Civil War Era Magicians Part 1

In America we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. The Civil War, also known as the 'War Between the States' lasted from 1861-1865.  Over 1 million people died, both soldier and non-soldier as a result of the war. The numbers are staggering and impossible to comprehend.

I live not far from the Manassas Battlefield, where a number of the key Civil War Battles took place, and in fact, as a kid I used to ride horses around the Battlefield. I grew up on a farm in Fauquier County Virginia and was told that there had been a Union Army encampment on our property. One day while treasure hunting with a metal detector we found tent stakes, lots of bullets, a stirrup for a saddle and even a Union Army Belt Buckle, so indeed it was true.

I often wondered what magicians were around during the Civil War and it turns out there were quite a few. There were many who lived 'during' the years of the American Civil War, but I'm only going to mention a few who had direct contact with events or people of the Civil War.

First up is John Henry Anderson.  Mr. Anderson was not an American and did not fight in the War. He was born near Aberdeen Scotland in 1812. He began his career as a magician with the moniker 'The Caledonian Conjurer'.  Later, he changed his moniker to "The Great Wizard of the North" and was quite successful. He performed throughout the British Isles and toured the European Continent as well.

His first visit to America was in 1851. He had recently acquired a number of pirated Robert-Houdin effects and toured with them quite successfully. One of his features since his early days and one that was not part of the pirated Robert-Houdin material was the infamous Bullet Catching feat, a very sensational effect which is notorious for having killed numerous performers since it first debuted. Anderson performed the trick successfully throughout his career. The Great Wizard was a hit in America and his tickets sold for a premium. By all accounts his first tour of the U.S. was a smashing success.

His next tour of the U.S. was in 1859 and he started on the West Coast bringing in a whopping $25,000 in just a couple months time. By July of 1860, The Great Wizard is on the East Coast and at one of his shows his audience questions him about the coming election between Lincoln and Douglas. Anderson called upon his fake spirit guides to sound out seven knocks. Seven, the exact number of letters in Lincoln's name! The crowd went crazy. Though, had they paid attention, they would have realized that Douglas also had seven letters in his name. A fortunate ad-lib that worked in The Great Wizards favor.

Though things were good in 1859 through mid 1860, as the tour progressed John Henry Anderson began to feel the effects of the conflict between the states. Business was drying up all over the eastern U.S.. When Anderson arrived in Richmond he discovered he was not welcome! The Virginians did not take too kindly to his posters proclaiming the arrival of "The Great Wizard of the NORTH". The word NORTH in one of the Southern States was a bad word to say the least.

The Civil War broke out shortly after his visit to Richmond and The Great Wizard tried to continue with the tour but it was a loosing proposition. Even when he took the tour westward that didn't help either. Business in the states was drying up everywhere.

As a last ditch effort, John Henry Anderson returned to NYC and hired an author to write a version of Shakespeare's TEMPEST but with an emphasis on pro-Northern ideals. He would call this play 'The Wizards Tempest'. He hoped to win over at least the Northern audiences with his new venture. After the first night it appeared he had a huge hit on his hands. But news that the war was not going well for Union Soldiers seriously hurt business. After a few weeks the show was closed and John Henry Anderson found himself $3000 in debt. He worked out arrangements to repay his debts and went to England, leaving his family behind. Unfortunately, by 1866 he had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

During the course of his performing career John Henry Anderson made over $700,000. He gained and lost fortunes many times over his lifetime but the tough conditions during the American Civil War wiped him out completely. He never returned to America and never saw his family again. He died in England on February 3rd, 1874 and was buried in Aberdeen Scotland.

Houdini at the Grave of John Henry Anderson

NEXT: Guss Rich, Civil War Era Magician

Another Fine Magic History Site

I received an email today from my friend Adele Friel Rhindress who wanted to let me know about another magic history blog. Well, being the fan of magic history I am I was happy to check out this other site and lo and behold what a fine site it is. It's called Mahatmaland and is located at www.mahatmaland.com.

The site belongs to Tom Ewing, a fellow magic historian. The sites creation has an interesting story. Mr. Ewing had planned to write a book on the history of magic in Philadelphia but realizing the market was pretty small for that kind of book, decided instead to put his findings into an online journal.

For my fellow Houdini friends, there is a page on Houdini's visit to Philadelphia which you can go to by clicking here: http://mahatmaland.com/houdini.html

There are also pages on Kellar, Thurston, Frederick Eugene Powell and others. It's a got a little bit of everything. I look forward to reading more as Tom Ewing adds to his online journal.

Gone Into History

 Cannons Great Escapes
This year has been tough on those who manufacture magic. First to go was Cannon's Great Escapes, owned and operated by Mark and Sheila Cannon. I was fortunate to spend some time with Mark and though I never met Sheila, I did get a number of emails from her over the years. They were super nice people and always helpful. Their company sold Escape Equipment to the magic industry. This included some rather spectacular escape props as well as handcuffs and keys and other misc devices. I believe they single handedly moved the escape business forward by leaps and bounds through their high quality products. They announced in the Spring 2011 that they would be closing shop. Sheila was involved in another venture and beyond that there was no explanation. I don't know if Mark is going to continue doing his escape act or if he has let all that go as well.

Creative Magic
Next was Brian and Rebecca Daniels from Creative Magic. They were the ones who usually had ads on the back page of many of the magic magazines promoting their illusions that could fold up into a bag. That of course doesn't describe all their products but most of the big illusions they sold could indeed fold up or fold down as the case may be to travel much easier. They also offered some radically brilliant smaller pieces like their Change Cap, and Mesh Change Bag as well as a set of temporary tattoos that looked like Bruises. Everything they did was 'out of the box' and highly creative, hence their companies name. I met them both and like the Cannons they were just super nice people. They sold off ALL their inventory to their customers in an unprecedented move. It was just like them to close the doors by doing something no one had ever done before.

Wolfs Magic

Finally, word just came this past weekend that Chance Wolf from Wolfs Magic is involved in a 'different' project and there is a good chance that Wolfs Magic will be no more soon. I never met Chance, but I have seen his incredibly inventive and colorful props. I own one of them and will tell you that it's a thing of beauty.

The Wolfs Magic line of products were mostly new takes on older props. They were often done in a very cartoonish style which gave them a refreshing modern appeal. Not everything was cartoonish, but everything was extremely well made. I HOPE he sticks around but I can't blame him for trying other things.


WHY?
Each of these companies are run by one or two or a handful of people. They each have their reasons for closing down and I respect all their decisions and wish them all well. Each one will be missed and each one leaves a giant hole in the magic community. The why is something you'd have to ask them individually. But I thought it would be nice to acknowledge the actual people who were brave enough to venture out with these companies. A standing ovation is certainly deserved for each of their efforts!

Mark & Sheila Cannon of Cannons Great Escapes

Brian & Rebecca Daniel of Creative Magic

Chance & Shelly Wolf of Wolfs Magic