A woman had to endure days attached to the corpse of her sister after the latter died of the flu.
Born in Brighton, Sussex, in 1908, Daisy and Violet Hilton were conjoined twins, connected at the base of the spine.
The pair were medical miracles – even now, the total survival rate for conjoined twins is 7.5 per cent, according to a paper published in the National Library of Medicine.
And yet, they were rejected by their mother, an unmarried barmaid called Kate Skinner, who allegedly believed that their condition was a punishment from God for giving birth out of wedlock.
The sisters were then adopted by a midwife and landlady named Mary Hilton who saw their money-making potential.
Hilton exploited them for every penny they could make, according to writer Louise Peskett, selling photos and postcards of them and shipping them off on international tours from the age of three.
In 1916, they were sent to Texas where they were to spend much of the rest of their lives.
Daisy and Violet Hilton were exploited by their adoptive family for decades
Then, when Hilton died, the twins were “bequeathed” to her daughter and son-in-law, Edith and Meyer Meyers who, according to the twins’ biography, kept them captive, beat them, and pocketed all their earnings.
However, in 1931, having earned themselves a reputation as accomplished dancers, musicians and performers, the sisters cut ties with the Meyers and finally took the reins on their career.
In 1932 they appeared in the film Freaks, a horror film about carnival performers that was banned in the UK for three decades for being shocking and exploitative.
Then, in 1952, they starred in the crime drama Chained for Life which, though ostensibly about a twin who kills the husband who left her, also incorporated various elements from Daisy and Violet’s own lives.
