This post is devoted to a pioneer Midwestern
traveling magician named John Wilson who variously went under the names
"Wilson the Magician" and "The Great Darrell." I first
wrote about him in my 1999 book, “Conjurors and Cornfields: Magic on the
Indianapolis Stage.”
Whether Wilson was great or not is
subject to conjecture. He certainly worked hard at his magic. And, he had two scaling cards. Both featured his image on the front and one had an advertisement for 7-Up on the
reverse, the other was blank but carried his handwritten address. He also had a postcard with the same image.
