Tag Archives: Ruby Treutel

Family Tales, General History, Historic Photos, School Stories

When a Movie was More Than Just a Movie

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When was the last time your visit to the Cineplex included live entertainment? (The bratty 5-year-old in front of you throwing popcorn at his brother does not count.) The movie theater was once about much more than movies, and the price of admission included live performances, newsreels, comedy shorts and more. For years our own Ruby V. Hanneman was a featured performer at some of Wisconsin Rapids finest cinemas, and her name appeared in ads right alongside Silent Era stars of the day like Neal Hart, Ricardo Cortez, Doris Kenyon and Jack Holt.

Ruby Treutel Hanneman was the musical attraction during the showing of The Spaniard.
Ruby Treutel Hanneman was the musical attraction during the showing of The Spaniard in October 1925.

Ruby often appeared at the Ideal Theatre at 220 E. Grand Ave., Wisconsin Rapids. She sang a “musical novelty” at two shows on Halloween night 1925. The main attraction was The Thundering Herd, a movie based on the 1925 novel by Zane Grey. (Zane Grey happened to be a favorite author of Carl F. Hanneman and his son David, but we digress.) Seats that night were just 10 cents or 25 cents, half off the typical ticket prices.

On Thanksgiving 1925, Ruby sang for the audience at Paramount Pictures In the Name of Love, starring Ricardo Cortez and Greta Nissen. Ruby sang two numbers, “Lonesome, That’s All,” and “In the Garden of Tomorrow.” The 15 cent and 35 cent admission also included the Wisconsin Rapids Quintette, newsreels and a Will Rogers comedy.

Ruby Treutel sang as a prologue to The Dressmaker from Paris.
Ruby Treutel sang as a prologue to The Dressmaker from Paris.

Ruby got perhaps her most prominent billing for the October 17, 1925 showing of The Spaniard. Her name was most prominent in the ad in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. “Added Attraction, Mrs. Ruby Hanneman in a Musical Novelty, Please, the ad read. On Aug. 25, 1925 she appeared at the New Palace Theater singing, “I Wonder What’s Become of Sally.” The feature film that night was Born Rich starring Bert Lytell and Claire Windsor.

Ruby V. Treutel dressed for her lead role in the musical 'Sylvia' in 1922.
Ruby V. Treutel dressed for her lead role in the operetta ‘Sylvia’ in 1922.

By the time she starred at the New Palace and the Ideal, Ruby was a veteran singer. According to the April 4, 1921 edition of the Daily Tribune, Ruby Treutel “brought down the applause of the house time after time” for her performance in the play “The Fire Prince” at Daly’s Theater. Ruby was 17 at the time.

Now known as Mrs. Carl Hanneman, Ruby sang before the showing of Zane Grey's "The Thundering Herd."
Now known as Mrs. Carl Hanneman, Ruby sang before the showing of Zane Grey’s “The Thundering Herd.”

When she graduated from Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids in 1922, Ruby had years of experience in music and drama. She played the female lead in the operetta Sylvia during her senior year. She was also president of the Glee Club. Under her senior class portrait in the yearbook The Ahdawagam read the motto, “Music hath charms and so does she.”

©2014 The Hanneman Archive

Crime, Family Tales, Genealogy, General History

1902 Melee and Shootout Pitted the Moodys Against the Hinzes

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It might not have been the Hatfields and McCoys, but the simmering feud between the John Hinz and William Moody families of Wood County, Wis., almost turned fatal in February 1902. 

The Moody and Hinz farms sat just across the road from one another in the Town of Arpin, about a mile north of Vesper, Wis.  On Monday, Feb. 3, trouble started when the two family dogs got into a fight. Members of both families then got into a roadside melee that ended with William Moody being shot in the chest by 22-year-old Frank Hinz.
The Moodys and Hinzes lived directly across from one another.
The Moodys and Hinzes lived directly across from one another.

Newspaper accounts of the donnybrook varied wildly. The Marshfield Times said Moody was “probably fatally wounded” by the “young criminal” Hinz, whom the paper said has a “sneaky and guilty look about him.” The Grand Rapids Tribune called Hinz a “poor shot,” noting that he missed once and actually shot his own father in the wrist with another of his bullets. Lena (Treutel) Moody, aunt of Ruby Treutel of Vesper, swung an axe handle at Frank Hinz during the fracas.

The Tribune said neither man was seriously wounded, although three surgeons responded to the scene. Hinz was arrested by Wood County Sheriff James McLaughlin and charged with assault with attempt to kill Moody.

Newspapers carried the story of the shootout.
Newspapers carried the story of the shootout.

According to newspaper accounts, the dispute between the families involved pets, children and parents. A few months before the shooting, Martha Hinz reportedly threw pepper in the face of one of the Moody children. The dogs would fight whenever they came into contact.

On the day of the shooting, Lena Moody and John Hinz got into a shouting match in the road after the most recent dog fight. When William Moody came upon the scene, he got into fisticuffs with the elder Hinz. Young Frank Hinz retrieved a revolver from the farmhouse and fired several shots at close range.

At his trial in May 1902, the prosecution called numerous witnesses, including William Moody, Lena Moody, daughters Esther and Anna, and Lisetta (Treutel) Moody, another aunt of Ruby Treutel. Each witness for the state was paid $2.28 for their appearance in court. Hinz was found guilty of a reduced charge of simple assault and fined $50 plus court costs by Justice of the Peace T.J. Cooper. With costs the total levied against Hinz was about $200, in lieu of a six-month jail term.

©2014 The Hanneman Archive

FAMILY LINE: Johann Adam Treutel >> Philipp Treutel >> Adeline Barbara (Treutel) Moody