"Blackstone's Secrets of Magic" by Harry Blackstone. NY: A. L. Burt, (1929). Reprint edition.
Harry Blackstone (1885-1965) was a famed stage magician and illusionist of the 20th century. He began his career as a magician in his teens and was popular through World War II as a USO entertainer. He was often billed as The Great Blackstone. Known for his thick shock of hair, he was in the model of courtly, elegant predecessor magicians like Howard Thurston and Harry Kellar, and the last of that breed in America. He customarily wore white tie and tails when performing, and he traveled with large illusions and a sizable cast of uniformed male and female assistants. For a number of years he toured in the Midwest, often performing throughout the day between film showings.
Books carrying Harry Blackstone's byline were ghostwritten for him by his friend, Walter B. Gibson, who also created, in 1941, the comic book Blackstone the Magician Detective and the 1948-49 radio series, Blackstone, the Magic Detective. (Walter B. Gibson also created the pulp hero “The Shadow” for which he wrote under the pen name Maxwell Grant).
In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, Harry Blackstone, Jr., also a famous magician, donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. the original floating light bulb -Thomas Edison designed and built it - and the original Casadega Cabinet, used in the "Dancing Handkerchief" illusion. This was the first ever donation accepted by the Smithsonian in the field of magic.
"Blackstone's Secrets of Magic" by Harry Blackstone. NY: A. L. Burt, (1929). Reprint edition.
Harry Blackstone (1885-1965) was a famed stage magician and illusionist of the 20th century. He began his career as a magician in his teens and was popular through World War II as a USO entertainer. He was often billed as The Great Blackstone. Known for his thick shock of hair, he was in the model of courtly, elegant predecessor magicians like Howard Thurston and Harry Kellar, and the last of that breed in America. He customarily wore white tie and tails when performing, and he traveled with large illusions and a sizable cast of uniformed male and female assistants. For a number of years he toured in the Midwest, often performing throughout the day between film showings.
Books carrying Harry Blackstone's byline were ghostwritten for him by his friend, Walter B. Gibson, who also created, in 1941, the comic book Blackstone the Magician Detective and the 1948-49 radio series, Blackstone, the Magic Detective. (Walter B. Gibson also created the pulp hero “The Shadow” for which he wrote under the pen name Maxwell Grant).
In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, Harry Blackstone, Jr., also a famous magician, donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. the original floating light bulb -Thomas Edison designed and built it - and the original Casadega Cabinet, used in the "Dancing Handkerchief" illusion. This was the first ever donation accepted by the Smithsonian in the field of magic.