Civil War Era Magician Part 6

photo from the Mark Cannon Collection

This next magician is the real deal in regards to a Civil War magician. He served in the Union Army. He had a connection to Lincoln unlike anyone else. He was, a teacher, an inventor, a carnival showman, magician, escape artist, soldier and one remarkable individual, but I'm mainly going to focus on his relation to the Civil War.

He was born Horatio Green Cooke on February 1, 1844 in the town of Norwich, Connecticut. As a youth his family moved around a bit finally settling in Iowa. In 1862 the second year of the Civil War, Horatio, who would go by the name Harry, enlisted in the Union Army.

He went from being a private in the Union Army to being selected to be one of Lincoln's Federal Scouts.  In 1863, he fell under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Vicksburg. The surrender of Vicksburg by the Confederate Army gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union Army, and basically split the Confederacy in half. This event, along with the Battle of Gettysburg, were the turning points in the war for the Union.

R. Ingersoll, Gen Hancock, E. Stanton, Gen Sherman, A. Lincoln

On May 1st, 1864, Harry Cooke was ordered to appear before Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War in Washington D.C.. When he arrived  he found that along with Stanton, was General William Tecumseh Sherman, General Hancock, Robert Ingersoll and President Abraham Lincoln. They had heard of the young scouts unusual ability to free himself from restraints and were curious. So he was tied up with fifty feet of rope. After he was securely tied, Cooke asked Lincoln to walk ten feet away. Then he asked him to return and before Lincoln got back, Cooke had freed himself from the confinement! According to the Los Angeles Evening Express Newspaper, Lincoln was amazed and jubilated. Lincoln said to Cooke "Here my boy, keep this to remember Uncle Abe by" and Lincoln then handed Cooke a two dollar bill. Harry Cooke kept that two dollar bill his entire life.

John Singleton Mosby - The Grey Ghost

In the Fall of 1864, Harry was assigned to join General Sheridan in Winchester VA. On October 19th, Harry Cooke and six other scouts were captured by Mosby's Raiders under the command of  'The Grey Ghost', John Singleton Mosby*. Mosby was notorious for his stealth-like raids against Union forces. When his band of raiders captured Harry Cooke and his fellow scouts they took from them all their possessions. In Cooke's pocket was a personal letter from Lincoln appointing him to the position of Federal Scout, a cherished memento. In Mosby's eyes Cooke was a spy and was sentenced to be hanged along with his other scouts. They were to get an early morning hanging, but their final evening on earth would be spent tied to a tree. Being the escape artist that he was, Cooke quietly freed himself from the ropes, and then proceeded to free his fellow prisoners and return back to the Union side under the cover of darkness. The prisoners split up on their return and three swam across the Potomac and the others made their way through the woods. Only two of the scouts made it back safely, and Cooke was one of the two.

Fords Theatre /Library of Congress photo

Harry had always been bothered by the theft of his Lincoln Letter by Mosby's Raiders and decided to try and get a copy from the President himself. In April 1865, Cooke went to the White House in Washington to see Mr. Lincoln. Upon arriving at the White House he was told that Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln had left for an evening at Fords Theatre. Harry Cooke went to Fords Theatre, where the President and First Lady were watching the play "Our American Cousin". A short time after Harry Cooke arrived a loud shot rang out, and well, the rest is history. Cooke was there, in the audience, as John Wilkes Booth shot the President and then jumped to the stage and out the back doors of Fords Theatre.

It's hard to say when Harry Cooke got his interest in magic or where he learned to escape from ropes. One thing is certain, he had an ability to escape like no one before him, and few since. Unlike the other Civil War Magicians I profiled Harry Cooke did not perform during the war, except for the rope escape demonstration before President Lincoln and his friends.  After the Civil War ended Horatio Green Cooke became "Professor Harry Cooke" and worked as a professional magician and 'Celebrated King of the Spirit Exposers". Years later he would become President of the Los Angeles Society of Magicians and would obtain the new moniker 'the oldest living magician'. His favorite trick throughout his life was the Linking Rings and apparently his routine was one to wonder over.

On May 1st 1924, at the young age of 80, Harry Cooke duplicated his feat of escaping from 50 feet of rope for the Los Angeles area magicians. During this exhibition, Harry Cooke wore his blue Union Army uniform, the same one he wore during the Civil War. The result was exactly as it had been 60 years earlier when he presented the stunt before President Lincoln and his cabinet, HE ESCAPED! A short time later Horatio Green Cooke passed away on June 17, 1924.

Harry Cooke later in life. He is on the left, the one with the hat.

I must admit I never had heard of Horatio Green Cooke until Mark Cannon told me about him. Sadly, Cooke, like many magicians, had fallen through the cracks of time and had been forgotten. Mark knew about him because he received Cooke's personal scrapbook from Cooke's very own daughter! He has since written several articles on Harry Cooke and given lectures on Cooke's life. About the only information I had on Cooke was a short single page article that Mark had written on Cooke in MUM Magazine. Then I began digging deeper and I found Cooke's name popping up in much older magic periodicals. The internet provided a few surprises like the a Civil War record showing that Cooke was part of the 28th Regiment, Iowa Infantry. Census records showed the various places he lived. Gradually other pieces to the puzzle began to come together through newspaper archives.

Then I got an even bigger surprise, a relative of Harry Cooke contacted ME! That really spurred me on to finish this and help her learn more about her Great Great Uncle. The above family photo is from Harry Cooke's Great Great Niece. I also discovered a second much longer and extensive article about Harry Cooke that Mark Cannon had written after I did a lot of the research. It would have been nice to have this info early on as I might have finished sooner, but it was fantastic information and far more than I found.

For the record, Mark Cannon is in the process of writing a biography of Harry Cooke. I don't think he has a date set on when it will be finished.  Mark was also gracious enough to let me use the photo of Harry Cooke with the linking rings that is at the top of the blog. Mark certainly deserves the credit for reintroducing the world to Horatio Green Cooke and I look forward to the day his book is completed!

UPDATE: I just found out that there was a film made of Harry Kellar and Harry Cooke. It was taken by Mr. Ford of the Ford Film Company and was shot in California. According to the Kellar Book by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, the footage still exists and portions can be seen on the A&E TV Special "The Story of Magic" and also the PBS special "The Art of Magic". I must admit that I don't recall seeing Harry Cooke on video before, but I have seen very brief film footage of Harry Kellar.

UPDATE 2: I believe a copy of the film was given to the SAM. However, a search of the SAM DVD Library does not show this footage.

*My art teacher in High School was related to John Singleton Mosby.

NEXT: A Few More Civil War Magicians

The Magician Who Met Abraham Lincoln

This story has intrigued me from the first time I heard of it. In fact, I even wrote about it before. A friend sent me an article from a 1920 LA newspaper and it rekindled my interest in the story. So I'm reprinting my original article below with a couple corrections. These corrections came about by reading an article in the Los Angeles Evening Herald Feb 12th, 1920 edition. In truth, they really fill in more of the blanks than truly correct things. I hope you enjoy the updated article.

The individual in question is Horatio Green Cooke, born 1844 in Norwich Connecticut. As a youth his family moved around a bit finally settling in Iowa. In 1861, Horatio was working as a teacher.  In 1862, Horatio, who would go by the name Harry, enlisted in the Union Army. He had excellent penmanship and was also a fine marksman. Before long he was writing correspondence for various Generals in the Union Army, among them General U.S. Grant.

Due to Cooke's ability as a penman, he soon came to the notice of various people in Washington DC. His ability as a marksman, also played a part in his change in career and in rank. 




He went from being a private in the Union Army to being selected to be as a Captain of Lincoln's Federal Scouts.  He always carried with him a letter autographed by the President Lincoln informing him that he had been selected to be one of his special scouts.  In 1863, he fell under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Vicksburg. The surrender of Vicksburg by the Confederate Army gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union Army, and basically split the Confederacy in half. This event, along with the Battle of Gettysburg, were the turning points in the war for the Union.

R. Ingersoll, Gen Hancock, E. Stanton, Gen Sherman, A. Lincoln

On May 1st, 1864, Harry Cooke was ordered to appear before Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War in Washington D.C.. When he arrived  he found that along with Stanton, was General William Tecumseh Sherman, General Hancock, Senator Robert Ingersoll and President Abraham Lincoln. They had heard of the young scouts unusual ability to free himself from restraints and were curious. So he was tied up with fifty feet of rope. After he was securely tied, Cooke asked Lincoln to walk ten feet away. Then he asked him to return and before Lincoln got back, Cooke had freed himself from the confinement! According to the Los Angeles Evening Express Newspaper, Lincoln was amazed and jubilated. Lincoln said to Cooke "Here my boy, keep this to remember Uncle Abe by" and Lincoln then handed Cooke a two dollar bill. Harry Cooke kept that two dollar bill his entire life.

John Singleton Mosby - The Grey Ghost

In the Fall of 1864, Harry was assigned to join General Sheridan in Winchester VA. On October 19th, Harry Cooke and six other scouts were captured by Mosby's Raiders under the command of  'The Grey Ghost', John Singleton Mosby*. Mosby was notorious for his stealth-like raids against Union forces. When his band of raiders captured Harry Cooke and his fellow scouts they took from them all their possessions. In Cooke's pocket was the personal letter from Lincoln appointing him to the position of Federal Scout, a cherished memento. In Mosby's eyes Cooke was a spy and was sentenced to be hanged along with his other scouts. They were to get an early morning hanging, but their final evening on earth would be spent tied to a tree. Being the escape artist that he was, Cooke quietly freed himself from the ropes, and then proceeded to free his fellow prisoners and return back to the Union side under the cover of darkness. Due to the fact that not all of his fellow scounts could swim, they had to split up. Three swam across the Potomac River and the others made their way through the woods. One of the scouts who was swimming later drowned when trying to cross Harpers Ferry Canal.  Cooke and his companion finally made it back to a Union camp. From there, he took some men back to try and find those scouts who chose to make their way through the woods because they couldn't swim. They were eventually discovered, hanged and full of bullet holes. In the end, only Cooke and his other fellow scout that he swam with made it to safety.

Fords Theatre /Library of Congress photo

Harry had always been bothered by the theft of his Lincoln Letter by Mosby's Raiders and decided to try and get a copy from the President himself. On April 14th 1865, Cooke went to the White House in Washington to see Mr. Lincoln. Upon arriving at the White House he was told that Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln had left for an evening at Fords Theatre. Harry Cooke went to Fords Theatre, where the President and First Lady were watching the play "Our American Cousin". A short time after Harry Cooke arrived a loud shot rang out, and well, the rest is history. Cooke was there, in the audience, as John Wilkes Booth shot the President and then jumped to the stage and out the back doors of Fords Theatre.

It's hard to say when Harry Cooke got his interest in magic or where he developed the ability to escape from ropes. One thing is certain, he had an ability to escape like no one before him, and few since.  After the Civil War ended Horatio Green Cooke became "Professor Harry Cooke" and worked as a professional magician and 'Celebrated King of the Spirit Exposers". Years later he would become President of the Los Angeles Society of Magicians and would obtain the new moniker 'The Oldest Living Magician'. His favorite trick throughout his life was the Linking Rings and apparently his routine was one to wonder over.

On May 1st 1924, at the young age of 80, Harry Cooke duplicated his feat of escaping from 50 feet of rope for the Los Angeles area magicians. During this exhibition, Harry Cooke wore his blue Union Army uniform, the same one he wore during the Civil War. The result was exactly as it had been 60 years earlier when he presented the stunt before President Lincoln and his cabinet, HE ESCAPED! A a little over a month later Horatio Green Cooke passed away on June 17, 1924.


I must make note of the fact that though Harry Cooke was well known during his day, and appeared often in magic periodicals of his time period, and was even one of the pallbearers at Harry Kellar's funeral, he had largely been forgotten in recent years. It was Mark Cannon, escape artist and magician who brought the wonderful stories of Harry Cooke back to life through a fantastic article he wrote for MUM Magazine in April 2006. Mark had actually been fortunate enough to meet one of Harry Cooke's daughters at one of his shows and was given Cooke's personal scrap book. And it was because of Mark's wonderful article and my interest in magic history that I first started to delve into the world of Harry Cooke. Eventually, I too got to meet one of Cooke's descendants. You gotta love magic history, you never know where it will take you or who you might encounter!

Harry Cooke Biography Is Available

 

I'm very excited to learn that Mark Cannon has finished his book on Horatio Green Cooke. I first learned of Cooke through an article that Cannon wrote for the M-U-M Magazine. I began my own research on the man shortly after. I've written articles for this blog and done a podcast on Cooke. Whenever I write, or speak on Cooke, I ALWAYS mention Mark Cannon because he really brought the story of Cooke back to life.

How Mark came to discover Cooke is amazing in itself. He was doing a show at a Senior Citizens home, and it just turned out that one of Harry Cooke's daughters was in the audience. She spoke to Mark about her father. He had no idea who she was speaking of. But clearly he paid attention when she brought out his diary and scrapbook. Eventually, Cooke's daughter gave these things to Mark, along with a unique lock that Cooke had made for Houdini. 

NOW, Mark has written a biography on Harry Cooke. I do not yet have my copy (it's on the way).  This is not a review of the book, but I will put one out once I read the book. I'm so thrilled that Mark got this book done. For the past few years, I've kept carrying the water for Cooke, but now Mark is going to give the full story of this unique individual. 

If you'd like to read some of my articles on Harry Cooke: https://www.themagicdetective.com/search?q=cooke

To hear my podcast on Cooke:  https://magicdetectivepodcast.com/category/harry-cooke/

To purchase a copy of the book, click this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094TKTFD6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The UnMasking of Harry Houdini Part 1

In 1908, Harry Houdini published a book called The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin., The book attempted to show that Robert-Houdin was NOT the Father of Modern Magic and in fact, he had stolen many of the ideas and concepts from other performers. It has gone down as not one of Houdini's better moments.

Personally, I find the book fascinating. Sure, Houdini's angle on Robert-Houdin was all wrong, but he does record quite a bit of history about other performers in those pages.  I'd like to take a moment or two and trace the origins of Houdini's act.  I will not be accusing him of pilfering his material from other performers. He was not the first escape artist, nor the first to do many of the effects he claimed as his own.  What he did do was what many performers do, including Robert-Houdin. He took a lot of existing material, made it his own and did it so well that everyone associated it with him. I think there is nothing wrong with that! Plus, Houdini did have some things that were uniquely his.

The Origins of the Escape Act

Escapes generally came out of the Spiritualist Movement. Folks like the Davenport Brothers were the first to be tied into a cabinet and cause odd manifestations to take place. The truth was, the brothers had discovered a special way to be tied so that they could untie themselves and then get back into their bonds. The Davenports began their act in 1854, a good 20 years before Houdini was even born. The Davenports presented their show as apparently genuine mediums, so they were not escaping, but the technique of freeing themselves was very much the same.

In the March issue of The Sphinx, John Mullholland points out that it's very possible Wyman the Wizard was the first magician to present these fake spiritualistic effects in a magic show. So there is the jump from pseudo-religious use to entertainment. In fact, John Wyman was also on a committee in Boston in 1857 to investigate the Fox Sisters, the originators of the Spiritualism Movement. Other performers soon jumped on the spirit phenomenon train, like John Henry Anderson, Robert-Heller, Samri Baldwin and a fellow named Horatio.

Houdini & Cooke

Actually, his full name was Horatio Green Cooke, known also as Harry Cooke. Young Harry, was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. On May 1st, 1864, Harry found himself standing before an audience that included Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War in Washington D.C., General William Tecumseh Sherman, General Hancock, Robert Ingersoll and President Abraham Lincoln. He had been asked to appear before the group because word had gotten out of the young mans unusual ability to free himself from restraints and they wanted a demonstration. After he was securely tied with 50 feet of rope, Cooke asked Lincoln to walk ten feet away. Then he asked him to return and before Lincoln got back, Cooke had freed himself from the confinement! According to the Los Angeles Evening Express Newspaper, Lincoln was amazed and jubilant. Lincoln said to Cooke "Here my boy, keep this to remember Uncle Abe by" and Lincoln then handed Cooke a two dollar bill. Harry Cooke kept that two dollar bill his entire life. Harry Cooke was then chosen to be one of Lincon's Federal Scouts. According to Harry Cooke's daughter, Cooke was a mentor of sorts to Houdini. 

Another close friend and mentor, was Harry Kellar. Mr. Kellar worked for the Davenport Brothers and eventually developed his own rope tie that allowed him to present the Spirit Cabinet. By the time, Houdini and Kellar became close friends, Kellar had retired. But Kellar was the most popular magician in America for a long time, and no doubt Houdini witnessed his performances and was inspired by what he saw.

Though, he never worked for the Davenports, Samri Baldwin was inspired by their performances and decided to create of his own based on the same concept. It was also Baldwin who made the claim to be the first performer to present a handcuff escape. He mentions it in a letter written in 1915 that reads "The first public handcuff escape ever given in the United States and elsewhere, was given by myself in the city of New Orleans during the first week I ever exhibited in public. This was 46 years ago, long before any so-called handcuff kings were born." The year was 1871. He no doubt escaped from genuine handcuffs. Gimmicked handcuffs were used in the world of the seance worker, in fact, that might just be where they originated and eventually found their way into the magic world.

Let's move to one of Houdini's signature tricks, The Metamorphosis. This was the creation of John Nevil Maskelyne and was known as The Indian Mail. Also known as the Maskelyne Trunk Trick, the Houdini's took it and added the element of speed and got their career going with this piece. I'm honestly not sure if anyone else presented it in the same fashion that they did, before them, but I do know that it's such a great piece that magicians still present it today. Where the trunk came from is somewhat of a mystery. I went to the best source I know, Houdini-The Key by Patrick Culliton. In there he states that 'Houdini borrowed the money to buy the trunk'. But then a page later he states that 'Walter Gibson claimed Houdini purchased the trunk from Joe Godfrey-The Man of Mystery'. However, over on WildaboutHoudini.com there is another quote from Patrick Culliton that states "Houdini had created the trunk with his own hands and with the help of Frank Allen.' Frank Allen was a propman who worked at the Kansas City Orpheum who met Houdini in the 1890s.  Not sure which story is the correct one. I'm leaning towards the latter. One thing for sure, Pat Culliton knows more about Houdini than most of us will ever hope to!

To Be Continued...

The Amazing Professor Cooke Handbill

I have written about this man before, but recently have a new found interest in him because he has become part of my show. First, he became part of my Houdini lecture, but now he is in my new ASTONIFY Show.

Professor Horatio (Harry) Cooke was a remarkable man. He served in the Civil War, he was one of Lincoln's Federal Scouts, he was witness to the assassination of President Lincoln, and later he became a mentor of sorts to Houdini and many other magicians in the Los Angeles area. He was also, one of Harry Kellar's pallbearers.

Harry Cooke had long been forgotten until he was rediscovered by Mark Cannon in 1981. Mark met one of Cooke's daughters while performing at her senior citizen center. In April 2006, Mark wrote a great article in MUM Magazine all about the life of Harry Cooke.

Prior to this rediscovery, Cooke could be found within the pages of The Sphinx and other magic magazines. He was often dubbed 'The Oldest Living Magician in America'. I knew from the Cannon article and from other sources that Harry Cooke performed magic following the end of the Civil War. His favorite trick was the Linking Rings. For a number of years his show was called SPIRITUALISM Without the Aid of Spirits. Well, imagine my surprise as I'm watching the Potter and Potter Auction on Saturday last, and up comes a handbill belonging to none other than Professor Harry Cooke. The moment I saw the name, I jumped and started bidding. It may be one of my most favorite auction wins! Now that I own this wonderful item*, I'm going to alter my Cooke story yet again. And it will help me to adjust the 'spirit' portion of my Astonify Show.

The one thing left that I wonder about is whether or not Harry Cooke was a descendant of the Mayflower Cookes? Given that he was born in Connecticut, I'd say the chances are pretty high.

Who Was Houdini's Boyhood Hero?

The first thought that comes to mind was Robert Houdin the french magician who Houdini acquired his name from. But actually if that was your guess, you'd be wrong (well you'd also be right, but I'm going after someone else). You might want to say, Dr. Lynn or Harry Kellar or any number of magicians who were performing back then, but his hero was not a magician. Houdini's boyhood hero was none other than the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

According to the Silverman Biography Houdini referred to Lincoln as "my hero of hereos."Houdini claimed to have read all the books about Lincoln when he was a kid. In the Kalush biography there is a story of young Houdini attending a seance and the medium was relaying a message from Lincoln. Houdini knowing everything there was to know about Lincoln asked a question to Lincoln via the medium and was puzzled when the answer that came back was not correct. This led to his early discovery that most Spiritualists were fake.

Later in life Houdini would collect letters and autographs by Lincoln. He also collected letters by every member of the assassin John Wilkes Booths family. There was a biography written called "The Life and Death of John Wilkes Booth" in which Houdini purchased almost every available copy, few copies remain today. I recently saw a History Channel Show that speculated on John Wilkes Booth not being killed by Union Soldiers but instead having escaped the barn where he had been shot and lived to a ripe old age. IF that is true (which it's still only speculation) I wonder if Booth could have seen Houdini perform!? (probably not)

Houdini also had associations with Abraham Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln. Apparently a medium claimed to have authentic spirit photos of Abraham Lincoln. These photos were actually the creation of William Mumler, the man who is credited with creating the first Spirit Photos.  Houdini sent copies of these to Robert Todd Lincoln and he confirmed that these images were from photos of his father taken at much earlier time period. Houdini often would produce 'fake spirit messages' from Lincoln during his lectures and exposures on spiritualism and even produced his own fake spirit photo with Lincoln. Many spiritualists were claiming that Lincoln was in fact a devote spiritualist and had held seances in the White House. Actually it was Mary Lincoln who actively sought help from mediums to try and contact their dead son Willie. Houdini naturally fought against any idea that Abraham Lincoln was a Spiritualist.


During the promotion of the movie The Master Mystery, it was revealed that Houdini's pet eagle, was named 'Josephus Daniel Abraham Lincoln'. The 'stage name' of the bird was "Miss Liberty" however. Houdini produced the bird at the end of his Whirlwind of Colors routine (the production of scarves and other fabric from a small container). Incidentally, there are photos of The Whirlwind of Colors props in Patrick Culliton's book The Key. I never realized this but the routine that Tony Curtis does early in the HOUDINI movie when he and Bess are onstage doing magic in some small West Virginia Vaudeville theater is a version of the Whirlwind of Colors. Although in the movie they end with the production of a stack of goldfish bowls, Houdini in real life produced the eagle.

Signor Blitz

This next connection is more a Lincoln and magic connection, and it has to do with a graveyard.  Not far from the graveyard where Houdini is buried, Machpelah Cemetery, is Cypress Hills Cemetery and here you'll find the grave of Signor Blitz, also a magician. Blitz is said to have performed at a function where Lincoln and his son Tad were present. There is a famous exchange between the two men. Lincoln asks Blitz how many children he has made happy. Blitz replies that it must be thousands. President Lincoln follows that with “I fear that I have made thousands and tens of thousands unhappy.” This exchange took place as the Battle of Gettysburg raged.  Of course, Houdini was keenly aware of the connection between Blitz and Lincoln.

The last interesting piece of history was discovered by Mark Cannon the escape artist and escape historian. He is currently writing a book on the life of Harry Cooke. It is possible that Cooke was the first escape artist in America. Cooke also worked directly for Abraham Lincoln as a Spy for the Union Army. Harry Cooke had shown Lincoln an escape from a piece of rope and Lincoln was so impressed he put him to work.  It just so happens that Harry Cooke (Horatio Green Cooke) and Houdini knew each other and Cooke's daughter told Mark Cannon that her father was a mentor of sorts to Houdini! There is more to the Cooke/Lincoln story, and you can read that here: https://www.themagicdetective.com/2017/04/the-magician-who-met-abraham-lincoln.html




UPDATE: This article originally appeared on my blog Dec 30, 2010. It had a slight error in the information, and I corrected that. I also discovered if you type in 'Houdini Lincoln' in a Google search you end up at this site...http://weeklyview.net/2017/06/15/harry-houdini-and-abraham-lincoln/.  The author should have given me credit as it appears the bulk of his article came right out of my blog, including an error that I fixed and a section I removed on a letter by Houdini concerning Lincoln Letters.

Harry Cooke's Grave

I've been doing some research on Horatio Cooke recently. He has quite the life story which I covered briefly in an earlier blog article. I was rereading the magazine article that Mark Cannon wrote for the MUM back in April 2006. The article was incredible and it ended with Mark discussing the difficulty he had trying to locate the grave of Harry Cooke. He eventually discovered it with the help of magic historian, Diego Domingo. There is a great photo in the magazine of Mark kneeling in front of the grave.

I realized that I never included Harry Cooke in my The DeadConjurers blog. So I went online and found another photo in Find-A-Grave.com. The photo owner Don Lynch kindly gave me permission to use the photo that he took of the grave. Thanks Don!

But I also found something else of interest. I found the photo of a grave belonging to 'The Infants of HG Cooke and LM Cooke' in Illinois. I'm 99% sure this grave belongs to two children of Harry and Louisa. They lived in Illinois before moving out west to California. It's likely these two children died in childbirth.

Harry Cooke and his wife are buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, the same cemetery where Harry Kellar is buried. Incidentally, they were good friends.

Photo used with permission of Don Lynch

HOUDINI Takes DC 2017

The ObscuraDay Event called Houdini Takes DC was a huge hit yesterday! They sold out, and I think they might have even over sold, which was fine by me! The event took place at the Tivoli Magic Shop in Washington DC. It's a a beautiful shop, though not really a magic shop. Check out the link if you'd like to learn more about them. They had a nice room for us and to start was Magic Historian and Collector Ken Trombly. Let me say, Ken has an INCREDIBLE collection. The fact he is willing to bring these priceless posters to events is beyond generous. Ken had 4 major posters and some smaller broadsides, as well as a folder filled with postcards and photographs.

Ken gave an overview of Houdini's life by showing the various items he had that

Ken Trombly

related to those periods. The audience sat riveted during his talk. He really delivered a great deal of information, and being able to see the actual posters and other memorabilia was the icing on the cake. I stood in the back trying to keep my big mouth shut and not interrupt. He spoke for a little over 30 minutes and showed some items that would have stunned a seasoned magic collector let alone a room full of history enthusiasts and lay people.

There was a break, for cherry pie ( a favorite of Bess Houdini and they served it at the previous Houdini event here as well).

Then they introduced me. I was supposed to do a show but ended up spending my time doing a mixture of magic and telling stories, some related to Houdini, some related to escapes, some related to associates of Houdini's. For example, I shared the story of Harry Cooke, a mentor of Houdini's and an individual who was present during the Lincoln assassination. I shared a story of a woman who found herself caught up in a haunted house and a seance. And I shared a ton of stories about Houdini. I tried to stay within the area that Ken had set during his talk but elaborated on various stories. I have found when talking about Houdini, I can go on forever, but I had to stay within the 30+ minute format....(I might have gone a little over).

Carnegie about to escape from Handcuffs.

The first piece of magic I presented was a newly discovered Houdini card trick. I say, newly discovered because I was unaware of it, lol. I found it in one of the Walter Gibson books and the trick comes from Houdini's notes. It's a strange sort of transposition trick with a card and it played really well. I followed this with my version of Cards Across, just to fill out the 'Houdini King of Cards' portion of my talk.

Next I moved into his early escapes, handcuff escapes specifically. And I went on to present two escapes, one from a pair of police issue regulation Smith and Wesson cuffs. The other from a pair of ungimmicked Hamburg 8 cuffs.



I wanted to give people a feeling for Houdini beyond just the regular stories, so I threw in the story of Harry Cooke, and how they were associated. I always thought their connection was because they were both escape artists. But I know believe that their connection was, #1 because of Cooke's Anti-spiritualist crusade years before Houdini was born, and #2, Cooke's connection to Abe Lincoln, who was Houdini's boyhood idol.

I shared the story about Cooke being summoned to Washington to demonstrate his ability to free himself from ropes. And here, I took the opportunity to present a rope escape.  I chose to use a technique found in Houdini's book, Magical Rope Ties & Escapes. The technique allows for an almost instantaneous escape from the bonds. In truth, Cooke had been tied up with 100 ft of rope and still escapes in seconds. I had 100 ft of rope on hand, but was saving it for later but ran out of time.

The closing routine was a Spirit Slate routine with a story. A true story? Sort of. Aspects of the story are true, but I do take liberties, it is a show after-all. The story is an emotional one, and I use it to help people understand the deep connection that people have when they see mediums....and also WHY Houdini was so angered by the whole thing because he knew the mediums were fake and playing off the emotions of the grieving.

At the end, I answered a few questions, spoke with numerous people after the program and packed up. All in all, I'd say the day was a HUGE success. I'd like to thank Julie Siegel for her great work AGAIN, and all her fellow Obscura staff. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your event! Also, I'd like to thank Tivoli Magic Shop and 826DC for letting us use their incredible space.

The Magic Theatre Series: Egyptian Hall

 

Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly London, did not start out as a magic theater. Originally commissioned by naturalist William Bullock, it opened in 1812. It housed for the first seven years the collection of William Bullock, consisting of 20,000 natural history objects and artifacts. In fact, the Hall was often referred to as The Bullock Museum and also as the London Museum initially.  The items were from North and South America, as well as Africa and the South Seas. Many of the South Sea artifacts were gathered by Captain Cook. In 1819, the collection was auctioned off.  Just prior to that in 1816, the Hall hosted an exhibit of Napoleonic artifacts including a horse drawn carriage that was seized during the battle of Waterloo. The carriage drew large crowds during it's time at Egyptian Hall. Eventually it was purchased by Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. In 1925 the museum burned down, and the carriage was lost forever.

In 1819, after the collection had been auctioned off, Bullock turned the museum into an art gallery and exhibit hall. Over time it would morph into sort of  London's version of Barnum's Museum. The Hall housed human curiosities like a 7 foot man who was so thin he was basically just skin and bone. Another popular attraction was the Siamese Twins who were joined at the waist. Speaking of Barnum, in 1944, six year old Charles Stratton, known professionally as Gen. Tom Thumb was featured at the museum. This was  while Barnum and his curiosities toured throughout Europe.

For a period of time the hall was used by entertainers, mainly magicians. In 1873, no less than Dr. Lynn leased the large hall there. It was here that Buatier Dekolta made his debut at Egyptian Hall.  Lynn and Dekolta shared performing duties in the large hall. By the way, there were two others in Egyptian Hall at the same time, John Nevil Maskelyne and his partner George Cooke. They leased a smaller hall and drawing room. That is until July of 1875 when Dr. Lynn decided to leave. This led to Maskelyne signing a lease for the entire place and turning into England's First Home of Mystery! 

DeKolta continued to perform at Egyptian Hall, this time under the management of Maskelyne. One of the early features at the hall by Maskelyne and Cooke were the presentation of fake spiritualistic phenomenon. Maskelyne a short time before had been successful in exposing The Davenport Brothers as fakes. In fact, this is where Cooke comes into the picture. Maskelyne and Cooke knew each other initially, not because of magic, but because they both played the clarinet. Maskelyne, after having seen the Davenports accidentally saw how the brothers completed their mystery, due to a brief sudden bit of sunlight that shined through a curtained window. This led Maskelyne to create his version of their cabinet trick, using a trunk. In the Maskelyne version, Cooke would place him into the trunk and then close the lid. The trunk was then tipped up on it's edge and several bells and other instruments were placed on top of the trunk. A curtain was drawn and almost immediately the bells could be heard to ring. The curtain opened and no sign of Maskelyne. Once again, the curtain closed, more mysterious ringing sounds and then, to everyone's surprise and astonishment, John Neville was seen sitting atop of the trunk!

In 1893, a young David Devant debuted his special creation The Artist's Dream at Egyptian Hall. This illusion was actually created specifically for Egyptian Hall. Devant had wanted to do a different illusion but it was too large for the stage. Maskelyne told him if he could come up with something else, he would consider having him. Thus, the Artist's Dream was born. 

Maskelyne signed Devant to a three month contract. Devan'ts next creation was in 1895 and it was the Birth of Flora. Soon after, Devant got involved in purchasing a kinetoscope to show Animated Photographs. He tried to convince Maskelyne to put them into his Egyptian Hall, but John Nevil did not initially see the value in them. Eventually he relented and animated photographs began to appear at Egyptian hall. It was the second theater in London to feature them. The first being presented by the Lumiere Brothers at the Empire Theatre. The photo at the top of the article you can see where it says, "Animated Photographs" on a large banner. 

Many great illusions were featured at Egyptian Hall, but probably none greater than the original Maskelyne Levitation. Still one of the most beautiful illusions to ever be created. It gave the appearance of complete weightlessness. No less than Harry Kellar was completely mystified by it. He offered to purchase it from Maskelyne, but John Nevil turned him down. Kellar would watch the illusion from various parts of the theater trying to get clues and glimpses to it's workings. One time he even crawled up on the stage to look underneath during a live performance! But despite Kellar's best efforts, he could not crack the code. So he did the next best thing, he hired Paul Valadon away from Egyptian Hall and offered to have him tour America with Kellar. Together the two would recreate the levitation. However, there is a twist to this story. The original Maskelyne levitation was built into the theatre. It could not be moved. This is likely one of the reasons that he told Kellar no in regards to the purchase. But Kellar and Valadon figured out a way to travel with the illusion, making it portable. It went on to be a feature in the Kellar Show, even being so popular that it's now known as the Kellar Levitation. 

Maskelyne and Cooke remained there until 1904 when the lease ran out and the building was then scheduled for demolition. Of course, that would not be the end of The Home of Mystery, as it would then move to St. George's Hall. More on that, to come.

Buatier DeKolta The Master of Illusion

He was born Joseph Buatier on November 18,1847 in Lyon France. And before I get too far, I know I am probably pronouncing the name wrong. Please forgive me as I am not certain as to the actual pronunciation. You’ll have to go with my version for now. One thing you’ll notice is his last name is not DeKolta. More on that later.

We start with his Origin Story. How did get get interested in magic? Well, at the early age of 6 years old he was chosen to be a helper in a magic show of a traveling magician. And that was all she wrote. From that point on, he was hooked. A short time later he received his first magic book as a birthday present. And he set out to learn everything in the book, all the sleights, all the tricks, how all the effects worked. Now there is but one small problem with the story and that is his wife. She wrote a manuscript which gives the same story but she claimed he was 18 at the time, not 6. 

But his parents desire was for him to go into the priesthood. In fact, they wished this for all three of their boys. But in the end, only the youngest, Auguste, would become a priest. Buatier, upon graduation had his sights on something else, and it wasn’t magic. He actually became interested in art and painting by meeting painter, Elie Laurent. According to the book, Buatier DeKolta Genuis of Illusion by Peter Warlock, Buatier spent two years away from magic and just painted. 

He had gotten himself a simple job as a waiter when one night along came a Hungarian impresario by the name of Julius De Kolta. Buatier was not just waiting tables, he was doing strolling magic, as he went from table to table and Julius saw this and was captivated. He suggested to Buatier, that he could make a fortune if he did this very same thing in Europe, and with Julius De Kolta acting as his manager. So now you get a glimmer of where that name came from. I should mention this now, De Kolta was his manager, and also a bit of a con name, more on that later.

It’s been suggested that Buatier was possibly bi-lingual, so his abilitiy to connect with english, spanish, and french speaking audiences was heightened. The year was 1870, and he first played in Geneva Switzerland and upon finishing there, went to Rome.  IT was not all sunshine and roses however. Because his act was primarily card tricks, he was playing Inns and cafes, and the occasional private engagement. 

Once again, according to his Buatier’s wife’s manuscript, while in Rome, Buatier ran into a priest friend from his old Seminary. The two spoke and Buatier revealed that his time on the road had been anything but successful. He was on the verge of giving up. But it seemed providence was now shining upon him as the Priest arranged for Buatier to give a performance before very important representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. This event, as Buatier would later admit, was the turning point. Everything changed now. This led him to give some performances all around Rome at the finest theatres. 

In 1873, he would add a piece of apparatus, something of his own invention. A new routine called La Cage Eclipse. It was an early version of what We would come to know it as The Vanishing Birdcage. To begin with a small rectangular bird and cage was held with one hand. Then he would grab the cage with the other hand holding it by the two sides. With no covering at all, he would give an upward toss and the cage simply vanished. He then walked off stage and a second later came back with the cage and bird, safe and sound. Later in 1875, the routine would be called The Flying Cage. In the 1880s, Buatier created a new version of his Flying Cage and this time it used a large oblong cage as opposed to the square one. The effect was essentially the same!

I should mention it now, DeKolta never sold his Vanishing Birdcage to anyone. Yet it became a sensation all over the Globe. In Ep 8 of the podcast, I share with you how the Vanishing Birdcage made it’s way to the United States in 1875 via Harry Kellar. A short time later, Robert Heller wrote to french magic dealer Charles DeVere and ordered a cage. Eventually, it would become a staple in the acts of many magicians like Kellar, Servais Le Roy, Fred Keating, FuManchu, John Booth, Frakson, Tommy Wonder, The Blackstone’s Sr and Jr, Billy McComb, Walter Blaney, Jonathan Pendragon and a host of other performers. A trick invented in in the 19th Century is still popular today in the 21st. Buatier did sell the secret of the cage to a magic dealer in Holland, as times where bad and money was not coming in with just performing, but he did not sell an actual cage with it.

In 1875, Buatier made his debut at Egyptian Hall in London. He was brought in by Dr. Lynn. His engagement was for one night. And this was basically so Dr. Lynn could see how Buatier performed before an audience. Dr. Lynn was duly impressed, as were the London audiences, so they worked out a schedule where the two would alternate perofrmances.  And if I might stop for just a moment to explain something that I previously was not aware of. Apparently, Egyptian Hall, was divided between Dr. Lynn and Maskelyne and Cooke. Lynn having exclusive use of the large hall, while Maskelyne & Cooke had a drawing room and small hall. But in July of 1875, Dr. Lynn left and the establishment was open to lease again. So this time Maskeylne and Cooke jumped at it, and the entire Egyptian Hall was theres. I had no idea of this bit of drama. Buatier, began working for M&C at Egyptian Hall in August. His act appears to be mainly parlor sized magic, along with the Vanishing Birdcage. 

Speaking of inventions, De Kolta’s wife suggests in her short manuscript on her husband, that he never purchased a magic trick. But instead, invented and built everything he ever used. This is not exactly accurate. In regards to magic tricks, it’s likely everything was his invention. But he did purchase a copy of the automaton Psycho, who was called Altotas in De Kolta’s show, so here is an example of something he did not build or create. And it’s also something that irritated John Nevil Maskelyne greatly. 

Now back to the tour, at some point, Joseph Buatier, who had been performing as Dr. De Buatier, altered his name and became simply Buatier. Though, I think he did the name change after he fired his manager. The name fits him well, and along with his completely original repertoire made him one unforgettable artist.

If we take a look at some of his effects, I think you’ll be surprised. One of the earliest was his version of The Rising Cards. You can find this in Tarbell 2, for the curious. But in effect, three cards are chosen and shuffled in a deck. The deck then placed into a glass which is sat on a chair. At the command of the performer, all the cards start jumping from the glass creating a fountain like effect. At the end, the three chosen cards are found to remain in the glass, all others have flown out at the magicians command. It’s a very beautiful and offbeat effect. And it may have been an invention that was also invented by someone else years before. I doubt DeKolta had knowledge of this. In the Feb 1903 Mahatma, they mention the wonderful mystery that DeKoltas trick creates and that in 1887, a juvinelle magician by the name Sig Fritzini presented the same trick. A case of independent creation, or is that independent duplication?

There is an effect that is only briefly touched upon in the Genius of Illusion book. It is De Kolta’s Diminishing and then Expanding Cards. The way it is written, he takes a deck of cards and says he is going to make them the proper size for ladies. And then simply shuffling them over and over they begin to shrink in size as he is shuffling then he holds them up to show that the cards have shrunk in size! Next he says he is going to make them suitable for gentleman, and this time by shuffling the cards, they not only grow, but they continue to grow into a size that is astonishing to say the least. At least twice the size or more than regular playing cards size. 

His sleight of hand skills must have been impecable. One of his features was something he called “The Five Coins” Yes, there is a rousing title if ever there was one, lol. The five coins is the coin flourish known as The Coin Star. It appears to predate the T. Nelson Downs Coin Star.

Now lets skip to 1878. Buatier has returned to France, Paris to be exact. For whatever reason, he changes his name slightly, and takes the last name of his somewhat worthless manager, DeKolta. Now he is Buatier DeKolta.  And on this stay in Paris he creates another one of his masterpieces, The Flowers from Cone, or the most basic simplistic title, The Spring Flowers. I honestly think this was close to a miracle in his hands, and in the hands of the earliest practitioners. Rolling up a paper into an empty cone, the magician suddenly causes the cone to fill with flowers, over and over and they continue to appear and are dropped into an open umbrella held by an assistant. One of the secret techniques used would later be adopted by dove workers, so in a way, DeKotla gave birth to that genre. I’m also fairly confident that the early Spring Flowers were made in life-like flower colors, and not the neon colors that are often seen today.  Sadly, many  a magic prop was ruined by good intentioned but poorly thought out design choices (think of all the poorly painted apparatus magic of the 20th century). 

DeKolta now begins to set his sights on larger effects. One interesting illusion was called Le Cocoon, which I believe he debuted in December of 1885. Here is a very artistic piece, a departure from what anyone was doing in the world of magic at the time. It began simply enough, with a paper framework being hung in the air. The magician would draw the outline of a silkworm and suddenly the paper burst open and there was a large cocoon, not a picture of a cocoon, but a very large cocoon which would be picked up and placed upon a stool. As the cocoon is placed on the stool, the realistic cocoon, bursts open and out comes a woman dressed as a moth or butterfly. But tell me, am i the ONLY one who thought of the ALIEN bursting forth from a cocoon ala Ridley Scott’s famous movie???Seriously, though, this is a very complicated illusion in methodology. The patent for this illusion appears in the book, Buatier DeKolta Genius of Illusion by Peter Warlock. It love the poetic imagery with the silkworm, cocoon and moth/butterfly. 

I think it would make a wonderful illusion today, though with an altered method.

Now, we come to 1886. DeKolta was in St. Petersburg Russia and would debut a game changing illusion. To begin with, he would take a sheet of newspaper and place it upon the stage. The purpose of this was to discount any thought of a trapdoor. Then a chair was placed on top of the newspaper. DeKolta’s assistant then came and sat down on the chair and a thin sheet was placed over her entire body. You could make out the outline of her head, shoulders and knees. No sooner was the sheet placed over her, it was suddenly whisked away. In the process, the lady vanished. Her outline was seen right up until the moment the cloth was taken away. OH, and to add another element to the mystery, the cloth that covered her body ALSO vanished!!!

The illusion known as The Vanishing Lady would become an instant hit. John Nevil Maskelyne wanted it for Egyptian Hall, but DeKolta couldn’t get there soon enough. So they made arrangements for Charles Bertram to present the illusion. Interestingly, Bertram and DeKotla actually resemble each other. 

I was excited to find a newspaper ad for DeKolta in America presenting the Vanishing Lady in 1886, however, before I could contemplate the timing, I found in the Genius of Illusion book, a write up on the very same article. Apparently, this person was not DeKolta, in fact, the performers name is not given. What it says is “The first authorized performance in this city of M. Buatier DeKolta’s trick entitled The Vanishing Lady”. Also mentioned in the book, was that Alexander Herrmann was the first famous magician in America to present the effect.

Soon the Vanishing lady would be in a lot of acts. Did DeKolta get any compensation for this?? Other than the Charles Bertram appearance at Egyptian Hall, and his work with Maskelyne, he got nothing as far as I know. The Vanishing Lady was so popular at one point that the method became common knowledge having been exposed numerous times, both in books and in magazines. Probably only Richardi Jr. kept presenting the illusion right up until his death in the 1980s. His version was nothing short of a miracle. After the girl had been covered, a steamer trunk on a tall platform was rolled out. The trunk was tilted down to show it empty, then it was closed and put upright. Richard walked over to the lady, pulled the cloth away and she vanished! And then a second later the same cloth was whisked by the empty trunk and the vanished lady was now found inside the trunk!!!!!!

David Copperfield would produce one of the most stunning examples of the Vanishing Lady. ( Watch it below) His routine was a vignette, a scene from an attic. The magician reminiced over a picture of an old girlfriend and suddenly she appears. They interact and at the end, she climbs up on a table, where a chair is sitting. She sits in the chair and covers herself with a cloth, almost in a type of hide and seek game. When Copperfield spots her, he steps up onto the table pulls away the cloth and the woman is gone. It’s a powerful presentation, filled with emotion and romance. 

Now, I must bring up a device that DeKolta invented and as is my rule not to reveal secrets, I shall be rather stealthy in my description. The device is called The Cache, it is used along with another device called a pull. I always thought DeKolta invented the Pull, but actually I believe his contribution was The Cache which allowed for the barehanded vanish of scarves and handkerchiefs. Another tool of the 19th Century conjurer, that over time as fallen out of favor. 

Just as a side note, my best friend, Bobby Dymond, who passed away a couple years ago was a master of this device. He was fairly new to magic and had seen magicians at magic shops make small silk scarves vanish and then reappear. He asked me if it was possible to make something vanish that was larger than the tiny 6 inch square scarf. I pointed him towards the modernized version of DeKolta’s device. I had used one so I knew the impact. I taught my friend Bobby who learned it so well, he was fooling everyone with it. Now, here is the ultimate.

He would use this while doing walk around magic. He’d borrow a dollar bill. Show his hands empty. Take the bill and push it into his fist. Sometimes, he’d even let them push it into his fist. Then without any unusual movements, he’d open his hands and the bill was gone. People were often so amazed, they’d let him keep the money because it was such a good trick. He told me one day he made over $100 in the afternoon, just doing that trick over and over. I honestly, thought he was exaggerating, but later I saw him do that very thing, again, and again and again. People were so surprised, that he’d make dollar after dollar after dollar vanish. 

Ok, let’s get back to DeKolta. One of his lesser known illusions was called The Magic Carpet. This was a large rug, an assistant would stand in the center of the rug, and then he and another assistant would pick up the corners of the carpet and raise it up so as to obscure the view of the person inside the folds. They would shake the carpet a bit and then drop it and the person was gone! Them vanished person would reappear in the audience. 

In regards to his personal life, Buatier DeKolta married Alice Mumford, likely some time in the mid 1880s. She had previously been a musician, so they likely met in the theatre where they both were performing.  In the book, The Old and New Magic by Henry Ridgely Evans, he says that DeKolta married Alice Allen in London, on Dec 8th, 1887. But this is not correct. Alice Allen was an assistant in the show, but DeKolta had already married Ms. Mumford and remained married to her his entire life. Now, it is an understandable mistake. As it would appear that DeKolta was having a secret affair with Alice Allen, who would go by Lizzie. More on that later.

Buatier DeKolta claimed to have invented Modern Black Magic. This same principle was also claimed by Max Auzinger (likely the originator), and others. I think it’s likely another independent creation, though DeKolta’s does differ slightly from Auzinger’s principle. And I’m not going to say anymore on this one. If you’re a magician, you know the principle involved in this.

In The Old and New Magic by Henry Ridgely Evans, he says, “At the Eden Musee, in NYC, Dekolta introduced the large vanishing cage, which he intended as a satire on the flying cage because of the repeated suppositions that a bird was killed at each performance.” This was an illusion he called The Captive’s Flight. It clearly has some similarities to the Vanishing Lady. It began innocently enough with a large serving tray that was held out for inspection. This was then laid upon the stage. Next, Dekolta’s wife, dressed in a costume to look somewhat like a bird came out and knelt upon the small tray. DeKolta then covered her with a parrot’s cage and then in the original version, he covered the entire affair with a cloth and in a moment, whisked away the cloth and the bird woman and cage had vanished. Over time he would eliminate the cloth covering and add large playing cards which were connected by pieces of fabric. These would be placed all around the cage hiding it from view. Then DeKolta would attempt to lift the cage with the bird woman inside, and he would accidentally drop it where the cards would collapse and thus the bird woman and cage were gone!

The final illusion I want to share is an iconic effect known as the Expanding Die. In effect, the magician walked out on stage with a die (single dice) which was approx 6 inches square. He placed this upon a table where it suddenly grew to 50 inches square. Then the die was lifted to reveal a woman inside. It reads like a miracle. Was it? Not having seen it in action, I really don’t know. I expect the appearance of a woman inside was quite stunning. The actually expanding of the die, I don’t know. I do know how it worked. Without revealing anything, this thing was a beast! You’d have to be a genius just to figure out how to construct such a thing. 

If we take a look at the entire routine, it actually begins when he walks out. DeKolta is carrying a satchel, he claims the satchel contains his wife and that this form of travel cuts down on traveling expenses. He sets it down on a chair and then removes his hat and overcoat and proceeds to work his act. He presents a number of smaller effects before returning to the satchel. He reaches into the satchel and removes the small dice which he places upon a low table. He introduces a large japanese style fan and opens and attaches it to the back of the table. Then by waving his hand over the die, it instantly goes from it’s small size to the much large cube! Then, DeKolta and his assistant, pick up the die together revealing his wife underneath. Given a bit more context, it sure sounds amazing. The fact that it instantly increases in size is also revealing. This would be DeKolta’s final creation.

In 1902-03, Dekolta was back in America. He had appeared here in 1891, but now he had returned and brought with him his Expanding Die.  He began appearing in NYC at the Eden Musee in September 1902. He finished there 7 months later in April 1903. At this point he began a tour throughout the United States. In September of 1903 he was in New Orleans appearing at Orpheum Theatre. By all reports he was not feeling well during this week. The following week, he was extremely ill and still in New Orleans. Joseph Buatier died on October 7th, 1903. He had Bright’s disease, or what we know today as Kidney disease. He was only 55 years old but he was a heavy smoker and likely had a unhealthy diet. His body was taken back to England and buried.

Revealed in Genius Of Illusion, Lizzie Allen was 5 months pregnant when DeKolta died. He had been having romantic relations with her unknown to his wife Alice. But, at 5 months, she could no longer hide the fact.  On March 9, 1904, DeKolta’s daughter, whom he would never meet, was born. She was named Violet, but went by the name Vicky during her life.

Charles Morritt pointed out the fact that it was Dekolta who coined the term Illusionist, and was the first to use it. 

If you’re wondering how so many of DeKolta’s tricks were ripped off? Well it turns out he patented most of them. So unscrupulous magicians needed only to get copies of the patent papers, though, many had more devious techniques than that. 

That my friends is the story of Joseph Buatier DeKolta. 

References:

The Old & New Magic by Henry Ridgely Evans

MAGIC A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre by David Price

Buatier DeKolta: Genius of Illusion by Peter Warlock

Mahatma Magazine Feb 1903 Edition

Tarbel Vol 2

and more

This article originally appeared as Episode 31 of The Magic Detective Podcast. This is the transcript of that podcast.