CASE STUDY SANDWINA, ‘THE STRONGEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD’
Renowned strong-woman Sandwina was born Katherine ( Katie) Brumbach, near Vienna in May 1884. She was the eldest daughter of Phillipe Brumbach, a circus strong-man, and from an early age it was clear that Katie had inherited her father’s prodigious strength. By the age of 16, she was as strong as most men. As the centrepiece of the family circus, she would conclude her act with a challenge; a purse of 100 marks to any man or woman who would wrestle with her and pin her to the floor – nobody ever succeeded. Katie grew to a statuesque five feet 10 inches and 200 pounds (around 89 kilograms). She appeared taller as she piled her long hair on top of her head and wore heels. Katie was never described as being masculine and was for many, both men and women alike, the epitome of female beauty. She was described as being as majestic as the Sphinx and as pretty as a valentine. In 1905 she was touring Europe with her husband Max, and two others as ‘The World’s Great Sandwinas’. By 1911, they were signed to appear in Barnum & Bailey’s Circus in America. During the 1920s, Sandwina toured the UK, appearing with Bertram Mills’ Circus at Olympia and other venues. After retiring both she and Max went on to work for the Works Progress Administration ( WPA) Circus; a part of Franklin Roosevelt’s government-funded development plan during the Depression era. It offered unemployed performers the opportunity to work as well as providing low-income American families with the chance to see performances otherwise reserved for the more affluent of society. After the war they fully retired from performing and opened a café-bar in the Queens area of New York. Strong until the last, she died of cancer in 1952. Sandwina had been the essence of a liberated woman. She had combined beauty with strength; masculine performance with femininity; and she had shown that a woman could be a mother and have a full-time career.