Charles Howard Sheck, the Rise of the S.A.M. and the Broken Wand Tradition

This handsome pasteboard, obtained in early 2017 from Ray Goulet, showcases Charles Howard Sheck,  a seemingly obscure performer, whose obscurity seemed, at first, something of a mystery....

Turn-of-the-20th Century magical periodicals, which provide fairly comprehensive documentation of the lives of conjurers of that period, offer only a few scraps about Sheck.  He received a few brief mentions in Mahatma, an early magicians' magazine printed by New York's legendary Martinka magic shop.  Beginning in 1899, we find Sheck in New York City "playing lyceum dates," dubbed "a clever little professor [offering] the latest sleights with cards and coins" and "busy with local work in Brooklyn."  Curiously, in the grand tradition of magicians making hay out of fooling a leading performer, he is referred to as "the man who mystified Kellar," without further explanation, and commanding ten encores in Saratoga with his "flag trick."

Almost as interesting as the information I found about Sheck was what I didn't find.  Despite exhaustive searching, I discovered little about the nature of the effects he performed, any promotional material or even a single photo.   He published no books or articles.  Aside from the throwing card pictured here, I can find no graphic material relating to this magician.   The date and place of his birth remain a mystery.

While this kind of obscurity makes sense for one of our men of mystery (like Stincel), the trajectory of his career would seem to destined Sheck for substantial influence in the world of magic.   He was among the "prominent regulars" at Martinka's magic shop, where, according to John Mulholland, he found himself among renowned company, including Alexander Herrmann, Imro Fox, Carl Hertz, Harry Kellar, William Robinson, Adrian Plate, de Lion, Zancig, Nate Leipzig, Dr. Ellison,
Frank Werner, John W. Sargent, Dr. Mortimer, Elmer P. Ransom, Bob Ankle, Frank Ducrot and Henry Hatton.  Beginning in the late 1880s, this group (including Sheck) began assembling on Saturday nights, guests of the Martinka brothers in the shop's locked back room.

The so-called "Saturday Night Club" proved to be the precursor to the Society of American Magicians, which became formalized in 1902.  Sheck was among 24 magicians sworn in as the group's founding members, along with some of the most prominent magicians in history.  According to chapter reports, Sheck was an active member, frequently appearing a meetings "with his bag of tricks," and, at one meeting, playing the bagpipes.    At another 1902 meeting, he offered "an envelope test" and a "slate test."

Then, in July 1906, on an evening when Harry Houdini was elected Vice President of the fledgling SAM, "The death of Charles Howard Sheck, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was reported."   No other details are provided.  Hence, Sheck's relative obscurity arose as a result of his death early in the history of the S.A.M. (and presumably at a young age).

His passing was not officially commemorated by the organization until three years later, at an annual dinner in 1909 (at which Harry Kellar was the featured speaker) and a list of departed members was read. At the banquet, a half dozen names of departed magicians, including Sheck, was read aloud. As each name was read, a plate was turned over and a white carnation laid upon it.

The description of this improvised ceremony made me wonder: why didn't they simply perform the traditional "broken wand" ceremony?  The answer is simple: no one had yet devised the tradition.  There would be no mention of a broken wand ceremony in the magic literature -- or even use of the term broken wand in connection with a magician's passing, for several decades.  

The earliest mention I could locate of a broken wand consists of a 1919 article about Baltimore's Demon's Club, noting that a panel painting commemorating the deaths of two members included an image of a broken wand.  According to Ken Silverman's authoritative Houdini biography, a member of the SAM placed a broken wand on Houdini's coffin, an act specifically devised to commemorate Houdini's death in 1926, but the source of this information is unclear and I could not locate any contemporary accounts.  In 1933, a piece describing the funeral of Heller (another founding member of the SAM), noted that "across his breast was placed a floral design representing a broken wand, the tribute of A. W. Fronenthal, a warm personal friend."  And the first mention I could find of an actual broken wand ceremony is found in the Linking Ring in 1936, which described the commemoration of the passing of Howard Thurston, in the following article:

It would appear, then, that Thurston's was the first broken wand ceremony, which have since become standardized and commonplace in the magic community.  

By the 1940s, magazines began to run obituaries of magicians under the heading "Broken Wands," a practice that has continued ever since.  

Goldin - “The Humorous Wizard” aka “The Royal Illusionist”

Sawing a woman in half is one of, if not the most famous illusion in magic. This post is about the early days of the magician who became world famous for his version of the trick.


A flier for Horace Goldin's "Sawing a Woman in Half"

Horace Goldin was born some sources say on December 17, 1873 in Vilnius, Lithuania as Hyman Elias Goldstein. He was of Polish descent. His family came to America and settled in Nashville, Tennessee when Goldin was around 16. An interest in magic started while he was young, and Goldin began performing around 1894 and called himself “The Humorous Wizard”. He ran an ad in the “Artist Era” in February 1896.

"Artist Era" Advertisement for February, 1896

Probably around this same time, Goldin had a throw-out card produced using the same image and title. I have two throw-out cards of Goldin and I was fortunate to be able to acquire this example of his card as the “Humorous Wizard” some years ago. It had originally been preserved in a scrapbook of early magicians.

Horace Goldin's early throw-out card.

The “Mahatma” during this time had this to say about Goldin: “Horace Goldin, the humorous wizard, has made an enviable reputation on the variety stage. The egg bag is one of Goldin’s hits. That he appears in the best houses speaks well for his skill.”

Due to difficulties with his speech, he decided to do a silent act at a very rapid pace, something he had seen Imro Fox do. This became Goldin’s “The Whirlwind Illusionist” period. He became one of magic’s most successful illusionists both in America and in Europe. Goldin gave performances before European Royalty. Never one to not capitalize on an opportunity, Goldin then started billing himself,  “The Royal Illusionist”.

Postcards of Horace Goldin.

While P. T. Selbit invented the “Sawing a Woman in Half” illusion, it was Goldin’s different version that most everyone remembers to this day. In Goldin’s version, the lady in the box had her head and feet exposed to the audience during the sawing in half. He had many forms of advertising produced in conjunction with the Sawing including the throw-out card below. Goldin later came up with a more incredible version in which the box was done away with, and the lady assistant was in full view of the audience. Goldin then proceeded to cut her in two with a Buzz Saw!

A later throw-out card of Goldin advertising his greatest creation.

Horace Goldin's Buzz Saw Illusion.  (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

There is no doubt that Horace Goldin was one of the greatest illusionists of the twentieth century. The impact of the illusions he devised are still being felt to this day. Horace Goldin died on August 22, 1939 at the age of 65. He made his home in his final years in Great Britain.

Imro Fox – “The Comic Conjurer” & "Deceptionist"

On May 21, 1862 in Bromberg, Germany, a man by the name of Isidore Fuchs was born. He came to America, and worked it is said as a chef in various eateries around New York and Washington D.C. Fuchs had an early interest in magic and he was known for his humorous personality. When he decided to make a go of being a professional magician, he adopted the name Imro Fox, and left a mark on the history of magic.

Imro Fox Throw-Out Card

Otto Maurer, Jr. - Like Father, Like Son

This post concerns the not-so-well-known, but still famous 19^th century New York magician and magic shop owner Otto Maurer and his son. There is not a lot of biographic material on Maurer, but thanks to the tireless research of historian Tom Klem, we know quite a bit more about this father and son team. And, thanks to some unidentified magic collector who assembled many of the cards in my collection, we also know that Maurer’s son had a scaling card, it exists (below), and is offered here for your pleasure.

Otto Maurer Jr. 

Much of Maurer’s life is detailed in Klem’s article “Otto Maurer’s Magical Bazaar,” in The Yankee Magic Collector, Vol. 17, 2016, published by the New England Magic Collectors’ Association. Mr. Klem has graciously allowed me to draw from his article for the purposes of this post. Thanks. 

Maurer was born Oct. 28, 1846, in the village of Gemeisheim, Germany. When only 16 years old he immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York City where he quickly became part of a burgeoning German community located in the Bowery.  Census records have him employed as a tinsmith and in that capacity, he apparently also sometimes repaired the apparatus of local magicians. In 1872, he opened a magic shop in the basement of a five-story tenement building at 321 Bowery Street near Second Street.

A stylized portrayal of Maurer's Magical Bazaar.
It was actually in the basement of the building.

As Klem points out, in the nineteenth century, the Bowery had a thriving theatrical district with many first- and second-class theaters, dime museums and other sources of entertainment. There were also great restaurants and shops and it was a popular destination for those seeking entertainment. John Henry Anderson, The Wizard of the North, appeared at the Astor Place Opera House in 1851. Among Maurer’s regular customers were Imro Fox, Horace Goldin, Arnold De Biere, Frank Ducrot, Alexander Herrmann, Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston and many others.

Apparently, Maurer’s shop was also the first place that the back-hand palm was shown to magicians. According to the stories, Maurer was shown the move of effortlessly shifting a playing card from the tips of the fingers to the back of the hand by a traveling Mexican gambler. This would have been around 1887. Maurer taught the sleight to other performers including Houdini who was performing at the Globe Dime Museum in 1894, almost directly across the street from Maurer’s shop.

Within a short time, Houdini had added this sleight to his repertoire, proclaimed himself the “King of Cards” and had a lithograph printed to publicize the fact. 

T. Nelson Downs also learned the sleight as did Thurston, who utilized it in his very successful card manipulations.

Maurer married Emma Brichard in 1877, and they had three children, one of whom was Otto Jr., who played piano during his father’s performances (mostly in parlors) and who later went go on to operate the shop after his father’s death as well as performing musically and magically.

In the late 1890s, the magic magazine Mahatma started reporting on Maurer’s declining health due to cancer. After many hospital visits, Maurer passed away May 15, 1900. The New York Times ran an extensive obituary which read;

“King of Magic” Dead

A Master of Legerdemain on the Bowery Passes Away

The Bowery “King of Magic” is dead and the “Magical Bazaar” at 321, which for twenty-eight years has been a storehouse of implements for mystifying, has at last been visited by the mysterious hand of death. “Professor” Otto Maurer, one of the quaintest characters of the thoroughfare, succumbed to cancer last Tuesday in the Post-Graduate Hospital.

He came from Germany when a young man and established the shop, bringing with him many of his inventions for tricks. Incidentally he gave lessons in the art of mystifying the public.

As the years went on he accumulated a fortune and married. He could not mystify his better half, however, and they separated. Their son remained with his father, who instructed him in the tricks he know so much about.

The old “King of Magic” knew what good living was and his money finally disappeared. He died a comparatively poor man. The funeral will be held to-day, and many of the “professors” old friends on the Bowery will follow the body to the grave.

It is more likely that rather than living the high life, Maurer’s monetary resources were depleted unsuccessfully battling cancer. The New York Herald also covered the story with the headline, “Wizard of the Bowery is Dead.” Houdini was reportedly the last person to see Maurer alive. 

After Maurer’s death, his son, Otto Jr., continued to operate the business out of the address at 321, but eventually moved the shop to 105 E. 14^th Street. It only operated there for a short time and then the shop and its contents were absorbed into the New York Magical Company on Broadway in Brooklyn.

The scaling card featured here bears the 105 East 14^th Street address, probably written in Otto Jr.’s hand. It seems likely he continued to use the original cards after his father's death but then manually added the new address. According to Houdini, writing in his Conjurors Monthly, Maurer Jr. ended up working in the musical department of a store in Newark, NJ. As late as 1920, the Census showed him living with his mother. It is uncertain when he passed away. 

Tom