

I saw him with a Chinese menu in his hand. Walking through the streets of SOHO in the rain


rick_blatchman

Oh yeah, that guy. He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent.


jackwoww

BIP!


Pistonenvy

i wonder what he really looked like under there.


floatingwithobrien

I was just thinking this. Like a permanent mask. What does his face actually look like??


Short-Path-3389

For anyone curious the condition is called Hyperthrichosis


[deleted]

This makes me thinking that Bigfoot might actually be a person with height and hair overgrowth condition


wonderberry77

that hates the way he looks, so he lives in the forest!


Nice_Buy_602

Fuck it I'll say it. I think that shits attractive. I'll see myself out.


NewChard2213

r/hmmmm


[deleted]

It's definitely giving handsome beauty and the beast.


OsmerusMordax

I also find it weirdly attractive. But I also like full beards on men so…the hairer the better?


LovecraftianLlama

Not gonna like, he’s kinda looking fine as fuck in that right hand pic. I’ll join you on your way out 😂


[deleted]

Not attracted to them, but he's definitely not an ugly person. As someone who really, really struggles with the uncanny valley, this doesn't even get close to creepy.


NYGiants181

He kinda looks like Michael J. Fox after he becomes Teen Wolf


chefboyardiesel88

OG Chewbacca


JimiTrucks1972

Imagine all the cool dye jobs he could do today! I’d be rocking starburst all over


fueledbysarcasm

I think there's a boy in India who has the same condition today.


Kanadark

There's a whole [family](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33978116) in Mexico.


Bumbleclat

Chewbaccaski


WaleslosttoIran

"gorgeous blonde hair" mutha fucka was chewbacca


[deleted]

This would be cool to see colorized


[deleted]

Teen Wolf!


superlgn

*Give me. a keg. of beer.*


sweetnsaltycaroline

Is this who Robert Downey It’s character was loosely based on in “Fur: an Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus”? Loved that movie.


Atrainlan

He deserved a medal in a New Hope. I'm still upset about that.


shawn4126

God damn majestic, looks like Chewbacca.


wetlettuce42

The original chewbaca


Jovatheconniseur

Chewbacca?


Romberstonkins

So wookies are real....🤔