Edward Deal, "Forehead Smoker"

We've all heard of the "Eye-Smoker" Alfred Langevin. A few of us may have even heard of the two "Back-Smokers" Smoko, "Man With Two Mouths" and the more famous, Smokey. But who among us had heard of the Forehead-Smoker, Edward Deal?

From James Mundie:

"I was contacted by Deal's great granddaughter, who is hoping to find out
more about his showbiz career. Apparently, he was a fellow from McHenry,
Maryland, who as the result of a freakish blacksmithing
accident while shoeing a horse (yikes!) had a sizeable hole punched in
his forehead (double yikes!). The hole remained for the rest of his
well-ventilated days, and as it connected with his sinus passages he was
able to blow cigarette smoke out of it - as one would, course. Which
brand he preferred I cannot say, though I'm inclined to hope for
Chesterfields. Family lore has it that Deal performed at the Ripley's
Odditorium at the 1933-34 World's Fair, but I haven't yet found a
reference to him. He does appear in an early Ripley comic strip, though."

So what's the deal? The question and controversy for showhistory.com readers is: Was Edward Deal a bona fide performer, or just a cartoon character?

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