Barnum also produced a booklet about another of his Circassians, Zoe Meleke, who was portrayed as an ideally beautiful and refined woman who had escaped a life of sexual slavery. The portrayal of a white woman as a rescued slave at the time of the American Civil War played on the racial connotations of slavery at the time. It has been argued that the distinctive hairstyle affiliates the side-show Circassian with African identity, and thus, resonates oddly yet resoundingly with the rest of her identifying significations: her racial purity, her sexual enslavement, her position as colonial subject; her beauty. The Circassian blended elements of white Victorian True Womanhood with traits of the enslaved African American woman in one curiosity. The trend spread, with supposedly Circassian women featured in dime museums and travelling medicine shows, sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls". They were typically identified by the distinctive hairstyle, which was held in place by the use of beer. They also often performed in pseudo-oriental costume. Many postcards of Circassians also circulated. Though Barnum's original women were portrayed as proud and genteel, later images of Circassians often emphasised erotic poses and revealing costumes. As the original fad faded, the "Circassians" started to add to their appeal by performing traditional circus tricks such as sword swallowing. In popular culture The Safety Fire, British progressive metal band, released their song "Circassian Beauties" in 2012. The American alternative rock band Monks of Doom released another song with the title "Circassian Beauty" in their 1991 album Meridian. See also Barbary corsairs Ottoman Imperial Harem La Circassienne au Bain, 1814 painting by Merry-Joseph Blondel; famously lost with the Titanic References Further reading Natalia Królikowska-Jedlinska. 2020. "The Role of Circassian Slaves in the Foreign and Domestic Policy of the Crimean Khanate in the Early Modern Period." in Slaves and Slave Agency in the Ottoman Empire, edited by Stephan Conermann, Gül Şen. V&R unipress and Bonn University Press. External links The Circassian Beauty Archive Circassian Women, from showhistory.com Circassians Corsetry Female beauty Medieval ethnic groups of Europe Orientalism Ottoman imperial harem Physical attractiveness Qajar harem Race and society Royal consorts Safavid imperial harem Scientific racism Sexual slavery Stereotypes of white people Women in art