Ovette Free Guessing Institute Letter

This was in an envelope by itself, and I was completely baffled to what the heck the letter writer was talking about. I understand that this was written in 1917- but did an ad for a "guessing contest" have to be worded so strangely?

Via Magicpedia, I learned: Joseph Ovette (January 20, 1885 - August 5, 1946) born Giuseppe (Joseph) Olivo in South Italy was a prolific author and top ranking magician.

I was still a bit puzzled by the letter, but I was able to track down the "terms" of the contest via google books:



So, Ovette wrote the book, Advanced Magic, and in the middle of the book he describes this new trick- The Mysterious Angel- but he does not explain the entire thing. Instead, he invited people who purchase his other stuff to have a crack at "free guesses" on how the trick works. If they guess correctly, they win the entire instructions to the trick, including illustrations.

I wonder if anyone ever won.....I could not find a single example of the winning prize anywhere!

Mysterious Disappearances Explained

I didn't find much about the publications mentioned in this clipping- The Recreation Hour or The Pathfinder- but the mention of the name 'Thurston' sent me down a fun little path until I ended up watching this great old footage on youtube. The poster didn't allow embedding, but you can see it here.

I am going to let the person who spent so much time collecting information on Thurston introduce him to you themselves at thurstonmastermagician.com. You can honestly see how much love and attention to detail Mr. Feldman gave to honor Mr. Thurson's legacy. If you are still craving more Thurston knowledge, a DVD documentary came out this year called, "When Thurston Came to Town," and on it you can see even more awesome old footage of Thurston in action!

Mind Reading Acts Explained!

How great is the little devil in the upper corner?!
This is the first time I have come across the name "Burling Hull," and to be honest, I thought it was some kind of brand or address. MagicNook.com set me straight. Apparently Hull is a person- the self-proclaimed "Edison of Magic"- he created dozens of magic tricks (and held the patent on the Svengali Deck) and wrote over 50 books!

I did find this quite from Magic Nook to be very telling:

Although an important figure in magic, his often outrageous claims and many empty promises led him to be widely known as 'Hurling Bull'.

He was quite an interesting character- he even wrote an entire book just to defame a rival magician (see the wiki for more)! Mr. Hull lived to the age of 93, and if you would like to know more about him there is a biography which was published in 1977 called The Edison of Magic and His Incredible Creations.

Spirit Slates of Dr. Q

The very Edward Gorey-esque drawing was what drew me in, but after researching the inside of yesterday's advertisement, it would seem that the big draw was really the "spirit slates." In fact they are still fondly remembered (and sold) today.

Owen Magic describes them:

These slates were originally designed by Carl Owen and are positively the most ingenious slates for producing two sets of writing ever designed. The slates may be freely handled by anyone and, with nothing added or taken away will apparently produce writing on both blank slates when they are held together by a member of the audience. This is without a doubt the nearest approach to genuine spirit writing ever accomplished.

The video below is someone giving away the secret of using Spirit Slates.


Spirit Slates Magic Trick Instructional Video - The most popular videos are a click away

I was also able to link the inventor, Carl Owen, to Thayer via OwenMagic.com's "history" page:

Owen Magic Supreme can trace its roots to a June 1891 advertisement in Mahatma magazine by Floyd Thayer. In the August 1902 edition Floyd placed another ad, offering for sale the Wand of the West.

During the fall of 1913 Carl Owen entered the firm, and was later joined by his brother Emmett. When Floyd Thayer divided the firm in 1933 the Owen brothers purchased Thayer Manufacturing and absorbed other companies, the better known of these being Merv Taylor Magic.

The more I read about the men from this period, the more I learn how interconnected they were with each other.

Dr. "Q" Spirit Hand

This is side one of a two-sided ad, but I will post the first side today and leave the other for tomorrow.

I was dying to know what exactly the real "spirit hand" looked like, and was fortunate enough to find pictures of it at OwenMagic.com, and MartinsMagic.com. Live Auctioneers is actually selling one for way more money than I am willing to spend, but if you are looking for a fake hand that raps on a wood board and answers questions, here you go.

The strange thing is that while I found reviews for this product, no one is letting on how it works. Anyone care to chime in with the secret?

The Magical Bulletin Subscription

The Magical Bulletin was published between 1914 until 1925, followed by a very brief revival in the late 1940's. Magicpedia has a scan of the front of the first issue here. For a small fee, Magic Nook has scanned PDF copies of several volumes you can read through on this page. I was hoping to find an actual copy somewhere, but don't see one. Sometimes looking through this stuff just makes me want to go and collect even more!

I am not sure if I prefer the devil jumping out of the hat, or the terrified small fuzzy creature.