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of PhiladelphiaMagical Treasures

by Tom Ewing

On behalf of the vibrant magic community in Philadelphia, welcome to the many

national convention attendees to our city. We have a rich political history as the site of the First and Second Continental Congresses during the American Revolution. It was here, too, that the Declaration of Independence was drafted and adopted, and from 1790-1800 we served as the nation’s capital. It was also the home of Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, and other notables.

We have a rich magic history stretching back to those early colonial days up to the present.

Hosting this national convention is also noth-ing new to the city as we have done so on four other occasions—1931, 1968, 1972, and 1976. We can also boast five National S.A.M. Presidents and two Deans of the Society with close ties to the city.

In mid-1700s, Philadelphian Jacob Meyer be-gan performing magic and eventually adopt-ed the stage name Philadelphus Philadelphia and rose to fame here and abroad. He trav-eled extensively throughout Europe and per-formed before the Empress Catharine and Sultan Mustapha the Third at Constantinople.

Also in the late 1700s, conjurors such as Hymen Saunders, Signor Falconi, and John Rannie performed at local taverns and public houses in the city.

It was also here that Von Kempelen’s chess- playing automaton, “The Turk,” spent its final and last days. From 1770, until its de-struction by fire at the National Theater at Ninth and Chestnut streets in 1854, this clockwork automaton was exhibited world-wide playing excellent chess against human opponents. Its many challengers included Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, and the world’s top chess masters. The gentleman who purchased the Turk and brought it to Philadelphia was Edgar Allan Poe’s personal physician. Another famous automaton still in existence and on display is the Draughtsman Writ-er, which resides at The Franklin Institute. Readers may be interested to know it served as the model of the automaton featured in Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film, “Hugo.” It came to the In-stitute in 1928 as a mass of ruined brass cogs and machinery. No one even knew who had created the figure or wheth-er it was made to represent a male or female. Here is the Institute’s description of what happened after the Philadelphia treasure was painstakingly restored.

“When the repairs were completed and the driving motors were set in motion, the Au-tomaton came to life. It lowered its head, positioned its pen, and began to produce elaborate sketches. Four drawings and three poems later, in the border surrounding the final poem, the Automaton clearly wrote, “Ecrit par L’Automate de Maillardet.” This translates to “Written by the Automaton of Maillardet.”

In writing about Philadelphia’s “magical treasures,” I wondered whether the focus

should be more on theaters and buildings or people. Since people are far more interesting, I went with human treasures. Of course, I had to throw in some buildings and theaters, too.

Magic Shops

From the standpoint of magic establishments, Boston had C. Milton Chase, New York had Martinka’s, Chicago had Roterberg’s, Los Angeles had Thayer’s, and for more than 40 years spanning the turn of the 20th century, Philadelphians had the magic shop of Thom-as W. Yost.

Yost was born March 15, 1832, in Philadel-phia and opened for business in 1870, in a store located at 35 North Ninth Street, where he occupied the second floor. Less than a year later, he moved to 901 Filbert Street, where he continued to provide imported and custom-made magic to

local enthusiasts and top professionals of the day.

Over the course of the shop’s existence, ma-gicians like Signor Blitz, Wyman the Wizard, Robert Heller, Frikell, Anderson, and the en-tire Herrmann family stopped and shopped in Yost’s establishment. He was the first deal-er to make and distribute what was then the entirely new Okito Coin Box. Okito (Theo-dore Bamberg) was traveling at the time with the Thurston show doing shadowgraphs and, during his stop in Philadelphia, showed the effect to Yost. He quickly obtained the rights and began selling them for fifty cents. In 1914, Yost sold his shop to Clyde W. Powers of New York. A few years later, Powers sold all of the stock of his shop and Yost’s at bar-gain basement prices. The remnants of Yost’s shop were acquired by Frank Ducrot, who by that time had already purchased the Horn-mann Magic Company. Yost passed away in 1917 and was buried in Sellersville, Pennsyl-vania.

Another famous magic shop worth noting is

the one owned and operated by the well known magic crafts-man Carl Brema (1864–1942). From 1918 to 1925, Brema’s magic shop at 425 Market Street in Phila-delphia was the inner sanctum for magicians

both famous and infamous. Houdini, Powell, Thurston, Goldin, Gibson, Felix Herrmann, and many local magicians spent hours dis-cussing magic in the shop. His finely craft-ed close-up tricks, comprised primarily of brass, are highly collectible. When Houdini took out his three-part magic, escapes, and spirit exposés show, he turned to Brema to construct the stage illusions. Other magic impresarios in the city included Jack Chanin, Mike Kanter, Walter Gibson, Lucille Saxon, (manager of Holden’s), Edward Massey, and presently Bob Little of Hatboro Magic.

Kellar’s Egyptian HallThe famous magician Harry Kellar is also inextricably linked to the City of Brotherly Love. During his early years traveling with the Fakir of Ava, then with the Davenport Brothers, Kellar dreamed of opening his own permanent theater along the lines of Maske-lyne and Cooke’s Egyptian Hall in London. He eventually accomplished this when he opened his own “Egyptian Hall” in Phila-delphia on December 15, 1884. Establishing this theater helped position Kellar to assume the mantle of “America’s favorite magician.”

The Philadelphia theater Kellar chose for his Egyptian Hall was the old Mason-ic Hall at 713-721 Chestnut Street. It had a long and illus-trious history, having

descended from the first Masonic Hall that opened in 1810, burned in 1819, was rebuilt, and, in 1841, housed Charles Wilson Peale’s Museum of Curiosities. The height of Kellar’s theater from the pavement to the finials on either side of the main tower was 112 feet, or 11 stories. The front was painted white and blue with gold decorations.

With the exception of the Academy of Music, the theater had the largest seating capacity of any similar place of amusement in the city. In the basement was the “Chamber of Horrors,” representing such things as a man falling into the hands of cannibals and an Indian scalp-ing. It was on this stage that Kellar presented his famous dark cabinet séance, growth of roses, levitation, and many of the signature effects for which he became famous.

A number of famous people attended Kellar’s perfor-mances, including his old friend and mentor, The Fakir of Ava. John L. Sullivan, then the World Heavy Weight Boxing Champi-on, tied Kellar up one after-noon. After stepping into the séance cabinet, Sullivan was stripped of his vest and coat and chucked from the cabinet. He said, “…As if some fellow tucked me one in the jugular.”

In the fall of 1885, after 264 performanc-es, Kellar closed his Egyptian Hall. Sever-al months later, the theater burned to the ground. Kellar opened a second Egyptian Hall in October 1891, in a theater known as Concert Hall. It was there he premiered his

Blue Room, which allowed him to appear, disappear and dissolve on stage. In sub-sequent years Kellar returned to the city. Au-diences in the City of Brother-ly Love thrilled to illusions like “The Golden Butterfly,” the “Levitation of Princess Kar-

nac,” and “The Phantom Bride,” but never again would he settle in for a long run en-sconced in his own theater. The acclamation of Philadelphia audiences and the invaluable experience he gained through steady and repeated performances of his favorite tricks and illusions in his own theater positioned him to assume the title of “America’s Fa-vorite Magician” upon the death of his rival Alexander Herrmann. In 1910, the Society of American Magicians unanimously named Kellar as the first Dean of the organization, a role he filled until his death on March 10, 1922. With his passing, magicians and lay people, many who recalled his early Philadel-phia days, mourned the loss of a great man and outstanding magician.

Herrmann’s Broad Street Theater

Another theater oper-ating in Philadelphia during the late 1880s was the one owned by Kellar’s primary rival, Alexander Herrmann. It was situated down-town just a few blocks south of City Hall. It was originally planned to be a temporary the-ater designed to attract some of the ten million people visiting the 1876 Centennial celebration of our nation tak-ing place in the city that year.

It was constructed for the Kiralfy brothers, a

theatrical family who spe-cialized in lavish spectac-ulars. It originally opened as Kiralfy’s Alhambra

Palace, a name that was well deserved. Their productions often included dozens and doz-ens of dancing girls, exotic scenery, magnifi-cent costuming, and animals large and small including elephants.

It was this theater that Alexander Herrmann acquired and operated and in which he con-tinued to offer stock company productions, star attractions and continued lavish specta-cles that even included gondolas floating on Venetian canals. Herrmann performed his show in his own theater only one time for an extended run in April, 1889. Eventually Herrmann, like his predecessors, sold the theater and returned to the road with the illusion show that made him and Adelaide America’s favorite magicians.

Howard Thurston Another famous ma-gician and former S.A.M. National Pres-ident who was closely associated with the city was Howard Thurston. On his rise to the top of the profession, Thurston appeared here often. In fact, several of his major illusions were

designed and created here when Thurston appeared at Willow Grove Park, an outdoor boating and entertainment venue on the northwest side of the city. Underneath the Willowgraph Theater where he was appear-ing, he established a workshop where he worked on new illusions.

As his career and fame increased, Thurston was always on the lookout for new illusions; and to protect them from piracy, he acquired

,the services of James C. Wo-bensmith, a patent attorney in the city. They became very close friends, and Wo-bensmith helped Thurston in his dealings with the U.S. Patent Office. Thurston even let his daughter Jane stay with the Wobensmiths when she was taken ill and How-ard had to go back on the road. Wobensmith was also an amateur magician and a found-ing member of Assembly #4, February 4, 1920. From that beginning, he rose through the ranks and at the 1931 convention in Phila-delphia was elected National President of the S.A.M.

Walter GibsonAlso very closely linked to Thurston was Walter Brown Gibson, noted magician and author, who is best known as the creator of The Shadow character of pulp fiction and radio fame. Gibson was born in nearby Ger-mantown, wrote under the pen name Maxwell Grant, and published nearly 300 novel-length Shadow stories. In his early years he worked for the Phila-delphia North American and later The Evening Ledger. In 1931, he was asked by publish-ers Street & Smith to produce the first pulp magazine adventure of The Shadow, then popular on radio. He went on to serve as a ghost writer for books on magic for Houdini, Thurston, Blackstone and Dunninger. While in Philadelphia, he also invented the famous trick “Nickels to Dimes,” which Brema made and sold. Gibson worked very closely on Thurston’s biography, My Life in Magic. He was successful in getting it serialized by La-dies Home Journal and eventually served as the go-between with Thurston and Dorrance Publishing Company of Philadelphia for the publication of that biography.

The contract signing for the book took place onstage in Philadelphia and was heralded by Thurston stepping out of a giant book of

famous magicians to greet the representative from Dorrance. In later years Gibson operat-ed a branch of the Blackstone Magic Compa-ny in the downtown area.

Frederick Eugene PowellPhiladelphia was home to Fredrick Eugene Powell, who served as the second Dean of the Society of Amer-ican Magician’s from 1922 until his death in 1938. He was been preceded in that honorary role by Harry Kel-lar.

Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, in 1857, he was inspired to learn magic after witnessing a performance by Signor Blitz, the famous magician, ventriloquist and plate spinner. For fifty years Powell toured not only the United States, but South and Central Ameri-ca, presenting a full-evening show consisting of sleight-of-hand, parlor effects and full-scale illusions. His entertaining presentation opened with what is now nearly a cliché — transforming his dress gloves into a live dove. In Powell’s day, however, the change of an inanimate object into a living creature was startling.

His contemporary thinking and ability as an artiste led Servais Le Roy and Imro Fox to join forces with Powell in a venture known as “The Great Triple Alliance.” The three magi-

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cians toured the United States and Canada with an evening’s entertainment that fea-tured the strengths of each of the performers. Fox’s humor complemented Le Roy’s bril-liant new illusions and Powell’s classic pol-ished presentations. Bickering and jealousy soon developed within the Alliance, and it lasted less than two years. Powell continued to tour widely but was limited somewhat by his wife, who was very ill. He spent his last years living with the Petrie family in New Haven, CT.

Contemporary Treasures

Our city has many current treasures in the form of talented magicians, famous as-sistants, S.A.M. national presidents and a vibrant Society of Young Magicians group. Particularly noteworthy is Mike Bonacci, a busy professional who has delighted audiences for over 40 years in and around Philadelphia. Besides being talented in all areas of mag-ic—close-up, strolling, stage, comedy and illusions—he has single-handedly coordinated Assembly 4’s National Magic Week activities for decades. It is one of the largest such efforts in the country and through his hard work and volunteer assembly members, thousands of sick, needy, or homeless children and adults have enjoyed some magic moments in their troubled lives.

Another outstanding longtime magi-cian is George Hample. Besides being one of the busiest working magicians

The Philadelphia Assembly No. 4 Charter

National Officers at the time Assembly No. 4 was chartered.

in the city, he has also portrayed Benjamin Franklin at celebrations, conventions, pri-vate engagements and at Independence Hall. Dressed in authentic period costumes and supported by his expansive knowledge of early colonial life, Hample transports his au-diences back to those days with tricks built around Franklin’s interests and inventions, including printing presses and experiments with kites and electricity.

Another treasure is Adele Friel Rhindress, Blackstone’s “Elusive Moth.” As magicians know, Harry Blackstone presented a full-eve-ning production called the “Show of 1001 Wonders.” It lived up to that billing as a stage-filling spectacle, combining spectacular illusions, magnificent costumes, gorgeous girls, a corps of assis-tants, humor, dancing, and intimate conjuring into a magnificent stage production.

Blackstone toured North America ceaselessly and by 1947, after over four decades enter-taining the public, was unquestionably one of America’s greatest and best-known ma-gicians. It was in that year, at the age of 17, that Adele Friel was swept into Blackstone’s world of magic.

,For the next three seasons, she trouped with Black-stone, playing an integral role in his show, both onstage and backstage. In fact, she starred in an act created by Blackstone in which she

portrayed a giant moth pursued by jungle savages. Caught up in a net and lifted into the air, she was saved by Blackstone who vanished her with a pistol shot. Her manu-script, Memoirs of an Elusive Moth, gives read-ers a rare and intimate first-person account of one of America’s greatest touring magic shows and shares details of life in the theater, behind the scenes, and on the road. She has been awarded a Presidential Citation from the S.A.M., the Linking Ring Award of Excellence in 2011, and 2012, and other honors.

TellerOne of the most famous magic Philadel-phians is Teller, the talented and silent part-ner of Penn Gillette. For more than 40 years this actor, magician, writer and magic histo-ry enthusiast and his partner have amazed and entertained audiences with their offbeat brand of entertainment. They began as The Asparagus Valley Cultural Society and their earliest long-term booking was at the city’s Walnut Street Theater. Space does not permit us to list their continued success, but they remain one of the most popular attractions in Las Vegas, have enjoyed sold-out runs on Broadway, hosted or starred in Emmy-win-ning TV specials, and have both been rec-ognized with stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Teller was named “Magician of the Year” (with Penn Jillette) by the Academy of Magical Arts in 1996.

The Gustafsons One of our most delightful local treasures is the husband and wife team of Dick and Jo-anne Gustafson, two of the most talented and busy magical entertainers in the country (see

the March cover sto-ry in M-U-M). They unselfishly give of their time and talent to teach magic, dis-cuss stage deportment and presentation, and help members improve their magic. Gustafson served as National President of the S.A.M. in 1973/74 and prior to that the editor of M-U-M where he applied his considerable creative talents. Locally, he has served as president of Assem-bly #4 and Ring 6.

The latest version of their annual “Amazing World of Magic” illusion show utilized more than five tons of props, including 14 illusions drawn from their warehouse. He and Joanne are currently presenting their version of Ade Duval’s Rhapsody in Silk act, which hasn’t been performed since 1939. From an empty tube they produce hundreds and hundreds of silks ending with a 51-foot production of sev-enteen 36-inch Rice silks sewn together.

These talented entertainers first burst onto the entertainment scene with a performance of “Magic by Candlelight” on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. In 2000, Gustafson was induct-ed into The S.A.M. Hall of Fame in Holly-wood. In 2009, he and Joanne received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mau-rine and Milbourne Christopher Foundation. Assembly #4’s highest honor is “The Gus-tafsons’ Award,” presented annually to the member who most embodies professional-ism, kindness, consideration for all magi-cians, and in all cases being a gentleman or gentlewoman. Past Presidents

Philadelphia also boasts of five past nation-al presidents (PNPs)—James Wobensmith, Dick Gustafson, Mike Miller, Bradley Jacobs and Roy Snyder. We have covered Jim Wo-bensmith, who served as president in 1931/32 and was both a talented magician and patent attorney to Howard Thurston. Likewise, the talented Dick Gustafson, who served as presi-dent in 1973/74 has also been featured.

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Mike Miller (2009/10) is a living example of someone volunteering to help out an organization and then rising through the ranks to the presidency. It all started in 1996, when he agreed to assist Hank Moorehouse and Bruce Chadwick stage manage the na-tional convention shows. That went so well that they hired him for other conventions; and, when Hank stepped down, Mike assist-ed R.G. Smith for another 12 years. When Smith stepped down, Miller got the job. His rise to the presidency began with his three-year stint as RVP for the Mid-Atlantic region. The National Council reached out to him in 2005 about running for second vice president and the rest is history. His presidency focused on recognizing and cel-ebrating current and longtime members.

At the time of his elec-tion, PNP Roy Snyder (1978/79), was the youngest president of the S.A.M., being only 27 at the time. However, he had earned that position by rising through the local and na-tional ranks and pulling his weight helping our society. Like PNP Mike Miller, Snyder stage-managed many of the S.A.M. conven-tion shows. He was also an associate editor of M-U-M and contributed many articles as well as creating the classified advertising section. Early in his career he managed a struggling magic troupe named The Asparagus Valley Cultural Society. This was the beginning of one of the most successful magic partner-ships in magic…Penn & Teller. Snyder has spent his life in marketing and public rela-tions (primarily in the live entertainment in-dustry), had a decades-long association with the Keswick Theatre in Philadelphia, and left a positive and indelible impact on the S.A.M.

National President for 1970/71, one of our

hardest working PNPs is Bradley Jacobs. For 17 years he held the title of convention chair for our Society’s national conventions. In that capacity he traveled the country scouting good locations, booking hotels, signing theater contracts and handling the million other details

that made these events a success. He tried to step down in 2002, but was persuaded to step back up and did so through the combined convention in 2008.

He also began chairing the society’s Magic Endowment Fund in 2005, which annually provides scholarships to needy, aspiring and talented young magicians, and other awards as well. In 2008, he established the Bradley Jacobs College Scholarship Award. Interest-ingly, the first one went to Philadelphia ma-gician Harrison Lampert, who was enrolled in Temple University at that time. Brad is an Honorary Member of the Society, a member of the Hall of Fame, was named “Magician of the Year” by Parent Assembly #1 in New York City, and previously served as president of that Assembly in 1961. He travels constant-ly, promoting magic and our society, encour-aging young people and promoting the art. Thus his title “Ambassador of Magic” is both fitting and well earned.

And finally, we close with SYM club Y096, a treasure that was founded in 1991 and which has served as a proven training ground for young magicians throughout the Delaware Valley. The group was organized by Arlen Solomon, Kyle Peron, John Domalewski, and Hank Strasser. Over the years, members have performed for charitable organizations and at Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and 76er events. Current leaders include Solomon and Eric Lampert with assistance from Kurt Garwood and Larry and Marie Woodson. Under the care of these adults, these young people will be the treasures of tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: Tom Ewing is the S.A.M. National Historian.