As I said in Parts 1, 2, and 3, old juggling prop catalogs are treasure troves of information for juggling historians. While many might think such catalogs are a modern invention, such catalogs have been around for well over a hundred years. They provide a great glimpse into what types of routines jugglers were performing at any given time in history. The very old catalogs are especially important to see what routines were like before the advent of motion pictures and high speed photography. In the earlier articles in this series, we looked at catalogs from Otto Maurer, Edward Van Wyck, and Ellis Stanyon. We will now examine the offerings of A. W. Gamage, Harry Lind and Gaskarth Press.
A.W. Gamage
The book Juggling Secrets by Will Goldston was published in 1911 by G. Routledge and Sons of London. Included in the book is a page of juggling props sold by A. W. Gamage of London (UK).
Harry Lind
Beginning in 1919, Harry Lind began selling clubs and other juggling props. Unlike his predecessors and competitors, Harry Lind never produced catalogs. The only way that you could become a customer of Harry Lind was to be recommended to Harry by an existing customer. Harry was always so in demand that there was always a waiting list for his products. However, I was able to locate a 1948 price list for Harry Lind’s products owned by Todd Key. It was sent by Lind to Boy Foy, the famous juggler who did his entire act on a unicycle, usually in ice skating shows.
As you can hopefully read, Harry Lind offered juggling balls for $1.50, 11 ounce clubs for $8.00, 12 ounce clubs for $9.00, 13 ounce clubs for $6.00, club decorations for $3.00, devil sticks for $8.00, and a juggling manual for $1.50. Lind also made wooden rings, wooden plates, mouth sticks, head pedestals, and cups and saucers as well. Below are photos of various types of Lind clubs, rings, plates, devil sticks, and cups and saucers made by Harry Lind which can be seen at the Museum of Juggling History.
Gaskarth Press
In 1921, Gaskarth Press of London, UK published Juggling by Rupert Ingalese. In conjunction with the book, they offered props used in the book for sale as well. Below are the props that Gaskarth Press offered for sale.
Noteworthy or unique props in the catalog include the basket clubs, monocles, imitation umbrella, and ball and two sticks. Below is a photo showing some props (candle and candlestick, imitation umbrella, and ball and two sticks) featured in the Gaskarth Press catalog.
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).