George (?) Corregan Jr. – The Magic Changing Initial

Going through my throw-out cards, I found a name and realized I had some additional memorabilia on this particular magician. I really like it when I find something out of the ordinary in my research. In this case George Corregan had a middle name problem, at least “initially”!

George “Duke” Corregan was born on August 20, 1897 in Boston, Massachusetts. As a newsboy, he sent off for a trick and a catalog from the Hornmann Magic Company. He saw their ad in an old New York newspaper. He then discovered the Bailey and Tripp Magic Shop in his hometown of Boston. Sam Bailey took young Corregan under his wing, and taught him magic, gave ideas, and sold him apparatus. The following art work is a pencil drawing that may have led to future advertising.

From the Author's Collection

Duke grew up and became proficient in all types of magic, including sleight-of-hand, escapes, chalk talks, and acting as emcee for magic club shows. He was a very early member of the I.B.M., holding member #41.  He was admitted to the S.A.M in 1922 as #924, under the name of Geo. C. Corregan, Jr. From there in the different magic magazines of the time, that middle initial kept changing like it was some kind of magic trick.

Corregan ran ads in the magazines in the twenties and that middle initial just kept changing. Here are five ads, each one with a different middle initial.

So, which initial was the correct one? We will let his throw-out card decide that question. On the card shown below, George is using the middle initial G. According to Duke’s obituary in M-U-M, his middle name was Gilmore. The back of the card is the Roterberg/Stanyon Back design that is discussed elsewhere on this site.

Besides his interest in magic, Corregan also worked for, and later owned a photography studio in the Boston area. I found a number of photos in the magic magazines attributed to him. Duke was on the cover of M-U-M magazine for the month of April of 1963.

George Gilmore Corregan, Jr. passed away on June 23, 1971. “For nearly fifty years a highly respected and influential member of Boston Assembly No. 9” said the obituary in M-U-M magazine.