The Magic Detective & Mandala Magazine and More

I just found out yesterday that back in 2012, Mandala Magic Magazine had an article about HOUDINI and in the article they spent a little time talking about THIS blog. They also discussed John Cox's Blog and Kevin Connolly's blog as well. It was a pleasant surprise and the article itself was posted to another website by the original author of the piece, so you can read it here.

Also, coincidentally, yesterday was my first introduction to the Mandala Magazine itself, even before I found out about the earlier article. I found out they had done an rather extensive interview with David Bull of Le Grand David and also interviewed Rick Heath and Ellen Sheehan from the show as well. It is a FANTASTIC article which shares some insights on the last few years of the show, the death of Cesareo and how it affected the cast and the reasons why the show closed and what is going on currently and what the future holds.

The issue can be found in the 'past issues Volume 4'.  If you are interested in checking it out click the link, the issue costs $5.95 and is digital, so they will send you a link to download it.

The Mandala Magazine is a product of and owned by Shawn McMaster.

Houdini And Samri Baldwin

The photo above is Samri Baldwin and Harry Houdini. Baldwin was born Samuel Baldwin in Cincinnati OH in 1848. He performed professional as The White Mahatma. Samri is credited with taking the question and answer techniques used by mediums and applying them to magic and mentalism. His techniques are still used today.

I'm not sure, but I might have stumbled upon a discovery*.  I believe it was in Jim Steinmeyer's book about Howard Thurston where I read that Samri Baldwin in 1921 had a small spot in the Thurston Show. Baldwin had brought along with him a trunk full of treasures he had collected over the course of his career and life. They were to be a gift to Howard Thurston. But there was a problem, the two did not get along. So much for that gift! I kind of assumed at that point that Baldwin probably gave or bequeathed the trunk to his daughter Blanche Baldwin, though I had no real proof either way.

Well, yesterday I'm looking through some of the scrapbooks in the Harry Ransom Houdini Collection and what should pop up? A scrapbook belonging to S.S. and Kittie Baldwin! Now this is not the trunk full of treasures that was mentioned in the Thurston book, but I bet it was part of that trunk!

As it turns out, my discovery, or what I thought was a discovery falls flat near the end. Samri Baldwin did not give the scrapbook to Houdini. His daughter gave the book to Houdini, as can be seen by the inscription in the front. Samri died March 10th, 1924 and on April 21st, the book was sent to Houdini. So the trunk of treasures remained with the family with the exception of this scrapbook. Or maybe she gave them to someone else? Where the trunk of treasures ended up is anyone's guess.

*Turns out this 'discovery' has been made before. And as is mentioned in the comments below, was also revealed in the book 'Metamorphosis' by Bruce MacNab. The only unique thing that I did was make the connection of the book to the trunk of memorabilia mentioned in the Thurston book by Jim Steinmeyer, but his is only a guess on my part.

For MORE on Samri Baldwin Listen to my podcast http://magicdetectivepodcast.com/e/samuel-spenser-baldwin-pioneer-clairvoyant/

Robert Heller Memorabila

If you spend some time looking over my blog, it becomes apparent fairly quickly who my favorite performers are. You'll see the most articles on this blog are about HOUDINI with over 170 articles. Next is Harry Kellar with 32, Le Grand David with 27 and they will soon pass by Kellar. And then the next one is Robert Heller. I've actually probably spent more time in hard research over Heller than anyone. He is such an intriguing character in the history of magic.

Occasionally, Robert Heller items show up on ebay and this time we've got something really cool. It's a unused ticket from Heller's performance at Horticultural Hall, October 13, 1877. I know he was in Boston in September of 1877, so I'm going to assume this ticket is from the Boston Horticultural Hall.
If you are interested in bidding on it, it comes with a pretty steep starting price of $475.00. Too rich for my blood. The auction is here http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hellers-Wonder-ticket-Magic-Spiritualism-Spiritualists-Occult-History-Rare-/281283020755

Next up is a really cool picture of a Heller Poster from the Harry Ransom Collection. I don't recall seeing this poster before, and if I have, I have never seen it in color. It's a beautiful piece. An interesting piece on the poster, underneath his name it reads "From the United States". This is funny because Heller was actually from England. To add to that, when he first came to the U.S. he pretended to be from France!