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In the past, the tramp character was very popular, and well liked by audiences. There were quite a number of tramp jugglers in Vaudeville and elsewhere. James (Jim) Harrigan was the first juggler to impersonate a tramp, I believe, and he put it over with tremendous success. He was really a good talking comedian and could have made a good tramp without the juggling.

Here is Harrigan's own story about his debut as a tramp juggler. "I was getting a small salary doing an ordinary juggling act. One day I received an invitation from the Baltimore Press Club to spend a day at their camp on the Ohio River. I was greatly troubled in mind, as to how I could raise a little money for a contribution of fruit, cigars or some other gift that was customary for visitors to offer. An appeal to the manager of my company for salary, did not meet with success, so I pawned my stage dress suit to get a little money. When i returned at night, the situation was decidedly awkward. The manager stormed, and I hastily borrowed odd garments from the other performers, mussed my smooth hair into a tangle, put on a half-inch beard with a handful of burnt paper and rushed on stage as a tramp. My turn made such a hit that I was greeted with the emphatic words of the manager 'If you ever get that dress suit out of pawn, I'll shoot you!' So I remained a tramp behind the footlights ever after." (Juggler's Bulletin #41, February 1948)

Out Of My Scrapbook - The Kratons By Jack Greene

While browsing through one of my scrapbooks of jugglers of the past and present, I cannot help mentioning The Kratons who were at their peak around 19081909. 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 lamp post. 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. (FromJuggler's Bulletin #20, May 1946)

To my mind now comes one of the finest novelty juggling acts of show business of years ago, The Howard Bros. The Howards played banjos. During the course of their act they would play around; juggling two, three, and passing six between them, and also doing back to back tricks with six, at the same time playing a lively turn on the banjos. They were expert musicians and pretty good jugglers. To play and juggle at the same time was something to behold. Jack Greene (Juggler's Bulletin #35, August 1947)

The diabolo was brought over to this country from France in about 1905 or 1906. The experts showed at the New York Hippodrome for a season, and from there went back to Europe. Never heard of them again, but their diabolo work was taken up by many jugglers, and in a few years was dropped. There are only a few diabolo jugglers on the market today. Perhaps some day they will return just as the cigar boxes are coming back again. Jack Greene (Juggler's Bulletin #36, September 1947)

At present Lind is excited about a young fellow he has heard of in Sweden - Francis Brunn. Brunn is said to have a routine in which he balances one ball on the index finger of his right hand, another on a stick held in his mouth, and a third on a stick balanced on his forehead. While he does this he calmly stands on his left leg, spins a hoop about his right leg, and juggles three more hoops in the air with his left hand. "That," says Harry Lind, "is something I want to see." (Reprinted from THIS WEEK magazine in Juggler's Bulletin #39, December 1947)