Anthropological hoax. The general image in Western society of tribal cultures as primitive and uncultured allowed the development of the Wild Man of Borneo as a popular attraction in San Francisco in the late 19th century. The original wild man appeared in the 1880s at a freak show on Market Street in the Barbary Coast district. However, the person posing as the wild man was, in fact, an unknown actor who allowed himself to be covered with tar and horsehair. He was exhibited in a cage and made mock attacks on his audience while devouring pieces of raw meat thrown into the cage to him. The sounds he made at the gawkers sounded like “Oofty Goofty,” so those words soon became his name.
The Wild Man was advertised as an attraction that both educated and entertained the public. Very successful as an attraction, his career was cut short by a basic health problem: the tar coating his skin did not allow him to perspire; poisons built up in his body and threatened his life. Unable to peel the tar coating off, he was finally doused in tar solvent, which saved his life but ended his career as a wild man. However, he had become a public personality, and his career in entertainment did not end. He developed an act in which he sang a song in a local pub, and then allowed himself to be kicked out of the establishment. In the process he discovered he was somewhat impervious to pain. Soon the former wild man developed a more lucrative act: he allowed people from the audience to hit him with a large stick. This act came to an end in 1890 when he mistakenly allowed boxing champion John L. Sullian to hit him. He died six years later, without ever revealing his true identity, and was buried under his public name, Oofty Goofty.