Lung-Fat-Loki – A Familiar Looking Face

I have had this throw-out card in my collection for a long time.  If the dealer who sold it to me knew what I know now, he might have kept it.  The name was not familiar to me at all.  When I attempted to do any research on this magician, I came up empty.  Absolutely nothing. The face did look like someone I had seen however.

Around the time of the “Columbus Magi-Fest” for 2017, I had the honor of hosting Gabe Fajuri of Potter and Potter Auctions at my home.  While going through my throw-out card albums, Gabe saw this card, pointed to it and told me, “That’s Okito”.  I was amazed, as I had no idea that it was Okito since he was using a name I had never heard before.   But, if there is anyone out there who is knowledgeable about the identity of magicians of the past, it is Mr. Fajuri.   Thank you, Gabe, for alerting me to this fact.

I then set about again to research Lung-Fat-Loki  from the angle of Theo Bamberg, Okito’s real name. While I have not been able to find any mention of Bamberg ever using this name, what I have discovered is thought provoking none the less.

The magician’s magazine “The Sphinx” for August, 1909 writes that when Okito was on a tour of China, he felt the need to change his name to “Lung Tchang Yuen” as Okito sounded too much like a Japanese name.  Looking through the “Linking Ring” for April of 1949, shows us that he even had a poster created using this name with the caption, “The Builder of a Chinese House of Mystery”.  Now the Lung-Fat-Loki card uses the caption “The Builder of a Chinese House of Mirth”.  A coincidence?

Comparing the image on the Loki throw-out card with the image on the poster of Lung Tchang Yuen seals the deal for me that what we are looking at here is another alias for Theo Bamberg.  Since I can find no other references to Lung-Fat-Loki  anywhere in my available resources, I can only assume that maybe he tried out this new name just long enough to have this interesting throw-out card made.

There is as much mystery in these little cards, as there is in magic itself!

Earl Lockman – “Locks Don’t Lock Lockman”

 

 

Earl Albert Lockman was born on June 12, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois. He got a taste of the entertainment world at an early age. His father was employed to pull Buffalo Bill’s Circus

Karl or Carl? A Guest Post by Jay Hunter

Introductory Note: We're very happy to bring you this guest post authored by Jay Hunter, whose scholarly contributions were recognized on the Roterberg Stock Card post.  Jay is a noted magic collector who has invested a great deal of time and energy into assembling and curating an amazing collection.  His thoughtful contribution follows. - Judge Brown


This post features two throw-out cards for magician Howard Karl. Both cards took advantage of what appears to be a way to get your card made and to have someone else pay for it!  One card is on an early Bicycle red Cupid back and is part of the U.S. Playing Card Company promotion discussed elsewhere on this site.  The other card is an ad for Pluto Water, and the Bamberg Magic and Novelty Co. which Judge Brown has written about in his Triple-Promotion post.

Bamberg, the Elusive Mr. Heir and the Triple-Promotion Throwout Card

Some time ago, when Tom published this terrific post about Theo Bamberg a/k/a "Okito", I wondered about the odd layout and language on the card reproduced here.  Why the empty space between the Bicycle Playing Cards banner and the "Free Trick" text below that?  At first I thought perhaps it was part of a trick that the card would be used for, but that didn't feel right.   And when it says "I can recommend The Bamberg Magic & Novelty Company," who is this mysterious "I"?

We have, of course, written elsewhere about the Bicycle Playing Card promotion offering free throwout cards to magicians,  In years of research, though, I have never found a specific reference to the arrangement, other than a mention by John Mulholland.   And, certainly, we've covered a throwing card hawking the Tarbell Course, as yet another form of cross-promotion.   But the layout of this Bamberg card proved curious.


Then, fortuitously, I came across an eBay auction for another card, advertising what is presumably a magic show called "Wonderland" starring someone named George (using the quaint, largely obsolete abbreviation "Geo.")  Heir.  The card, which sports a US Playing Card Company 808 back, answers certain questions about Tom's Okito card.   Heir's card features largely similar text about Bamberg Magic and the Bicycle Playing Card marquee, but also has the photo and text for Mr. Heir overprinted within that mysterious space.  So Bamberg must have sold or given cards like the one seen above as "blanks" to performers seeking to pitch their shows, who would overprint the cards with an image or additional text in the empty space.   So this card, from an advertising perspective, is a triple-threat: it simultaneously promotes Heir's show, Bamberg's shop and Bicycle cards.

In fact, this card also provides some evidence of something I've suspected for a while: it may be that US Playing Card distributed the cards printed with their backs and the "Hold Good Cards" banner, and performers were required get the fronts printed elsewhere.  If this theory is correct, it would account for the vast differences in the quality of printing between the beautiful backs of these cards and the often abysmal imaging on their faces.

Even assuming that this card provides a clue to this production mystery, it raises a new question. Who in the world was George Heir?  So far, my research has turned up an absolute blank on him.  So like Stincel, he may remain a man of mystery. . . .

Oh, and before we bid farewell to Mr. Bamberg, Gary Frank brought this piece to my attention.  It's a sticker, playing card sized, that he could use to convert a blank (or presumably even a printed) card into an advertising piece.  And Gary raises a very interesting question: do you think Bamberg got a discount on these given that they misspelled his name?

Theo Bamberg aka Okito

Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg (1875 – 1963) was born in Holland. His father had been a court magician to King William III of the Netherlands. Tobias was the sixth member of the Bamberg dynasty. He designed a Japanese-styled act before he was twenty. Using an anagram of Tokio (Tokyo), he became known as “Okito”. He altered the show to a Chinese-style act with more people and elaborate effects. Bamberg appeared before the Prince of Wales, and toured England, Ireland, and Scotland. His tour included thirteen countries in Europe as well as the Balkans. He and his family moved to the United States in 1908, where he toured under contract with the Orpheum Circuit. In 1909, he and his partner opened the Bamberg Magic & Novelty Company in New York City.