Some light reading for mathematically inclined jugglers..
My eyes started to glaze when it got technical...Let me know if the links don't work.
Mathematics and juggling
Juggling Drops and Descents
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Another trip to the postcard fair.
Every two months the NSW postcards collectors society have a fair where they lure poor unsuspecting theatre historians into buying beautiful postcards which date back to the early part of the 20th century or earlier.
So this is what I found today.
Firstly, a uni-cyclist whose name is Leo Leo. Possibly French, but I have no idea of the date. Below Leo is the English Pierrots, a musical group which played in Australia in the early 20th Century. The postcard is from Melbourne.
More Williamson stars below with Florence Young and Margaret Thomas, pictured from the Royal Comic Opera Company's production of Veronique.
So this is what I found today.
Firstly, a uni-cyclist whose name is Leo Leo. Possibly French, but I have no idea of the date. Below Leo is the English Pierrots, a musical group which played in Australia in the early 20th Century. The postcard is from Melbourne.
Next we have Annie Reid on the left who was one of the "Mitzi Girls' in the Girls of Gotenberg. This is a card from Newcastle NSW, so it could be from an amateur production, It's dated 1913
Next to Annie is Ella Caspers, a very famous Australian singer. Below Annie is the duo of Diamond and Beatrice or Beatrice and Diamond, they were musicians at the Tivoli theatre around the turn of the last century. This card is another in the Tivoli series which showcases regulars from the theatre in Sydney. Next to them is Nellie Wilson, one of the JC Williamson's Royal Comic Opera Company.
Below is one of the world's most famous theatrical couples, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. This postcard is from London Films and is advertising their movie, Fire Over England..Aren't they gorgeous? Next to the golden couple is Andrew Mack, a singer. Below them is a wonderful comic postcard which references juggling, which I was thrilled to find. Next to that is a postcard of Maisie Rowlands, a monologue entertainer who worked at the National Amphitheatre in Sydney in 1909
Below we have another Williamson performer, Dolly Castles. Next to Dolly is a photo from Happy Harry Salmon's company. Below her is another Williamson star, Madge Crichton, and next to her the comic duo of George Lauri and William Percy, both stars of the Royal Comic Opera Company.
More Williamson stars below with Florence Young and Margaret Thomas, pictured from the Royal Comic Opera Company's production of Veronique.
And finally, pictures from the Williamson 1908 production of the Merry Widow, which starred Carrie Moore, who is looking quite pensive in the top photo.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Images, postcards, photos and more
Just a reminder that my complete collection of postcards can be browsed, downloaded and looked at for free at Flicker. Just click the link to the side of this page.
There's about 800 postcards there...
There's about 800 postcards there...
Thursday, August 27, 2015
More postcards
Above is Tod Calloway, a comedian and fixture on the Tivoli circuit. The post card is addressed to Eileen Capel, a fellow performer on the Clay's circuit. It's signed on both sides.
Arthur Foldesy, Hungarian Cellist who toured Australia in 1905. Also signed.
Another postcard of my mate George Lauri, a JCW comedian who met a tragic end.
Connie Milne, a regular for JCW's Royal Comic Opera Company.
Advertising card for the Percy Hutchison tour of 1928.
You can search the HAT collection of photos, postcards and other memorabilia at flickr.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Lennon, Hyman and Lennon- Australian Jugglers
I'm posting this because I really just wanted to post the photo.
Around 1901 the three left Australia and visited England. Whilst there they created a short skit focusing on an Australian outback bush theme. The skit included tumbling and acrobatics and was presented as a novelty act. It was a very popular turn in England.
By 1910, the trio had made enough money to settle down, and they invested in their own theatre, The Empire in Adelaide. They soon became respectable citizens of the city. Originally the Empire showed vaudeville shows, but gradually the theatre changed from a mixture of vaudeville and movies to showing exclusively movies.
Albert Lennon, Ted Lennon and Frank Hyman were an Australian
acrobatic juggling trio who were very well known in Australia during the early
20th Century.
Burt was the best known of the three. His real name was
Albert Spinks and he was a Sydney man. He and his 'brother' Ted began their
career as the Lennon Brothers, working in an amateur group called the Electric
Minstrels in Sydney.
Ted and Burt then toured Australia with a troupe which
included a very famous former minstrel performer, Irving Sayles. Sayles was an
African American man who had arrived in Australia with an American minstrel
touring group and never left. He was a mainstay of the Tivoli circuit for many
years.
Being associated with Irving gave Ted and Burt some cache
with managers and audiences. Irving was very well regarded by both. It was
during this time that they met Frank Hyman, a contortionist, and formed a trio,
becoming Lennon, Hyman and Lennon. It was as this trio that they gained fame at
home and abroad.
Around 1901 the three left Australia and visited England. Whilst there they created a short skit focusing on an Australian outback bush theme. The skit included tumbling and acrobatics and was presented as a novelty act. It was a very popular turn in England.
Their fame overseas led to them being recruited for pantomimes
in Australia . And in 1906 they had a feature role in the Sinbad the Sailor
pantomime, staged by William Anderson .
This role featured the trio doing comedic juggling, and this
aspect of their work was included in all their future vaudeville performances.
Their act seemed to be primarily a club passing act. A
review of their vaudeville turn described it as follows.
'The first turn was a display of juggling with Indian clubs
which they handled with remarkable proficiency, exchanging flying clubs with
one another and sometimes surrendering three clubs in mid air with an air of
perfect nonchalance.'
Their juggling was characterised by very fast passing and
deft catching that had onlookers seeing the clubs as a blur.
"the varied manipulations were really astounding, the
concluding turn in which the nine clubs were kept twirling in the air created
the greatest enthusiasm.'
After several pantomime performances, the three men created
their own vaudeville touring troupe, which apparently included their wives. The
troupe, known as the Lennon, Hyman, Lennon troupe, toured country towns in
Australia. During 1908 they visited Rockhampton, the Darling Downs, Lismore and
Mackay. In each place they demonstrated their excellent juggling and acrobatic
skills.
By 1910, the trio had made enough money to settle down, and they invested in their own theatre, The Empire in Adelaide. They soon became respectable citizens of the city. Originally the Empire showed vaudeville shows, but gradually the theatre changed from a mixture of vaudeville and movies to showing exclusively movies.
They were in partnership for some time, however, during the
War years, references to Ted and Frank become scarce and it seems that the
partnership dissolved shortly after the end of the war.
Burt, however, continued to be an entrepreneur. He invested
with the Fullers in the Majestic Theatre in Adelaide and remained a prominent member
of the Adelaide theatrical community for some time.
Burt died in 1954, but I have yet to discover what happened
to Frank and Ted.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Selma Braatz juggling in Australia 1914.
1914 was a big year for juggling in Australia. Cinquevalli
toured and W C Fields returned. The year began with the arrival of a very
talented 'lady juggler' called Selma Braatz in January.
Selma arrived in 1913 aged 25 and was accompanied by Clara
and Fritz Braatz. Clara has been described variously as Selma's aunt or mother.
In Australia she was referred to as the juggler's mother, whilst Fritz was
referred to as her father.
The juggler was described as 'a young and trimly built lady
from Germany who juggled with any old thing in the way of light articles'. On
stage she wore a type of short suit, which was demure, but daring, in that it
revealed her legs.
Selma started her tour of Australia in January, in
Melbourne. It was pantomime season so her appearance at the Opera House in that
city was not much remarked upon . She toured the Tivoli in Sydney, where her
appearance was overshadowed by the newest dance craze, the Tango, and went to
provincial areas in Victoria such as Ballarat, where the open air nature of the
theatre interfered with her juggling. She also visited Perth and Kalgoorlie, a
mining town. Her itinerary, particularly the visits to the country areas,
suggested that she and her family were quite adventurous.
Her act consisted of balancing and juggling of unusual household
objects. Selma started her act juggling a tennis racquet, she then proceeded to
use a bell topper and stick and manipulated both to the audience's surprise and delight. She juggled billiard balls and balanced things on a cue stick. She
had difficulty with some of the balancing tricks in the open air Britannia Theatre
at Ballarat, but they were performed successfully in the bigger theatres of Melbourne,
Adelaide and Sydney.
The trick that won her the most applause was balancing a
tray, a wine glass, another tray, and an
egg on a billiard cue held upright on her chin. The trays were knocked away and
the egg fell into the wine glass without breaking.
As a finale, Selma juggled some carriage lamps. The house
lights were dimmed and as the lamps were thrown into the air they became
luminous, changing colour from white to red and on to violet.
Selma was assisted on stage by Clara who juggled soap bubbles.
Charles Waller described these as 'stiff bubbles, (which) may be blown either
from film cement or from a special soap solution, into the composition of which
enters a little gum arabic.' According to Waller, Selma was responsible for
introducing the juggling of soap bubbles into Australia.
Selma was apparently on good terms
with Cinquevalli, whose name always arose when jugglers were discussed in this
country. Apparently, they exchanged letters, and Cinq called Selma, 'Pauline',
a reference to his own name Paul.
Selma toured the whole country, and stayed for several
months, before returning overseas where she continued her juggling career.
She died in New York in 1973, reportedly aged 89.
SOURCES;
Arrival information about Clara, Fritz and Selma, from
Victorian Shipping records.
Description of Selma from The Adelaide Register, 4/03/1914
Description of Selma's act from The Adelaide Register.
4/03/1914,and The Argus (Melbourne)5/01/1914.
The description of soap bubble juggling comes from Magical
Nights in the Theatre by Charles Waller. Edited by Gerald Taylor.
The relationship between Selma and Cinquevalli is discussed in The Referee newspaper.11/2/1914
Pictures of Selma come from 1. The Australasian, 10/01/1914, 2. The World News, Sydney, 14/2/1914
Information about Selma's death comes from
juggle.org
New Postcards
My visit to the postcard fair today was very profitable. Well profitable for the stall owners, but very interesting for me.
Upper left is Pansy Montague. Pansy, also known as La Milo, was a human statue performer.She was born in Sydney and started her career with the Tivoli Circuit in the early 20th Century. In this postcard she is posing as the Water Nymph.
Upper right is Little Baby Watson, another Tivoli performer. Little baby Watson was a favorite of Tivoli owner Harry Rickards in the early 20th century.
Lower left is Teresa Carreno, who toured Australia in 1907. She was a Venezuelan pianist, singer and composer.
Lower Right is Margaret Thomas, one of JC Williamson's Royal Comic Opera Company.
Upper left is Pansy Montague. Pansy, also known as La Milo, was a human statue performer.She was born in Sydney and started her career with the Tivoli Circuit in the early 20th Century. In this postcard she is posing as the Water Nymph.
Upper right is Little Baby Watson, another Tivoli performer. Little baby Watson was a favorite of Tivoli owner Harry Rickards in the early 20th century.
Lower left is Teresa Carreno, who toured Australia in 1907. She was a Venezuelan pianist, singer and composer.
Lower Right is Margaret Thomas, one of JC Williamson's Royal Comic Opera Company.
Above to the left is a lovely postcard of the 'red headed spark' Daisy Jerome. I have something about her elsewhere on this blog. Next to her is one of my favorites, Carrie Moore. On the bottom is a very interesting advertising postcard for a Bland Holt production. Bland Holt was one of Australia's premier producers of melodrama. This particular postcard is advertising a 1904 production at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. It features a caricature of the man himself staring out a window.
These three postcards feature at the top left, a 1950s Australian magician named Tommy Parer. Next to Tommy is Annette Kellerman, the famous Australian swimmer who made a name for herself in the movies. Below is a picture of Miss Valli Valli an English Edwardian actress.
Finally, two wonderful postcards. The first is of Vivien Leigh during her contract with London Films. This probably dates from the mid 1930s, just before Gone with the Wind.
The second is an intriguing picture postcard of a parade in Sydney to advertise the Criterion Theatre's production of 'A Beggar on Horseback'. A quick internet search dates this to 1908. If anybody can tell where this was taken, I would appreciate it. I'm guessing Hyde Park because it was the closest park to the Criterion.
Alas, No Jugglers!
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