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Publications & Projects
Through the years, progress on elective research and writing projects has moved like a glacier. But like a glacier, the force behind it is powerful and relentless. So a few of these research projects have actually made it into print. This page summarizes past publications and outlines current projects in progress.
Books & Publications
- Just a Tot in Tannersville:
The Recollections of a Railroad Avenue Boy
on the Busy Summer Life of the 1950s
(Two books in one, incorporating
A Micro-History of the Tannersville Four-Corners)
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.: Variety Arts Press, 2011)
This book is a combination personal memoir and local history of the brief post-WWII Armenian resort boom in a small town in New York's northern Catskill Mountains. The author's New England Yankee grandparents ran a limousine service and small lodging house sandwiched between two well-worn Victorian-era hotels. In the early 1950s, these hotels served an Armenian clientele, and author's copiously-illustrated recollections tell of the summers surrounded by the exotic aromas of Armenian cuisine through the days, and the quavering semi-tones of belly dance music far into the nights. As an adult museum professional, the author revisited the old resort town, and explored its fascinating history as a destination for New Yorkers seeking renewal in the mountains. The book includes 254 photos and illustrations, 16 maps, endnotes, bibliography, appendices, and index, ... and a rumination on the foggy intersection of professional history and personal memoir. For the moment, at least, I will do my part to keep down the world's credit card debt, and accept payment only by old-fashioned check or money order: $35.00 plus $5.00 shipping = $40.00. (Send payment to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.)
- The Juggler's Manual of Manipulative Miscellanea:
The Classic Skills with Top Hat, Cane, Plates, Nesting Cups,
and Assorted Objects
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.: Variety Arts Press, 1984)
The only book of its kind detailing the author's arcane acrobatic juggling and manipulative specialties, it has become a "best seller" among juggling books since its publication in 1984. "A good lesson in entertainment." --- Juggler's World Magazine. This book may be purchased from the premiere juggling prop and book dealers, including Brian Dube, Inc., 520 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10012; 800-763-0909.
- The Juggler's Manual of Cigar Box Manipulation & Balance
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.: Variety Arts Press, 1983)
This book helped open the floodgates of juggling instructional material when it was published in 1983. The instructional content leads from the most basic of three-box moves, through advanced high-energy variations, and on to multiple-box stunts, precision balances, and showmanship. "All you need to know to learn and perform with cigar boxes." --- Juggler's World Magazine. This book may be purchased from the premiere juggling prop and book dealers, including Brian Dube, Inc., 520 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10012; 800-763-0909.
Current Projects
Currently most efforts are directed toward the refinement of "A Vaudeville Retrospective" and its companion programs. This includes the compilation of The Curator's Guide to American Vaudeville, a companion book that aims to ease the path for curators of related popular culture exhibitions over the next few decades. Close behind in priority is a wholesale revision of The Bacon/Weeks Story: People, Places, & Events Through the Generations, a narrative family history first compiled in 2002.
- The Curator's Guide to American Vaudeville
By Reginald W. Bacon (Newburyport, Mass.: Variety Arts Press, forthcoming)
This book will be a companion to the illustrated lecture, performance, and exhibition, "A Vaudeville Retrospective." In addition to a concise but context-rich look at the history of vaudeville, this book will present the author's decades of insights in presenting the subject to a contemporary audience. Especially useful to curators charged with presenting exhibitions, displays, or programs on related popular culture topics of the early 20th century, the book will include a comprehensive annotated bibliography, discography, videography, Internet links, and research resources.
- The Bacon/Weeks Story:
People, Places, & Events Through the Generations
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.: Variety Arts Press, 2002,
revision forthcoming)
This book is a narrative family history that in 2002 attempted to "break the mold" of dry genealogies packed with nothing but names and dates. Using custom maps, detailed fan charts, old family photos, newspaper accounts, and biographical sketches to augment standard family-group-sheets, the author arrived at what he refers to with mock self-importance as "Bacon's Worthy Template." "It may not be the approved format for a genealogy, according to the experts," says the author, "but at the very least it is worthy!" Following the approach of legendary genealogist Frank Farnsworth Starr in his work for the Goodwin family of Connecticut, the author endeavors to trace all ancestral lines of his parents. Families covered include Bacon, Blanchard, Chapman, Clark, Conger, Ethier, Hurlburt, Kelly, Ketcham, King, Lindsay, Morse, Mudgett, Richardson, Weeks, Westover, and many more. The most discussed locales are in central Connecticut (especially Middletown) and north central Vermont.
© 2011 Variety Arts Enterprises