PECULIAR POSTCARDS

JAN BONDESON shares another deltiological discovery from his prodigious FBI collection of postcards. This month’s pictorial blast from the past brings us the the one-time tallest man in Sweden and some other European giants

43. THE TRIPLET GIANT AND OTHERS In February 2020, I was informed by a Scandinavian reader of The Lion Boy and other Medical Curiosities that a number of postcards featuring human curiosities were offered for sale on the Swedish internet auction site Tradera. Upon investigation, this turned out to be the truth: a swift dawn raid was carried out, and 14 cards secured for £32. As a teenager, Petrus started growing at an alarming rate The most interesting card depicted the Swedish ‘Triplet Giant’ Petrus Nordin, who was born on 13 April 1882 as one of three triplet boys. His father was a poor tailor, who received a municipal grant of 10 kronor (15 shillings) a month to feed his hungry sons. As a youngster, Petrus was of normal stature,…

You're reading a preview of

Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 444

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.