If you have an interest in old magic books you will almost certainly have come across this book published by Ward, Lock & Co.  In many w...

Novelties and magic have been interlaced since the very earliest days of magic retailing. If you peruse a Hamleys catalogue from 1900 you...

I'm currently writing an in-depth book on the history of the Ellisdon family and their famous joke and magic business. It's set to b...

Second sight acts have been performed for hundreds of years but their heyday was the latter half of the nineteenth century. Though not alway...

It's no secret to those who read this site that I love the world of novelties and jokes. It's easy to overlook that many of our most...

Magic is always most effective when done with familiar objects. Due to this, tricks from specific periods can demonstrate which objects were...