Mysteries abound about the great snake charmer Nala Damajanti (1861-?).
Like Little Egypt and many famous 20th century advertising mascots, "Nala Damajanti" may have been played by more than one person, and she proceeded to pass into legend, to the extent that her image is literally worshipped. Many believe that depictions of her from posters became associated visually with the African water goddess Mami Wati. Poster art reveals a dark looking woman with kinky hair; she claimed to be from India. Most sources say the original Nala Damajanti was French born Emillie Poupon, although there's no reason she couldn't have been ethnically African, Middle Eastern, Roma, or South Asian.
It's said that Poupon was a young nanny living in St. Petersburg when she hooked up with a British Human Fly (ceiling walking acrobat) named John Palmer. He introduced her to circus life and he became her husband and manager. They toured with P.T. Barnum's and Adam Forepaugh's circuses, and she was a star of such venues as the Folies Bergere and Madison Square Garden throughout the 1880s. Carl Hagenbeck supplied her with snakes. At a certain point Palmer and Poupon split. Poupon may subsequently been involved with an animal dealer named Breitwieser, while Palmer procured another woman to portray Nala Damajanti (whose name had been lifted from the Mahabaharata inthe first place). In 1907 the French toy company Roullet & Decamps released a coin-op automaton called "la Charmeuse de Serpent," which may have been inspired by Nala Damajanti.
Learn more about show business history in No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,
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