Professor Stockley's Hundred Year Time Capsules

Albert A. Stockley, Jr. (1868-1946) was the son of a civil war veteran who operated a wholesale liquor store in Baltimore, Maryland.  Somewhere in the middle of life's journey, Stockley became interested in magic.  Magic magazines from around 1900 through 1907 contain a variety of notes about "Professor Stockley." None of these, however, were quite as historic as his inclusion on the very first published list of potential applicants for the Society of American Magicians in the February 1903 Mahatma.  That list included 14 hopefuls, mainly from the East Coast, but most notably Harry Houdini from New York City and Harry A. Jansen (later known as Dante) from Chicago.

Later that year, Francis J. Werner, founding Secretary of the S.A.M., travelled to Baltimore and had the opportunity to watch Stockley perform at Henshaw's Episcopal Church.  After witnessing Stockley entertain with a program that included "Flower production, hat load, cards, billiard ball and handkerchief manipulations, and rising cards, a la De Kolta," Werner reported to readers of Mahatma that Stockley was "a credit to The Society of American Magicians."

Given his historic early membership in the S.A.M.,  perhaps it is unsurprising that Stockley commissioned a throw-out card prominently featuring the Society's logo, and identifying him as a "Fellow" of that organization.  The card, seen here, has a blank back.  Stockley approached his hobby in a business like manner, packaging these cards together with a handsome brochure in a beautifully printed envelope to be sent to prospective clients.

Fast forward a century.  Around 2016, a "picker" working in the Baltimore area organized an estate sale for one of Stockley's descendants.  Amidst the accumulated treasures, he unearthed a handful of sealed envelopes containing Stockley's ephemera, each packet sealed a century earlier, ready to be addressed to a potential customer.  The discoverer turned them over to an eBay seller.   Our friend Bill Mullins, who has posted on this site elsewhere, bought one, and alerted your correspondent to their existence.  I contacted the seller and bought the few that remained.

When they arrived, I gingerly opened one of the envelopes, which yielded a card and a brochure.  It was like opening a century-old magic time capsule.  For anyone interested in magic history, this was an exciting moment.

While, of course, the throw-out card was the prize, Stockley's brochure also proved a treat.  The cover features the handsome portrait featured here, as well as a Shakespearean quote about magic.   Inside, the good professor attempts to attract business using Victorian language and testimonials that were the fashion of the time.  He boasts of "my large number of mystic revelations" featuring "some of the newest and most delusive that have been presented."   He promises to "continue to add the latest effects and discoveries in the mystic art, thereby keeping my repertoire replete with up-to-date attractions."   Buttressing his respectful announcement are a series of testimonials from lodges, social organizations and one military regiment, expressing gratitude for his "first-class entertainment," including one particular shout-out for his "mysterious cabinet."  People really could write in those days.