Hey, Jugglers!
Today is World Juggling Day! If you’re reading this and you’re asking yourself why there’s a World Juggling Day, then you’re asking the wrong question! Your questio
n instead should be: Why WOULDN’T there be World Juggling Day? See, much like the Yo-Yo which was recently discussed on this Blog, the art of juggling was developed back in ancient times! Anything that’s survived that long deserves its own day!
Even older than the Yo-Yo, juggling is documented in Ancient Egyptian paintings on tomb walls that date back as far as 4,000 years! Juggling is a skill that’s been passed down from generation to generation! So far, it’s made it four millennia! Who knows how long it will last?!
It seems to go through popularity booms like it did in the early 1900s. At this time juggling was performed in the circus and here and there on the street corners. But that all changed when the days of Vaudeville came along. Vaudeville performers would juggle on stage for an audience with impressive acts along with other types of entertainment like bicycle rim rolling and complex balancing tricks.
The days of Vaudeville, however, did not last forever. They didn’t even make it to the ‘20’s! At this time, juggling’s popularity plummeted. It wasn’t until 1947 that it was mildly resurrected, but even then it took another 20 years before a man named Hovey Burgess started teaching people to juggle. He taught everyone he met!
I for one know how to juggle as my brother taught me and I know that there’s at least a couple other skilled individuals that work here at Everything Summer Camp. So for World Juggling Day, we’re going to hold our own little juggling competition to show off our skills of this ancient art.
Thanks for reading, juggling fans and don’t forget to check out our mad skills!
- John