Ca. 1880–1890. Cabinet cards and carte de visites, one with top section trimmed away. Some with ink or pencil notations on verso.
Ranging in size from 4 x 2.5 in. (10.2 x 6.4cm) to 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (10.8 x 16.5cm).

Three images of Circassian beauties. One was taken by Howie, Detroit, Michigan, the other two are uncredited. Depicting Zula Zelick, "The Circassian Queen," Selena Beda, and an unknown woman.

Circassian beauties were sideshow acts based on Johann Friedrich Blumenbach's pseudo-scientific theories of race, including his belief that the most beautiful and pure white people were the Circassians. Sideshow Circassians were usually American women with wild, curly hair, an exotic effect they created by shampooing with beer. Popularized by P.T. Barnum, these exhibits were accompanied by tales of harem life and rescue from slavery, capitalizing on a white post-Civil War audience preoccupied by race.