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Taken on: March 24, 2023

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Athens Drive-In 3190 Atlanta Highway, Athens, GA - Somewhere in the 1950’s

Source of image & notes - Growing up in Athens website

Comment - A terrible story from a different time ? -

Background written 10/12/56 - Daisy and Violet Hilton were born in England on 5 February 1908 to Kate Skinner, an unmarried barmaid. They were born joined by their hips and buttocks, fused at the pelvis and shared blood circulation, but shared no major organs. Mary Hilton who helped deliver them, immediately saw that they could be valuable to her, so she bought them from their mother and took them under her care.

The girls first stayed above the Queen’s Arms pub in Brighton, but later moved to the Evening Star pub. They were kept by Mary Hilton, her husband and her daughter and they were controlled by the use of physical abuse. They were Forced to call Mary “Auntie Lou” and her husband “Sir” and they were treated harshly, but trained in singing and dancing so that they would be more valuable. Through the years, they made public appearances all over the United States and last appeared on stage at a Drive-In in Charlotte, NC. They were abandoned there with no money or means of transportation, so they found a job in a nearby grocery store.

Tragedy - On 4 January 1969, they failed to show up for work, so their boss called the police to get them to investigate. They were found dead in their home and it was later determined that the cause of death was the Hong Kong Flu. Apparently, Daisy died first and Violet died two to four days later. They were buried in Forest Lawn West Cemetery in Charlotte.

Contributed by Greg Lynch for the sake of history -