By David Cain
As I stated in part one of this series, one of the most famous early juggling publications was America and Europe’s Greatest Jugglers, a compilation of promotional material paired with a small catalog of juggling props manufactured and sold by Edward Van Wyck of Cincinnati, Ohio, who published the book. The version of the book that we’ve known about for many years was published in 1900. It features some well-known jugglers about whom I’ve written in the past, such as Ollie Young, William Everhart, Louis Knetzger, Darmody, and Harry Craton, along with many lesser or unknown / unresearched jugglers. To see that version of the book, click here.
In this article, we will examine a newly discovered version of America and Europe’s Greatest Jugglers that was acquired by Nathan Wakefield. It is with his permission that I share it with you. It features many different acts from the previously known version and contains an expanded catalog section. It is a treasure trove of information, revealing what jugglers were performing around the turn of the twentieth century. Like the other version, it contains promotional information about jugglers that have been researched and written about along with many that are pretty much unknown to historians. Let’s take a look at this this newly found treasure.
William Everhart was the father of hoop rolling. Click here and here to learn more about this very important juggler.
Click here to learn more about Will Hanvarr, one of the earliest, if not the earliest five-club juggler.
To learn more about Darmody, one of the earliest five club jugglers, click here.
Alburtus and Bartram were an important early juggling duo that I hope to research and write about soon.
I introduced the juggling community to Zarmo many years ago. Click here to learn about him.
To learn more about Frank Gregory, click here. He was an important early hoop juggler.
To learn more about the Great Knetzger, click here.
Like the first version of this book, it ends with a catalog of Van Wyck juggling props.
This last page includes something new to me, despite researching Van Wyck and his props for more than a decade. It shows that Edward Van Wyck sold “electric balls”, which I assume are lighted balls using early flashlight batteries.
The previously known version of this book was published in 1900. Using the very few dates listed in some of the promotional material about current or upcoming tour dates and dated newspaper quotes, I surmise that this was released somewhere between late 1902 and 1904. Thanks again to Nathan Wakefield for allowing this to be shared with the juggling community.
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).