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William McKenna, The Human Ostrich Who Made A Living Eating Nails, Glass And Live Frogs
A 19th century sideshow act discovered his unusual eating ability after accidentally ingesting glass as a teen while at work
There have long been people who bill themselves as curiosities, performing behavior that most find odd or alarming. A significant sub-section of this group are people who eat vast quantities or consume bizarre things. An early pioneer in this regard was a slight man named William V. McKenna, who began billing himself as the ‘Human Ostrich” after discovering an affinity for eating glass, and parlaying that into publicly devouring all manner of things, including glass, metal, nails, live frogs and more to make a living.
It was said that McKenna first noticed his appetite for glass when he was 14 and working in a Brooklyn glass factory in the early 1880s. Glass dust would land in his food when he was taking a break for lunch and he discovered that he enjoyed its taste and texture.
It wasn’t long before the young man tried ingesting other unusual items and found that they also agreed with his palate. One thing led to another and before long he gained a reputation for his bizarre gastronomy.
One newspaper article described his talent as such:
“The Human Ostrich! A living, breathing man, ordinary in all things save one, that is his stomach — which is like that of an ostrich — and he can with safety eat anything, from a cambric needle to a five-inch spike, a boiler plate or a railway sandwich.”
Born around 1868 in Long Island, not much is known about McKenna’s early life. As a teenager, he got a job with Myer’s Glass Factory, where he came about his interest in eating glass.
The owners of the business became alarmed when they noticed some of their glass stock unexpectedly disappearing. It was only after the owner found McKenna eating a broken glass bottle that he put two and two together as to who was the culprit. Unfortunately, that meant that the boy was fired for his embezzling of glass.
In need of work, McKenna soon hired himself out to a dime museum to display his unusual eating habits. During one…
