My father's cousin ran "Ding-a-ling cirkus" in the USA
On this day in 1918, my father’s cousin, Harry Oliver Hanson, was born in White Earth, Mountrail County, North Dakota.
He was the second of four children born to Karl Marius Hansen and Hansine Olsdatter Garnes, both of whom had immigrated from Norway to the USA. Karl Marius was my grandmother Oline’s brother and emigrated in 1908 at the age of 22.
When Karl Marius arrived in the USA, he had $10 in his pocket. Apparently, he didn’t need more startup capital to make a name for himself in his new homeland. In the USA, he Americanized his name to Carl Hanson.
Carl was a powerhouse, and he leveraged this to build a successful career as a wrestler. He achieved the title of “North West Champion” and lived as a professional wrestler for several years before establishing himself in White Earth with a hotel business.
My father’s cousin, Harry Oliver, grew up in White Earth, where he worked at a sawmill among other jobs. He got married in 1939 and had a son, Craig. They were hardworking people.
In the late 1920s, many small cinemas were established in rural areas and small towns in the USA. However, with the declining economy in the 1930s, many cinemas closed down. That’s when Harry and his wife bought a movie projector and traveled around small towns for many years showing movies. This became widely known as “Hanson’s ding-a-ling Circus.”
When the market for traveling cinemas declined, Harry found work as a welder. From 1947, he worked at the waterworks in Bismarck, North Dakota, until his retirement in 1979.
Harry was 86 years old when he passed away in 2005 in Bismarck.
Read the entire story of my American family…
Fatterns søskenbarn dreiv "Ding-a-ling cirkus" i USA
På denne dag i 1918 ble fatterns søskenbarn, Harry Oliver Hanson, født i White Earth, Mountrail County, Nord-Dakota.
Han var barn nr 2 av 4 til Karl Marius Hansen og Hansine Olsdatter Garnes som begge hadde emigrert fra Norge til USA. Karl Marius var bror til min farmor, Oline, og emigrerte i 1908, 22 år gammel.
Da Karl Marius kom til USA hadde han 10 $ i lomma. Mer startkapital behøvde han tydeligvis ikke for å slå seg fram i sitt nye hjemland. I USA amerikaniserte han navnet sitt til Carl Hanson.
Carl var en kraftplugg og dette utnyttet han og skaffet seg en lysende karriere som bryter. Han oppnådde å bli “North West Champion” og levde som profesjonell bryter noen år før han etablerte seg i White Earth med hotellvirksomhet.
Fatterns søskenbarn, Harry Oliver, vokste opp i White Earth hvor han bl.a. jobbet på et sagbruk. Han giftet seg i 1939 og fikk en sønn, Craig, og de var driftige folk.
Utover på 20-tallet ble det etablert mange små kinoer på landsbygda og i småbyene i USA. Men med sviktende økonomi utover 30-årene ble mange kinoer lagt ned. Da kjøpte Harry og kona en kinoprosjektor og reiste rundt i småbyene i mange år og viste filmer. Dette ble viden kjent som “Hanson’s ding-a-ling Circus”.
Da markedet for den omreisende kinoen var over tok Harry seg arbeid som sveiser og fra 1947 jobbet han på vannverket i Bismarck, Nord-Dakota, til han pensjonerte seg i 1979.
Harry var 86 år da han døde i 2005 i Bismarck.
Les hele historien om min amerikanske familie her…