A Sideshow That Saved Lives
At the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, one of the most popular exhibits wasn’t a ride or futuristic display—it was a glass-walled nursery. Inside, premature babies were cared for by nurses in white uniforms and doctors in coats, under a bold sign: “Living Babies in Incubators.” Crowds paid 25 cents to see the exhibit, built at a cost of $75,000. Behind it was Martin Couney, known across America as “the incubator doctor.”
A Career Without Credentials
Couney claimed to have studied medicine in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris—but official records show no evidence he ever graduated from medical school or submitted a thesis. In the 1910 U.S. census, he listed his job as “surgical instruments.” By 1930, he had begun calling himself a physician.
Unpaid Care, Public Viewing
Despite controversy, Couney never charged parents. He covered all costs—about $15 a day per infant—through admission fees. He ran similar exhibits for decades, most famously at Coney Island, and worked with reputable doctors like Julius Hess and Morris Fishbein.
Thousands of Babies Saved
By Couney’s count, he saved around 6,500 of 8,000 infants brought to his incubators. Though unlicensed, his staff included trained nurses and physicians. Some of those babies grew up to have families of their own.
At the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, crowds lined up to see tiny premature babies in glass incubators.
A neon sign read “Living Babies in Incubators.” The man behind it, Martin Couney, claimed to be a doctor—but there was one detail he never revealed…
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— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) April 30, 2025
