PROVENANCE FACT OR FICTION? IT’S CRITICAL TO YOUR COLLECTION
UNFORTUNATELY AN UNEDITED VERSION OF THIS WAS ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED LATE LAST NIGHT WITH ALL THE FIRST DRAFT ERRORS . I HOPE THOSE THAT READ IT RETURN TO READ THE FINALIZED VERSION. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE INADVERTENT RELEASE. It is a funny world we collect in. It is...
A Few of My Favorite Things from the CCM
Bob Lund’s passion in life was the unsung magician who was out there every day slugging it out performing magic as much as possible and never making the big-time. It was the unknown performer that Bob thought of as the heroes of magic, not the Thurstons or...
A Few of My Favorite Things: Blackstone and the Decatur Illinois Fire: It’s Ties to the CCM
It was September 2nd 1942 in Decatur Illinois at the Lincoln Theater and the second stop of the Great Blackstone’s 1942 tour. The theater was set for the matinee performance with a sold-out house. The movie “The Affairs of Martha” was nearing its end and the...
A Few of My Favorite Things from the CCM: Joseffy’s Expanding Queen
Joseffy's Expanding Queen Of all the things in my collection this must rate at or very near the top of the things I most treasure. Not only for its actual monetary value but because it was built by a man with a very special place in magic history: once called the...
Should You Insure Your Magic Collection?
The Decision This is a decision many of us wrestle with. Collectible insurance is not like any other typical insurance: It is expensive. The burden of proof of what you have in your collection is always on you. The value of your collection becomes subject to...
Houdini: A few uncommon facts. Last in our three part series
This is the last installment of this series of Houdini Blogs. I thought it might be interesting to review some not so well known facts about Houdini and review a few details of how the Red Magic Section (Edited by Houdini) in The World Newspapers came about. Did...
Houdini’s Quest to Expose Astrology
It is a well known fact that Houdini fought Spiritualism with vigor. He had “operatives” all over the country and even had “operatives” posing as spiritualist in the various Spiritualists Communities of the day. What is less known is his fight he began with Astrology...
Potter and Potter Spring Magic Auction: A Personal Review
For those of you tuning in to find the latest on Houdini and his attack on astrology, I will have to ask you to wait a week. I am sorry but the Potter Spring Auction seems to be more of a time constraint (Houdini isn't going anywhere). Besides I could use a little...
Houdini In His Own Words: Threatening 1926 Retirement: Part one of a three part series
In 2015 it was reported that Houdini threatened retirement on Oct 14th just over two weeks away from the end of his life. This is not news to Houdini followers but if you have just a passing interest in Houdini this may very well be news to you. Since I own the...
Should Your Magic Collection be Considered an Investment? Part three and final
It is highly unlikely that there is anyone out there (including myself) that collects magic solely for an investment. We love the objects just as art collectors and chalk dog collectors love what they collect. Why we collect is largely unknown. Why do some people...