Elma Moore

Elma Moore (born c. 1895 in Oil City, Pennsylvania; died October 14, 1918 in Birmingham) was a circus performer, billed as "Elma", the "Fat Girl".

Moore was one of 14 children born to "medium sized" parents, and was the only one of their children to become obese. She was 13 pounds at birth and topped 360 pounds by the time she was 7 years old. Moore began her sideshow career with the Brightman & Holly company. After six years she joined the Johnny J. Jones Exposition. She had reportedly traveled with the circus to, "almost every country in the world." By 1918 her weight was reported as 797 pounds.

The Johnny J. Jones Exposition was booked for the midway of the 1918 Alabama State Fair, which was forced to close during a local outbreak of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Moore contracted the disease. She and her custom-made bed werre taken to the Norwood Infirmary, where she later died. Her mother, who had been alerted to her illness, was at her side. Moore's body was placed in a specially-built coffin constructed by the Birmingham Casket Company and returned to Pennsylvania on the L & N Railroad.

Adrian Esmilaire, one of the circus' "Marechal Midgets", called "Little Mabb", and sometimes described as Moore's paramour, died in Atlanta from the same disease on October 18. He was buried at Westview Cemetery there.

References

• Vance, Henry (October 16, 1918) "Miss Elma Moore, 797 Pound 'Fat Girl,' Dies of the Influenza." The Birmingham News, p. 11
• Clemmons, Jeff (2018) "Atlanta's Historic Westview Cemetery." Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781626199675