Catalogs

Otto Maurer had his shop in New York. He started as tin smith but soon made and fixed apparatus for magicians. His shop was for many years a gathering place for prominent magicians who came to town including Houdini, Thurston, and Downs. They all visited Maurer, bought from him, and exchanged the latest gossip and news. The most famous story about Otto Maurer is how he became the conduit for communicating the back palm from a Mexican/Cuban/Spanish cardshark to the magic community at large. (The originator of the back palm was Dr. Elliott.)

• Advice For Professionals & Amateurs
• No. 1 - Magic Nail
• No. 2 - Devil's Bottle ...

From the back cover:

This, our latest SECRET BLUE BOOK with many features added, is the most complete catalog of the kind ever produced. The SECRET BLUE BOOK is but one of THREE CATALOGS of our complete line which covers the entire Indoor and Outdoor Amusement Field, supplying adult games of every description.

In the SECRET BLUE BOOK we list and describe a complete line of Dice, Cards, Trade Stimulators and Counter Games, Table Games suitable for use at public gatherings, Adult Games for the home or private play and Various SPECIAL Games.

Our CLUB AND CASINO EQUIPMENT Catalog, printed...

From the introduction:

The splendid array of tricks offered in the following pages is the result of a most careful selection from several hundred new ideas. Of these new tricks, I have embodied in this catalogue only those which I consider to be the very best, this being practically the first time that the majority of these tricks have been offered for sale. All descriptive matter is original with me and the illustrations have been made from my own ideas, under my personal supervision, great care having been taken to neither exaggerate nor misrepresent the effects in either the reading matter...

This is a very nice catalog designed by David Britland and additional illustrations by Max Maven, Eric Mason and JAT. Products are grouped in the following sections:

• Tricks
• Miscellaneous
• Audio Tapes
• Video Tapes
• Books

1st edition 1984; PDF 87 pages.

This catalog #14 is for whatever reason less common than the other Abbott catalogs. It included a tipped in sheet advertising six Robert Orben books.

86 pages.

From the introduction:

Dear Mr. Magician,

In presenting our publicity before you, we do so with every confidence in our apparatus most of which is made exclusively in our well-equipped factory.

Whether you are an old or a new customer we know you will appreciate that behind each of our effects there is a wealth of practical experience which has taken many years to acquire.

We make no claim to cheapness as this is sometimes a sign of poor quality. Instead, it is our aim to supply the best for the most economic price.

Everything we manufacture, from Pocket Tricks to Full-size Stage...

Gamages was located in London. This catalog is roughly from the 1930s.

• Accessories
• Books
• Card Tricks
• Children's Effects
• Cigarette Tricks
• Close-Up and Pocket Tricks
• Coin and Money Magic
• Comedy Props
• Magazines
• Miscellaneous Tricks
• Mental Effects
• Punch and Judy
• Rope and Tricks with String
• Silk Tricks
• Workshop Plans of Illusions

48 pages

KC Card Company specialized in legit and crooked gambling supplies.

• Dice and measuring tools to make sure they were properly manufactured.
• Game layouts
• Marked cards
• Crooked dealing boxes
• Holdouts
• Books on gambling
• and more

1st edition 1961, 77 pages.

Robert Nelson and his brother Larry ("Alla Rageh") started the Nelson Enterprises in 1921. Their first "catalogs" were printed on thin, onion-skin paper. By 1931, their catalogs were books in their own right, this one boasting 236 different effects, books, and services catering almost exclusively to the mental, mediumistic and gambling fraternities.

Originals of this catalog are virtually impossible to find, as they jealously hoarded by mentalists, magicians and occult collectors. Now reprinted in convenient PDF ebook format, the Nelson Enterprises Catalogue 12 is once again available to...

Robert Nelson and his brother Larry ("Alla Rageh") started the Nelson Enterprises in 1921. This Master Index cross-references by title, catalog issue and page number every effect, book and manuscript issued by Nelson from 1927 through the last catalog in 1972. This Master Index represents a summary of:

• 45 years of Nelson Enterprises catalog offerings.
• 21 Nelson catalogs.
• 5846 total items appearing in those catalogs.
• 2476 total pages are summarized in this Master Index.
• 1276 separate effects, books, appear in this Master Index.
• 125 pages are in this Master Index.
• 36 months in preparation. ...

The Ireland Magic Company was founded in 1926 by the late Laurie Lowell Ireland. The first retail advertisement appeared in The Sphinx and The Linking Ring for March 1929. The first trick was the clever Ireland Button Trick.

1st edition 1962, 224 pages.

In 1929 H. C. Evans was a large company specializing in the manufacture and sale of sporting goods and casino equipment.

• Casino supplies
• Trade Stimulators
• Pocket Novelties
• Amusement Park Supplies
• Fair Ground Games
• Shooting Galleries

1st edition 1929, 160 pages.

H. C. Evans was a company specializing in the manufacture and sale of gambling and carnival equipment. They also sold sporting goods like baseball gloves, various balls, hunting and fishing gear. Particularly noteworthy are their offerings for cheating purposes such as hold-outs, or dice which have been altered in a number of ways, or marked cards, etc.

1st edition 1909, 64 pages.

Donald Holmes was a magic dealer and author from Kansas City, Missouri. This is a very nice illustrated supplementary catalog starting at item number 601 all the way to 664.

1st edition 1924, 36 pages.

Die Zauber-Klingl war das beste Zaubergeschäft der Vergangenheit in Österreich. Es befand sich auf einem sehr guten Platz in der Wiener Innenstadt, gleich hinter der Staatsoper, in der Führichgasse Nr. 4, einer Seitenstrasse zur Kärtner Strasse der bedeutensten Einkaufsstrasse in Wien.

Sigmund Klingl war in erster Linie ein Hersteller von Zaubertricks und Zauberapparaten. Er stellte nicht nur zahlreiche Apparate und Illusionen für den allgemeinen Verkauf her, sondern machte auch Spezialanfertigungen für die Superstars der damaligen Zauberszene.

Der vorliegende Katalog von den 20er...

Vernelo, another Chicago magic dealer, not only sold a good selection of magic tricks but also novelties, puzzles and a large selection of non-magic books. About half of this catalog is dedicated to books in all kinds of fields of interests including letter writing, public speaking, jokes, stories, bookkeeping, photography, calculations, and many more.

1st edition 1901, 192 pages.

This catalog describes mostly magic tricks, some magic books and a list of acting plays. Madame Inez, or just M. Inez, was married to E. M. Vernelo and she was very involved in the early years of The Sphinx mostly as editor.

1st edition 1904, 76 pages.

A Chicago dealer who did manufacture his own apparatus.

1st edition 1893, 24 pages.

Full color catalog advertising videos and books.

1st edition 2000; 16 pages.

This #5 catalog was a supplementary catalog to #4. It only listed the new effects Abbott could supply.

1st edition ?, 94 pages.