A Staged cabinet card depicting Major Charles Gantz, a little person performer, seated on a chair beside a dramatically oversized watermelon, with a vivid hand-tinted slice resting in his lap and a large knife in hand. Gantz was born August 12, 1865 and began touring in 1895. Though his prets were normal, Charles was 18 inches tall and weighed 30 pounds.The image is carefully composed for comedic and theatrical effect, emphasizing scale distortion that was common in sideshow or novelty photography of the late 19th century.

Identified on verso in pencil as “Major Gantz, Fairfield, Iowa,” the sitter likely toured as part of a traveling show or circus. The photograph was produced by the studio of Foster Brothers, Burlington, Iowa, as indicated faintly along the mount. The combination of hand-coloring, visual humor, and sideshow subject matter makes this a highly desirable piece for collectors of American oddities, circus ephemera, and early photography.