The Schaffner Players

Caroline Helen Hannah was born on June 24, 1901 in Orange, Texas and grew up in DeRidder, Louisiana. While Caroline was very young, her mother took her to a tent show. As a child, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she proudly replied “a tent show actress.”

While in high school, Caroline won a scholarship which enabled her to go to college. She attended Louisiana State University and then taught school for a year. At the age of nineteen, she left home to study “expression” and, in 1921, became the first graduate of the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City.

Caroline had been a dramatic reader and part of a musical group, The Dixie Trio, in Lyceum and Chautauqua before becoming a dancer in tab shows. A “tab” (or tabloid) show was a cut-down version of a play, with music and a chorus line added. Tab shows were performed between showings of motion pictures. This provided not only an added attraction, but also allowed time for the projectors to cool.