Struppi Hanneford - Revision history

Djando: /* The Luvas Sisters in America */

2025-02-04T21:08:04Z

‎The Luvas Sisters in America

Djando: /* Circus Debut */

2025-02-04T21:03:45Z

‎Circus Debut

Djando: /* Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena */

2022-10-28T20:43:22Z

‎Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena

Djando: /* Circus Debut */

2022-10-28T20:42:51Z

‎Circus Debut

Djando: /* Struppi’s Apprenticeship */

2022-10-28T20:42:35Z

‎Struppi’s Apprenticeship

Djando at 20:42, 28 October 2022

2022-10-28T20:42:19Z

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2018-05-05T23:57:11Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena */

2014-12-31T05:18:37Z

‎Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena

Djando: /* Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena */

2014-12-31T05:17:37Z

‎Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena

Djando: /* The Luvas Sisters in America */

2014-12-31T05:14:10Z

‎The Luvas Sisters in America

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 ===The Luvas Sisters in America===
-The Luvas Sisters made their American debut with the Mills Bros. Circus for its 1953 season. Their contract was renewed for the following year, but the hiatus during the winter months proved much harder than they expected: The United States didn’t have winter circuses, as in Europe, and they didn’t know anybody in the business besides the Millses. The Mills Bros. Circus toured mostly in the Midwest and did one-day stands&mdash;not an ideal situation to make new contacts. Nonetheless, they had met a circus fan that had told them to let him know if ever they needed anything; they reach out to him and he helped them not only to go through the winter months, but also to get their Green Cards (U.S. Resident Status).
+The Luvas Sisters made their American debut with the Mills Bros. Circus for its 1953 season. Their contract was renewed for the following year, but the hiatus during the winter months proved much harder than they expected: The United States didn’t have winter circuses, as in Europe, and they didn’t know anybody in the business besides the Millses. The Mills Bros. Circus toured mostly in the Midwest and did one-day stands&mdash;not an ideal situation to make new contacts. Nonetheless, they had met a circus fan that had told them to let him know if ever they needed anything; they reached out to him and he helped them not only to go through the winter months, but also to get their Green Cards (U.S. Resident Status).
 During their second season with the Mills Bros. Circus, Trude and Struppi became a little more attentive to the ways of the circus business in the United States. They saved money and began immediately to look for winter contracts. [[Al Dobritch]], one of the country’s foremost agents (and soon an important producer), gave them a contract to appear in ''Super Circus'', a hit children television show at the time on ABC. This was a good exposure, and Dobritch found them more dates, notably with the Shrine circuses produced by [[Orrin Davenport]]. Their American career took off.

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 However, ''Luvas Sisters'' was a good name in that it didn’t sound especially German, and after a few engagements in Germany&mdash;including one with [[Circus Krone]] in Munich, which has just been authorized to resume its activities for a show that was filmed for American television&mdash;they went on to work in a series of stage shows in England, followed by a season at [[Cirkus Scott]], Sweden’s premier circus. By 1952, good offers were numerous enough to give them the luxury to choose.
-One offer came from Jake Mills in the United States, whose [[Mills Bros. Circus]] was a big importer of European acts after the War. (The Mills brothers, Jake, Jack, and Harry, were themselves Russian immigrants.) Going to America was a childhood dream for Struppi, and also&mdash;more importantly&mdash;there was no shortage of money there. The problem was that the Millses, like most American producers, expected the Luvas Sisters to perform more than one act. Trude’s father had trained dogs, so it was something she had a minimum of familiarity with; they added a dog act to their repertoire.
+One offer came from Jake Mills in the United States, whose [[Mills Bros. Circus]] was a big importer of European acts after the War. (The Mills brothers, Jake, Jack, and Harry, were themselves Russian immigrants.) Going to America was a childhood dream for Struppi, and also&mdash;more importantly&mdash;there was no shortage of money there. The problem was that the Millses, like most American producers, expected the Luvas Sisters to perform more than one act. Trude’s father had trained dogs, so it was something with which she had a modicum of familiarity; they added a dog act to their repertoire.
 ===The Luvas Sisters in America===

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 ===Princess Tajana In The Steel Arena===
-[[File:Struppi_Hanneford-Tajana.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Struppi and friend (1957)]]Her teacher was [[Frank Simpson]], a cat trainer of good reputation who presented a cage act in the Hanneford show and also owned an animal park. Struppi’s first act consisted of small felines, leopards and pumas&mdash;less impressive, perhaps, than lions or tigers, but certainly not easier to manage. For three and a half weeks, she worked every day at the circus’s winter quarters with Simpson, and then continued alone for a couple of months before debuting the act on the Hanneford show. The year was 1972. She presented her group of pumas and leopards for about two years.
+[[File:Struppi_Hanneford-Tajana.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Struppi and friend (1957)]]Her teacher was [[Frank Simpson]], a cat trainer of good reputation who presented a cage act in the Hanneford show and also owned an animal park. Struppi’s first act consisted of small felines, leopards and pumas&mdash;less impressive, perhaps, than lions or tigers, but certainly not easier to manage. For three and a half weeks, she worked every day at the circus’s winter quarters with Simpson, and then continued alone for a couple of months before debuting the act on the Hanneford show. The year was 1972. She presented her group of pumas and leopards for about two years.
 Then Simpson offered Tommy a little tiger for sale. With him&mdash;he was christened "Tommy the Tiger"&mdash;and Ina, an elephant the circus already owned, Tommy and Struppi built a new act in the style of what [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] had done with his tiger riding an elephant, and which he performed with the Ringling show which he had joined in 1970. The difference here was that Struppi was a woman… She also acquired a black leopard, Rama, which she presented on a leash, uncaged. Sadly, Tommy the Tiger, a gentle and affectionate cat, died of food poisoning, and Struppi was devastated. To console her, so to speak, Tommy purchased four young tigers, which Struppi started training with the help of [[Trevor Bale]].

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 ===Circus Debut===
-[[File:Luvas_Sisters.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Luvas Sisters (C.1955)]]Thus the Luvas Sisters were born. The name had been invented from scratch, and if they were not really sisters, they were both certainly good-looking and talented. They performed a combination act involving aerial cradle, trapeze, and upside-down loop walking, which was novel and spectacular enough to ensure them work. It was not that easy, however: Germany, which had been the epicenter of the circus and variety business in Europe before the War, laid now in ruins&mdash;its many circus buildings and variety theaters destroyed, and most of its traveling circuses unable to resume their activities. If the rest of Europe could manage a little better, money was still scarce, and German acts were not welcome everywhere.
+[[File:Luvas_Sisters.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Luvas Sisters (C.1955)]]Thus the Luvas Sisters were born. The name had been invented from scratch, and if they were not really sisters, they were both certainly good-looking and talented. They performed a combination act involving aerial cradle, trapeze, and upside-down loop walking, which was novel and spectacular enough to ensure them work. It was not that easy, however: Germany, which had been the epicenter of the circus and variety business in Europe before the War, laid now in ruins&mdash;its many circus buildings and variety theaters destroyed, and most of its traveling circuses unable to resume their activities. If the rest of Europe could manage a little better, money was still scarce, and German acts were not welcome everywhere.
 However, ''Luvas Sisters'' was a good name in that it didn’t sound especially German, and after a few engagements in Germany&mdash;including one with [[Circus Krone]] in Munich, which has just been authorized to resume its activities for a show that was filmed for American television&mdash;they went on to work in a series of stage shows in England, followed by a season at [[Cirkus Scott]], Sweden’s premier circus. By 1952, good offers were numerous enough to give them the luxury to choose.

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 As a little child, Gertrude used to hang from a bar that her father held with his hands; she enjoyed it, and created little routines of her own. When she was seven, her mother heard of a former trapeze artist whose husband was in the military, and who gave trapeze lessons to augment the family income. Thus Gertrude (Trude) Johann entered the life of Gertrude Zimmerman and became her trapeze teacher.
-[[File:Luvas_Sisters_(c.1955).jpg|thumb|left|300px|Trude Johann (right) and Struppi Zimmerman (c.1955)]]Trude Johann is also credited with giving Gertrude the nickname under which she would be known for the rest of her life, "Struppi." It was a diminutive of ''Struppigel'', a made-up word that is hard to translate, but would mean something like "hedgehog turned wild," perhaps a good description of what Gertrude’s character was like then&mdash;and indeed in adulthood Struppi was a very strong woman, in all meanings of the term.
+[[File:Luvas_Sisters_(c.1955).jpg|thumb|left|400px|Trude Johann (right) and Struppi Zimmerman (c.1955)]]Trude Johann is also credited with giving Gertrude the nickname under which she would be known for the rest of her life, "Struppi." It was a diminutive of ''Struppigel'', a made-up word that is hard to translate, but would mean something like "hedgehog turned wild," perhaps a good description of what Gertrude’s character was like then&mdash;and indeed in adulthood Struppi was a very strong woman, in all meanings of the term.
 Little Struppi showed good dispositions for trapeze, and eventually Trude built an act for her. She believed Struppi was ready to perform, but WWII had broken out and it was not the best time to start a career if you were not born into the business:  The project didn’t come to fruition. Furthermore, as the war dragged on, life became increasingly difficult in Germany, and Struppi and Trude’s worlds eventually drifted apart.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:42, 28 October 2022
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−	[[File:Struppi_Hanneford_(Tajana)_Head_Shot.jpg\|right\|~~200px~~]]	+	[[File:Struppi_Hanneford_(Tajana)_Head_Shot.jpg\|right\|300px]]
	==Aerialist, Acrobat, Animal Trainer, Circus Owner==		==Aerialist, Acrobat, Animal Trainer, Circus Owner==

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:57, 5 May 2018
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	</Gallery>		</Gallery>

−	[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Aerialists\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Trapeze\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Animal Trainers\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Tight Wire\|Hanneford, Struppi]]	+	[[Category:Circus Owners and Directors\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Aerialists\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Trapeze\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Animal Trainers\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Tight Wire\|Hanneford, Struppi]][[Category:Cage Acts\|Hanneford, Struppi]]

@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 [[File:Struppi_Hanneford-Tajana.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Struppi and friend (1957)]]Her teacher was [[Frank Simpson]], a cat trainer of good reputation who presented a cage act in the Hanneford show and also owned an animal park. Struppi’s first act consisted of small felines, leopards and pumas&mdash;less impressive, perhaps, than lions or tigers, but certainly not easier to manage. For three and a half weeks, she worked every day at the circus’s winter quarters with Simpson, and then continued alone for a couple of months before debuting the act on the Hanneford show. The year was 1972. She presented her group of pumas and leopards for about two years.
-Then Simpson offered Tommy a little tiger for sale. With him&mdash;he was christened "Tommy the Tiger"&mdash;and an Ina, an elephant the circus already owned, Tommy and Struppi built a new act in the style of what [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] had done with his tiger riding an elephant, and which he performed with the Ringling show which he had joined in 1970. The difference here was that Struppi was a woman… She also acquired a black leopard, Rama, which she presented on a leash, uncaged. Sadly, Tommy the Tiger, a gentle and affectionate cat, died of food poisoning, and Struppi was devastated. To console her, so to speak, Tommy purchased four young tigers, which Struppi started training with the help of [[Trevor Bale]].
+Then Simpson offered Tommy a little tiger for sale. With him&mdash;he was christened "Tommy the Tiger"&mdash;and Ina, an elephant the circus already owned, Tommy and Struppi built a new act in the style of what [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] had done with his tiger riding an elephant, and which he performed with the Ringling show which he had joined in 1970. The difference here was that Struppi was a woman… She also acquired a black leopard, Rama, which she presented on a leash, uncaged. Sadly, Tommy the Tiger, a gentle and affectionate cat, died of food poisoning, and Struppi was devastated. To console her, so to speak, Tommy purchased four young tigers, which Struppi started training with the help of [[Trevor Bale]].
 Then a few more tigers were added, which Tommy trained with Struppi, and eventually a lion named Sam. This made for an impressive group. Struppi presented it until the end of the 1980 season. They were presented by [[Bill Golden]] in 1981, and then Tommy sold the group to a Texas animal dealer. Although she still presented from time to time an uncaged black leopard named Sabu, Struppi in effect retired from performing, and became increasingly involved with the Hanneford Circus’s administration.

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 In 1955, Struppi Luvas met Tommy Hanneford for the first time; they worked in the same Davenport show, she with Trude, and he with his father and siblings in the George Hanneford Family jockey act. They met again on yet another show, and Tommy and Struppi fell in love. They were married December 8, 1955 during a date in Chicago. The Luvas Sisters had their contracts lined up for the 1956 season, however, and they didn’t not necessarily coincide with the Hannefords’ contracts.
-One of the Luvas Sisters’ contracts was, in April 1956, the prestigious ''Ed Sullivan Show'' on CBS television, which Struppi considered the highlight of their career. Yet, life apart was not easy on the young couple, and Struppi made her mind to go solo after the end of the season, in order to stay with Tommy, and began working on her own trapeze act. It was decided that Trude would keep their equipment and continue her act with her son Peter, who was now ready to perform (later her other son, Harry, joined the act).
+One of the Luvas Sisters’ contracts was, in April 1956, the prestigious ''Ed Sullivan Show'' on CBS television, which Struppi considered the highlight of their career. Yet, life apart was not easy on the young couple, and Struppi made her mind to go solo after the end of the season in order to stay with Tommy, and she began working on her own trapeze act. It was decided that Trude would keep their equipment and continue her act with her son Peter, who was now ready to perform (later her other son, Harry, joined the act).
 ===Princess Tajana===