Che Mah: Short-Statured Chinese Performer
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2021-05-30T15:08:15-07:00
Che Mah (Che Mah Che Sang, “Che Mah the Chinese Dwarf,” “Che Mah the Rebel Dwarf”) made his first appearance on the London stage in 1866. Newspapers and publicity advertisements described Che Mah at 25-28 inches tall and approximately 40 pounds, and often claimed him as the smallest man in the world. Many promotional materials asserted Che Mah as an educated man that spoke multiple languages.149
Che Mah toured throughout England and allegedly performed also for Queen Victoria.150In 1881, he moved to America and worked for P.T. Barnum’s circus. He was recorded as earning $200 per week, a considerable sum for the time, which is roughly $5,000 in today's dollars. After working for the Barnum circus, Che Mah found employment with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows and various exhibitions, sideshows and dime museums through 1905.151
Che Mah’s 1871 census records show Ningbo, China as his birthplace in 1838 and residence of London, England before he arrived in America.152 His origins are questionable as there are reports that he was not Chinese.153 A press agent for the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, Dexter Fellows, stated in his 1936 autobiography This Way to the Big Show that Che Mah was British and Jewish.113 Another account was that a Chinese laundryman approached him to communicate in Chinese and found him nervously silent, and decided Che Mah was not Chinese. However, it needs reminding that Che Mah contracted for a time in his career with P. T. Barnum, who employed trickery of fact versus fiction, such as doubts on a performer’s race and human legitimacy for sensationalized publicity tactics, regardless of the consequences. Most reports, including Che Mah’s government records, state his Chinese birth. He presented himself as Chinese at exhibitions but also lived his life as a Chinese person even in retirement.154
Sometime after 1905, Che Mah retired to a farm in Knox, Indiana and married his second wife Norah Cleveland. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in divorce in 1920. He successfully invested in real estate and became an active member of the Knox community. In one instance, he welcomed guests to one of his properties and hosted a benefit for the Ladies Aid Society of the local Methodist Church. Che Mah remained in Knox until his death in 1926. He was 87 years old.155
