Alpigini – Wizard of the East

I never knew Harry Alpigini, but like so many of the magicians I write about in columns and posts, I wish I had. My particular interest is multifaceted. First, he was an early member and supporter of magic in Philadelphia and then later had significant influence on the Baltimore magic scene. He was colorful, highly talented, a real insider, and finally…perhaps best of all…he was a collector!

Alpigini, his actual family name for a change, was born in Philadelphia May 22, 1879. His parents came from Italy, as did his older sister. He first became interested in magic at age 5 and gave his first performance at 7 years of age. While he was well-known in magic circles, and even more so as he grew older, his primary profession was as an engraver, and apparently he was quite skilled.

According to The Sphinx, Alpigini applied for membership in the S.A.M. in Dec. 1922 and was endorsed by the entire Philadelphia assembly. Then S.A.M. President Harry Houdini accepted his application.  

In his very early performing years, Alpigini created and performed an act he called "Artographs," in which he dressed up in typical artist costume and created beautiful works of art from scraps of rags. It was the well-known and then, very popular, rag picture act. In my collection is a small three-fold brochure he used to promote himself. Shown below are the front and inside of the brochure. 

For our purposes here, he had a very nice scaling card featuring a middle-aged image of him on the front performing the Bill in Lemon trick, and a reverse side that generally described the kind of entertainment he was offering.

Here is another of his scaling cards...this one from when he was very young. It was provided through the courtesy of Jay Hunter and features photographs of Alpigini performing various effects. 

An early reference to him appeared in Pierce’s The Magic World for Jan. 1924, where it was announced that Alpigini would co-star with local magician Ray Fink, in a production titled, “The Show of a Thousand Wonders.” Fink was a theatrical manager and had earlier in his career toured with an act of Spirit Paintings and other psychic phenomena. And so it was that Fink decided to create a show for the Lyceum platform that exposed the tricks and traps used by fraudulent mediums. This was most likely based upon the massive publicity Houdini was getting at the time for similar efforts. Part of that show was to be Alpigini adding some magical entertainment. An interesting third partner in the venture was Walter B. Gibson, Philadelphia journalist and future creator of The Shadow comic book series for Street and Smith. 

 According to the World, preliminary bookings for the show (which primarily featured Alpigini’s magic) occurred so rapidly that Fink was unable to complete the expose’ portion and so the nearly two-hour magic show ran along on its own. The show featured several assistants, a number of large illusions, and was directed by Sam Stout, a member of S.A.M. Assembly #4. The manager of the show was Paul P. Fink, brother of Ray, and owner of the Fink Lyceum Bureau in Philadelphia.

Harry also hung out with Theodore Deland and attended many magic functions with the creative card genius. Deland performed many of his trick card effects in Alpigini’s magic office in downtown Philadelphia.

Harry could also frequently be found demonstrating magic at Kanter’s Magic Shop. One of the effect for which he was noted, and which he performed in the early teens, was swallowing both needles and razor blades along with a length of string and then bringing them back up tied to the thread. Even Houdini didn’t do that.

Alpigini doing the just the needles trick. The photo is signed to Joe Ovette

From a club standpoint, he was an early founding member of The Yogi Club of Philadelphia which was formed in 1906. When Alpigini eventually moved to Baltimore, he became fast friends with Phil and Kay Thomas, both professional magicians in that city. At some point the Thomas’ decided they wanted to open a magic shop and cast about for a proper name. Alpigini suggested “The Yogi Magic Mart” and so it became. 

A photo of The Yogi Magic Mart from "The Magic of Baltimore" blogspot

The connection between Phil and Harry lasted for many years. Phil already had a massive magic collection and when Harry passed away, his massive collection went to Phil.

From Dec. 18, 1958, until his death on Sept. 29, 1959, Alpigini lived, and was cared for, at the Masonic Home in Burlington, NJ. His death was the result of a heart condition and his ashes were placed in his wife’s grave in Philadelphia.

The Masonic Home in Burlington, NJ

About a year after Alpigini died, the Yogi Magic Club created the Harry J. Alpigini Trophy in his honor. The first winner of the award in 1960 was Don Rose, Jr. who won it as the 1960 Magician’s Alliance of Eastern States (M.A.E.S.) convention in Elizabeth, NJ. By strange coincidence, Alpigini attended the 1959 M.A.E.S. convention in Philadelphia and needed a ride to the Masonic Home across the river in Burlington, NJ. Rose provided that ride and a year later he won the first trophy honoring Alpigini.

Don Rose, first winner of the Alpigini Trophy. Phil Thomas (right) presents the award

A year or so before he died, his photo appeared in the August 1957 issue of Genii Magazine. It was a natural light photograph of Harry blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. Shown below, it was one of the last photos taken of this wonderful magician.

Searching on the Ancestry.com website, I came upon this wonderful photo of Alpigini in a light-hearted moment with the proverbial rabbit and hat.

Apparently there are surviving family members as there is an extensive timeline of the family including immigration, census and death records. As I said at the beginning, I wish I'd know this wonderful magician. Perhaps visitors to our modest blog will know a bit more about him now.

Tom