From ta0.com bibliography
:
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"Top Spinning: Three grown-up Chicago men turn child's toy into skillful sport," Life , September 10, 1945, Vol. 19, No. 11, pg. 97
Top spinning is the only sport in the Table of Contents under the Sports section! A 3-page article with 8 pictures of trick playing! The three middle-age players learned their advanced style as kids in Chicago's South Side. "By a delicate process which is called the 'jerk system' . . . [they] kept their tops spinning in the air almost indefinitely. As a boy, Jim Mangan once performed this feat for six hours, without stopping for food or drink." . . . "They regard their hobby with a missionary's zeal . . . is a sporting challenge to any man's dexterity, offering considerable chance for individual art". . . "Tops are cheap (4¢) and the OPA has pegged the price of a top string at 1¢."
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You can read the whole article here:
www.ta0.com/papyrus/life_magazine.htmlIt was discussed on the old board, but also
here.
The most interesting character of the trio seems to have been
Mangan (the one on the pictures on the right) who went on to start "Celestia: the Nation of Celestial Space."
