LIFE Magazine https://books.google.com/books?id=d0EEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=zacchini%20life%20magazine&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q=zacchini&f=false
Over the course of 70 years and multiple generations, the circus-performing Italian Zacchini family of Tampa became the long-standing holders of the world record for distance as human cannonballs.
Born in Malta in 1868, family patriarch Ildebrando Zacchini was a gymnast who ran away with a circus and subsequently created the Circus Olympia in Italy in the early 1900's. The Zacchini family of Italy had performed in circuses for countless generations. Ildebrando Zacchini and his wife Maddalena Dal Pao Zacchini raised 7 sons and two daughters. Seven Zacchini brothers got their early training in Europe in their father's Olympic Circus: Edmondo, Hugo, Bruno, Vittorio, Emanuel, Mario and Teobaldo.
Edmondo died Oct. 3, 1981, age 87, obit NY Times. b.
1894-83 calculated Italy census
Hugo died October 20, 1975 in San Bernardino,
California, age 77 b. Oct. 20, 1898, Santa Ana,
Peru.
Bruno : Death: Jan. 10, 1993 Birth Nov. 24, 1900 Find a
grave
Vittorio
Emanuel d. Sept 1993 age 84, b. 1909
Four brothers claimed to be the inventor of the cannon, and some modern-day news articles credit Ildebrando, but the most reliable source for determining the inventor of the cannon itself is a 1948 LIFE Magazine article about the Zacchinis which presents information about the family and their act obtained firsthand from the Zacchini brothers and Ildebrando.
According to that LIFE Magazine feature, Edmondo holds the sole honor, with other brothers helping to develop and perfect it. Although human cannonballing had already been performed as early as 1910 by German Paul Leinert, the Zacchinis originated the modern version of the act and remained its foremost practitioners.
1978 Sarasota Herald-Tribune "Zacchini clan gives cannon to circus museum" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=b3MjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6955%2C715273
Edmondo was the most technically skilled brother, having studied mechanical engineering and like all the others, he was a circus performer from infancy. His human cannonball concept evolved from a fantasy he had while serving as a first lieutenant in the Italian infantry during World War 1. While in the trenches on Monte Grappa, with the enemy less than a hundred yards away, Edmondo tried to think of some way to encircle them. It came to him that maybe soldiers could be shot behind the enemy lines from a cannon. The detail which eluded him was how the soldiers would survive the landing. As a military maneuver, nothing ever came of the idea.
In his father's circus, Edmondo was a musical clown in the classic European tradition, which meant he did everything from tumbling to playing the xylophone. He was billed as "Pagnotta" ("Little loaf of bread"). After the war, while the circus was touring Malta, man-shooting cannons began invading his thoughts again. He sketched one and had it forged by a local machine shop.
In November of 1922, "L' Uomo Projettile" (The Human Projectile) made its debut with Ildebrando's Olympic Circus in Cairo, Egypt. The first time he was shot from the cannon, Edmondo's right leg snapped like a matchstick. In the hospital he had plenty of time to ponder what had gone wrong. He concluded that the barrel was too wide, and the spring action to violent. He designed a second cannon.
In the improved model, Hugo took his turn at being the bullet, and managed to stay intact through many of the performances, and the act became a Continental sensation. Hugo Zacchini was born on October 20, 1898 in Santa Ana, Peru while his father's circus was touring Peru. Hugo grew up in his father's circus, where he learned to perform juggling, trapeze and many more circus acts. Soon, the Zacchinis were decorated by the Norwegian government; the king of Italy awarded them gold medals. But Edmondo, who insisted on being the bullet from time to time, went on breaking his weakened leg with monotonous regularity. After four fractures and five operations he got the point, and for seven years he confined himself to the functions of the trigger, an unheroic role which depressed him. He had one more go of it in 1934, the result of which was the same fracture of the same leg. He never tried again.
The fourth cannon Edmondo designed was the first to work with compressed air; previous models used rubber springs. He gave it to Hugo who teamed up with his brother Bruno to begin touring Europe with their act. Edmondo made another one for himself and teamed up with his brother Vittorio as the bullet. In1929 while Hugo and Bruno were performing their cannon act at the Tivoli Park in Copenhagen, Denmark, John Ringling saw their act and immediately offered the Zacchinis to a two-year contract with the Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The contract was then extended seven more years. The Edmondo-Vittorio team which also toured Europe, brought their act to the US a year later and by the early 1930s, the whole family was overrunning Tampa. Hugo remained with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey as a featured attraction for ten years.
Succeeding teams of Zacchinis continued to subdivide like amoebae. Edmondo continued to build the cannons himself, the materials for which cost him around $20,000 per cannon. In 1948 he was completing his 14th. He handled the training of the family novices, shooting them 10 feet or so and gradually working up to the big flights and studying their progress with a coldly appraising eye, and arranged bookings for them if they came up to snuff.
The cannonball turnover rate was high. Those not disabled sooner or later developed the mental state of a bomber pilot nearing his 50th mission and gave up from sheer nervous exhaustion. For Teobaldo, the youngest brother, one shot sufficed. He smashed his hipbone and adopted a less spectacular career operating merry-go-rounds.
As sensational as the original act was, it was not enough for John Ringling, who asked Edmondo if he could not liven it up somehow. Undaunted, Edmondo devised a cannon that would fire two bullets in rapid succession. The principle was the same, but the barrel contained two pistons, one above the other. The idea so enchanted Ringling that he announced it as the star attraction of his 1934 season before Edmondo had even assembled it.
The first double cannon
With less than a week left before the opening in Madison Square Garden, the Zacchinis gathered in full force at dawn behind Edmondo's house. The family doctor stood by prepared for the worst. Edmondo fired two dummy bullets first, then beckoned to his brothers Hugo and Vittorio. "Can we do it?" Hugo wanted to know. "Sure, sure we can do it" replied Edmondo, who had yet to see a human bullet shot from the contraption. "I be responsible, go ahead."
"PAM - PAM" exclaimed Edmondo in describing the outcome. "It work perfect."
In 1934, Hugo and Victor began performing the double cannonball act, being catapulted nearly simultaneously. Mario put aside his lasso to replace Victor that year.
Mario, who was customarily launched at a speed of 90 miles an hour while
accompanied by a fanfare from the circus band and a roar from the silver-painted
cannon, took flight several thousand times, usually three times a day.
He often said that ''flying isn't the hard part; landing in the net is.''
In addition to being three-ring cannon fodder, Mario spent years performing an
Argentine gaucho act in his father's circus and later in the Ringling Brothers
and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
''Mario was one of the world's most foremost rope twirlers, a terrific gaucho
who actually did a back somersault through the lasso,'' Mario's nephew Hugo said
in an interview. Hugo Zacchini said the family came up with the idea for the act and built its
first cannon in 1922 on the island of Malta. The attraction created such a
sensation that soon two teams of flying Zacchinis were crisscrossing Europe.
For years the double cannon act averaged better than $2,000 a week, but it impaired more Zacchinis than any feat they had ever practiced. The second bullet, variously played by brothers Hugo, Vittorio, Emanuel and Mario, was repeatedly trapped inside. "I no understan" says Edmondo, smiting his forehead with the flat of his hand, "why this one piston she stick so much." In 1940, with the Zacchinis still getting stuck like squirrels in a rainspout, the stunt was abandoned, and they reverted to the single cannon.
After the Zacchini family's contract with Ringling expired in the late 1930's, Mario Zacchini continued to be a human cannonball at circuses and carnivals and at the World's Fair in New York. At times he was blasted over two Ferris wheels before landing in the net. Mario, was forced to retire after an accident at the New York World’s Fair and afterward put together his own carnival, which toured the country for years.
A decade later the next generation of Zacchinis took up human cannonballing, performing with the Ringling circus from 1958 to 1963.
World War 2 produced a shortage in human cannonballs. Most of the bullet-worthy Zacchinis were either drafted or volunteered for defense work. Having foreseen such a crisis, Edmondo had been training one of his five children, 19-year-old Egizio (Italian for Egypt, where he was born). But the father-son combination had barely got under way when Egizio was drafted too.
War or no war, to Edmondo the prospect of life without human cannonballs was unthinkable. In desperation he turned to his two lovely daughters, Duina and Egle Victoria. "Girls," he said, "we run out of men. It's up to you."
As "The Flying Zacchinis," Duina Egle and Egizio had been top-notch trapeze artists for years. Duina took to the cannon with equal facility, but Egle's style worried Edmondo. "You no make good cannon fodder," he finally told her. "You kill yourself." Egle replied like a true Zacchini, "Poppa, I would rather die than not try it."
Bowing to the voice of his own true blood, Edmondo took both daughters on tour, alternating them as "Miss Victory, the Original Woman Human Cannonball." "I take two in case maybe one get a little tired or have a little accident" Edmondo explained.
In the end, Egle turned out to be the best bullet in the history of the act, regularly negotiating the maximum 200-foot shot with the grace of a white heron. Watching her, Edmondo has been so overcome by paternal emotions that he once hobbled across the ring, weeping and shouting bravos, to embrace her as she bounced out of the net. However, neither of the girls remained unscathed. Duina got a concussion when the net collapsed under her. Egle broke her nose in a bad landing, and she underwent a nervous strain so severe that she developed a psychosomatic rash. Despite these danger signs, Edmondo created a new routine for them which made all previous ones seem rather tame. He revived the erratic double cannon, rebuilding it to shoot higher and farther then ever. "I think maybe the piston work ok now" he said hopefully.
The home life of the Zacchinis was a scene from "You Can't Take It With You" flavored with garlic and barvura. Friends and relatives dropped in unexpectedly from all over the world. Some never left. The Zacchinis spoke 11 languages among them, including Czech and Arabic, frequently combining several in the same sentence. In the lot behind Edmondo's house they disport themselves tirelessly on trapezes, trampolines, high wires and tumbling mats. As the time approached to hit the road again, Edmondo would wheel out the cannons and Zacchinis go soaring over treetops, singly and in pairs, a sight to which the neighbors never quite got used to.
Upon the antics of his teeming descendants, Grandfather Ildebrando beamed approvingly, as he sunned himself on his veranda. One of his legs having been amputated, he would prop the other one on a hassock. At age 80 in 1948, he insisted that this was the only disability that prevented him from joining in the fun. Instead, he spent his days painting madonnas and classic nudes, filling his sons' homes with oversized canvases. Hugo, who also had artistic leanings and once won a prize from the National Academy of Rome for speed sketching, sank $25,000 into an projected art center which was to have adjoined to his house. But a group of Tampans who promised support withdrew and the only signs of it in 1948 were towering cement portals leading to nowhere, possibly the strangest landmark in the city.
Duina used to keep a goat. It ate the hibiscus and azaleas planted by a community garden club. Hugo, at staggering expense, stocked a private aviary with whooping cranes and other exotic fauna. Their mating cries troubled the neighbors' sleep. Altogether, these activities so disturbed the inhabitants of Fountain Blvd. that they made a legal issue of them. Hurt and bewildered, the Zacchinis threatened to quit Tampa forever. A compromise was reached, the goat disposed of, the noisier birds donated to a zoo, and cannon practice limited to the hour from 5 to 6pm. The community eventually came to regard the Zucchini family with a certain defensive pride as a municipal wonder, something like the Eiffel Tower--distracting but distinctive.
During his more creative moods, Edmondo occaisionally would daydream. In it, one or more Zacchinis climb into a cannon and are shot out, not 200, not 500, but 1,000 feet away. "Now," Edmondo would say dreamily, "if I can figure out how they come down alive..."
In 1965 there were five different Zacchini cannon acts performing around the United States. Hugo, a son of Edmondo, said he was the last Zacchini to be a human cannonball; his final flight was on Aug. 29, 1991.
While the Zacchinis always acknowledged that their shattering cannon blasts were
purely sound effects (achieved by igniting half a cup of black gunpowder), Mario
and his family never revealed the secret of the Zacchini launching mechanism, to
deter copycats.
But other circus performers have said that the propulsion was accomplished by a
jolt of compressed air that moved a platform upon which the performers stood.
These days, many human cannonballs from other circus families are launched with
elastic bungee cords.
"Edmondo Zacchini, Inventor Of Human Cannonball Act, 87". Associated Press in New York Times. October 7, 1981. Retrieved 2008-08-04. Tampa - Edmondo Zacchini, credited with inventing the Human Cannonball circus act by firing himself out of an spring-powered cannon, died here in a hospital Saturday. He was 87 years old. Mr. Zacchini developed his act in Cairo in 1922 using a crude spring-powered cannon that hurled him 20 feet. He later developed one using compressed air. The first time he was shot from the cannon, he broke a leg and redesigned the device in the hospital. Mr. Zacchini and his brother Vittorio came to the United States in 1930 at the invitation of a circus promoter; eventually the family settled here. Their act involved six brothers and two sisters. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lRNPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oAIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5386%2C2103654
Survivors include three sons, Edmund, Hugo and Rene; two daughters, Engle Sedlmayr and Duina Norman; five brothers, Bruno, Ted , Victor, Emmanuel and Mario; a sister, Olga Mangiavacchi; five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Hugo Zacchini was known for
being a daredevil and a painter. He was born on October 20, 1898 in Peru to Ildebrando Zacchini.
He was born October 20, 1898 in
Peru, South America, and died October 20, 1975 in
San Bernardino, California. He attended Rome Arts Academy where at age of
12 he graduated. He held two engineering degrees from the University of Florida.
and graduated from the Jamestown Academy in New York, where he received a
Master's in Art.
Occupation Daredevil and artist, sculptor, taught art in Chaffey College,
interpreter to as many as 11 languages.
Spouse(s) Elsa Gertrude Walker Zacchini
Children Hugo Anthony Zacchini, Patchay "Pat" Zacchini
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/03/arts/mario-zacchini-sensational-human-cannonball-dies-at-87.html
On Feb 12 1930 Hugo married Elsbeth, born in Berlin
Germany on February 11 1909.
In 1948 Hugo Zacchini appeared with the "Mighty Hoosier State Shows" an Indiana
based carnival owned by W. R. Geren., where he was shot over two Ferris Wheels
set side by side an incredible feat (see photo below left).
Although better known as the "human cannonball", Zacchini was also an
accomplished artist, his paintings are greatly sought after today. Hugo became
friends with Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Hugo had studied art at the Rome
Arts Academy in Italy and received a Master's in Art degree from Jamestown
Academy in New York. Hugo also held two engineering degrees from the University
of Florida.
On October 20, 1975, at age 77 Hugo Zacchini died of a stroke in San Bernardino,
California.
Mario Zacchini, Sensational Human Cannonball, Dies at 87
By GLENN COLLINS
Published: February 3, 1999
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/03/arts/mario-zacchini-sensational-human-cannonball-dies-at-87.html
Mario A. Zacchini, age 87, Tampa resident and the last surviving member of the original generation of
nine human
cannonballs, whose routine employment was being explosively propelled from a
cannon across a circus tent into a net, succumbed to old age on Jan. 28th, 1999
at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla. He was the next-to-youngest son of the nine children of
Ildebrando Zacchini.
HURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006
IN MEMORY OF DUINA ZACCHINI NORMAN
DUINA ZACCHINI NORMAN #1 THE TRAPEZE FLYER
The Circus World has lost another great Star. I have received word that Duina
Zacchini Norman passed away yesterday, she was an accomplshed Flying Trapeze
Artist and one of the Zacchini Family Human Cannonballs.
Duina Zacchini, who died Saturday at 87, found fame as
half of a sister act of human cannonballs, flying 150 feet into a net. Usually,
as the Zacchinis were a family act, the cannoneer was her own father, Edmondo.
The Zacchini family, proprietors of the Italian Circus Olympia, is generally
credited with developing the human cannon. Edmondo Zacchini is said to have
broken his leg on being shot for the first time from the spring-loaded
contraption, in 1922. While still in traction, he redesigned it to use steam
power.
The American circus impresario John Ringling spotted the Circus Olympia's human
cannoneering at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. He brought the act back to America
in 1929, and the Zacchinis moved to America permanently in the early 1930s.
Edmondo used his sons as his primary projectiles for many years. When the sons
enlisted in the armed forces during World War II, Edmondo trained his daughters
to be cannon fodder. Duina Zacchini and her sister Victoria were billed as "The
Zacchini Sisters" and often toured with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum &
Bailey Circus.
They appeared on television shows while dressed in their protective suits and
were celebrity spokesmen for Quaker Puffed Wheat — a product that is created in
a cannon shot-like process.
It was a double life for Duina, touring for two months a year while raising a
family in Nashville, Tenn., where she lived with her husband, a lawyer. "I keep
saying each year, this will be my year to retire," she told the United Press in
1958. "But I don't know. I like to be with my family and I like to be with show
people. We say we have sawdust in our eyes." A life expert in protecting fragile
things, she eventually retired and opened an antique shop.
Egle Victoria Zacchini Sedlmayr
Birth: Aug. 27, 1921
Tunis, Tunisia
Death: Nov. 23, 2001
Tampa
Hillsborough County
Florida, USA
Eldest child of Edmondo and Josephine Zacchini of the Zacchini cannonball fame.
Known as "Miss Victory" during WWII. Performed the double cannon act with her
sister Duina. Married Carl J. Sedlmayr Jr. in 1952 of Royal American Shows
Obit: http://www.sptimes.com/Archive/112801/Obits.shtml
SEDLMAYR, EGLE ZACCHINI, 80, of Tampa, died Friday (Nov. 23, 2001) at Kindred
Hospital, Tampa. Born in Tunis, Tunisia, she came to the Tampa area in 1933 from
New York. She performed in the Zacchini Family Human Cannonball Act in the
circus and was founder and past president of the World Wide Show Women's Club,
past president of the Ladies Auxiliary, G.T.S.A., past president of the Ladies
Auxiliary Showmen's League of America, Chicago, O.E.S. Chapter 11. She was known
as Ms. Victory during World War II. Survivors include a daughter, Laura A.
Sedlmayr, Lutz; a son, Michael S. Sedlmayr, Tampa; a stepdaughter, Patricia
Painter, Stone Mountain, Ga.; a stepson, Skip Hackett, Tampa; a sister, Duina
Zacchini Norman, Nashville, Tenn.; two brothers, Hugo Zacchini and Rene Zacchini,
both of Tampa; and four grandchildren. Marsicano-B. Marion Reed-Stowers Funeral
Home, Tampa.
Rene Zacchini was the youngest of five children of Edmondo Zacchini: Duina,
Egle Victoria, Edmondo Jr, Hugo, Rene
Vittorio Mangivacchi Zacchini newspaper article Sarasota Herald Dec 15, 1963.
Wife Olga, daughter Madalina.
Vittorio & Edmondo act, May 20, 1931 Pittsburgh Press
Vittorio Human Cannonball extensive article with photo Sept 15, 1935 Reading Eagle
Vittorio Zacchini ad 1952 Billboard
Edmondo obit mentions brother Vittorio, sister Olga Mangiavacchi
Mario Zacchini is survived by his wife, Lydia; a daughter, Yvonne, and two sons,
Mario Jr. and Tyrone, all of Tampa.
Emanuel Zacchini Sr. Human Cannonball, 84
Published: September 16, 1993
Emanuel Zacchini Sr., who with his four brothers made a career out of performing a circus human cannonball act, died on Monday in Sarasota, Fla., where he lived. He was 84.
Mr. Zacchini's 175-foot cannonball jump at 54 miles an hour in 1940 was a world record and made the act famous. Mr. Zacchini ended his jumping career after suffering a broken neck in an accident in 1951.
Born in Italy, he was brought to the United States in 1934 by John Ringling, the circus owner. He started the cannonball act four years later with his brothers Mario, Teo, Bruno and Vittorio.
In addition to Mario and Vittorio, survivors include two daughters, Flora Pfefferkorn and Delia Cristiani; nine grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n8MdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tb4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6615%2C6547702
Their home in Tampa constituted a community of its own, five houses on 10 acres on Fountain Blvd.
No Zacchini has ever been killed, but every one of them have been injured, two so seriously that they were permanently crippled.
Rene Zacchini http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/rene-zacchini-left-circus-to-serve-in-florida-house-tampa-and-circuit-court/1089283
Ildebrando Zacchini (1868 - July 17, 1948, Tampa, Florida)
Young Zacchini blasts off new career at fair - https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hRQhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3IsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1670%2C2083182 Mar. 19, 1963 Emanuel Jr. is 19, young Maddalena a 20 year old cousin,
Olympia Zacchini, dau of Bruno and Germana, Feb 27, 1989 artist https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PKYcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I3oEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5516%2C3516150
Jan 11, 1993 article death of Bruno with info by Olympia https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QPccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p3sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4533%2C298202
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QPccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p3sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6203%2C312572
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9kg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=imYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6178%2C4455120 Olympia Zacchini rebuts Herald Tribune article about Edmondo inventing the canon. Clarify Cannonball History
Sarasota H.T. article subject of Olympia letter https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7ZscAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m2YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7292%2C4412749
Woman becomes human cannonball April 29, 1943 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OxgOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gX0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2445%2C219927
Duina Zacchini Find a grave
But in 1940, one of the brothers, Mario, was forced to retire after an accident at the New York World’s Fair. Thirty years later, his niece Linda broke her neck after colliding mid-air with her husband Emanuel.
Mar 1 1945 Victoria tells all about the act https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=arUWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2807%2C346834
Madelina Dal Paos Zacchini Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=8251139&PIpi=101620827
1964 article about George Hamid mentions the Steel Pier he bought https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ep4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oJ8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6993%2C3492127
For those old enough to remember the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, there is a WONDERFUL new book just out called "STEEL PIER: THE SHOWPLACE OF THE NATION." This hardcover 264-page book is available for $40 from Down the Shore Publishing, and is worth every penny. Click HERE for more info. The Steel Pier was the equivalent of Disneyland, 30 years before Disneyland was built. It had three movie theaters, two vaudeville theaters, a gigantic Marine Ballroom, a Water Circus, six funhouses, a Diving Bell, two dark rides (one ride-thru and one walk-thru), exhiibits sponsored by General Motors and General Electric, the Dancing Waters, and the world-famous High Diving Horse. The owner, George Hamid, came from a family of circus acrobats, and he always hired plenty of circus acts (Hugo Zacchini, etc.) and lots of amazing concessions, including a Svengali Pitch, a great code (mindreading) act, Dancing Chickens, a glassblower who made weather swans (barometers), fortune-telling parakeets, a Seal Zoo and I forget what else.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=336197&forum=23
Nov 4 1957 billboard article re Zacchinis in Pittsburgh booked by Hamid https://books.google.com/books?id=_SgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA68&ots=RHo9aaRhK8&dq=zacchini%20steel%20pier&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false
Jan 5, 2013 article re Theresa Nolan Jones, trapeze artist with the Flying Zacchinis http://tbo.com/events/former-trapeze-artist-visits-circus-for-her-th-birthday-598247
Yesterday's towns blogspot 3 photos of Edmondo Pagnotta http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html
Showman's memories Hugo Zacchini's workshop is filled with props and costumes used in his family's circus act. He was a flying cannonball. By SUE CARLTON Published September 4, 2006 (Son of Edmondo)
To look at him, you would never guess how he spent his life, this neat, pleasant retiree sipping cafe con leche in a South Tampa restaurant and talking old times. You couldn't guess that old times for him would mean flying high in white leather and goggles, no plane, no parachute; or that he did this thousands of times, sailing over crowds that pointed and cheered. Sitting across the table is Hugo Zacchini of the Great Zacchinis, circus royalty and contemporaries of the Great Wallendas. Here sits the grandson of the visionary showman who dreamed up the human cannonball act and the son of the man who put that plan into action. He tells me of his grandfather Ildebrando, artist and Italian patriarch of the Zacchini Circus, and the man's seven sons and two daughters, circus people all. When the human cannonball act debuted in Cairo in 1922, he says, his father Edmondo happened to have a broken leg - no surprise, since the man was a trapeze artist, wire walker and clown, among other things. So it was his namesake Uncle Hugo, smooth and handsome as Rudolph Valentino - "the charmer with the least acrobatic talent," he says - who first sailed forth to wow the crowds. "It was a big sensation," Zacchini says. He tells enchanted family stories: spectators who would turn away at the gate if they learned the cannonball act wasn't performing that night; the fierce windstorm that destroyed everything but the cannon; how John Ringling caught the act in Copenhagen and the Zacchinis ultimately came to America to work for him. The Zacchinis launched a man over the tops of two Ferris wheels, and later two people shot at once. He is not a tall man. "When I started, I was 6-foot-4," jokes Zacchini, who lives on a lake, ballroom dances, works on a book about his family. His former neighbor, sitting at the table with us, talks about stopping by years ago to find Zacchini in the yard upside-down on some contraption. Asked what he was doing, Zacchini said, "Just hanging around," a showman who knew a straight line when he heard one. I follow him to the old brick workshop off Swann Avenue, an unremarkable building until he pushes open the big doors. Parked inside are two huge, shiny old trucks, topped with massive cannons that are capped with rocket-shaped nose cones. They are something out of a cartoon, a wonder. This is the workshop where the Zacchinis built and fixed and tinkered and created. Their names, dating back to the 1930s, are still written onto the red bricks of one far wall. Here is the dusty old Singer sewing machine where they made leather jumpsuits and dramatic capes. Here is a bin of worn acrobat slippers, a faded pair of lace-up performer's boots. His sister Egle pronounced egg lee, a Plant High graduate, debuted in the spring of 1943 as "the first and only woman to be shot out of a cannon," he says. He shows me a poster of her as Miss Victory, a role she shared with her sister. (Ultimately, Egle changed her stage name to Victoria, and I'm guessing no one blamed her.) He got engineering degrees from the University of Florida (his father wanted him to know how things worked) and after a stint in the Army, went into show business. He did some flying trapeze, but the cannon was his mainstay. All that smoke and fire, by the way, is just show biz. Compressed air is what propelled people. "It isn't bad if you do it right," he says. He can count his notable injuries on one hand: cracked ankle, compressed spine, badly sprained knee. "But it was never enough to make me want to go out and get a job," he says. The last time he was shot from a cannon was Aug. 29, 1991, at the Hall of Fame Bowl party at Tampa Stadium, when he was 63. "I was getting tired of doing it," he says. He was married once but has no children to carry on with the show. And these days, can a man flying high into the air and onto a net compete with the frenzied action in 30 seconds of your average video game? In your average car commercial? "People don't go to circuses," Zacchini says, shrugging. "They want to see sex, football, crime." Then he wraps himself in a sparkly red cape, strikes a pose, and he is the last of the Great Zacchinis, down here with the rest of us. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/04/news_pf/Columns/Showman_s_memories.shtml
Zacchini, Rene April 13, 2010 Rene A. Zacchini, 80, passed away Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Rene was a former circuit court judge as well as a state representative. He was also a member of the famous "Zacchini Circus Family" and a 50-year member of the Florida Bar Association. Rene was preceded in death by his son, Norman A. Zacchini. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Joan E. Zacchini; a grandson, Christopher Mitchell (Alissa); a brother, Hugo Zacchini; as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins. Pallbearers will be Christopher Mitchell, Vernon K. Korhn II, Vernon "Trey" Korhn III, William Fisher and Bryan Fisher. Honorary pallbearers will include Joseph Shipley and Hugo Zacchini. Flowers will be accepted, or memorial donations may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heraldtribune/obituary.aspx?n=rene-zacchini&pid=141871706#sthash.ySMBhWKF.dpuf
Oct. 21, 1975 Hugo Zacchini, original human cannonball, dies of stroke in California https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rD41AAAAIBAJ&sjid=IGcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5310%2C2457867
photo of Hugo standing on cannon barrel from http://haroldvoise.blogspot.com/2011/03/8x10-black-and-white-photo-hugo.html
Hugo Zacchini III http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2009/09/hugo-zacchini-iii-1965.html
The picture above was taken from the Amusement Business magazine in 1965. Hugo 3rd (aka Butch) is a son of Hugo 1st, and presently lives in Red Level, AL, and has possession of this cannon. I had a nice visit with him in 2003 and he allowed me to take photos of the cannon. He has a son, also named Hugo (4th), whom I understand is involved in car racing
Jimmy Cole said... An interesting thing about the rocket ship design on this cannon barrel is that the nose cone partially remained in place during the shot. This was actually the 1st double repeating cannon, and had upper and lower firing chambers. During the last 15 - 20 years of it's use however, it was only used as a single shot cannon. The rocket nose cone was spread apart on the top portion, whereas on the other Zacchini "rocket ship" cannons, the nose cone was completely removed. Hopefully someone will step forward and restore this magnificent piece of American circus history! http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2452/3936031429_a26a823d7f.jpg
Carnival Heritage Digital Photograph Collection of the National Foundation for Carnival Heritage, Kinsley, Kansas, in partnership with the Kinsley Library http://tmp.kinsleylibrary.info/carnival/thumbSide.html
Else Zacchini being trained
Hugo in flight over ferris wheels Cheyenne, W
Hugo Zacchini on barrel salute front view
Hugo exiting cannon
Else Zacchini at cannon
Hugo & son over two ferris wheels
Hugo & son launch
Gal cannonball gets big charge April 11, 1958 Duina Zacchini Norman https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xkEqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dk4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7565%2C2813322
May 29, 1979 It's a bird, it's a plane, Hugo II credits gf Ildebrando with idea and father Edmondo for building 1st cannon, and uncle Hugo first shot out. Mentions Rene, lawyer. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V5cuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5306%2C4962648
1958 April 14, Hugo Sr. credits father Ildebrando for idea while painting posters in peru, older brother fired off first with gunpowder, broke his leg. Hugo next with compressed air and spring. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oN5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9fYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7084%2C3633111
1959 Aug 24 Edmondo credits Ildebrando with idea, self for being shot from spring loaded cannon breaking leg. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xw9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vyUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5135%2C2933131
1979 Oct 26 Hugo II only one left still performing https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FJwcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6705%2C4240944
1979 April 14 - Same story given by Edmondo to LIFE magazine. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mgUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ieAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3966%2C5064875
1933 article about Ringling circus mentions Hugo Zacchini act. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=drZRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YWkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3762%2C386860
1932 article about ringling mentions Hugo https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NkwbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4944%2C1583304
1937 Dec 11 Hugo Zacchini opens aviary https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SIUcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YWQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3663%2C5998714
1977 April 27 Hugo right to privacy lawsuit against TV news for filming entire act https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ej0pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3189%2C3740876
1999 Feb 8 Mario death last surviving brother https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NoRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5200%2C4851159
1929 Jun 4 Review of Hugo Zacchini act Pittsburgh press https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D3AbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4307%2C2608804
1993 Hugo artist mentions Edmondo and cannon history https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rFYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jAcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3651%2C1014814
Hugo Zacchini II married Fay Moses May 23, 1962 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RwUkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IgUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6143%2C5661445
Nancy Moses Rucavado, wife of George, both hired by Edmondo for Flying Zacchinis. Nancy is sister of Fay. Jun 28, 1965. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ymtPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FQUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3629%2C485221
Billboard 1945 gives rundown on what the Zaccini brothers were doing. https://books.google.com/books?id=pxEEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT57&ots=xYAgsykHfE&dq=fay%20zacchini&pg=PT57#v=onepage&q=fay%20zacchini&f=false
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