Margaret Gibb and Mary Gibb were two conjoined twins and vaudeville performers. They were known as the Holyoke Siamese Twins and America's Siamese Twins.
Life
Margaret and Mary Gibb were born in Holyoke, Massachussetts on May 20, 1912. They had one younger sister, Dorothy. Their parents refused separation for the twins on two different occasions during their early childhood. Although Mary and Margaret would enter the showbusiness circuit, dancing and playing piano, they never did gain the same notoriety as the glamorous Hilton sisters
The Gibbs raised the girls at home, in relative seclusion, and brought in private tutors to educate them. At the age of 14, the sisters struck out on their own, moving to New York City to pursue a vaudeville career. There was much speculation in the press about their separation on several occasion, when Mary was sick of influenza and later, in 1928 when Margaret declared to have a suitor. Dr. Francis P. Weston, a prominent surgeon, was supposed to operate. Everything was canceled.
For the remainder of the decade and on into the 1930s, the Gibb twins remained in the public eye as vaudeville and circus stars. They traveled with the Barnum and Cole Brothers Circuses as , appearing in Paris, Germany and Switzerland as well as all over the United States.
In 1942 they returned to Holyoke and opened the Mary-Margaret Gift Shoppe, selling cards, novelties, vases and baby clothes they had made. The shop stayed in business until 1949 when the twins retired from public life altogether. After this they were rarely seen except when traveling to and from church. Their main interests were said to be knitting and watching television.
In 1966 it was discovered that Margaret had cancer in her bladder, which, over the next year, spread to her lungs; however, the sisters still adamantly refused separation. On August 29, 1967, Margaret died, and Mary died two minutes later.