It is a
pleasure to write this particular post because it involves a number of areas of
interest to me. First, the subject was not a “big-timer” but rather a
journeyman, sideshow barker, circus promoter, pitchman, and collector. He is the long-forgotten King Baile.
His full
name is Everett Bail Drumm and he was born Oct. 28, 1888, in Michigan. What
prompted this post is a scrapbook on Baile assembled by my late friend and
collecting mentor Frank Dailey of Indianapolis. The thick scrapbook is filled
with everything Frank could find on Baile and which he obtained after some
tremendous detective work.
According to Frank, he learned that an auction house in
Terre Haute, Indiana had once auctioned off the estate of a local magician. He
started contacting local auction houses in the city and finally found the one
where Baile’s magic had been sold. In discussions with the auction house he
learned that Baile’s magic equipment had come to them stored in steamer trunks.
Apparently the auction house thought the trunks were worth more than the magic
and so they sold the trunks.
