Andy “Potato Chips” Ratoucheff Performing his Maurice Chevalier Impersonation, Hubert’s Museum, NYC

Established in 1925, Hubert’s Museum at 228 West 42nd Street was an indoor sideshow with acts including the half-man, half-woman Albert-Alberta, Professor Heckler’s flea circus, and Andy “Potato Chips”—shown here mimicking a popular French personality. Among those who gravitated to Hubert’s louche offerings were Joseph Mitchell, Tom Wolfe, Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce, and a 35-year-old Diane Arbus, who was just forging her independent vision of the world. Befriending the museum’s manager and many of its performers, Arbus photographed at Hubert’s on and off between 1958 and 1963. These relationships would prove formative: a few of Hubert’s acts would later figure in her most iconic works. The Library holds the largest known collection of artifacts from Hubert’s Museum, including 27 photographs by Arbus.