In July of 2024, Michael Chirrick, the son of juggling icon Lottie Brunn, donated two of his mother’s scrapbooks to the Museum of Juggling History. Rather than them being filled with clippings from Lottie’s illustrious career, they are filled with juggling-themed cartoons and illustrations that she collected throughout her life. We recently shared photos and video from the first of …
Lottie Brunn Juggling Cartoon Scrapbook # 1
In July of 2024, Michael Chirrick, the son of juggling icon Lottie Brunn, donated two of his mother’s scrapbooks to the Museum of Juggling History. Rather than being filled with clippings from Lottie’s illustrious career, they are filled with juggling-themed cartoons and illustrations she collected throughout her life. Some images are drawings of Lottie herself or other well-known jugglers, such …
Lucy Gillet – New Information and Photos
By David Cain Lucy Gillet was an extremely talented juggler. She juggled six plates while balancing a long bird perch on her chin and a flower pot on her forehead. She also performed nine balls in her act. Despite these incredible toss juggling feats, she was best known for her foot juggling and balancing stunts. Lucy Gillet was born …
The Ball In A Cup On The Head Trick
By David Cain There is an entire category of juggling tricks that I call simple tossing and catching tricks. These include stunts such as the Cups and Saucers Trick, the Candelabra Trick, and The Horn and Rings Trick. A very simple one of these tricks was performed in the 1800s. I call it, for lack of a better term, …
The Golf Club Balance Trick
By David Cain The balancing stunt known as the Golf Club Trick utilizes three golf clubs and one golf ball in its most common form. It was invented by juggler Joe Marsh in 1930. You can see Joe performing the trick below: Joe Marsh As you can see in the above photo, one golf club is placed horizontally on …
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The Next Big Juggling Achievement
As a juggling historian, I’m often asked what I believe the next historic juggling achievement will be. For the last few years, I’ve stated that I thought it would be a qualifying run of 7 club backcrosses. In 2006, Wes Peden became the first juggler to qualify 6 club backcrosses. At least as early as 2012, Anthony Gatto was able …
Mariora – Juggling Star of the 1930s and 1940s
By David Cain Mariora Matei was born on May 3rd, 1917 in Altona, Hamburg, Germany to parents who hailed from Romania. Her father, Florian Matei, was an acrobat and gymnast. Her older brother Jean was born in 1909 and was performing professionally by his late teens under the name Jean Florian. Mariora made her stage debut on June 1, 1934 …
W. C. Fields As A Juggler: Articles From 1904, 1908, 1917, and 1923
By David Cain Recently, I shared an article that featured films and photos of the famed comedian and movie star W. C. Fields that showed his skills as a juggler, which is the role in which he first found fame in show business. You can click here to read that article. In researching that article, I came across many old …
The First Public Video of Albert Lucas’ Historic 13-Ring Flash
Juggling is a visual art form, so it’s no surprise that juggling and film are deeply intertwined. Historians dream of uncovering footage of legendary jugglers like Cinquevalli, Kara, and Salerno. Today, with cameras readily available on phones, modern juggling feats are almost always recorded and shared on social media. In fact, within the current juggling community, there’s a shared understanding …