Magic History 101: Chinese Flame Clock
CHINESE FLAME CLOCK
Invented by Ed Massey and then manufactured by Milson-Worth in the early 1950's, the Flame Clock is a fairly rare piece of vintage magic.
Let me show you this Chinese Flame Clock from my collection...
Richard Potter
RICHARD POTTER
Richard Potter was the Emperor of Conjurers.
He was the the first American-born professional magician.
More people saw his show in the early 1800s than any other performer.
He was the first black American celebrity.
And his story is truly amazing...
Magic History 101: Mystery Clocks
MYSTERY CLOCKS
Have you ever seen a Mystery Clock?
These are clocks whose hands move seemingly without any clockworks moving them.
How do they work?
Let me show you two Mystery Clocks from my collection...
Magic History 101: Magic Shop Stories
MAGIC SHOP STORIES
Sideshow Steve and I reminisce about visiting the famous New York City magic shops back in the 1970s...
Magic History 101: Vintage Magic Books
VINTAGE MAGIC BOOKS
A peek into two of the antique magic books in my library...
Magic History 101: Vintage Magic Props
VINTAGE MAGIC PROPS
A look back at some favorite magic props...
Magic History 101: Vintage Magic Catalogs
VINTAGE MAGIC CATALOGS
Before the Internet, there were the catalogs!
Here are my recollections of ordering from the giants of the mail order magic world...
Magic History 101: Johnson Smith Catalogs
JOHNSON SMITH CATALOGS
The Wish Books of my youth!
Here are my recollections of ordering from Johnson Smith...
Magic History 101: Magic 8 Ball
MAGIC 8 BALL
Though we know it as a fun novelty toy, the Magic 8 Ball got its start as an authentic spiritualist tool.
It is a fascinating story...
Magic History 101: Fruit Crate Labels
MAGIC FRUIT CRATE LABELS
I get a lot of questions about how I decorate my back library, where I have been filming the demo videos.
A quick, easy to find and inexpensive choice is to use fruit crate labels.
Here are some colorful examples from my collection...
Magic History 101: Phrenology
PHRENOLOGY
Phrenology is a quirky pseudoscientific idea that personality traits can be "read" by feeling the shape of the bumps on the head.
A replica of that head is in my collection...
Magic History 101: Antique Handcuffs
ANTIQUE HANDCUFFS
After last week's post about the handcuffs used by Tony Curtis in the 1953 Houdini movie, I got several emails asking to see more antique handcuffs from my collection.
Here are a few of the hundreds of cuffs I have collected over the years...
Magic History 101: Houdini Movie Handcuffs
HOUDINI MOVIE HANDCUFFS
If you think you can handcuff a magician, you are wrong!
Magic History 101: Oriental Magic
ORIENTAL MAGIC
Why do some of the old classic tricks have a Chinese or Hindu theme?
Magic History 101: Giant's Rings
What better way to show how big a giant is than to demonstrate how big his finger is in comparison to yours!
Let me show you some vintage giant's rings from my collection...
Magic History 101: Magic Novelties
Broadly speaking, magic as a hobby embraces more than just the usual magic tricks and props.
Magicians are also fascinated by unusual and sometimes bizarre gimmicks, games and- stuff!
Let me show you some vintage novelty items from my collection...
Magic History 101: Talking Skull
The Talking Skull is a rare piece of magic history...
Magic History 101: Vintage Ball Vases
The Ball Vase is one of those legendary magic effects that has been around forever.
Many vases were finely turned from exotic wood, and seem to only get more beautiful with age.
Here are a few vintage and antique pieces from my magic collection...
Magic History 101: Thayer Blue Phantom
The Thayer Blue Phantom is another rare prop, one of my favorites in my vintage and antique magic collection...
Magic History 101: Thayer Card Spider
Originally made by Thayer Magic around 1935, this is a rather bizarre piece of magic equipment...
Magic History 101: DeLaMano
In the late 19th century, a little known traveling magician disappeared from a rooming house in upstate New York, leaving behind his trunk full of magic tricks, personal items- and posters.
This is the story of how I rescued the trunk from complete destruction...
Magic History 101: Spirit Rapping Hands
Spiritualism- the belief that it is possible to communicate with the dead.
It all started with two young girls playing a prank in 1849, and grew into a movement that is still active today. ....
Magic History 101: Houdini's Desk and Bible
I have discovered many magical treasures in my travels, but probably none as exciting as finding these items that belonged to the great Harry Houdini....
Magic History 101: Carnival Games
Especially years ago, carnival games could be the biggest cons that the average person would experience.
Generally, the games were cleverly fixed in such a way that it would be impossible to win- unless the operator wanted you to win.
STEP RIGHT UP and let me show you how they worked...
Magic History 101: Bran Vases
Very old magic props are hard to find, mainly because they don't look like magic props.
Let me tell you about these Bran Vases...