The American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan, has a large collection of magical items and tricks. This includes many devices that once belonged to well-known magician Harry Blackstone Sr., who lived from 1885 to 1965.
Museum collection
The American Museum of Magic is the largest magic museum in the United States that is open to the public. Its collection is very large and includes both famous and not very well known magicians. For example, it has items from Clare Cummings, who was known as "Milky The Twin Pines Magic Clown" and gave most of his magic tricks to this museum. The museum honors the art of magic and the hard work of magicians. It was founded on April 1, 1978, and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008.
A historical marker in Michigan says that the museum's collection "celebrates the magician's arts of wonder and delight." It also notes that nearby Colon, Michigan, was a center for making magic supplies and was the home of Harry Blackstone. This information is written on a historical marker in Colon.
The museum has been called "the Smithsonian Museum of Magic." It has many items that are not on display, which makes it special. The museum holds thousands of files about magicians, including Doug Henning and Donna Delberts, who was known as "the world's only lady fire eater" but was later found to be an AWOL American soldier and a man.
The museum has 2,009 heralds, handbills, and window cards, 587 show-bills, and over 5,000 programs. It also has 10,000 books, 24,000 magazines, 46,000 photos, and many other items like magic equipment, letters, diaries, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and about 500,000 pieces of "ephemera," which are small items not kept for long. The archive, located in the Lund Memorial Library, includes thousands of little-known illusionists. Magician David Copperfield says the museum is "one of my favorite places on earth."
Important exhibits include Doug Henning's "Zig Zag" illusion, equipment used by Howard Thurston in "one of the largest illusion shows across America," and the “Milk Can” and "Overboard Box" used by Harry Houdini.
At one time, Lund had a large collection of books by Aleister Crowley, an occultist, which Crowley had stored in a Detroit warehouse many years earlier but never took back.
History
The American Museum of Magic was created by Robert Lund, a writer and editor from the Detroit area who was deeply interested in collecting magical items. He was helped by his wife, Elaine Lund. Mr. Lund enjoyed learning about magic but decided early in life that he did not have the ability to perform magic shows for large audiences. Instead, he chose to study the history of magic and collect as many related items as possible. Over his lifetime, he collected one of the largest and most impressive collections of magic items in the world.
The museum is in a 140-year-old Victorian building that was built in 1868. This building was once a saloon, billiard parlor, clothing store, and museum. It is located at 107 East Michigan Avenue, Marshall, Calhoun County, Michigan. Robert and Elaine Lund carefully restored the building. Elaine made posters for the windows, fixed the floors, added cabinets, and cleaned the space thoroughly. Their daughter also helped with the work. The city of Marshall was impressed by their efforts and gave them a silver cup as a reward.
Museum operation and events
In 2005, a new group of leaders took control of the museum. This group has worked to improve the museum's condition and offerings. The American Museum of Magic, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that does not pay taxes and is classified as a charitable institution under the law.
The museum provides group tours, field trips, online tours, and online workshops for students. The Lund Memorial Library stores most of the museum's items and is available for researchers by appointment. Every October, the museum hosts an event featuring prestidigitation, escape acts, and other amazing performances.
Magician Terry Evanswood received an award from the museum.
Other Blackstone exhibits
In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, Harry Blackstone Jr. gave the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. two important items. These items were the original floating light bulb, which Thomas Edison designed and built, and the original Casadega Cabinet, used in the "Dancing Handkerchief" illusion. This was the first donation received by the Smithsonian in the field of magic.