Six Mysteries in Juggling History

By David Cain

As I research juggling history, I often come across information and photos that create a variety of new questions. Some of these lead to answers, but many do not. Let’s look at some of my recent discoveries and some long-term mysteries that I’d love to learn more about.

A Talented Amateur and a Mysterious Japanese Juggler

In October of 2025, I was examining a box of clippings from The Great Knetzger and came across the following snippet from Billboard.

So, the first mystery is regarding this amateur juggler possibly named McDavid. He was a middle-aged man during World War 1 who could juggle 8 plates and 6 clubs and who could do a 14 ball multiplex in pairs. While 8 plates had already been done by Frank Le Dent and 6 clubs had been done by John Breen and others when World War 1 happened, the 14-ball multiplex is a new record for that time if the author, M. A. Hearst, is correct. Chinko is known to have juggled a 10-ball multiplex in 1904, but multiplexes beyond that were unknown to juggling historians until fairly recently. It also shows that high level amateur jugglers existed over a hundred years ago, which goes against the commonly held belief that the existence of very talented amateur jugglers is a modern phenomenon.

The second interesting fact is that the author claims that a Japanese juggler did 11 balls in addition to Frank Le Dent (mistakenly called Frank De Dent here), who performed 11 balls in 1907.

The Neverbreak Club

An ad in Variety in 1911 advertised something called a “Neverbreak Club”, as you can see in the photo below.

The main retail juggling clubs of the time were made by Edward Van Wyck of Cincinnati, Ohio. One bad drop of these hollow wooden clubs could break the handle off. A more durable club would be a great innovation, but I’ve never heard of this Neverbreak club before. I would love to find another reference to it.

Just Jugglers

In 1918, the following appeared in Variety.

I’ve been unable to find any additional information on what this is in reference to. It’s unclear if the above is in regard to a show, an organization, or something else. Many of the very top jugglers in the world are mentioned, including Paul Cinquevalli, Kara, W. C. Fields, Paul Conchas, Chinko, Selma Braatz, Anita Bartling, Lucy Gillette, Morris Cronin, Paul Le Croix, The Mowatts, the Alpha Troupe, Louis Knetzger, Joe Cook, Ollie Young, Edward Van Wyck (Eddie Evans), Rose Sheldon, Harry Lind, William DeLisle, and others that I’ve written about. If this was for a show, imagine seeing an entire night of the greatest jugglers of that incredible era in one show. I’d love to learn what this was about. It should be noted that this was the same year Cinquevalli died and four years after his last performance.

The Lack of Films of Juggling Greats

For most juggling historians and juggling history fans, the holy grail of discoveries would be film of Cinquevalli, Kara, Salerno, Selma Braatz, Frank Le Dent, Lucy Gillette, Anita Bartling, Franco Piper, or other turn of the century legends. Cinquevalli, Kara, and Salerno were big stars, and we know that Cinquevalli was filmed.

Paul Cinquevalli

Kara

Salerno

And while we discover new films of jugglers quite often, no films of these early stars have turned up. The three famous films of early juggling stars we do have are the same we’ve had for 45 years or more: The Agoust Troupe, William Everhart, and Jenny Jaeger.

Where is more film of Jenny Jaeger?

Speaking of Jenny Jaeger, whose video is above, I want to know where more film of her is. She performed until 1960, so there should be lots of films of her, but no other ones have ever turned up. One would think that during a 43-year long career more than one film would be made, especially in the 1940s and 1950s. When you compare Jenny’s one video to all the film we have of Trixie, who performed during the same time period, the difference is dramatic. Trixie appeared in multiple movies and was often filmed by audience members. So where are videos of Jenny Jaeger?

Jenny Jaeger

The Circumstances and Evidence of Enrico Rastelli’s 10 Ball Flash and 8 Stick Flash

Finally, I want to know learn about Enrico Rastelli’s ten ball flash and eight stick flash. When I became a juggler in 1982, one of the first things I learned about was that Enrico Rastelli (1896-1931) held the world records for flashing ten balls, eight plates, and eight sticks. We now know that Frank Le Dent had already performed eleven balls and nine plates around 1907-1909, but that wasn’t generally known in the circus world back then. Now, I have no doubt that Rastelli could flash 8 sticks considering how amazing he was with 6 sticks and considering the fact that I have done an eight-stick flash in performance and, trust me, I’m no Enrico Rastelli. We also know that he could do 8 plates because he regularly performed it with a pedestal and ball on his head.

Enrico Rastelli illustration

Regarding the ten-ball flash, while Rastelli wasn’t known for his work with small balls, it certainly is something that would seem within his capabilities. What I want to know is the circumstances around when and how these feats were established as world records. As you can see in the image below, they were celebrated and widely promoted. The poster combines the three records together, along with some additional sticks and larger balls in the middle.

So, were these records established at a press conference or as a promotion for an appearance? I’ve never come across any details about regarding how they were established. I’d love to learn about this.