Sideshow Al Salvail

There’s a description among historians for performers who traveled widely and played rural towns and hamlets, frequently one-night stands, but always on the road—Long Grass Showmen. The subject of this post is one such gentleman by the name of Adolph Louis Salvail.

Often times while going through my scaling card collection, I come upon a single card, fairly unimposing, and certainly not one of the “big names,” but intriguing just the same. Such was the case the Salvail. His card (below) is smaller than most, measuring only 3-1/4” x2”. It shows his face in the center of an ace of spades and identifies him as a “card expert.” The reverse features an attractive playing card design.

Turning to that vault of knowledge, the Conjuring Arts Research Center, a query to Ask Alexander turns up a lot of information on this colorful character. Salvail was born Feb. 12, 1868. A literature review shows that his use of a playing card image and claim to be a card expert is warranted. Beginning in the mid-1890’s, references to Salvail come up frequently in Mahatma, then later The Sphinx, and eventually The Linking Ring, and almost all call him a “card shark,” “card expert,” “card manipulator,” “Kard King,” and other similar titles. 

But Salvail was much more than a card expert. He had a lifelong love affair with traveling shows, carnivals, circuses and side shows. According to the Oct. 15, 1910 issue of The Sphinx, which featured him on the cover, Salvail started out with a small wagon circus about 1890. 

After four years he gave that up and turned to mastering card tricks and other magic. He was lured into Vaudeville for a short while but his love of sawdust was so great that he left that behind.

In the early part of the last century, he traveled with an onstage assistant, an African American, who stood some eight feet tall and went by the name “Long Tom.” Salvail was only 5’ feet 6” tall so the contrast was remarkable. I don’t know Long Tom’s real name, but would love to find out.

In the fall of 1903, he was with the Cole Younger-Frank James Wild West show. Those two men were part of the famous Jesse James-Cole Younger Gang who attempted to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876. It didn’t go well as both members of the gang and townspeople were killed. Cole ended up in prison as did Frank and eventually they both emerged into private life. 

Younger-James Wild West Side Show 

In 1903, they formed the The Cole Younger and Frank James Wild West Company. Frank James died Feb. 18, 1915, and a year later, Cole Younger died March 21, 1916. Salvail managed the sideshow portion of the show as he did with other such outfits. 

That includes the Young Buffalo Wild West Show. This show ran in competition with Buffalo Bill, who was still touring at this time, and because of the similarity of the names, it was often confused with the original. 

In fact, Mr. Joe R. Smith, who played the role of Young Buffalo, was often mistakenly called “young Buffalo Bill.” Regardless, it was a very popular Wild West Show that included trick horse riders, Indians attacking a stage coach, buffalo stampedes, sharp shooters, Cossacks, and eventually elephants and camels. Among the famous stars who worked in the show were Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler, Captain Bogardus, Curtis Liston and others. 

Annie Oakley 

Frank Butler

Oakley played all of the 1911-12-13 seasons with the show. Once again, Salvail was listed as managing their sideshow. It closed permanently in 1914. 

A multi-talented performer, Salvail also offered Punch and Judy and marionette shows. His set was purchased from E. M. Vernello around 1904. In the early 1920s, he hung out with the master card manipulator Dr. James William Elliott. The reference in the April 15, 1924 Sphinx notes the Salvail was “associated” with Elliott and was working his way East from the Midwest.

In a Sept. 5, 1925, Billboard article it is reported that I.B.M. President W.W. Durbin visited the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Show, one of the most colossal Wild West shows around. It was appearing in Toledo, Ohio and Al Flosso was the magician and lecturer with one of the sideshows with the show. While there Durbin discovered that the Salvail, and his wife Muriel were part of the show in a separate attraction called the “Wonderland Museum.” 

Speaking of the I.B.M., The Billboard for July 31, 1926, mentions that the organization now had 800 members including the recently-joined Salvail and his wife. Also joining were Adelaide Herrmann, Eugene Laurant, Felix Blei, Percy Abbott and many other famous magicians.

By 1927, Muriel Salvail was doing a mind reading act billed (like many) as the “White Mahatma.” She and Al were then performing with Bert Johnson’s Company which was touring Canada. 

And, it might be appropriate to note that the Salvail’s spent a considerable amount of time touring the Canadian provinces. In 1928, Sid Lorraine encountered the Salvail’s when he went out to witness the Bert Johnston Show. He enjoyed it so much he went back twice. He reported hundreds turned away each night. The show included magic, music, escapes and mind reading. The mind reading was performed by Madame Muriel. 

I’ll close with a funny anecdote about Salvail related by David “Silent” Tait in a 1948 Linking Ring. Tait recalled that one time in Portland, Oregon, Salvail was there doing card tricks with the Si Stebbins deck and finishing with the Card in Egg. The method of introducing the card into the raw egg was through the well-known magic wand which injected it into the shell. Salvail was in the habit of passing the egg into the audience so they could confirm that it was real. This proved his undoing. Apparently some of the local boys knew he did this and when the egg was returned he could not get the card into the egg no matter how hard he tried. Finally he had to break the egg and force the card in that way. It failed because the egg that was returned to him was hardboiled. He never again passed the egg for inspection.

Salvail and Muriel were natives of Nashua, New Hampshire. They had a lovely home there. Fittingly, Al passed away on the road while performing with the Wallace Brothers Circus in Amos, Quebec. It was his 53rd season on the road. He was survived by Muriel, two sisters and many nieces and nephews. The page-one headline in the Nashua Telegraph on July 22, 1937, said, “Doc Salvail, Card Wizard Dies in Canada.” And so, with his passing went another of the Long Grass Showmen, now playing Heaven to great reviews.

Tom