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Raymond's Grave. Used with permission of Rory Feldman* |
Raymond was born Maurice F. Saunders in Akron Ohio on May 30th 1877 and died on January 27th 1948 in NYC. He is buried in the Glendale Cemetery in Akron.
He was one of the great touring illusionists of the early 20th century. Maurice Francois Raymond Saunders was known professionally as The Great Raymond. He featured everything from escapes to large scale illusions in his show. Raymond was very similar to Charles Carter. Like Carter the Great he toured the world performing his show. He even claimed the title 'Globe Trotting Magician' before he ever went out on tour, that's a man with a goal!
The Great Raymond claimed to have made seven world tours though much of that is disputed. It was more likely less than that. There is a wonderful book on the Great Raymond by William Rauscher. Information on ordering this book is here, http://www.mysticlightpress.com/index.php?page_id=103
I'm fascinated by these old time touring illusion shows. For one, the amount of equipment they toured with is staggering. When they built an illusion it was sturdy, strong and heavy. Today's illusions are certainly sturdy, but often they are made to break down fairly small and also light weight for travel. Raymond came from a time when stage traps were popular but today's illusionists no longer use that method. Some of today's artists travel with their own light and sound equipment, Raymond had none of that to worry about. Posters were the #1 selling tool of the traveling magician. The Great Raymond also took a page from Houdini's book and used the escape publicity stunt to draw up excitement about his appearances.

I'm really fond of his lithograph posters. I think magicians are used to seeing the Thurston and Kellar Posters but the Raymonds though less popular are just as striking. Raymond deserves a longer blog and maybe eventually I'll get around to doing that. But this was more to show off his grave and to give you a snippet of biographical info.
SPECIAL NOTE: All magician grave photos are being collected in a special blog all their own.
http://deadconjurers.blogspot.com/
*The photo of the grave is used with permission of Rory Feldman who has one of the most amazing magic history sites I've ever seen. His subject is Howard Thurston and it's just awe inspiring. Please visit his site when you can at www.thurstonmastermagician.com
Good stuff. I agree. Raymond posters are gorgeous.
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