George Hanneford Jr., the eldest son of William George Sanger Hanneford
(see History page), nephew of the famous Poodles, was born in 1923. Until
the age of about 14 he spent most of the time in school - spending his
summers, along with his brother Tommy, working the circus with his family
(including the Tom Mix Circus, Downey Bros., and the Hamid-Morton Circus).
When he was old enough he joined in the riding
act until he was drafted in the army at age 18. During this period he worked
the army shows doing his riding act on a horse used to pull  the
manure wagon. After a stint overseas with the 24th Infantry Division in
Mindanao he was discharged and returned to work with the family riding
act - George eventually taking over his fathers routines as straight man
stunt rider to his brother Tommy's comedy routines, with their sister Kay
(modeled on the original Poodles/George Hanneford riding act).
In 1950 George met Mary Victoria George
and the two married in 1952. Vicki started working as a performer at the
age of 10 with the Hamid-Morton Circus as an aerialist. Though not from
a circus family she soon fell in love with it when her dancing school was
hired to work  with
a Shrine Circus show for a season in her home town of Atlanta, Georgia.
The producer of the aerial ballet and showgirl routines, Peaches O'Neill,
took a shine to the young Vicki and eventually invited her on the tour
with the show after getting permission from her parents. She then joined
the Berosini high wire act, left to try modeling, but returned to join
the "Simru Sky Review-Dancing in the Sky" act of 12 girls, then joined
the famous Wallenda's high wire act.
After they were married they decided to start their own act together. George
had hurt his knee during a trampoline act and needed to find something
new. He started practicing bal- ancing a high pole, called a perch, and
Vicki, already a trapeze artist, was able to climb up and do her trapeze
act atop the pole rig. Then they added George's sister Kay to the act and
"The Georgians" were born.
After they split from the main family, and
went out on their own, they formed their own riding act and were booked
on the Ringling show, from '61 to '65, doing both perch and riding acts
with Vicki also doing a single trapeze in the aerial ballet. They continued
their two main  acts,
with other performers joining in at different times, until they decided
to take out their own show - after the birth of their two children, Cathy
and George III - in the 70's.
With their own show in the making they had to buy
their own elephants which they got from Bangkok, Thailand. While George
took out the show, Vicki was left to raise both them and her two children
plus try to run the business end of the circus. It was a difficult time
but Vicki is not a person to give up easily. The Hanneford Family Circus
toured successfully around much of the U.S.A. until they signed a contract
to do a couple of weeks in December 1979 at the  Fort
Lauderdale Swap Shop. The show was so successful that the contract was
extended through the winter season, then renewed again for the summer.
That two week contract has expanded to, so far, ten years (minus a short
hiatus after about six years) and can now be seen world wide via the internet
- another first for the Hanneford family.
Though both George and Vicki no longer perform,
both are still very active in the show. If you watch carefully on the web
cam you might catch a glimpse of one or the other during the elephant act.
Vicki spends a lot of time making new costumes while George builds new
props.
Victoria is also able to boast one other accomplishment in her long varied
career. She is the premier expert on raising elephants. During the long
period when the Hanneford elephants were growing up, Vicki was trained
by the then expert, Mrs. Goebels. Vicki was taught all the intricate details
of elephant idiosyncrasies and how to avoid and overcome problems that
arise when raising a baby elephant - things that nobody else in the  United
States is aware of, or, at least, not aware of. Since Mrs. Goebels died,
and Vicki was the only person she confided her knowledge to, Victoria Hanneford
can safely say, "If you want to raise a baby elephant, ask me and it will
live." Judging by the problems Ringling has had, maybe they should.
During their careers they have been actively
involved in shaping the modern circus, from tent show to indoor circus
productions, and, along with their family, are an integral part of the
history, and the future, of the circus in America.
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