Kellar's Last Mystery

Something is terribly wrong in magicland. This concerns the first Dean of Magicians Harry Kellar. Today, March 10th, marks the 89th Anniversary of his passing. He was cremated and his remains are in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles CA. All of that is accurate. What follows is the mystery.

As you may or may not know, I collect photos of the graves of magicians who have passed on. I think we should pay homage to those who have done so much for the profession and have now gone into eternity. I had posted the image below from the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery on one of my blogs in the past. This is the headstone for Harry Kellar's grave. It can be found near the road under a small tree in Section L, directly to the right of the front of the mausoleum.

Magic Detective Podcast Ep10 Notes on Harry Kellar in Retirement

Most people kind of fade out of the limelight when they retire. But this was not the case for Harry Kellar. Sure, he didn't spend all of his time on the road going from theatre to theatre but he still traveled a fair amount. He also visited his old friends quite a bit. And he kept up with magic.

Kellar retired in 1908 when he handed his Mantle of Magic over to Howard Thurston. But Thurston got a lot more than the Mantle. He also received Kellar's Manager, Keller's Touring Routes, Kellar's two chief assistants Frizt and Carl Bucha, as well as all the props and paraphernalia that went with the Kellar show. And to the surprise of many, Thurston only kept two of Kellar's illusions, the rest he sold.

The first thing he did after he retired was take a very long vacation in Atlantic City. Above is a photo of Kellar and Houdini in Atlantic City. According to the Ken Silverman bio on Houdini, this is where their friendship really began to take off. Over time they developed a father/son type of relationship and it's proven in the various letters they shared back and forth.

I mentioned on the podcast about a photo I had of an improved Kellar prop. His name was cast into the iron, and below is a photo of that prop. I'm only showing the part that has Kellar's name due to secrecy issues. The piece is now owned by David Haversat.

Here is a video of Kellar and Houdini. I'm not sure of the location, but I did learn that Houdini had some film footage taken of Kellar and himself while he was in Los Angeles, so that is possibly where this was taken.

One quick minor correction to the podcast also has to do with Kellar giving Psycho to Houdini in 1919. He didn't ship it to Houdini but rather gave it to him while Houdini was in California making movies. 

Finally, I wanted to give you the link to an article I wrote a few years back called 'Kellar's Last Mystery'.


I used the book, Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, The Sphinx Magazine, Ken Silverman's Bio on Houdini, AskAlexander.org and several other sources during my research for the entire three part series on Harry Kellar. I also used Geneologybank.com, Newspapers.com to research newspaper articles on Harry Kellar.

Remembering Kellar

Harry Kellar passed away 93 years ago this week on March 10th 1922. I've written about Kellar a lot on this blog and recently over at my other blog. We are fortunate that in the past few years some new books have come out on Kellar. The enormous Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and William Miesel was the first to come out and it gives a very complete history of the life of Harry Kellar. A short time after another book was published called, The Amazing Harry Kellar: Great American Magician by Gail Jarrow.

Kellar was the first Dean of the Society of American Magicians and really the first famous American born Illusionist. In his life he would have seen Robert-Heller, John Henry Anderson, Alexander Herrmann, John Nevil Maskelyne, David Devant, Harry Houdini and of course, Howard Thurston. That's an incredible span of time to be able to see the acts of some of the most iconic people in magic history, and yet Kellar was among these iconic performers.

Had it not been for Kellar, we might not have had the Vanishing Birdcage here in America. Had it not been for Kellar the Kellar Levitation might still be known as the Maskelyne Levitation, lol. Ok, not everything Kellar did was honest. He certainly lived a full life with many incredible adventures, including loosing his whole act in a shipwreck! Yet he came back from loosing everything and became the #1 Illusionist in America.

RIP still, Harry Kellar.

Here are some notable moments in Kellar's life that I've written about in the past.

The Fakir of Ava

Harry Kellar and The Wizard of OZ 

Kellar's Shipwreck and Sunken Treasure

The Vanishing Bird Cage History

Kellar's Astarte Levitation

Kellar & Houdini

Passing of the Mantle of Magic

Kellar's LAST Mystery

KELLAR & HOUDINI

HOUDINI & KELLAR

 "I knew, as everyone knows, that the easiest way to attract a crowd is to let it be known that at a given time and a given place some one is going to attempt something that in the event of failure will mean sudden death."

HOUDINI 

"You can never arrive at the perfection of art until your handling of the illusion produces a thrill of genuine surprise in all who behold it"

HARRY KELLAR

"The end of all magic is to feed with mystery the human mind, which dearly loves mystery. So leave every mystery forever unexplained!"

HARRY KELLAR

"I do tricks nobody can explain."

HOUDINI

"My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion, and many things that seem wonderful to most men are the every-day commonplaces of my business. "

HOUDINI

"As long as the human mind delights in mysteries, so long it will love magic and be entertained by magicians."

HARRY KELLAR

First Encounter
When Houdini started out with his brother Dash, there were two prominent magicians in America, Herrmann the Great and Harry Kellar. In August 1896, after struggling in the tough world of show business and getting no where, Houdini wrote to both of the great magicians looking for work as assistants in their shows. No reply came from Herrmann who would pass away by December of 1896. Kellar did reply but he told Houdini he had no room in his show at that time.

Kellar's Retirement

1908 Atlantic City

In May of 1908, Harry Kellar left the stage to retire. Just a few weeks later he would spend sometime with the Houdini's in Atlantic City, even Cecelia Weiss was present during this visit. According to the Ken Silverman Bio this is basically where their friendship starts. For a while Kellar lived in NY with his wife Eva, and Houdini and Kellar saw each other from time to time. But only a year later Kellar purchased a home in Los Angeles and he and his wife moved to the west coast.  Kellar still made trips to the east and whenever he was in NY he would usually attend the magic club meetings and see Houdini. Kellar and Houdini stayed in touch writing letters throughout the rest of their lives.

I found a very interesting note in the Kellar's Wonders book by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel. In 1916, Houdini and Kellar were at a meeting of the Society of American Magicians. It was at this meeting that the decision was made to start local chapters throughout the country, called 'assemblies'. Houdini and Kellar both stepped up and agreed to spread the word and it's no doubt through their efforts that today the S.A.M. has assemblies all over the U.S. and even other parts of the world.

Another interesting S.A.M. item took place when Houdini was President of the organization. He nominated Harry Kellar to be Dean of Magicians. He was unanimously voted in.


Kellar's Second Retirement
On Nov 11, 1917, Houdini coaxed Kellar into coming out of retirement for one evening. This was so that he could be part of an all star cast at the Hippodrome in NYC. The event was to raise money for the victims and family members of the S.S. Antilles, an American Transport ship that had been torpedoed by a German submarine.

On the evening of the 11th, Houdini acted as host and M.C. for the first half of the show. He even presented his Water Torture Cell. But the real thrill that night came from Harry Kellar who treated the audience to his amazing Floating Table routine and he followed this with his Spirit Cabinet. After his performance Houdini stepped on stage with roses for the Grand Master. Then he brought on a sedan chair and members of the show picked up Kellar sitting in the Sedan Chair and marched him across the stage as the entire audience got up and sang 'Auld Lang Syne'. It was a night to remember and Kellar was to taken with the gesture that it was difficult for him to express himself.

A few days later he wrote a heart felt letter to Houdini in which he said "you gave me the proudest and happiest evening in all my life and a farewell that can never be surpassed." Houdini followed this with a letter to Kellar in which he basically said it was an honor to be able to give back to such a beloved man and magician.

PSYCHO

When Harry Kellar sold his show to Howard Thurston, only two things made it into the Thurston show, the Levitation and Kellar's Spirit Cabinet. The other items were sold off and Charles Carter purchased several of them.

One in particular was Kellar's automaton Psycho, which was a knock off of J.N. Maskelyne's automaton of the same name. Psycho had been with Kellar since he purchased it in England in 1878. Kellar referred to him as 'my little companion and friend'. He was also an important part of Harry Kellar's show. He sold it to Howard Thurston in May 1908 and now he was about to come face to face with his old friend.

While Carter was performing in Los Angeles, Kellar convinced Charles Carter to sell Pyscho back to him. Then in May 1919, Harry Houdini received a letter and package from Kellar. It was Psycho and Kellar was giving his old friend to Houdini as a gift.

This was not the only gift Houdini received from his friend Kellar. According to Edward Saint, Houdini had a jeweled Question Mark pin that he received as a gift from Kellar. This pin has been lost to time. Kellar also gave Houdini his Spirit Cabinet that was used in the final Farewell performance of Harry Kellar. I'm curious if the Spirit Cabinet survives today.

FILM

On the set of The Grim Game

Houdini had started the Film Development Corporation and Kellar became one of the investors. Unfortunately, this was not the high point of their relationship. The FDC struggled to make money and Kellar often spoke to Houdini about getting rid of his shares of stock. Kellar's concern it turns out wasn't about loosing money, but instead about being responsible to creditors for future money. Kellar encouraged Houdini to get out as well. He felt it would be a terrible shame for Houdini to loose all the money he had worked so hard for during his career on a bad business venture.  Houdini's concern was less over money and more over loosing his friendship with Kellar over this deal.

One plus to the movie business was that it put Houdini in California and the studio where he was making movies was only a few miles from Harry Kellar's house. Kellar had suffered a stroke and wasn't as mobile as he had been before. Houdini visited him often and made arrangement for flowers to be sent to his home every week. During at least one visit, Houdini was able to capture Kellar on film thus preserving his image for posterity. Imagine how thrilling it would have been to sit in a room while these two spoke of things mysterious and magical.

DEAR FRIENDS
Kellar thought of Houdini as a son and it was obvious that Kellar was a father figure to Houdini. He was also probably the only living magician that Houdini looked up to. However, though their friendship was filled with mutual admiration they did not agree on everything. For example, Houdini let people know that all his effects were presented by purely natural means, his "My Mind is the Key That Sets Me Free" quote expresses this perfectly. But read what Kellar thought..."Make your work artistic by clothing each illusion with all the glamor and shadows of fairyland, and the suggestions of incantations and supernatural powers in order to prepare the observer's mind for a mystery though there be no mystery." Kellar filled his promotional materials with demons and other supernatural beings. Houdini on the other hand was totally against the suggestion of supernatural powers in his performance.

However it's safe to say that they agreed in most areas. Kellar believed that tricks performed by the masters who came before him would no longer fool even children and it was the modern magicians job to constantly update and improve the effects and the methods. Houdini took older tricks and made them new, like the Needle Trick or repackaged them to fit him, like the Sub Trunk, or created brand new effects, like the Water Torture Cell. They both debunked Spiritualist phenomenon in their shows. Interestingly, Kellar is probably best known for his rope tie. Houdini of course was a master of rope ties and rope escapes.

After Chung Ling Soo died on stage doing the Bullet Catch trick, Houdini made plans to add the dangerous Bullet Catching routine to his show. When this news reached Harry Kellar he sent a fast and firm reply to Houdini.  I believe his words were "Don't do the damned Bullet Catch, we cannot afford to loose Houdini!" or something to that affect. Houdini heeded the advice of his old friend and chose to not present the Bullet Catch, ever! Harry Kellar was probably the only person who could scold Houdini and get away with it. But the letter over the Bullet Catch was sent more out of concern and caring for his friend than as a rebuke.


1922
Harry Kellar passed away on March 10, 1922. He had been suffering from a bad bout of pneumonia and had been coughing up blood. The build up of blood in his lungs killed him. He was 73 years old. Houdini was not able to attend the funeral, so he made arrangements for it to be filmed. He actually did the same thing when his friend The Great Lafayette died, he had that funeral filmed as well. But to my knowledge neither of these films have survived.

Before Kellar died Houdini got his permission to write his biography. Houdini would use his 100s of letters (Houdini claimed thousands) and also his many meetings with Kellar as the foundation for the book. He only got as far as 100 pages. This became one of the projects that Houdini never finished because in 1926, only four years after Kellar, Houdini died. In the book Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer he says the manuscript resides in the Mullholland Library, which today is part of the David Copperfield Magic Collection.

LAST WORDS

Houdini referred to Kellar as  'the greatest magician the world ever saw.'

In a letter to Houdini, Kellar referred to him as 'our greatest showman-Harry Houdini.'

I think that pretty well sums it up.

Previous Blogs about Harry Kellar include:
http://deancarnegie.blogspot.com/2011/01/kellars-demon-globe-trick.html

http://deancarnegie.blogspot.com/2011/01/fords-theatre-mantle-of-magic.html

The Life of Paul Valadon

 

In the summer months of 1867, Adolph Waber was born. At a young age he saw a magician, and eventually went to work for him as assistant and likely apprentice. 

Paul Valadon was born Adolph Waber in Cologne Germany on June 17th 1867. 

That magician was Ernest Basch who performed out of Hamburg Germany. Basch came from a family of magicians, three of his brothers were also magicians at some point in their lives. Eventually, Adolph, who would change his name to Paul Valadon,  learned enough that he went out on his own. He started in Germany but ventured out to all of Europe. From there he toured the major cities of South Africa. 

Valadon was known for his manipulative skill and high talent. He was a master of billiard ball manipulations. He was adept at card manipulations. Some of his moves can be found in The Modern Conjurers book by C. Lang Neil. He even created a Second Sight act with his wife Catherine.

Over at Egyptian Hall, David Devant had just departed and the Maskelynes were looking for a new magician to bring on board. They heard the accolades about Valadon and offered him a job at the famed Hall. Paul Valadon would accept the position and over a five year span present over 1600 performances.

Valadon would perform his own act, as well as assist in others. He was one of the cast members for the Will, The Witch and the Watchman routine for example. He also created original routines while at Egyptian Hall.

The Drum that Can’t Be Beat was a creation of Valadon’s. He would show a cylindrical drum, missing the drum heads. Then he would place the drumheads on and suspend the drum from two chains on the stage. He then poked a hole in one of the drum heads and slowly removed large scarves, one after another, filling the stage with silk. Another of his creations was an illusion called “Well I’m”. This he built with the help of the Maskelynes. It was a table, maybe 3 feet off the ground. He would have his wife stand on top of the table. He would walk around the table and then step up on the table with her. Then he would take a large cloth and cover her. It would flow over her showing only the outline of her body. After a few magical gestures, he would dramatically yank the cloth away and his wife would vanish into thin air. 

I can attest to the beauty of both of these affects. I believe The Drum that Can’t Be Beat went on to be sold by dealers and was featured in many performers shows over the year. Mike Caveney recreated both of these effects for one of the LA Magic History Conferences and then later presented them via video at the Essential Magic Conference in Portugal. I was able to see the video version and I can say both were wonderful effects.

Now, we must introduce Harry Kellar into the picture. During the summer months when artists routinely took a break, Kellar would go to England and specifically Egyptian Hall to see the latest creations of Maskelyne. Somehow these creations would later turn up the following year in Kellar’s show. Much has been made of Kellar’s stealing these effects. I’m starting to wonder. And here is why. Kellar fell in love with the Levitation. He offered to buy it from Maskelyne but he turned down the offer. Kellar would return show after show trying to solve the mystery. There is one anecdote that said, Kellar actually climbed on stage during a performance to look under the floating girl. And just as one of Maskelyne’s assistants was going to stop him, Mr. Maskelyne himself prevented the stage hand from interfering. THAT is odd on many levels. Would Kellar be so rude as to jump onstage during a show? Why would Maskelyne not want such audacity to be prevented. OH and then add to this there are stories of both the Maskelynes and the Kellar’s having dinner together. I find all of this quite strange. Im not sure I believe the story of him getting on stage. I do tend to believe the dinner story, but then why would John Neville Maskelyne have dinner with a man who was stealing his material? Unless…

well, I’ll leave that for you to figure out. Some Maskelyne letters would probably help solve this mystery, which I don't have access to. 

One thing is for sure in 1904 Kellar went to England and stayed a very short time. But when he returned he came back having hired Paul Valadon for his fall tour. Valadon clearly loved working at Egyptian Hall. In fact, Valadon would later say one of his prized possessions was a letter of recommendation from John Neville Maskelyne. So why could he be persuaded to leave? This piece I found in the pages of the book Kellar’s Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel. Apparently, it turns out that 1904 was going to be the final year for Egyptian Hall. This was due to the fact that the building was going to be demolished that year. So now Im wondering, who approached who? Did Valadon, knowing he’d soon be out of work approach Kellar, or did Kellar, as the popular story goes, hire Valadon to get the secret to the levitation?

This is where the popular story begins. Kellar, desperately wanting the secret to the Maskylne levitation, hires Paul Valadon, partly with the promise of including him in the show and potentially turning the show over to him when he, Kellar, retires. Did they speak of the secret to the levitation at this time? It sure would seem a breach of protocol, and ethics for Valadon to do such a thing. Especially given the fact he held Maskelyne in such high regard.

Then there was the note Houdini wrote about talking to Kellar and being “awfully hurt to think that people said he had hired Valadon for the purpose of stealing the levitation secrets” That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, but it just makes the whole thing more confusing. 

The official record says that Kellar had the Maskelyne levitation in 1904. However, I have in my files a program from the Providence Opera House dated April 6th, 1903. On page 6, the program reads, “And the Great Hypnotic Scene, “The Levitation of Princess Karnac”. That’s a full year before he even meets with Valadon. Confused yet? Whether he stole it, acquired the secrets from Valadon, or had a third party help work it out, I just don’t know for sure. Certainly the third party, who shall remain nameless had much to do. Kellar’s version allowed for the illusion to move from theater to theater. Maskelyne’s levitation was built into the theater. Obviously some issues had been solved or remade in order for the illusion to be transportable.

Let’s look at what Paul Valadon did when he worked for Kellar. Thanks to what has turned out to be a rather controversial review by John Northern Hilliard, we have much information. All the secret and method info is withheld from this podcast.

The beginning of his act, Valadon remove’s his gloves, tosses them in the air where they transform into a dove. Next we have the popular Soup Plate illusion created by DeKolta. 

Next we have Aerial treasury, or Misers Dream as we know it. From here Valadon goes into Billiard Ball manipulation. Next up, some fun manipulation of raw eggs, eventually pulling eggs from a spectators mouth. 

The next feat received praise from multiple sources. IT’s a small effect but a stand out. A strip of blue paper, 30 inches long and one inch wide is torn into multiple pieces….and then restored. By all accounts it was a beautiful piece of magic. The Sphinx in a later issue mentioned Valadon removed this piece from his show and the commentator said, ’its was one of the most beautiful effects Valadon did, and he hoped it would return to the show at some point.    This effect is now followed by Card Manipulations. This is a fairly brief sequence because though Valadon was an expert, the card manipulations were a new genre.

Now we come to the Watch Trick.  A borrowed watch is made to vanish and reappear in an impossible location. And the final trick, at least in the beginning was the drum that can’t be beat which I described earlier. Eventually on the tour Valadon would present his illusion, “Well I”m” Kellar had posters made to the effect, with an image of Valadon performing the effect. The title ‘Well I’m’ is also on the poster. The top of the poster reads, “Kellar’s Mysteries” and then the lower right third says, Presented by PAUL VALADON.  Incidentally AFTER Valadon eventually leaves the Kellar show, Harry Kellar would continue to present Well Im in his show, but it would be rechristened “ His Latest and Created Wonder, “GONE”. The Maskelyen’s would also continue presenting Well I’m on their stages as well, but also claiming they were the creators.

The Kellar tours featuring Paul Valadon received great press reviews. The one exception was John Northern Hilliard who would go out of his way to bash Kellar whenever possible. In 1905, Paul Valadon suggested to Kellar they add the Maskelyne trick, The Will the Witch and the Watchman to the show. It would require adding some cast members and the first attempts were atrocious. One thing about Harry Kellar, he was a genial old man but when he lost his temper he went off like a cannon. He was furious at how the new routine was coming along. Kellar’s version would be titled. “The Witch, the Sailor and the Enchanted Monkey”. He fired the newly fired the newly hired members. Eventually the routine was worked out enough to make to playable. BTW, if you read Jim Steinmeyer’s blog, you can watch a video of the original Maskelyne version of Will the Witch and the Watchman featuring John Carney in one of the title roles.   Kellar must not have been too fond of the illusion because at some point he sold it to a magician in the midwest. 

Back to Kellar and Valadon. According to the earlier agreement, Valadon was to take over the show when Kellar retired. There was only one small problem, actually two. One of the issues was Eva Kellar, Harry’s wife. The other was alcohol, of which Eva and Paul Valadon were known to partake in to excess. Eva was a mean drunk and hated the Valadons. Mostly Paul tried to hold his tongue, but one afternoon, after hearing Mrs. Kellar badmouth them, Paul Valadon came out and ripped the wife of Harry Kellar to shreds verbally. And just like the vanish in his illusion ‘Well I’m’ Valadon was OUT as far as being a successor. He finished the tour, but after that, he was no longer part of the company.

Paul Valadon ran a small space ad in the back of The Sphinx in 1909, which read “Paul Valadon” Late of England’s Home of Mystery, the Egyptian Hall., London. Now touring in vaudeville with entire new act. All communications address care of Edward Beadle 1193 Broadway NY, NY. “  What’s interesting here, no mention of touring with Kellar. The fall out left an ever lasting rift between the two men.

After the Kellar show, Valadon went to perform in vaudeville across the United States. And by all accounts he was a big success in vaudeville. He would change his act often. But the reviews of his shows were great. In the magic press, they still expected Valadon to move up to the TOP of the showbiz ladder. 

There is an interesting anecdote that comes from the pages of The CREST Magician, March 1908. Apparently, Valadon was performing somewhere in America and needed to borrow someones tall high hat, top hat in other words. But none was forthcoming. So he instructed his assistant to fetch his brand new hat that was in his dressing room. This was in immaculate condition and a thing of pride for Valadon. He asked for a gentleman to examine the hat and gave it to someone who then handled his hat rather coarsely and then tossed it back onto the stage. Valadon was short of furious, but held his temper. He stepped over to retrieve his now mangled hat and said, “And now is there a gentleman (long pause) who could examine the hat”. And the audience of course understood the gentle rebuke of the ruffian and laughter. There’s a word we don’t hear any more ruffian, lol. 

In April 1909 tragedy struck the Valadon’s. While appearing in Chicago, Catherine Valadon, Paul’s wife got sick. She was admitted to the hospital. But she died on April 27th at Mercy Hospital. She was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. She was 40 or 41 when she died. Notice of her death appeared in all the magic periodicals of the day. One had this quote, “she was liked by all her met her.” Which wasn’t exactly true, Eve Kellar was no fan of her or her husband.

This left Paul a single father and he had a young son. Still the show must go on and the show did go on. At one point, Valadon dropped the illusions and did a smaller act along with his son, which was well received. It was a struggle at first doing the show without his wife/partner. And yet, the illusions wouldn’t stay out of the show.

In May 1910, The Sphinx says that Valadon is now featuring a beautiful levitation and disappearance of a woman. Quote, “His act is better than ever, and shows Valadon’s master hand at conjuring”

The next month in the ‘sphinx Valadon is mentioned again and it says, “showed his illusion of the vanishing lady, while suspended in the air”.    So I assume he is presenting LeRoy’s Asrah levitation. OK, Oct 1910 Sphinx spills more details. quote “Am somewhat late reporting the show of Paul Valadon, who appeared at the Majestic theater here last month. When he stepped on the stage the first night he received a big round of applause, which showed he was well and favorably remembered by Chicago theatergoers. His act was a treat from start to finish and the quick succession of surprises which he presented in his inimitable style brought forth many rounds of applause. He captured his audience with his climax which consisted  of his own conception of Servais LeRoy’s illusion, Asrah. Valadon brings the trick to a startling termination by causing the silk sheet to vanish, as well as the levitated body. His illusion is of his own ideas and is not one of the impractical copies that are being sold on the strength of the speeded reputation gained by Servais Le Roy’s invention. It might be useful to many magicians to know that the many so-called Asrah illusions now offered for sale everywhere are no anything like the original as invented and presented by Servais LeRoy.” A later article mentions Valadon called his creation “Venita”. I am wondering, if indeed this was not the LeRoy method, perhaps he used the clever method from his Well I’m illusion and added the levitation, the elements are there, the covering of the lady, the table, the vanishing of the figure. The only thing not there is the floating. 

Life on the road seemed to be ok for Paul Valadon and his son. That is until 1911 and 1912. Paul Sr’s heath begins to decline. And this is where my interest all started. In a January 15th, 1912 issue of The Sphinx Magazine, Howard Thurston asked the readers to donate money on behalf of Valadon who has been diagnosed with ‘consumption.’. His doctors say, a dryer climate is more fitting for the showman. Thurston even lists the contributions that have come in so far, he himself giving $50, Theo Bamberg $10, George White $1, other cast members, one or two dollars, for a total of $71. Then, a letter to Thurston and Dr. Wilson (editor of the sphinx) is reprinted and it says, “Dear Sirs, I I hereby give you my consent to superintend a money collection on behalf of myself and agree to allow Dr. Wilson to have absolute control of the expenditure of this money. Thank you for your kind endeavors, I remain Sincerely yours, Paul Valadon”

Enough money is raised for Paul and his son to relocate to Phoenix AZ. But a little over one year later, on April 23rd, 1913, 45 year old Paul Valadon was dead from tuberculosis. He left his son with little money. Valadon was buried in an unmarked grave in Greenwood Memory Park Cemetery. Young Paul was sent to an orphanage. In 1948, a dedication service was conducted by the magic group Mystic 13 and IBM Ring 55, for the grave marker they had placed over Valadon’s burial site……..

One final point of interest, Paul had a very elaborate scrap book from his many years on the road. I assume it stayed in the family, as Paul Jr. got married and had a child and stayed in Phoenix. Does anyone know of the whereabouts of the missing scrapbook?

(this is the feature transcript from Episode 108 of the Magic Detective Podcast)

The Illusions of Chevalier Ernest Thorn

Episode 41 of The Magic Detective podcast was on the life of Chevalier Ernest Thorn. If you've listened to the podcast, you'll be aware that I was unfamiliar with Thorn, prior to working on the episode. Now that I've finished my research, it seems, well, my research has just begun. Let me explain...

Thorn was an incredible inventor of illusions as well as being a performer. I have not been able to track down everything he did. In truth, I only have a few of this illusions figured out....by that I mean, I figured out what they are. The names of his illusions are listed in numerous biographical articles, but exactly what the illusions did, that's another story. I'm going to list the few that I know. Keep in mind, these are the same ones from the podcast episode, but here you'll be able to see pictures of them rather than just hear about them.

I'll begin with one of his first illusions. The poster for this came out in 1894, so it's assumed the illusion began around that time. It was called, The Dream of the Chalif. I believe Thorn altered the name of this illusion over time to the Chalif of Bagdad. As has been mentioned before, the illusion was pretty much stolen by Charles Morritt and put out as FLYTO. The main change being that Morritt's cabinets were 6 sides rather than 4 sides, otherwise it's essentially the same illusion. I've put the original Thorn poster next to a poster of Kellar's so you can compare the two.

Next we have an interesting illusion that he called The Fakir of Travancore, or The Mystery of Travancore. This illustration comes from the pages of Ottokar Fischer's Illustrated Magic. 

I knew I had seen it before, but try as I might I couldn't find the picture. Thankfully, I rediscovered the image in Illustrated Magic, and along with the picture came this explanation of the effect. By the way, Fischer says the effect was known as "1-2-3", but as we know, it was originally called The Fakir of Travancore by it's creator, Thorn.

“Among the transformation illusions is the one produced under the title of “One-Two-Three!” The proceeding is as follows: One of the performer’s assistants is laid on a sort of flat bench, and fastened to it with straps whose ends are secured by padlocks which the spectators themselves may lock. The bench with the man fastened to is is now lifted on to a platform about eighteen inches high, underneath which there is an unobstructed view. A curtain surrounding the platform is let down for a period of three seconds, while the conjurer counts, “one-two-three”. When the curtain goes up, the male assistant has disappeared from under the straps, and in his place is a girl. In order to release the girl, the padlocks must be opened and the straps unbuckled, which requires several minutes. The male assistant vanished without leaving a trace.”  And as I said on the podcast, it sounds very much like a horizontal version of Harbin's Assistant's Revenge, the big difference was the Harbin's illusion involved the exchange of two people, where as Travancore was the transformation of one person into another. I think it's possible that The Fakir of Travancore illusion was the inspiration for Harbin's Assistants Revenge.

The next illusion is called simply ATTAVAR and it looks similar to the Fakir of Travancore, but it is very different. What we have here is a large table, with a somewhat smaller table on top. Suspended underneath the smaller table is a hammock which has a girl reclining in it. According to the description: “The effect of which is the instantaneous disapparenace of a lady suspended in a hammock from a table. The table, hammock, and the lady vanish together in full view of the audience. The illusion does not depend upon the use of mirrors, cabinets, glass, traps in the stage, or back curtains."  What I can tell by the photo, is that Thorn fires a pistol to make the magic happen. It's possible there was a flash of smoke, or even a small fabric covering that happened just before the vanish, OR it's also possible that the sound of the gun fire was enough to allow the vanish to happen. This was apparently the joint creation of Thorn and Tommy Downs. T.Nelson Downs tried to include it in his show for a time, but audiences didn't take to him doing illusions as they did to Thorn.

Now we come to The Sarcophagus. This was one of the easiest illusions to identify because the design on the front of the illusion has been used by many modern performers. It is known as The Mummy Case, and is featured in the book, The Great Illusions of Magic by Byron Wells.

The basic effect is this: There is an upright Sarcophogus that is center stage. The front door is opened revealing a second door inside. This door is opened revealing the contents of the cabinet. There is a small mummy like figure which is clearly NOT a human being wrapped in cloth, but only meant to represent such. The mummy is removed and now the back door of the cabinet is opened so that the cabinet can be seen to be completely empty. Next the mummy is returned to the inner chamber, the doors closed and the traditional turning of the cabinet is done. When the doors are reopened, out walks an Egyptian princess. 

It's a great illusion and the method for which has been used in a couple other illusions that come to mind. I believe Paul Osbourne in his many illusion plans books, had a version with a GrandFather Clock instead of a sarcophagus. I've also seen some images online of versions that are just plain cabinets. Somehow I think the illusion looses it's appeal as a plain box. Though, in truth, even though Thorn's outer graphic has been used many times since, I think a better design is needed.

This next illusion was not part of the podcast because I just now stumbled upon it. The illusion was called "TOIZA WONNDA". This is apparently a Japanese phrase meaning 'Escape & Perish'. I believe this was mistakenly referred to as a 'Chinese Mystery' in Thorn's advertisements. But the effect, was a 'X' shaped torture device that an assistant would be tied or chained to. And next to them was an executioner cutting of the heads of victims. This is my sketchy guess on what this illusion is based on an image from one of his posters and now discovering what Toiza Wonnda actually means. I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track. I am wondering also if the X shaped torture device was some adaptation of the Strobieka illusion. There may have been another torture device where a person is suspended by their feet and there body is tied up. Eventually, I will find out more about this mystery, but I'm pleased to have figured out this much. 

The final Thorn illusion for this article will be his most famous perhaps and that is The Noah's Ark Illusion. This is another illusion that I believe he created in the 1890s. It begins with opening the big front door and back door of the cabinet to show it completely empty. Then after closing it, several buckets of water were poured into the 'ark' from the top. Then, by reaching into the small curtained windows, animals of all sorts were produced, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, baby pigs, etc, all came out from the ark. Then finally, when one would think nothing else could come out, Noah's wife was produced from the ark. I love this!!!! What a fantastically themed illusion. Forget about the religious connotations and just embrace the theme, you've got an ark-like structure that you produce all these animals from, and then finally Noah's wife. It's a great mystery and one you don't see today. However, I do know of likely the last artists to feature this and that was the LeGrand David Company out of Beverly Mass. They hand built and hand painted what is likely the most beautiful Noah's Ark Illusion to ever exist. I so wanted this when it went to auction but I was holding out for other things and missed it. IF you know who has it, let me know as I may still be interested. Below is a picture of their Noah's Art Illusion.

That my friends will do it for Part 1 of the Illusions of Chevalier Ernest Thorn. I would encourage you to listen to the podcast on him. I shall continue to dig further into his life and his many forgotten illusions and hopefully bring them to light. I have a lead on several as I type this but they are not quite 'in focus' yet. Until next time...

T. Nelson Downs - Master Coin Manipulator

T. Nelson Downs is surely a name everyone in magic has heard of. Even if youre new to magic, you might have heard of the Downs Palm. Or at least the Misers Dream effect. And yet with his popularity, do we really know much about T. Nelson Downs? Probably not, and so, decided to put on the old Detective hat and find out more…

He was born Thomas Nelson Downs, March 16, 1867 in Garwin Iowa, though most references just say Marshalltown where he grew up. According to David Prices fine historical book Thomas was actually a twin, but his fellow twin did not survive, and word was that few believed Thomas would survive being only 2 lbs at birth. He did survive and was the youngest of three children. His father died when he was only 6 months old and the family moved around, eventually ending up in Marshalltown Iowa. 

How did Downs become interested in magic? Here is it is his own words, “"I was first inspired by a 'Town Hall' magician when I was about 12 years old, after seeing him turn ink to water and make cards rise magically from the pack, etc. It was all easy and simple to me s o I went home and duplicated t h e perform- ance and immediately commenced to study the art by pur- chasing all the books on the subject I could find." 

At least one of the books was likely Professor Hoffmann’s Modern Magic which came out in 1876. Downs himself also said, “Ed Reno got me started in the business”, but I think this refers to being a professional, NOT how he got started initially. Faucet Ross, in the Feb 1939 issue of The Linking Ring reveals that in Marshalltown Iowa, there lived a man named Frank Taylor. Mr. Taylor was the manager of a business called The Old Bowler which was right next to and actually part of The Chicago & Northern Railroad Station. Mr. Taylor was known to be an above excellent sleight of hand man and manipulator and is even mentioned in the book Leaves of Conjurers Scrap Books by Burlingame. 

It turns out that T. Nelson Downs worked as a telegrapher  or telephraph operator at the Railroad station, the same time Frank Taylor was working at The Old Bowler.  It’s certainly possible that Thomas Downs learned some magic from Taylor, though Downs never revealed this to anyone during his life. If nothing else, Taylor could have served as an inspiration to Downs who was just learning. OR Taylor might have been the magician that Downs saw as a kid? Hard to say. 

Young T. Nelson Downs, as I just mentioned took a job as a telegraph operator at the Chicago and Northern Railroad Station when he was 16 years old. He would continue working there until 1895. And numerous sources say that it was during his 12 years at the railroad station that he perfected his skills in manipulation. He was constantly seen with coins or cards while working. He worked the night shift when things were slower so that gave more time to concentrate on manipulation.  By the way, I’ll be referring to T. Nelson Downs as Tommy Downs from here on out. That was the name his friends called him.

In 1890, Tommy Downs married Nellie Stone. In October 1894, his son Raymond was born. But only a few months later, on April 8th 1895, his wife Nellie died. Raymond was sent to live with his grandparents and Tommy would go out on his own as a performer.

Now to back track just slightly. When Tommy was 16 he gave his first public performance. The program was a variety show with a number of performers, only one was singled out as probably being professional and that was Tommy. This event was recorded in his local paper, so we know that Tommy was doing shows even while working for the Railroad Station.  

Now if we fast forward to 1891, Tommy Downs did not start out as The King of Koins. He worked with a partner who was a mandolinist, Sam Siegal. Tommy presented manipulation, as well as escapes, hypnotism, and even mind reading ala John Randall Brown (which it says in the David Price MAGIC A Pictorial History of Conjurors In The Theatre). BTW, I covered John Randall Brown in Ep 15 of the podcast. I would imagine that either Tommy took gigs on his days off, or during the day, so his shows had to be close enough that he could make it back to the Railroad Station at night.  The partnership with Siegal didnt last long.

Now, we are up to 1895, Tommy’s wife Nellie passed away and he decides to go out on his own. Despite consulting with other magicians about the possibility to doing an ALL COIN ACT….he was discouraged to do so by everyone)…..he did it anyway. He took an engagement at the Hopkins Theatre in chicago with his Misers Dream act and it was a huge hit. In a letter to Faucett Ross, Tommy shares a story from that show. “Show business is a funny thing. The first vaudeville house I ever worked was the Hopkins Theatre, in Chicago. While there the manager told me, ‘DOWNS, you have a great act, but you will never be a real success in this country until you first make a success in Europe.’ He was 100% right. After a year in England, France and Germany, I was besieged with offers and contracts in America. And it is a poor rule that won’t work both ways. I have met a lot of European acts that got nowhere in their own country until they first made a hit in America.”

No one had ever seen an act like Tommy’s.  He was the first of the speciality acts and likely the first of the all manipulation acts. His success in the midwest caused his salary to rise and he went to New York City and then off to England.

Tommy claimed to have invented the Misers Dream…though the trick itself goes back many years having been presented by 19th Century conjurers as The Shower of Money, Aerial Treasury and other names. Rather it would be better served to say that Downs created THE ACT Known as The Misers Dream, as he did greatly expand upon the trick, adding unique sleights and clever moments and bits of business to the routine. A point not often mentioned, Tommy spoke throughout the act, it was not presented silent to music. So he had witty patter to go along with his amazing sleight of hand. 

His book, Modern Coin Manipulation does a great job capturing the various parts of the act. Though the book contains sleights that I can’t help but wonder are not things he used in his act, but put in to create the illusion of great difficulty to anyone reading it.

In Oct 1895, Mahatma Magazine said of Downs, “All his work is absolutely new, original and puzzling, even to magicians. We are frank to say that we believe him to be the cleverest man living with coins, and justly entitled to the name, “King of Koins”.

In 1895, the inventor of the handcuff act. Mr. B.B. Keyes, sold his act through the magic dealer W. D. Leroy of Boston. It was sold as, “Escape From Sing Sing, OR The Great Handcuff Act”. The first person to purchase it was Tommy Downs. But it doesn’t appear that he ever used them. In the November 1930 issue of The Sphinx, T. Nelson Downs relates a story of meeting up with Houdini at their hotel while Houdini was working the London Alhambra. Downs took from his trunk a ring of 52 keys and said to Houdini, "Here are the tools you do your act with." Houdini replied, "Tom, I don't use keys. You know I did not have the money to buy the keys" etc. Then Downs said, "Well you can't open them with hot air!"   

From Leroy's Catalog, the price of the Great Handcuff Act was $75.00. I went through the catalog and most everything was under $10. A few items reached $20 and $30 and a Sub-trunk reached $50. But here was the act that put Houdini on the map, and it's price much much higher than everything else. Perhaps Houdini, didnt have the money, lol. Or maybe he did.

There is a great story that is related in numerous sources about Downs first visit to New York City. Downs stopped into Otto Maurer's Magic shop and told him that he was in town performing, not only that,  he was making $100 a week. Maurer said to Downs, "No magician has ever been paid that kind of money, GET OUT of my shop!" At least one source claims the amount was $150.

Otto Mauer was known to have taught the Front and Back Palm to a number of magicians. But Tommy claimed he first did the trick at the Opera House in Boone Iowa around 1891. By 1898 he had turned it into an act of it’s own, by making multiple cards vanish, showing his hands empty and then reproducing the cards one at a time. He would use this as an encore to his Misers Dream Act.

In April of 1899, Tommy Downs secured a booking to play England, specifically the Palace Theatre in London.  It’s safe to say he took London by storm as no one had seen an act like his. He was constantly being interviewed in the paper for his unique act. Soon, other American acts would find their way to London, folks like Thurston, Houdini, Lafayette, William Robinson and more. David Price’s book even says Robinson confided in Downs that he was going to challenge the Chinese magician Ching Ling Foo. So Downs suggested to Robinson to use the name ‘Chung Ling Soo’.

Will Golston wrote this of Tommy Downs “ T. Nelson Downs, the King of Koins—and truly he deserves the title, is "one of the best," both as Magician and Gentleman, and as talent is sure to come to the top, and he has an abundance of it, he has certainly got there.  His manipulation of coins is marvellous, his audiences are often to be seen open mouthed, and amazed at his wonderful dexterity. “

Downs tells this story about his days of working in the train station. Sometimes when things were slow he would go out into the waiting room and show tricks to the travelers, farmers, or whoever was there. There was one incident when he showed some coin magic to Fred Stone and his brother, they were working with the Taylor Circus at the time doing a high wire act. Well, fast forward 14 years and Fred Stone was in London performing. On this particular day he was visiting with some fellow performers. One of the entertainers was bragging about the incredible coin manipulations presented by T. Nelson Downs at the London Palace Theatre. Fred spoke up and said, “I’m sorry but the best coin man on the planet works at a little train station in Marshalltown Iowa.” Well it turned out they were both correct because that little telegraph operator was now headlining the Palace!

In another letter Tommy wrote, “One of the first magicians I met in London was Charles Bertram and he told me, ‘DOWNS, you are really not a magician but a manipulator and juggler. Why don’t you do tricks?’ I answered, The reason I don’t do tricks is because everyone else does tricks. If I did tricks I probably would not be playing the Palace!”

Another of Tommy Down’s first contacts in London was William Hilliar who saw Tommy at the Place Theatre. He soon became his agent. Tommy continued on at the Palace for 6 months. They actually wanted him to stay longer but he had other engagements to attend to. It was during this time that Tommy wrote the book, Modern Coin Manipulation, which would explain his entire act, plus many of the unique sleights he had developed over the years. William Hilliar edited the book.

Speaking of William Hillar, this incident involved him and takes place in the early 1900s. He says,  “I visited the Theatre de Robert Houdin in Paris. They had a replica of Houdin’s stage settings large center and two side tables with traps running through to the wings. The performance was given by a French conjurer named Carmenelli. One of his features was the Rapping Hand. A few years later,  I again visited Houdin’s theatre accompanied by Nelson Downs. Carmenilli did the aerial treasury, borrowing Down’s hat for the purpose. I wonder if he ever knew that he was using the masters hat!”

Here is more from Hilliar via Mahatma Magazine. “I have been in Paris the last month, but have not seen much conjuring. According to what I am told Magic does not seem to take on here at all. There is, however, one exception i.e. T. Nelson Downs (King of Coins) whose wonderfully clever coin act goes great here and he has, I understand, been re-engaged for the next three years at the Folies Marigny, the most fashionable theatre in Paris. This notwith- standing the fact that one ot his best imitators preceeded him in Paris, but when Downs appeared the public could tell at once that there was only one King of Coins. I wonder what Robert Houdin would say could he but witness Down's show ? If I remember rightly Robert 

Houdin said that with practice it was possible to palm 2 coins. Downs palms 45 ! But in addition to his digital cleverness, he has that gen- tlemanly appearance and pleasing manner which makes his show go. He is booked for three solid years in the finest theatres in the world at an enormous salary and he carries his apparatus in his waistcoat pocket ! Now I'll give you the secret of Downs' success—ORIGINALITY. He originated the "King" idea, and although he has been copied by hundreds, the others are not in it. There you are my mag- ical brothers, work out some new idea and you will suddenly become famous. “

Here is Down’s talking about an incident in Paris. “I have often wondered just how much an audience sees when a magician does a trick. In 1900 I was playing a long engagement at The Marigny Casino in Paris. One night I walked out on the stage, started to do the act and then suddenly discovered that I have forgotten to load up with coins. I had a top hat but no coins—-they were on a table in the wings. What could I do? Well, I started the act without the coins—just pantomiming catching them from the air for about 3 minutes. Then I took a bow and received terrific applause. During the applause, I stepped offstage, loaded up and continued the act but, honestly, I don’t think that audience ever knew the difference.”

And here is a story from a letter to Faucett Ross from Tommy Downs, “As you know I played 26 consecutive weeks at the Palace Theatre in London. After my first show there Mr. Morton, the Manager, came backstage and complimented the act. He said, Mr. Downs, I am particularly impressed by the slow and deliberate manner in which you walk off and on the stage. It is very impressive.’ Well, I did not have the nerve to tell him the truth. You see, when I first arrived in London I did a lot of walking in order to see the sights. The result was I developed sore feet and there was no choice- I HAD to walk slowly. So I’ve been doing it ever since. Another interesting thing happened during my Palace engagement. After a few weeks I decided to build up the act a bit by using the coin wand which I always liked. Well, after the first show using the wand, Mr. Morton came to the dressing room and said, “Mr. Downs, my patrons are utterly intrigued with your great digital dexterity, but tonight you disillusioned them by using that mechanical stick which has no place in your fine act.’ Well, I saw that he was right and I never used it again from that day to this. It’s a good trick, but not for me."

In 1901, John Northern Hilliard was the dramatic critic and editorial writer for The Rochester Post Express. He wrote a glowing review of Downs act. Here is a little of what he said, “There is a real magician in Rochester. His name is T. Nelson Downs and he is working his wonders at the Cook Operah House this week.  Mr Downs is billed as The King of Koins and there is no magician on any stage in any country today who can compete with Mr.  Downs as a manipulator of either coins or cards. This is much conceded even by members of Mr. Downs own profession. He stands absolutely alone in his chosen field.” 

While in London, Downs became a sensation. He not only worked the Palace Theatre, but he appeared before The Prince of Wales who would go on to become King of England, at a private event. The Prince loved Tommy’s magic so much that after the performance was over, he was requested to stay and teach some magic to the Prince, which he gladly did. 

Shortly after his performance for the Prince of Wales, he was appearing before Queen Victoria. In fact, his standing with the Royals of Europe was quite high. He performed before Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Abdul Hamid the Sultan of Turkey, and The Czar of Russia. 

As he toured throughout Europe he appeared in Paris at the Marigny Casino and the Follies Bergere, The Wintergarten in Berlin, and when he returned to London he appeared at the Empire Theatre for forty weeks at twice the money he made at the Palace Theatre. 

Now here is something that came as a big surprise. Tommy Downs was interested in illusions, as in Grand Illusion. As early as 1900 he had purchased an illusion, where a woman, is tossed into the air, away from any furniture or stage settings and vanishes in a flash of flame. He purchased this from William Hilliar. In 1905 he worked with illusionist Ernest Thorn (ep 41 of the podcast), and created and patented an effect for making a person or object vanish while suspended under table. He also worked with Will Golston and created and illusion where a person could appear inside a glass bottle which was also suspended in the air. The effect is in the book, LATEST CONJURING by Goldston, came out in 1905, the illusion is called, The Goldstone-Downs Bottle Illusion.”

In 1905 Tommy Married Harriet Rockey on June 3rd. She already had a son who was born in 1896. I don’t know if this son was his, or if he later adopted the boy. In 1908 John Northern Hilliard edited Downs book The Art of Magic. Years later John Northern Hilliard would go on to become Howard Thurston’s publicity agent.

In 1910, this illusion idea comes back up, this time he teams up with a fellow from California, who was fairly unknown at the time, his name was Guy Jarrett. 

Together they created a new act, which would start with Down’s Misers Dream Act, and then they would present 4 unique illusions. All of these were creations of Jarrett’s. The act was called ‘In Mid-Air Illusions’. He clearly has something for this concept. The first illusion was Guy’s Boy, Girl and Sack. It was a transformation effect where a rather large woman was placed inside a sack which was suspended in mid-air. She would vanish from there and appear in the audience, while a skinny man came out of the sack.  

Another effect was The Table Coat Dissappearance. A small undraped table that has been standing in plain view is now placed in center of stage. The assistant puts on a long coat and hat, climbs up on the table, the magician pulls the coat and hat up in mid-air by aid of a rope and pulley attached, when the coat collapses the man is GONE! 

The final illusion was called The Mystery of Mysteries. This was Jarrett’s Bangkok Bungalow Illusion, which was an incredible mystery, which later became a feature of Howard Thurston’s show. But Down’s was the first to get these illusions. The coin manipulator who always traveled light, was now hauling 2400 lbs of baggage and two additional assistants. For whatever reason, the act did not play well. Perhaps Downs was not cut out to be an illusionist. 

In another letter to Faucett Ross, Tommy writes, “I have never claimed to have invented all the tricks in magic. I did take the old coin catching trick, elaborated it, added a few new sleights, a new manner of presentation and made an act out of it. I do claim to be the originator of the famous Dime and Penny trick. I got the idea in 1909 and in 1910 a jeweler friend of mine made up the first outfit for me. After a few months, I showed it to a friend of mine who was a traveling man. He showed it, without my permission, to Carl Brema, the Philadelphia Magic dealer, who, not knowning it was mine, put it on the market. During the past 20 years, thousands of them have been sold, but as for me, I’ve never received any cash or credit. The moral of this is—if you have something really good, either keep it to yourself or make sure you will be reimbursed if it is placed on the market.”

Tommy’s mother passed away on February 19th 1910 in Marshalltown. But along with that a rather strange occurrence. The very same day Mrs. Down’s died, her sister who lived quite a distance away in New York City, also died. Both of them were 78 years old. Another strange connection that twins have I guess. 

In March of 1911, another tragedy struck, this time Tommy’s house caught fire. The odd thing was he had just sold the house but had not yet moved out. He lost all of his belongings, all his furniture, clothing, and his magic equipment. The loss was reported to be around $2500 worth of items, but his insurance policy only covered $500. What did Tommy Downs do about it? He quickly got back on the road and started working.

Tommy Downs was a man with a plan. And that plan was to make $50,000. The equivalent of a little over a million dollars today. He reached that goal in 1912 and set out to retire. I apparently purchased some rental property in Marshalltown and moved back to his hometown. He was 42 when he left the stage. He would occasionally come out of retirement for private gigs and charity events. In fact, he created  a full evening show, which is quite fascinating. Here again, in Tommy’s own words…”My full evening show runs about like this. I usually open with the torn and restored paper ribbon (his own version). Then a simple cigarette routine concluding with vanish of lighted cigarette at fingertips. I follow this with about 5 minutes of billiard ball manipulations. next the Misers Dream, my speciality. I then go into card work—-Ladies Looking Glass, General Card, Mental Spelling, Two Card Stabbing, a few fancy shuffles, and conclude with my BackPalm routine. Next a borrowed bill in lemon which amazes them. I think vanish a handkerchief and reproduce it from a spectators coat collar, followed by a showing of about thirty more handkerchiefs. I always finish with a patriotic  number. I produce a red, white and blue handkerchief and blend the into a 36 inch silk American Flag and then when the spectators think it is all over, BINGO, I produce two big six foot flags on staffs. Thats about all there is to it. Just a small three ring circus in one suitcase and no fuss or bother.”

T. Nelson Downs remained close to magic world, attending conferences, corresponding with and meeting with magicians when he could. He and Houdini were good friends spending many hours together talking magic. They originally met many years before at The Chicagos Worlds Fair. 

In the July 1901 Mahatma, this appears, “Travelers returning from Europe report the existence of a powerful mutual admirations society composed entirely of magicians, whose acts are features. The passwords are, “HOUDINI, I’ve seen all kinds of magical acts, but without exception, your is really the acme of perfection.” OR “DOWNS, I don’t often praise a man, but whenever I see your act I can’t help thinking that there can never be another act conceived that will be so really marvelous” It is rumored that there are only two members of this society. 

In Houdini's Backyard, Downs on far Right. (CarnegieCollection)

One year later both Houdini and Downs would be early members of the newly formed Society of American Magicians. There are many pictures of Downs and Houdini together. One taken very early in both their careers, probably in London. One of the last was taken in Houdini’s backyard. 

In 1935, Downs started suffering from an illness that lasted 3 years. He died on September 11th, 1938 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown Iowa.

I thought I’d end this podcast slightly differently than usual. Faucett Ross had exchanged many letters with Downs during his life. The GEN Magazine in Jan 1958 featured an issue with many of those letters. I’ve included several of them in the podcast, but Id like to leave you with some advice from T. Nelson Downs himself.

“If I had an constructive advice to offer a young person starting out in magic, it would be this—At the outset he should  do as many different tricks and routines as possible before the public. By so doing he will soon discover the things he can do the best and the ones that register most strongly.”

“I turned down a lot of chances to do my act for fifteen or twenty dollars. I could use the money but I can’t afford to lower my reputation by working cheap. The more they pay you the more they will respect and enjoy you. A fellow called me the other night and said, “Mr. Downs, we would like to book your act but we do not have much money right now.” I answered, “Well, I’m a patient guy, so I’ll be willing to wait until you get enough.”

“Magicians nowadays are always complaining that there is nothing new but the trouble is that they can’t see the forest on account of the trees. There are dozens of good tricks described in books that most magicians have never bothered to read and that one of them have ever tried out in public. Take my own book, The Art of Magic for example. Turn to page 107 and read the description of my own version of The Flying Cards. For nearly 30 years I have been doing the trick on stage and off exactly as described. The turn to page 71 and read details of The General Card. This is my favorite card trick and almost an act in itself. Let me have this one and you can keep all the rest of them.”

And finally a few words from Tommy Downs that should be eye opening to every magician.

This is from the Feb 1923 MUM Magazine. 

"Allow me to state that our late beloved Harry Kellar was not only my personal friend, but I was one of his most ar- dent admirers. However, Alexan- der Herrmann has always been to my mind the "Ideal Magician." Herrmann looked, lived and acted the part. He had three or four small tricks, brought to a state of, near, perfection. These tricks were a part of his personality, and he never lost an opportunity to exploit them. 

Now, I claim, the great trouble with most magicians is: They want to look and act like Herrmann, and what is more, and worse, they want to do the same tricks he did and in exactly the same style. "It can't be did.”"  By the way, you could take out the Name Herrmann here, and insert, Copperfield, Blaine, ShinLim, Darren Brown, I think you get my point.

He further goes on…

"The late Charles Bertram of, "Isn't it Wonderful" fame was  playing at the Grand Theatre in Chicago. The late William Robinson (Chung Ling Soo) took me down into Ber- tram's dressing room, where I did my full act for him. When I had finished 

Mr. Bertram said: "Very clever, young man, but—Why don't you do "tricks." I then replied, "the reason I don't do tricks is because other magicians do tricks." I believe neither Mr. Bertram nor I realized the full significance of the remark until several years later, when I was creating quite a sensation at the Pal- ace Theatre, London, where I re- mained a feature for twenty-six con- secutive weeks. Y our reference to the Winter Garden, Berlin, reminds me that I was warned by profession- al friends and theatrical agents not to sign a contract for that establish- ment, I was assured my act would be a complete failure there, and and would ruin me for Germany. The predictions, as you are aware, were all wrong, as I played there, eight weeks in 1900, and a month's return engagement about a year later. No doubt, the fact that I pos- sessed a very strong and penetrating voice, and knew how to use it to fairly good advantage, had consider- able to do with my success there and elsewhere. I have always con- tended that a magician, to meet with any marked degree of success, must be an actor—hundreds of people do tricks—but they cannot all CONVINCE, — yes, that's the word, CONVINCE an audience. My point is that it is not the particular trick that makes the magician, but it is the magician who makes the particular trick. I claim the public did not go to see Kellar's and Herrmann's tricks, but, on the contrary, they went to see the individuals, — great men's personalities in particu- lar. Their tricks were simply incidental. I will further elucidate: A few days ago I made a long voyage to see a celebrated mystifier—getting myself up at six A. M. with the thermometer at 20 below zero and traveling some seventy miles to see this miracle worker. Can anyone imagine me going seventy miles to see a mere magician do tricks! Not on your life!”" The man Downs was going to see was HOUDINI. I just found that line so incredible, “Hundreds of people do tricks but they can’t CONVINCE.” To do that takes a very special performer, part actor, part magician, a person who LIVES his or her material. That is incredible wisdom from Tommy Downs.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of the podcast. I do want to mention one other thing in regards to Down’s famous act The Misers Dream. Back in 2008 Levent, the great comedy magician and excellent manipulator, put out a DVD set on the Misers Dream. It has 5 hours worth of sleights and tricks, including the routines of Al Flosso, Charlie Miller, Roy Benson, Paul Potassy, Robert Houdin and of course, T. Nelson Downs. It’s well worth checking out. IT is extensive. And yes, it’s a teaching DVD. I honestly do not know if they’re available anymore, but you could contact Levent through his website LeventMagic.com to find out. 

All of the references are in Bold Letters within the article, so they are easy to find.

This was Episode 23 of the podcast and was one of the most popular of the entire run.

AFTER I put the podcast up, I wrote a companion article about Downs & Houdini which can be found here: https://www.themagicdetective.com/2019/05/the-king-of-koins-king-of-escape.html