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About "The
Throwback Series":

The Throwback Series aims to serve both the recreational and professional juggling community by:

(1) publishing annotated reprints of selected late-19th/early-20th-century instructional literature on the juggler's craft;

(2) publishing the remaining works of R.W. Bacon, some close to 50 years in the making, on acrobatic juggling, prop-building, practice, training, and performance; and

(3) publishing new research and interpretation of vaudeville, circus, and variety entertainment.

Video --- now more accessible than ever before --- has supplanted print for documenting, teaching, and communicating about juggling. But for conveying insight and ideas, there is still the utility of language and the printed word. For jugglers who share that persuasion, welcome to The Throwback Series.

About the author, editor, and publisher: R.W. Bacon enjoyed a 35-year performing arts career ---from cobblestone streetcorners to palatial theatres --- from circus arena to Hollywood productions --- as an acrobatic juggler, comedy tap dancer, and jazz/ragtime musician. For most of those years he worked in dazzling synchrony with his wife, L.J. Newton, in their touring theatrical show, Mr. Slim's Goodtime Ragtime Vaudeville Revival; and in their circus/variety act, Mr. Slim & L.J. --- Classic Comedy Juggling. Aside from books about arcane stage performance specialties, in a post-showbusiness museum career he is the author of a dozen books on varied history topics.

For more scintillating details than you ever wanted to know, enjoy these few links:

A note on our cyber-world: Please note that except for a presence on LinkedIn (Reginald W. Bacon on LinkedIn), time constraints preclude participation in Facebook, MugShot, SpacedOut, UsedUp, or other similar social media activities. R.W. Bacon is fully engaged with today's technology, but he neither twitters nor chatters, and there is no separate daily blog site. Please be assured, however, that R.W. Bacon can be easily and readily contacted by e-mail or phone. Thank you for understanding.

Welcome ...

Welcome to The Throwback Series, which aims to present new editions of selected classics from the early instructional literature of juggling, and the newest works on acro-juggling technique and training by R.W. Bacon. This series intregrates R.W. Bacon's earlier works on arcane juggling and manipulative specialties with projects long in progress on acrobatic juggling technique, training, and performance.

Titles available now are: The Juggler's Alphabet Book (new in 2019),and longtime juggling "best-sellers" in the Juggler's Manual series, Cigar Box Manipulation & Balance, and Manipulative Miscellenea (see below).

Forthcoming in the next three years are:

- The Juggler's Anthology of Venerable Veracities: Practical Instruction, Applied Physics, & Insightful Observations from the Obscure Literature of the Juggler's Craft.

- The Juggler's Gallery of Vaudevillian Antecedents: The Famous and Forgotten Jugglers of American Vaudeville 1880-1930.

- The Juggler's Manual of Peripheral Paraphernalia: Acro-Juggling Combination Stunt Performance on the Unicycle, Rola-Bola, Rolling Globe, Pedestal, and Tightwire.


Below are publications currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.


New title in 2019! Available now!

The Juggler's Alphabet Book:
The ABCs of Inspiration,
Encouragement, History, and Fun
for Literate Jugglers of All Ages
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2019)
64 pages; 78 photos, 47 illustrations,
bibliography, & sources.
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-6-1
LOC: 2019904856

$14.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S. (Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal (see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page), check, or money order.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Juggling "best-sellers" still available:

The Juggler's Manual of
Manipulative Miscellanea:
The Classic Skills with Top Hat,
Cane, Plates, Nesting Cups,
and Assorted Objects
By Reginald W. Bacon a.k.a "Mr. Slim"
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 1984)
104 pages; illustrated
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-1-8
LOC: 85-050557

$15.00 (US) includes book-rate shipping
in the U.S. (Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal (see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page),
check, or money order.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Juggler's Manual of
Cigar Box Manipulation & Balance
By Reginald W. Bacon a.k.a. "Mr. Slim"
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 1983)
100 pages; illustrated
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-0-1
LOC: 83-050036

$15.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S. (Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page), check, or money order.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Also of interest:

Vintage from Vinyl: Early Recordings
of the Goodtime Ragtime
Vaudeville Revival (Book & CD set),
Presenting a Panorama
of Musical Americana,
a Collection of Music and Song
from the Ragtime, Jazz, & Vaudeville Years
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2017)
192 pages; paperback, includes music CD
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-0-9
LOC: 2016920942

$25.00 (US) includes book-rate shipping
in the U.S. (Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal (see "Buy Now" below
or on the full description page), check, or money order.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Wesley H. Bacon Reader:
Pursuits, Passions, & Peregrinations
of a 20th-Century Autodidact
Memoirs, Short Stories, & Scripts
by Wesley H. Bacon
(compiled & edited,
with biographical sketch
& career profiles
by Reginald W. Bacon)
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2015)
304 pages; includes
annotations & endnotes.
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-3-2
LOC: 2015909074

$16.00 (US) includes book-rate shipping
in the U.S. (Inquire for additional international shipping charges.)

Payment accepted by PayPal (see "Buy Now" below
or on the full description page), check, or money order.

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Looking for R.W. Bacon, showbusiness version?

To those looking for the veteran acrobatic juggler/unicyclist, jazz tenor banjoist, and comic dancer --- Yes, that's me. I am retired several years from a 35-year career in commercial showbusiness, but still keep much of the repertoire stage-ready, and include performance excerpts in the vaudeville history presentation for museums, "A Vaudeville Retrospective." My wife and partner, the sensational club-juggler L.J. Newton, retired from the stage in 1999. We are still happy, healthy, and injury-free after a well-traveled career. (See the Variety Arts Enterprises web site for additional information, especially the profiles on selected mentors and friends.) Since I was a journalist/editor/designer before showbusiness, and a researcher/author/ historian during, the transition to the museum field was a natural fit. To distant friends, longtime fans, fellow performers, and former juggling/circus arts students, I would be glad to hear of your recent adventures. To new friends and museum colleagues intrigued about the performing arts career, please feel free to explore the various links at the Variety Arts Enterprises web site. Thank you. --- Reg Bacon