In the October, 1944, "Juggler's Bulletin," he is mentioned in the same breath with Bobby Jule, Bobby May, Fred Allen, and W.C. Fields. He had an enormous home in Pittsburgh that became the center of attraction for traveling performers. (He met one fellow on the road who let him in on the tip that "there is a fellow in Pittsburgh named Art Jennings who will slip you fifty for your equity dues and won't bother asking for it back.") He once received a letter addressed simply to "The Bum Juggler, Pittsburgh." Art was easier to find than Pittsburgh,

When he tried to slow his schedule to 13 weeks on and 13 off, his agents still booked him for 39 week runs, so he quit. He grew a beard and retired to a Pennsylvania farm to raise deer, as he had done at Storybook Forest, live by bartering his silver work, content to be a hermit in the woods. He spent increasing months in Texas and the Southwest, pursuing his study of silver work under Native American craftsmen. Then he and his bride of 25 years, Carol, moved to San Antonio.

"This old man has been living in heaven for the last 10 years or more. Heaven couldn't be any better!"

And there is still juggling. He meets most Wednesdays with young jugglers who come by the house, still showing a few tricks to shoot at.

Despite near-crippling arthritis on bad mornings, this man gets around, abounds. He still has the fingers of a magician, the arms of a juggler, the legs of a rola-bola rider, and the appallingly displaced and bunioned right toe of a slack wire artist. "I consider juggling on the slackwire to be my peak achievement from a skill stand­point. But I regret never being able to do a handstand on the wire. I was never any good at handstands in the first place."

After spearheading the founding of the IJA and serving as its first president , Art remained active for several years until he felt that what he had set out to do had been done and was being carried on by able members. He returned again as president in 1955 at the urging of some early members who wanted to calm some of the conflicts within the adolescent organization and restore its simple goals. Ruth, his first wife, took on the task of pounding out the "Newsletter" on the kitchen table while he toured.

He remained active in the IJA until 1959 hen he began his 17 year tour with Happy Dayze (see accompanying story). As his juggling son and several thousand IJA members can agree, he's been a good father. "I have been a very fortunate man but few accomplishments ever come close to the great feeling of joy when my dream of a juggler's organization became a reality. I'm quite sure that there are those who did and perhaps still do feel that I was a bit stubborn in trying to get things my way.  However, while I may have done some 'arm-twisting', all decisions were made by majority agreement. I think we all knew that it wouldn't work any other way."

Art Jennings as "Happy Dayze"

At anyone time, Art Jennings had several full acts available for booking. His magic acts included "Hocus Pocus" and "Dr. J.," a mind-reading act in which his sharp, dark stare provided a formidable ingredient. "Loose Nut on Wheels" was a short unicycle act designed for a second show when clubs required it. "The Mirth Quake" was a trio of himself, Joe Fleckenstein and Buddy O'Neil.

But Jennings' forte was clown comedy, and his most memorable persona was Happy Dayze the clown, maintained from 1940 to 1959 through 10,000 performances and derived from his earlier Tramp Juggler and Bum Juggler characters.

In the kind of billing performers love to read and hate to live up to, his agents called him "The American Popov" and "America's Most Versatile Clown."

He analyzed his own act until he had over 450 magic and juggling tricks cross­indexed in a card catalog, each listing the time involved and the props needed. He kept accurate records of what he did and where, and maintained set mix-and-match formulas for openings, middles, and closings to suit each audience.

He had over four hours of material to fit the 45-60 minute program. Following the warm up was a serious segment. He would, for instance, get the children and adults howling at his clown tears, only to finally answer their begging questions by saying he was crying for all the boys and girls who had been killed in bicycle accidents. After delivering the message, he'd jerk them back from reality into tears of laughter.

He then did chapeaugraphy (the folding of a single piece of felt into a multitude of different hats), along with historical comments on that kind of entertainment, leading into "Troublewit" paper folding. Depending on the audience, he would insert some "chalk talk" or "math wizardry," leading into magic: a balloon bit, "Glasses on the Book," a variation of "Hippity Hop Rabbit" (a mechanical illusion using clown figures), rope tricks such as cut and restore, "Professor's Dilemma," and some rope spinning, then the "Phantom Tube" and a dove pan from which he produced 5 balls for his juggling segment.

He did 3 balls with erratic, clowning moves, parasol and ball, parasol and hoop. He used specially constructed plates that sounded like delicate chinaware. He did four and five balls and clubs, then rode a mini bicycle and unicycle with erratic moves ending with tricks involving the "pusher," a unicycle with handlebars, and finally he juggled on the unicycle.

"The clown was an outgrowth of my desire to learn everything there was in a circus," he said. "The only thing I haven't tried with the circus is working with the big cats. I've worked with the elephants, I've worked with the horses, tight wire, slack wire and flying trapeze. I've done a little bit on the trampoline, a little trick riding and shooting. I wanted to know, I wanted to try these things. You master one and the others fall into line."