| |
Paris Keystone agency
Human cannon ball (Projectile Humain)
1940s
Gelatin silver print
7 x 5 in
Muse XX
LL/24069
Ugo Zacchini (1898 - 1975) being shot out of a cannon. Traces of the net can be seen below (at right.) with typed caption sheet attached.
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.
| |
LuminousLint 
@LuminousLint