Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2015, Blaðsíða 30

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30 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2015LEMÚRINN
Lemúrinn is an Icelandic web magazine (it's also the Icelandic word for the native
primate of Madagascar). A winner of the 2012 Web Awards, Lemúrinn.is covers
all things strange and interesting. Go check it out at www.lemurinn.is
During World War I, Reykjavík’s deni-
zens would gather outside the news-
paper’s offices to view the latest pho-
tographs from the battlefields. And,
on one summer’s day in 1934, they
gathered there to view a photograph
that had been printed in an Austrian
newspaper, depicting a group of people
who had recently arrived in Vienna with
a travelling circus. The image showed
a family of six, all of whom had great,
white curly hair and wore strange em-
broidered costumes and boots.
“They call themselves Ice People
in their advertisements,” wrote Mor-
gunblaðið, “but they are in fact so-
called Albinos, or ‘white’ men. They say
they came from their distant homeland,
the legendary Iceland, and will travel
around Europe and show Icelandic na-
tional customs, dance and sport. They
wear their colourful costumes [...] but
suffer so much because of the heat
that they had to fetch a doctor for two
women in their party.”
In interviews with Austrian media,
cited by Morgunblaðið, the leader of the
Ice People claimed that there still re-
mained a few isolated families of such
indigenous “white people” in Iceland:
“They are sensitive to heat, as
their skin lacks colour. And their pupils
are red and they cannot stand bright
lights. Those who have recently arrived
from Iceland cannot survive without
Icelandic moss and moss tea.”
Obviously, these were no real
Icelanders, but a group of imaginative
charlatans. And this enraged Morgun-
blaðið to no end. The paper’s short ar-
ticle on the subject ended with a strong
exhortation to the government of Ice-
land to somehow prevent these people
from posing as Icelanders, thus bring-
ing the Icelandic nation into disrepute.
It is unclear whether anyone else
was as offended about this as Morgun-
blaðið’s staff, who, in the weeks after,
wrote article after article on the latest
shenanigans of the “fake Icelanders”
on the mainland, and the Icelandic gov-
ernment’s scandalous inaction on this
pressing matter.
But who were these Ice People,
really? In fact, their leader was one of
Europe’s most notable circus artists of
his time, boasting of a long and distin-
guished career. He usually called him-
self Tom Jack but was born to German
parents as Karl Breu in 1884, in what is
now Dubnany in the Czech Republic.
His parents were both glass
smiths, but as an albino he was thought
unable to follow in his parents’ foot-
steps, because of his sensitive eyes. In-
stead he joined the circus in his teens,
first as a clown, and later finding his
calling in Houdini-esque escapology.
For years, he travelled Europe building
a reputation as one of the continent’s
finest escape artists. He was known as
the Ice King.
In the 1930s, as Jack got older, he
introduced a less physically demand-
ing act: “To-Ya and his Ice Family.” The
family members were all as white and
pale as Jack himself, although they
weren’t necessarily all real albinos—a
white wig and a ridiculous costume was
considered quite enough to achieve
“the Icelandic look.”
In August 1934, an Icelandic ship-
broker encountered the charlatans in
Amsterdam. He tried first to engage
with them in Icelandic, but when it be-
came apparent that the “Icelanders”
understood none of it, they quickly
claimed to hail from Akureyri and thus
speak a northern dia-
lect of Icelandic that
was unintelligible to
southerners such
as the shipbroker.
Unpersuaded, and
greatly offended, the
shipbroker unsuc-
cessfully tried to per-
suade Dutch news-
papers to cover this great scandal.
However, Morgunblaðið published his
account in great detail, again urging
the government to take action against
the harmful frauds.
It’s difficult to say today if To-Ya
and his Ice Family really ever brought
Iceland to any disrepute, as Iceland-
ers had feared. Likewise, it is uncertain
where Tom Jack and his pale family
took to next. We know the group con-
tinued crisscrossing Europe for several
years despite Icelanders’ outrage. Like-
ly, it was the start of World War II that
finally brought an end to
their illustrious career
as Icelanders, rather
than pressure from Ice-
land’s government or media. After the
war, ringleader Tom Jack tried to retire
to his old hometown in Czechoslovakia,
but like many ethnic Germans, he was
soon forced to leave and eventually
settled in Germany.
The Ice King died in 1953.
The Invasion Of
The Ice Family
Way back in the beginning of the 20th century—when
featuring images in newsprint was a complicated and
pricey endeavour—Iceland’s distinguished daily, Mor-
gunblaðið, would exhibit interesting photographs and
illustrations that came down the wire by posting them
in the windows of its Austurstræti editorial offices, in
downtown Reykjavík.
Words
Vera Illugadóttir
Photos
Provided by Lemúrinn
Obviously, these
were no real Iceland-
ers, but a group of
imaginative charla-
tans. And this en-
raged Morgunblaðið
to no end.
That time a group of albinos drove
Icelanders crazy