The pictures show a view of (29) of the (44) pages of this Old Zacchini Italian American Circus Performer Family Scrap Book. There is also a small stack of loose articles and pictures not shown that are included. The pages and loose items had been collected and saved by a long time circus collector in New Hampshire over many years. This scrapbook is filled with old photographs, programs, articles, advertising, obituaries, and more all about this multi-generation family of human cannon ball performers. There are at least (83) different paper items in this lot. These items go from the mid 1940s all the way to the mid 1970s with one article from 1980. The photographs are all from the 1950s. They are original prints and they measure 5'' x 7'', 5'' x 8'', and 8'' x 10''. There are too many names, stories, and advertisements to mention. Almost all of these are in clear protective pages. They are not pasted in the book. To judge the sizes the plastic pages measures 11-3/4'' x 14''. The book does not have a cover, as it was made. The items in the scrap book range from good to mint condition as pictured. Below here is some additional reference information that has been found on the subject from Cannon-Mania, LLC: There is more recorded history about a person being shot from a cannon in England, circa 1877. And yes, it was a girl, (14) called ''Zazel'' (Rossa Matilda Richter). She went on to tour with the P.T. Barnum Circus. Unfortunately (as some stories are told), during one of her performances, she broke her back and had to spend the rest of her life in a back brace. Since then, dozens of brave (?) souls have been propelled from cannons at speeds up to 90 mph and as far as 201 feet at a height of 100 feet. They endure ''G'' forces of around 12 G's when hitting the net. More than half of these entertainers were killed while performing their act, most by missing the net. New York State even issued a law prohibiting anyone from being shot from a cannon. The most famous family, the Zacchini's, (over 35 members) devoted their entire life to this entertainment starting in 1922, coming to the US in 1929. At times, (1939 to 1991) they had as many as 5 traveling shows with 14 cannons. The Zacchini's introduced launching two people simultaneously from the same cannon. Aside from the original five brothers who took flight, eventually two of their daughters also became human bullets (Duina and Egle Victoria). Hugo was the last of the family members to take flight on August 29, 1991. The Zacchini's also suffered several serious accidents, including one, where two of them collided in mid air having been simultaneously shot from opposing cannons. |