Click photo to enlarge
Arus Olibrice is the ticket seller at "The World's Smallest Woman" exhibit. At the Utah State Fair there are some sideshows that some people feel are inhumane, and somewhat distasteful.
Related

At the Utah State Fair, people expect to see oddities of nature, such as the Giant Gator, the World's Smallest Horse, and Shelly & Myrtle, the Siamese turtles.

But this year fairgoers can pay to see a sideshow attraction that might seem dated from the years when the 154-year-old Utah State Fair was first launched, rather than in 2009.

The sideshow attraction? A human being.

For $1, adults can enter an exhibit -- 50 cents for children -- that bears the title of "World's Smallest Woman," with a painting on the booth depicting a dark-skinned woman sitting in the palm of a white person's hand.

Curious fairgoers walk inside to see Lina, a 32-year-old woman from Haiti, who is seated in a chair and stares at a plywood wall for 12 hours a day -- 13 hours on Friday and Saturday.

Lina is 29 inches tall, and wears a size 2 shoe. Her booth is next to the bumper cars, where on Monday morning you could hear the thrilled squeals of girls being flung around on the Moby Dick amusement ride next door, as well as Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly" from a nearby stage.

A sign at the front of the booth reads: "$10,000.00 Reward if not alive and in person," while another poster proclaims: "You Talk to Her -- She Talks to You," but Lina doesn't speak English, and doesn't seem to say much more than "Hi."

People who paid $1 on Monday morning to enter the exhibit expressed a range of emotions upon exiting Lina's booth.

"It's inhumane,"

Advertisement
said Bruce Taylor, 40, of Orem.

"She looks miserable," said Corrie Bright, 33, of Ogden. "It was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. If I had known what I would see, I wouldn't have done it."

His brother, Ben Bright, 34, of Layton, said after seeing Lina he felt sick to his stomach.

"I wouldn't want to be on exhibit," said Mystic Garfield, 15, of Mona. "I don't want people watching me."

"That's strange," said Chela Leon, 17, of Taylorsville. "I think it's wrong. She's a real person."

"I thought it would be a doll," said Jared Kesler, 38, of South Jordan. "I thought it was rude because she's a human being."

"It's totally weird," said Howard Ream, 17, of Arizona. "Who would want to be on exhibit?"

Lina does want to be an exhibit, the man running the booth said, although he wouldn't let her answer an interviewer's questions.

"You have to do something to survive," said Arus Olibrice, 46, of Haiti, who said Lina is his cousin. Olibrice collects money from people entering her booth. He said that they sleep in a bunkhouse on the fairgrounds, and he cooks her eggs and bacon for breakfast, and then rice and beans for the other meals. He said when she requests anything, he gets it for her.

In a 2000 story in the New York Daily News, Olibrice said that Lina was born with an undiagnosed condition that left her growth stunted and her mental faculties impaired. The article went on to quote Olibrice as saying that when Lina is on duty, she relieves herself in a bucket so that no one can see her for "free" en route to a public restroom.

While she appears bored when someone is not directly in front of her, if you catch her eye, she smiles broadly and replies "Hi" if you initiate a greeting. When asked how she was, she said, "Good."

"Horrible," is what Kari Suojanen, co-president of the Utah chapter of the nonprofit Little People of America, termed the practice of showing people of short stature in a sideshow attraction. He compared it to the demeaning practice of "dwarf-bowling."

On the other hand, he said, if Lina was of sound mind and made the personal decision to display herself, he didn't want to condemn that choice. "It's probably more money than she's ever seen in her lifetime," he said. "Aren't we all adults, and can't we make our own decisions? People are making poor choices."

According to circus historians, sideshows became popular in America in the late 1800s, when seeing exhibits of people of other cultures was considered educational. In the 1900s, the focus switched to people with unusual physical characteristics, but interest in such exhibits died after World War II.

Fair and carnival officials defended the sideshow attraction. "This is a life she has chosen," said Denise Allen, Utah State Fair public relations director. "In this day and age, people have choices. This is the way she earns her living."

When told that a previous article said that Lina was mentally impaired, Allen said that to the best of her knowledge, she had been told only that Lina chose to be a sideshow attraction.

According to records kept by The Mighty Thomas Carnival, which is contracted by the Utah State Fair to run the rides, games and sideshows, more than 2,526 fairgoers paid to see Lina from Thursday to Sunday.

John Hanschen, co-owner of The Mighty Thomas Carnival, which is based in Austin, Texas., said he is "perfectly comfortable" with having Lina as an attraction. He has worked the carnival business for 34 years, and said that there has been a resurgence of popularity in sideshows in the past decade. He added that he hasn't received one negative comment about Lina.

When told about teenagers who went inside the booth on Monday and laughed at Lina, Hanschen said: "She's a professional who knows how to handle that type of situation."

When told of the Daily News story that claimed Lina was mentally impaired, he said, "I don't know that. You're speculating."

Hanschen added, "If I thought she was being exploited, I wouldn't let that happen."

He said that if the Utah State Fair has a problem with any of his services or shows, they would cooperate with fair officials and have it removed.

As of Tuesday night, he had not been told by fair officials that there was a problem.

E-mail comments to features@sltrib.com. Information from the Los Angeles Times wire service was included in this report.

Bring mom, bring dad, bring the kids

The recording outside the World's Smallest Woman exhibit » "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting for the very first time at your fair, little Lina, the world's smallest woman. Little Lina is only 29 tiny inches long is on the inside and anxious to meet and greet each and every one of you. Little Lina is so small you can actually pick her up and carry her in your arms like you would a small child. Little Lina, the world's smallest woman lives on the inside of the exhibit. Little Lina is smaller than a 2 year old child, her hands are only two inches wide, she wears size 2 shoes and she speaks, breathes and eats just like everybody else. Little Lina, the world's smallest woman inside this exhibit. 29 tiny inches long. Bring mom, bring dad, bring the children. This is a show for the entire family. She's here and she's real and she's in the live. See little Lina, the tiny lady from Haiti, just 29 tiny inches long, live and real on the inside."