Can you see them? This matchbox contains a dressed fleas diorama, or pulgas vestidas. In the early 20th century, Mexican folk artists dressed fleas in tiny costumes set in tiny scenes to sell to tourists. This diorama features a village scene in two halves of a hazelnut, with four costumed fleas. Sometimes they were more elaborate and appeared in traveling shows, carnivals, and flea circuses where audiences watched as “trained” fleas (tied to objects with tiny harnesses) pulled and pushed objects much larger and many times their weight. The curiosity for flea circuses and dioramas died out in the 1930s, due to the public’s increased knowledge of fleas’ association with poor hygiene.
