This is my 500th eJuggle article. As this milestone was approaching, I fretted over what article number 500 should be about. I asked various juggling friends and fans of my writing, and the consensus was that I should write something personal. So, I’ve decided to write about how I got to this point as a juggling historian, researcher, and writer. I’m writing this on a rainy April 30th, 2023. I know this won’t be published until six or seven months later, as I’m that far ahead on my articles. I know relatively few will care about this milestone, but it’s an important one to me, as it’s the culmination of over four decades as a juggler and over a decade as a juggling historian.
Background
I learned to juggle in June or July of 1982. I was bored and was rummaging through the bottom drawer of my dad’s dresser. What I found were a variety of knickknacks, including a trick deck of cards (which I still have) and a “how to juggle” set. I took the balls, but left the instructions. I went out to my backyard and taught myself to do a three ball cascade under the giant weeping willow tree at the back of the yard. This took me about ninety minutes, but I was successful. I guess I knew what the pattern was supposed to be and just figured out how to learn it. A week or two later I won a competition at camp by juggling three rocks. When I got home, I went to my local library and found a few books on juggling: The Juggling Book by Carlo, The Independent Entertainer by Happy Jack Feder, and Juggling by Rudoph Dittrich. I checked them out and read them cover to cover. I set out to learn everything I could from those and any other books on juggling that I could find.
The first three juggling books I read
IJA
I joined the IJA in 1983 and started receiving Juggler’s World Magazine. Every three months another issue would show up and I would devour every page. I wasn’t satisfied to just be getting better as a juggler. I wanted to learn about every juggler I could, both past and present. You see, I’m someone who loves to learn. Whether it’s a skill (every type of juggling under the sun, magic, guitar, piano, ukulele, dulcimer, etc.), an area of study (physics, comic books, theology, etc.), or something else, if I take a strong interest in it, I’m someone who is willing to devote a lot of time and energy into studying it. So, I consumed and absorbed as much juggling “stuff” as I possibly could. An example of my interest in juggling history is the fact that I won the juggling trivia competition in 1987 at the IJA’s 40th Annual Convention in Akron, Ohio. Many people were amazed that a 17 year old would win such a contest over all the more seasoned attendees at the convention, but it showed that I was most definitely a juggling nerd.
The first issue of Juggler’s World I received
My First Juggling History Article
Fast forward to 2011. I had now been a professional juggler for 27 years. I’d set Guinness World Records and won 15 IJA gold medals. But, I’d also done a fair bit of writing. I’d written 9 books on various variety arts, such as juggling, magic, clowning, unicycling, and balloon twisting. In addition, I’d done some work as an investigative journalist in high school and written some pieces about a local cult while in college. I decided that I should try writing for Juggle Magazine, the publication that had taken the place of Juggler’s World as the official publication of the IJA. I decided to write about the combination of two of my greatest loves – juggling and music. My article, Musical Juggling Combination Tricks, ran in the Winter 2011 Juggle Magazine. Did I write any more articles for Juggle? No, because that issue was the final one. The IJA made the decision to switch over to an online format, resulting in the establishment of eJuggle.
At that point, I had no inclinations of doing any more juggling history writing or work. In fact, I was quite focused on other things. In early 2012, I went through an unwanted divorce and was dealing with my father’s bone cancer and my mother’s back surgery. I had just moved back to my hometown to be close to them and was living in a mostly empty house.
Starting the Museum of Juggling History
Then I received an email from Alan Howard, who had been the publisher of Juggle Magazine. He remembered that I had said something years before about wanting to get a Van Wyck juggling club if one ever came available. Edward Van Wyck was the first maker of retail juggling clubs, starting in 1895. His workshop in Cincinnati, Ohio is about thirty minutes from my house. For both historical and geographical reasons, I’ve long wanted one of these very rare props. Alan was emailing to say that he’d been contacted by a juggler in California who had three Van Wycks for sale and wanted to see if I was interested. I jumped at the chance to obtain these tangible pieces of juggling history by contacting the seller and making arrangements to purchase the clubs. This was June 1st of 2012. When I received the clubs a week later, I was quite happy. I know that may sound silly, but I had been through a tough year and was trying to take pleasure in the small things.
The three Van Wyck clubs that started the museum collection
I started thinking about how few Edward Van Wyck clubs had survived. In my thirty one years as a juggler, these were the first I’d ever seen. I recalled hearing many horror stories of vintage props being thrown away by the box full, used as paint stirring sticks, or just getting lost over time. This led me to the idea of combining my love for juggling history with my family’s experience with collecting. My father was a long time collector of coins, baseball cards, and fossils and built a number of businesses out of his hobbies.
I started by announcing my intention to build a collection of historical juggling props that I could show as an exhibit at juggling festivals and conventions. This was similar to what Paul Bachman had done at several IJA Fests with his fabulous collection. I posted this announcement on various online juggling forums, not knowing if I’d get any response. At the same time, I contacted various friends and acquaintances in the juggling community that I thought might be able to contribute to the collection. The response was immediate. Jim Ellison donated five Stu Raynolds clubs. Mike Chirrick agreed to donate a ball that belonged to his mother, Lottie Brunn, as well as some of his old props. Anthony Gatto donated two of his clubs, including one of his very earliest childhood clubs, as well as his father’s three wooden juggling plates. Tommy Curtin donated three Harry Lind clubs and two very rare Arthur Mann clubs. Dave Finnigan agreed to send a Lottie Brunn stick and a variety of rare clubs. The collection was off to a quick start that has never ended. It eventually turned into the Museum of Juggling History, the world’s largest collection of historical juggling props and memorabilia. You can click here, here, and here to see the most recent video tour of the museum. I mention the museum because it was the starting of the museum that reignited my desire to research and write about juggling history.
David Cain in the Museum of Juggling History
eJuggle
In August of 2012, I wrote my first article for eJuggle, the IJA’s online magazine. I never imagined that eleven years later, I would see my 500th eJuggle article published. Likewise, I wouldn’t have guessed that I would have written 15 juggling history books during that time as well. But with that first eJuggle article, I started down a path that would lead me to become the most recognizable juggling historian of the 2010s and 2020s.
That first eJuggle article was Juggling Related Injuries and Deaths. While not exactly the most positive of subjects, the response to the article was positive enough for me to decide to keep writing. While my main emphasis has been on juggling history, I have tried to cover a variety of topics, including biographies, tutorials, interviews, product reviews, opinion pieces, obituaries, prop / trick histories, topical collections and lists, contests, book reviews, and historical books, catalogs, and documents. My articles are published four times a month. I have to say a giant thank you to Scott Seltzer, my editor at eJuggle and one of the biggest supporters of my work with the museum and as a writer. I also have to thank my many juggling friends and fellow juggling history buffs and historians. These include Erik Åberg, Thom Wall, Niels Duinker, Dan Holzman, Alan Howard, Esteban Velez, and many others. Obviously, I need to thank the IJA for providing a place for my articles and a budget to help support my work. I especially have to thank my twin brother Scott, how has helped me both as a fellow juggling historian and writer and more importantly as a sounding board and friend.
I could provide seemingly endless hyperlinks to my various articles and may do so in a future submission, but you can look through my eJuggle publications by clicking here and browsing to your heart’s content.
Juggling History Books
As I stated earlier, my writing for eJuggle led to 15 juggling history books, with some of the articles serving as the skeletons of book chapters that I built upon as additional information came in after each article was published. I haven’t gotten rich writing either the articles or the books, but I’m very glad to have contributed so much to our understanding of juggling history.
My first 13 juggling history books
I want to thank all those who read my work and support my research in various ways. Without readers, I would have no reason to write. I hope I can continue this work for many years. So, if you’ll keep on reading, I’ll do my best to keep on writing.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).