Collectible:
Albo San Francisco Magic Apparatus, Signed
Year:
Circa 1985
Dimensions:
23" x 28"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
This poster was created for the presentation of Dr. Robert Albo's personal collection of classic magical apparatus in the United Airlines concourse of the San Francisco airport circa 1985. It features Dr. Albo's unique art work as displayed in his Classic Magic series of books. This is an important piece of art work, depicting Howard Thurston surrounded by apparatus, as it documents Dr. Albo's introduction of classic magical apparatus to the public. It is signed by Dr. Albo in the lower right corner.
Collectible:
Albo San Francisco Magic Magicians, Signed
Year:
Circa 1985
Dimensions:
23" x 28"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
This poster was created for the presentation of Dr. Robert Albo's personal collection of classic magical apparatus in the United Airlines concourse of the San Francisco airport, circa 1985. It features Dr. Albo's unique art work as displayed in his Classic Magic series of books. This is an important piece of art work, depicting Houdini, Kellar and other great magicians performing, as it documents Dr. Albo's introduction of classic magical apparatus to the public. It is signed by Dr. Albo in the lower right corner.
Collectible:
Blackstone Oriental Nights
Year:
Circa 1920
Lithographer:
Erie Litho & Ptg Co, Erie PA
Dimensions:
27" X 41"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for
$ 3,200
This collectible art work features Harry Blackstone Sr. performing the east indian rope trick and his escape from being burned alive at the stake amidst dancing girls, imps and animals. This colorful array of activity is set against a beautiful oriental night sky. What makes this unique is the "Sample" stamp by the Erie Litho Company in the center of the poster. It is believed that this poster was personally examined by Harry Blackstone, and then approved for printing.
Collectible:
Chung Ling Soo Blocks
Circa:
1910
Lithographer:
Weiner
Dimensions:
20" x 30"
Owner
The Magic Of Magic
Offered For:
$5,500
During his early career, William Ellsworth Robinson called himself Robinson, the Man of Mystery. To increase his allure, he changed his name to Chung Ling Soo and took his show to Europe. He took the name as a variation of a real Chinese stage magician, Ching Ling Foo. Chung maintained his role as a Chinese man scrupulously. He never spoke onstage and always used an interpreter when he spoke to journalists. Only his friends and other stage magicians knew the truth. In Chung's most famous illusion, attendants fired guns, with marked bullets, at Chung. He caught the bullets from the air and dropped them on a plate he held up in front of him. This illusion went tragically wrong in 1918, leaving Chung dead from a bullet wound to the chest while on stage.
Collectible:
Fak Hong Invisible Man
Year:
Circa 1920
Lithographer:
Hija E. Mirabe-Pizarro, Valencia, Spain
Dimensions:
17" x 25"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
$150.00
The magician Fak-Hong was renowned throughout Europe during the 1920s and 30s. Chang, an illusionist from Panama, administered the Fak-Hong Troupe that consisted of numerous, magicians and magic “performance” groups. This collectible from their stage show tour features an oriental magician magically producing smoke from a skull while a devilish figure looks on from above. These posters are very unique in their art and blending of vibrant colors.
Collectible:
Fak Hong Japanese Review
Year:
Circa 1930
Lithographer:
Hija E. Mirabet-Pizarro, Valencia, Spain
Dimensions:
17" x 25"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
$150.00
Chang, shown as the producer for the Japanese Review, was a magician who frequently shared the bill with the team of Asian illusionists. Chang was the stage name of Juan Pablo Jesorum (1889-1972), a native of Panama who learned magic as an assistant/interpreter for The Great Raymond. This poster advertises the Fak-Hong Japanese Review, conducted during their tour.
Collectible:
Fak Hong Oriental Review
Year:
Circa 1930
Lithographer:
Hija E. Mirabet-Pizarro, Valencia, Spain
Dimensions:
17" x 25"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
$150.00
The magician Fak-Hong was renowned throughout Europe during the 1920s and 30s. Chang, an illusionist from Panama, administered the Fak-Hong Troupe that consisted of numerous, magicians and magic “performance” groups. The “Oriental Review” was one of their many shows. This collectible features a stage view with an exotic, oriental magician conjuring a miniature woman from the smoke of an incense burner and a rabbit emerging from a vase.
Collectible:
Fak Hong The Buda
Year:
Circa 1930
Lithographer:
Hija E. Mirabet-Pizarro, Valencia, Spain
Dimensions:
17" x 25"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
$150.00
This poster depicts one of the illusions, The Bhuda, presented during the Chang and Fak Hong's tour throughout Europe in the early 1900's. The vibrant colors blended together on this unique piece of art help the imagination to actually envision the illusion of the serpent rising out of the box at the command of the oriental magician.
Collectible:
Servais Le Roy - The Great Decapitation Mystery
Year:
Circa 1914
Lithographer:
Adolph Friedlander
Dimensions:
17" X 26"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered For $:
SOLD
LeRoy holds a platter in one hand, on the platter rests Bosco's head. Belgian-born LeRoy is regarded as one of the most inventive and artistic magicians of his generation. He invented, among other stage illusions, the Asrah levitation, a classic illusion still performed today. LeRoy performed with his wife, Mercedes Talma (Mary Ford) and the comedian Bosco, played by no less than nine different actors and magicians. According to LeRoy's biographers, Mike Caveney and William Rauscher, "Harry Houdini praised him, Howard Thurston feared him and Harry Kellar called him the most finished artist he had ever seen."
Collectible:
Thurston & Kellar Three Sheet
Year:
1907
Lithographer:
Strobridge Lithograph Company
Dimensions:
41" x 76"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
SOLD
A life like poster of a young Howard Thurston in a coat and tie. This poster was released to promote the joint tour of Kellar and Thurston during the 1907 and 1908 theater season. At the end of this season Kellar handed his title of World's Greatest Magician over to Thurston. This poster is linen backed and is in very good to excellent condition.
Collectible:
Thurston Spirits
Year:
1915
Lithographer:
Strobridge Lithography Company
Dimensions:
26" x 36"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
Thurston would place a cane, bell, violin and tambourines into the Spirit Cabinet and close the doors. The violin would suddenly play, the tambourine and the cane would start to bang up against the walls of the cabinet. Howard would ask the spirit a question and the bell would ring in response. The spirit would then throw the instruments, bell and cane out of the cabinet, through a window in the front. The doors would open and ghostly images would be seen floating in the cabinet. The cabinet would then be dismantled and found to be empty.
Collectible:
Thurston Standee
Year:
Circa 1927
Lithographer:
Otis Lithograph Company, Cleveland OH
Dimensions:
23" x 36"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
This is a stone lithograph mounted on thick cardboard. These "Standees" were placed in windows to advertise upcoming shows and placed in the theater lobbies where Thurston was performing. There are few left. One of the reasons is that they were easy targets for the patrons looking for souvenirs as they were walking out of the theater after the show.
Collectible:
Carter Beats The Devil
Year:
Circa 1926
Lithographer:
Otis Litho Company, Cleveland OH
Dimensions:
14" x 22"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
This window card was put in the lobbies of the theaters that Carter performed in. The image inspired a book written by Glen Gold in 2001, titled "Carter Beats the Devil". A fictional novel that takes place during the golden age of magic blending, magic, mystery and intrigue.
Collectible:
Doug Henning Merlin
Year:
Circa 1983
Dimensions:
14" x 22"
Owner:
The Magic of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
This window card was printed for the Broadway Show, Merlin. Doug Henning played Merlin in the show. The production ran for nine months and also starred Chita Rivera as the evil queen that wanted to destroy King Auther, who was protected by none other than Merlin.
Collectible:
T. Nelson Downs King of Koins
Year:
Circa 1900
Printer:
The Scioto Sign Company
Dimensions:
14" x 22"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
T Nelson Downs was a master magician with coins. He performed his sleight of hand with coins from vaudeville stages to London's Palace Theater and royal courts. He retired from performing in 1912 at the age of 42 and settled in a small Iowa town. There he opened a small vaudeville theater and wrote books on magic. He died at the age of 71 in 1938.
Collectible:
Thurston Vanishing Whippet
Year:
Circa 1929
Lithographer:
Otis Litho Company, Cleveland OH
Dimensions:
14" x 22"
Owner:
The Magic Of Magic
Offered for $:
Exhibit
Howard Thurston's famous Vanishing Whippet illusion amazed audiences whenever he performed it. The car and his assistants would disappear right from the middle of the stage. A feature about this window card, other than it is a window card, that makes it different than the popular one sheet Vanishing Whippet poster is the different font used for the lettering.