Vaudeville’s Greatest African-American Juggling Stars: Part 2

By David Cain

I’ve worked diligently to find information about some of the African-American jugglers of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of the jugglers I’ve researched have eluded my investigations, but I was successful in finding information about a few. In Part 1 of this series, we learned about George Rowland and Coy Herndon. Here are two more Black jugglers from the age of Vaudeville who were important contributors to juggling history.

Joseph Jalvan

Joseph Jalvan was born Joseph O’Bryan in Clear Spring, Maryland (USA) on Dec. 15th, 1856. He was an African-American juggler who was a star of minstrel shows in the USA and international stage shows, especially in Australia, starting at least as early as 1890.

He was a very talented juggler, performing complex balancing tricks with pipes (and pigeons), bowl spinning, top spinning, the bow and balls trick, rug spinning, the whip balance trick, parasol spinning, and other common juggling tricks of the time.

Jalvan got his start in Black minstrel shows, which were very popular in the 1890s. He partnered with two other jugglers, John Pamplin and Denton. At some point, Denton left the group, leaving Jalvan and Pamplin to perform as a duo.

To learn more about John Pamplin, click here to read a short biography of him by Australian juggling historian Leann Richards. By 1892, John Jalvan was performing as a solo act.

Before long, John Jalvan moved out of minstrel shows and onto Vaudeville and music hall stages. To do this, he had to bill himself as some “exotic” ethnicity. At various times, he was advertised as being “West Indian”, “Oriental,” “Japanese”, “Eastern,” “Javanese”, “Maori”, “Hindoo,” and “Arab”.

In 1897, he performed in Cuba and was popular enough that he was given a diamond pin by a fan. This was just the start of his international travels, as he would go to South Africa in 1897 and then to Australia in 1898, where he was a bit hit. It was in Australia that he met and married Catherine Webb, who would become his assistant and performing partner.

Joseph Jalvan was talented enough to be billed as the king of jugglers on many occasions.

 

 

Joseph Jalvan, courtesy of Leann Richards

This is the earliest known photo of a juggler performing with pipes. In addition to the pipes and pigeon trick, he also performed a trick where he balanced a lamp on a stick on a bottle on a pipe, all of which were balanced on a pipe held in his mouth. You can see this trick below.

Joseph Jalvan

Joseph Jalvan and his famous pipes and pigeon trick

Joseph Jalvan

Joseph Jalvan and the whip balance trick

The Jalvans 1905

 

 

The Jalvans consistently received wonderful reviews. They performed until 1931. Joseph Jalvan passed away on July 19th, 1955  in Williamsport, Pennsylvania at the age of 98.

 

The Kratons

At the beginning of the twentieth century, hoop rolling juggling acts were quite popular. The genre began with William Everhart of Columbus, Ohio, who began performing with hoops around 1888. By the early 1900s, performers such as Ollie Young, Paul Renner, and the Alpha Troupe were popular acts on Vaudeville stages and music halls. Perhaps the most unique hoop rolling act was performed by the Kratons. The Kratons were headed by the husband and wife team of Harry and Ethelyn Kraton.

Harry Kraton was born on February 14th, 1883 in Lynchburg, Virginia. Ethelyn was born in Denver, Colorado on January 15th, 1887. Harry worked as a juggler and wire walker at least as early as 1900, appearing in minstrel shows such as Black Patti’s Troubadours, the Georgia Minstrels, and Oliver Scott’s Minstrels. Early on, he used an alternative spelling of his last name, “Craton.”

By 1902, he was performing hoop rolling. It was said that he could control up to 24 hoops at once.

Harry Kraton

Harry Kraton

With the development of his Hoopland act, he and his wife made the leap to Vaudeville and European music halls and found great success.

The duo was occasionally joined by Harry’s brothers John and Delma, married couple Clarence and Leonora Johnson, Fred Diegman, Tom Johnson, and Tom Hart. Whether as a duo or as a larger troupe, the act, known as Hoopland, stood out from all other hoop acts.

At times, there were multiple versions of the act performing. Part of the troupe might be in the USA while another part was in Europe. When Harry and Ethelyn were in the act, it was called Hoopland. When other members did the act without them, it was referred to as Hoopville.

We have several descriptions of their very unique act. The first is from juggler Jack Greene, who wrote the following write-up of the Kratons’ act in the May 1946 Jugglers’ Bulletin.

I cannot help mentioning The Kratons who were at their peak around 1908-09. The Kratons were not in the same category as Rastelli, Cinquevalli, or a host of other jugglers of world renown. They were primarily and exclusively, hoop rollers. They billed themselves as, “The Only Act Of Its Kind,” and they certainly lived up to that billing. For originality they were in a class by themselves. I cannot recall any other act presented like theirs. Imagine, if you can, a stage setting of a city with its stores, church, school, saloon, factory, and other buildings that a city boasts of. These buildings were busy places while The Kratons were doing their act.

Hoops represented people. Different colored hoops meant different people. The smaller ones were for the children. Hoops came out of a store and entered a dwelling. Some went into the church and others went into the factory. One hoop came out of the saloon, staggered around, and landed happily against a friendly lamppost. Some of them just sauntered down the street and disappeared. A bell rang, the school door opened, and out rushed the children headed in every direction. The factory whistle blew, and out came the workers. Some went down the street, others went into the various buildings, and a considerable group hightailed it for the saloon.

A couple of hoops came out onto the stage and did a dance. Another rushed out with a loud “Whoopee,” picked up a handkerchief, and continued on its way. It didn’t take too much imagination to picture a cowboy galloping along as he picked up that handkerchief.

Throughout the act, there wasn’t one person to be seen on the stage, since all of the work was done offstage. All sound effects were also handled offstage by The Kratons.

If my memory serves me correctly, the finish went something like this: The lights were dimmed slowly. The church bell rang and along came a couple of kids followed by mama and papa. They all went into the church. Then more and more families went in, until the church was just about full. A hymn was sung by the congregation, as the curtain lowered gently. Then all of the lights flashed on, and out came The Kratons for their well deserved bow.

The hours of practice and skill required to put this act together was undoubtedly lost to the layman, but all jugglers who saw the act realized the great effort, and perfect teamwork and timing that was necessary to make the routine run smoothly. While I never saw or heard of The Kratons stopping a show with this act, it was nevertheless one of those good old standby acts that always worked. So my hat’s off to them for their original “Hoops Are People” idea.

Another description of their act reads as follows:

“Of all the great hoop acts, one stands out. The Kratons, popular in 1908, set their stage as a small town with stores, churches, factory, saloon, school and other buildings. The hoops showed individual personalities of people in the town. Singly, in pairs or in groups, the hoop people would roll out of a store and into a house, or leave home for church or the factory. One hoop came out of the saloon, staggered around, and landed happily against a lamppost, friend of all drunkards. When the school bell rang, a passel of kids rushed out the door in every direction. When the factory whistle blew, the worker hoops headed for home, some making detours to the saloon. Hoop couples danced. A girlish hoop dropped a hanky and a courting hoop, with the aid of a pin embedded in the rim, raced along to pick it up and follow her behind some stage scenery. At the finale, the lights dimmed, the church bell rang, and families streamed into the church where a hymn was sung and the curtains lowered. Until that moment, there hadn’t been a single person on stage. Only then did the Kratons appear for their final bows.”

The Hoopland set

You can see in a close-up of the Hoopland set that the hoops had cutouts of people inside of them.

Closeup of Hoopland set showing human figure cutouts inside the hoops

Variety (10-5-1907) described their act as follows. “A special set of a miniature village is used, showing residences, shops, police station and saloon. The men, women, policeman and cowboys, all represented by the hoops, are distinguished by various colors, a table being printed on the program, making it easy to follow. After the first four minutes, in which time the couple do seemingly the fastest and best hoop rolling and juggling possible, both leave the stage, the hoops thereafter going and coming from the various buildings with remarkable speed and accuracy. The whole act is a constant succession of comedy surprises. The “drunken” hoops which leave the saloon, stop, start back, and then go ahead, as well as the “cowboy” hoops that come out, pick up handkerchiefs, and then return, are not only amusing and interesting but puzzling. Nothing like it has been seen before. The offering closes with a prisoner breaking jail, and a chase by the police. The hoops rapidly follow one another across the stage in and out of the various buildings, the chase finally ending with the prisoner’s capture and return to jail. It makes a good, snappy finish to a novel and most excellent act.”

Harry Kraton and his troupe were some of the most successful African-American performers in all of Vaudeville. Harry was a champion of the inclusion of Black performers on Vaudeville and music hall stages and even wrote a piece for Variety calling for the acceptance of other African-American acts.

The Kratons’ act was so original and successful that it comes as no surprise that others would attempt to steal his ideas.

Harry, Ethelyn, and John Kraton

The Kratons were wildly successful from about 1907 until Harry’s death on October 10, 1912. The act continued without Harry until at least 1917, with Harry’s brother John along with Clarence and Leonora Johnson making up the troupe. A photo of John Kraton (1884-1933) is below.

John Kraton

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There are still several African-American jugglers of the Vaudeville era that I’d love to find information about. Below is a list, sourced from the Summer 1987 Juggler’s World Magazine, of Black jugglers about whom I’ve found no substantive information.

Thatcher, Primrose, and West: included baton twirling in their act.

“The Great English:” Hoop roller, popular around 1910.

Will Cook: toured with the Black Patti Colored Musical Comedy Co.

Albert Drew: juggler and wire walker with the A.G. Allen Colored Minstrels.

Arthur Prince: Club and hoop juggler with the Huntington Colored Minstrels.

Silas Greer: With the New Orleans Colored Musical Comedy troupe.

Purl Moppir: Hoop juggler.

Willie Edwards: Not only a juggler but a wire walker and animal trainer.

Pee Wee Williams: Juggler and song and dance man.

Eddie Ellis: A club and ball juggler from the forties.

“Jerge-Abab, the Ethiopian Entertainer:” A cigar box manipulator of the thirties.

If you have any information or photos of any of these jugglers, please let us know.