Harry Henry McDaniel was born in Ellis County, Texas on
August 15, 1896. As a child growing up in the town of Venus, Texas, the town
marshal showed Harry a trick and the art of magic gained another devotee for
life.
McDaniel was a veteran of World War I and performed magic for
his comrades using small items such as coins and cards which would fit in his
“quicky pack”. After the war, he
returned to Texas, got married, and settled in Dallas. Over the years, he
became somewhat of a force on the Dallas magic scene.
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| From The Linking Ring for June, 1944 |
McDaniel was a charter member of the Dallas Magic Circle and
helped to organize it in 1924, and when it was brought into the Society of
American Magicians by Houdini while Houdini was in Texas. McDaniel also served
as President of the Dallas Magic Circle at one time. McDaniel also was a member
of the I.B.M. and in The Linking Ring for December, 1928 they wrote this about
McDaniel.
Whether this referred to Harry McDaniel’s throw-out card
shown above or a different one, it illustrates that McDaniel had the idea of
using a card to advertise himself early on.
McDaniel was also known for inventing some magic and he had
“a magical emporium and factory, and announces that he is equipped to take care
of anything in this line. At surprisingly reasonable prices, he will repair or
rebuild your illusions, or equip a complete show” so said The Linking Ring in
1934. McDaniel ran this ad in The Linking Ring for January of 1929.
When speaking of a McDaniel performance in The Sphinx for
January 20, 1931 it was said, “Topping off the evening’s entertainment, Harry
McDaniel, perhaps Dallas’ best-known magician, kept the audience gaping with
The Root of All Evil, The Elusive Ball, Restoring the Napkin, Silver Thimbles
Among the Gold, Miser’s Dream, The Hella Fez, and The Hindu Rooster. Mr.
McDaniel is a manufacturer of hot water heaters when not otherwise occupied
with magic”.
While living in Highland Park, Texas with his family, McDaniel
constructed a fifty seat theatre that he called “Mack’s Magic Theatre”. It was
built over a two-car garage and was well equipped with a stage, and all the
lights and sound equipment anyone could ask for.
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| From The Linking Ring for June, 1944. |
A Who’s Who of known magicians performed in this theatre such
as “Blackstone, Dorny, Chas. H, Larson, Max Terhune, John Snyder, Jr., the
Thayers, and many others” according to The Linking Ring for June of 1944. Here
is a photo of Blackstone and McDaniel from that issue.
Harry H. McDaniel passed away on December 19, 1962 at the age
of 66 in Dallas. His lifelong interest in magic was so strong that it is
commemorated on his family cemetery marker with the word “Magician”, along with
emblems of the magic societies he belonged to.
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| Photo taken by VA CURR for Find A Grave. |
