Tommy Windsor was
born Thomas Lowry in July 1906 in Marietta, Ohio. He once said that a good
solid stage name would take him to the road to success and he was right. He
performed on showboats, in tent shows, and also in mud shows. He was seen
throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan on the Chautauqua Circuits as an actor
and magician. Windsor would entertain his audiences with his cartoon drawing
and chalk act titled “Brush Talks”. In between the creations he would add a
little song to keep the audience amused. He would promote his show as “A Whole
Week’s Entertainment in one Big Show.”
While performing on
the road, he met Jeanne Anders, whom he married. Jeanne was added to the
billing of the show as “World’s Greatest Girl Ventriloquist”. They toured their combined act from
Zanesville, Ohio to Drexel, North Carolina. Audiences enjoyed watching Windsor
perform his “Magical Street Faker” act and then be entertained, as Jeanne would
converse with her ventriloquial friend, Jane Jones.
Windsor wasn’t the
run-of-the-mill performer who stuck to one type of act. He was able to present
a full evening show by including rag pictures, hypnotism, dancing, magic,
cartoon drawing, and he too had his own ventriloquist act.
The card, seen above, featured a green-and-black "Ace of Clubs" with ad copy, along with a handsome portrait of the performer on the back. The same card also was produced with an aviator-style Fox Lake back.
The card, seen above, featured a green-and-black "Ace of Clubs" with ad copy, along with a handsome portrait of the performer on the back. The same card also was produced with an aviator-style Fox Lake back.
In his hometown of
Marietta, Windsor was known as “The First Entertainer of the First City in the
Northwest Territory”. His published works include How to Make
Money at Trade Shows and Fairs with a One Man Show, Tommy Windsor’s Dye Box Book, Sixty-four
Ways to Make Magic Pay, and Tommy Windsor's Pitch Act
Book.
Among his magic products he is best known
for the creation of the Popcorn Dye Box. Magicians all over the world are still
using this effect and many others of his creations today.
When asked what he
remembered most about his longtime friend, publisher Lee Jacobs mentioned, "Practically
everything good I learned about selling magic I learned from Tommy Windsor.”
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteThis is Hunt Brawley, Executive Director at the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio. Tommy was a regular here at the theatre, then know as the Colony, previously built as the Hippodrome in 1919. I would love to find any more information about Tommy, especially the acts he did here at the theatre. I believe he did "The Big Show" for kids regularly at the Colony. I would be thrilled to learn anything more about him and his history here at the theatre. I would be interested in posting your information above somewhere in the theatre.
Thanks so much. Hunt
hbrawley@peoplesbanktheatre.com. cell 740-706-9023
I hope someone responds. I am interested in knowing a lot more about Tommy Windsor as well. There is surprisingly little on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteAt Ohio University there is the Frank Buhla collection - a magician from Glouster - there are some Tommy Windsor posters and letters in that collection - https://media.library.ohio.edu/digital/collection/mss/id/1883/rec/5 and https://media.library.ohio.edu/digital/search/searchterm/%22frank%20buhla%22
ReplyDeletelast time I checked the Campus Martius Museum had Tommy's apparatus and papers.
ReplyDeleteWe had A small Tommy Windsor exhibit at the Mud Island museum here in Memphis, Tennessee. As you went through the museum, they talked about Tommy performing on The riverboats and they had one of his suits that he wore. I’ve been trying to get a hold of them to find out what has happened to that exhibit since the museum has temporally shut down.
ReplyDelete