Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/13/the-19th-century-teen-girl-who.html
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“…that it was all a bunch of cleverly-devised applications of basic physics.” And the Universe itself gets by on pretty much the same scam.
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So…basically Judo?
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The original “can of whoop ass”.
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The Youtube video doesn’t cover how she pulled off her performances but the link to the Atlas Obscura article does 
Also really interesting story, sort of amusing what people found fascinating back then, although we’re just as guilty these days considering the internet is full of lolcats.
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Kind of impressive if the moves were independently invented, though with the popularity of Eastern martial arts in the 19th century (though more so in Britain than the US), I wouldn’t be surprised if she received instruction from a teacher who knew some Judo. Still a bad-ass either way.
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Well actually it’s because these were traveling shows, so the men visiting these shows were obviously OBVIOUSLY quite tired from making the journey and would therefore be less able to defend themselves from what was clearly a form of female violence. Further, we might like to think “She” was a “teen girl”, but we all really know it was just a medium-sized but very strong hairless bear that wandered onto the stage in some semblance of human dress. The authors of this article would do well to remind themselves about the danger of bears and teen girls and the violence that is their stock in trade.
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I believe we evolved with a setting sun as the most interesting thing we were likely to see on a regular basis.
Also, regarding the cover price:
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Some of her tricks sound more to me like Aikido.
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I was thinking the same thing 
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Wait… there was a Psychic Publishing company in Rome, GA? That’s fucking cool!
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Is Aikido Japanese for “kick them in the balls”? 
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Off to the archives you go!
You can make a vacation of it, yay!
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I totally should… I’d love to do a project on these sort of weird subcultures…
Also… I don’t think Rome, GA is nearly that beautiful! Though the view from Myrtle Hill isn’t bad, actually…
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I vote for “Go for it!”
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Um, no. Did she kick men in the balls?
I’m referring to the ways in which she apparently used people’s own force against themselves.
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So now I have three ideas for projects that I want to do once I turn my diss into a book! At least I’ll have plenty of work to do for the next decade or so!
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Aikido wasn’t developed until the 1920s, although it wasn’t without precursors.
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“Applied physics” usually means “Advanced Weapons”. So Lulu sort of got it right.
A “Rome” in GA was unusual enough.
