Dante had been refused bookings in Scandinavia for over two years so we were all very thrilled and excited to finally get a booking in Copenhagen, my father’s birthplace. We were contracted to work only two weeks but toured Scandinavia for a total of eleven months.
We soon met Grandpa Jansen’s brother, Christian and his wife Tante Josephine, his sister Cristina, her husband Rudolf Madsen and their son. Einer was married to Inger and they had two daughters, Greta and Kirsten, who were about seven and five years old.
Pop amazed us all when he began speaking Danish. I suppose we assumed that he had forgotten what he learned as a child. Whenever he had trouble learning some foreign languages, Dolly says the kids would tease him and his answer was, “Wait ’til we get to Denmark!”
We had wonderful family dinners with our relatives in their homes. Such an abundance of food! There would always be a centerpiece of flowers and ribbons running to each place setting. When we pulled them we would each find a lovely small gift of jewelry. One of my gifts was a gold cameo pendant.
One table setting was decorated with copies of illusions and small animals. We, in turn, entertained them with dinner at the King Frederick Hotel, which served a fabulous smorgasbord.
While getting ready for the opening, Al had climbed the circular stairwell which led to the upper floor dressing rooms. At the top (three floors up) there was a skylight which opened onto the roof. He placed a ladder and climbed up. He was going to fasten the pulleys and cable for the illusion “The Hanging Trunks.” As Al returned through the skylight, he was blinded by the sun and missed his footing on the ladder – he fell.
He hit the wall and rolled down one flight of stairs. I was the one who found him, unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital with a severe concussion. The X-rays showed a very wide crack, from front to back, of his skull. The prognosis was not good. The doctors said it would be weeks before he would recover.
Mom telegraphed Grandma and started a prayer chain going. Al had a miraculous recovery. He was healed and out of the hospital in less than two weeks.
He was very disappointed to miss opening night. It was one of the most exciting nights we had ever experienced.
The show began, all the relatives were seated in the third row. We were all feeling a little nervous but determined to give the best performance of our lives.
Somewhere along in the first act, Dante asked for someone to come up on the stage to assist him. He usually asked for a child for this particular trick and I was the plant. As I was standing on the stage, I looked down at our relatives and saw Grandpa Jansen seated directly behind Tante Cristina! I managed to whisper in my Father’s ear that Grandpa was in the audience. But it took more than one try to get him to listen. Then he stepped to the footlights, shaded his eyes and took a good look.
The show stopped, while everyone embraced each other and many tears were shed. Pop explained to the audience that his uncle and aunt had not seen their brother in over forty years and here was Grandpa sitting right behind his sister and not knowing it.
Grandpa, who was now in his late eighties, without telling anyone had booked passage for Copenhagen and on arrival bought his ticket to the show, intending to surprise everyone when it was over. I think he got the biggest surprise of all. Cristina, a very regal looking lady, kneeling on the seat in front of him! Grandma Farne also came for a visit in Denmark but her trip was planned by my parents. One thing she couldn’t get used to was seeing the dignified elderly aunts smoking their little cigars!
When we left Copenhagen we also left Marquis, our Great Dane. He was so big, it was becoming a problem getting him into hotels and in those days hotels were usually very accommodating. The theatre manager took him, promising the best of care but he wanted to use him as a watchdog. Some years later we returned to Copenhagen, just for a visit and went to the theatre to see Marquis. I was sitting on a bench by the stage door waiting for the watchman to bring him. As he approached us, he stopped and looked, then came straight to me and laid his big head in my lap. I know he remembered me.
One more very exciting event in Copenhagen was a command performance before King Cristian and Dante was presented with a gold medal.
I have wondered what Grandpa Jansen thought of that. Because he had worked at the Palace as a stable boy and Grandma was working as a maid when they met. Pop had at least five gold medals that I remember. One was for giving a benefit in Sweden, for the widow of a pilot, who was a national hero.
After Pop retired, in California, he had invited two men for dinner one evening. They were not strangers and had been to the house before. During the evening Pop showed them his prized medals.
Shortly after they left, the medals were missing. The police were called and the men questioned but the medals were never found. They have never been restored to the family. I was recently told of someone who has them.
Pop loved to fish and I remember a trip we took up the Norwegian Fjords. Our ship stopped and the water was so clear we could see the fish below us. Our travels through Scandinavia were probably the most relaxing. There came a time when Pop became much more demanding and would say, “We are not on a Cook’s Tour!” Cook being the leading travel agency in the world.
We went next to Odense, Esbbjerg, Aarhus, Oslo, Bergen Trondjhem. It was in Odense that a chain of events began that would affect all of our lives.
Occasionally Dante would advertise that he would invite a local young lady to come up on stage and be sawn in half. The young lady that responded to the challenge was Marie (Liss) Andreasen. She made a good impression on Pop and he asked her to join our show. She also made a very good impression on Leon. Very soon it was obvious that they were very much in love. However Pop was not immediately aware of this.
Bill was also in love with a young lady he met in Oslo. Her parents came to see Mom and Pop and they all agreed that the girl was too young (and Bill was only eighteen) so that ended their courtship.
We spent Christmas 1930, in Stockholm. We found it to be a very lonely place for a Christmas Holiday, if you are living in a hotel. All of the employees went to their respective homes and we couldn’t get any service, even the cook was gone! It was a sad Christmas. On December 19th Mom received a cable that her brother, Uncle Ray, had died from a ruptured appendix.
While in Stockholm, we were playing at the Circus Theatre, we received our invitation to give a command performance for King Gustaf and his family. We usually performed “Sawing a Woman in Half” when we went to the Palaces. Since mine were the feet used in the bottom half, we maintained our secrecy by smuggling me into the Palaces in a large basket, presumably carrying costumes. I performed my job, returned to my hiding place and waited to be removed.
Unfortunately for me, I only caught a glimpse of the Palace. I missed out on the beautiful refreshments and getting to meet members of the royal family who were always very gracious. I still have the black satin shoes I wore on those occasions.
King Gustaf presented the gold medal with his compliments and a handshake. After King Haakon of Norway saw the show, at his Palace, he said, “I saw it done, but I don’t believe it!”
Some time earlier Dante had begun to use “Sim Sala Bim” as his Magic incantation. It was partly taken from a Danish folk song by J.L. Heiberg, called “Den Stakkels Krage.” It went like this:
“Hojt Pa En Gren E Krage
sim sala dim bam ba
sala du sala dim
hojt pa en gren en krage sad.”
Al composed a song on the “Sim Sala Bim” words and had it copyrighted. He wrote an article all about it for Genii Magazine.
We traveled next to Malmo, Goteborg, then returned to Copenhagen, this time to work in the Tivoli Gardens.