Showing posts with label Ovette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ovette. Show all posts

Monday, August 9, 2010

Second-Hand Apparatus

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Here is a pale little flier from Ovette. It appears to have been taped to something else, but I did not find a second page of similar size anywhere near it.

I looked up a few of the apparatus items with little luck, except for the first two, which kind of opened an interesting can-of-magic-worms on a magician I have not yet touched on: Harry Kellar. Kellar is one of those magicians I have made a mental connection with to the occult- probably in large because of his posters. That classic Faustian imagery is why I love vintage magic posters, and hope to one day collect a few of my own.

Something that was also of complete interest to me was learning about Kellar, Houdini, Thurston, and others being Masons. As my Grandfather was a Mason, I have high regard for the order. You can read more about this "Magical Brotherhood" via this article.

I was also interested in "Germain's Original Rose Bush Production," and was able to find this write up on it (and rose tricks in general) via ClassicMagic.net:

A real improvement on the trick was devised by that graceful and brilliant performer, Mr. Karl Germain, whose retirement from the stage is regretted by all who have had the pleasure of witnessing his performance.

In his version, a single uncovered flower pot stood on a table. Standing near it Germain began to fan the pot, when gradually there appeared to spring from it a few leaves. These were followed by buds, and then the plant increased in height until it was fifteen to eighteen inches above the top of the pot. That the flowers on it were real there could be no doubt, for the performer cut them off and distributed them to the ladies in the audience.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

After All.

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I love this Ovette advertisement. The phrasing begins almost modern and dissolves into that strange magician-speak. As for the trick he is selling? I have no clue. I looked for Ovette tricks referencing tissue paper, wands, and ladders and came up empty. Looks like another item for the mystery file!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Element of Purgatory (back page)

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The back page of the advertisement doesn't give me any great mysteries to explore, but I loved the detailed little drawings so I wanted to share them with all of you. The ad is small- only about 5 x 51/2 inches- and it struck me as unique not only for the photographs we looked at on day 1, but also in contrast to the other ads, this one has more graphics and less overly wordy descriptions. I wonder if this was a first attempt trying different advertising techniques.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Element of Purgatory (page 2 & 3)

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Thanks to googlebooks, I was able to track down the source of yesterday's photographs. The inside of the flier, shown above, gave me some keywords to look for. The tricks described were from Ovette's performances, and it goes back to the "Free Guessing Letter" I scanned back in May.

A few of the pages from the scan of the book are below- it pretty much just copies word for word what I have in the ad, and republishes the picture from the front of the pamphlet.





Looking at this photograph of Ovette from Magic Nook, I am going to weigh in with my opinion that it is him in the photographs. And judging by the hair on his head, I am also going to assume this ad was from at least the 20's if not earlier.

The back page has some hand-drawn illustrations, and I will share those tomorrow!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Ovette Free Guessing Institute Letter

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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!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Spirit Print Card Trick

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A fun advertisement from M. Ovette.... who we will explore later, as there seems to be a ton of ads from his company in these boxes. In the meantime, you can read his MagicPedia profile. I was able to find mention of this trick via Magic Nook, and discovered it was created in 1930. Google Books has a scan from a card trick guide describing the trick in more detail, which you can read here.