Boxes of Toy Magic
The first magic set I got as a boy was the, "Ernest
Sewell Box of Conjuring Tricks." One set came
in round postal tubing resembling a magic wand.
I had other magic sets, but what is puzzling me
is why makers including Fisher and Peter Pan,
and other major firms are still using the same
old ideas within their sets as they did years
ago?
Can a child really use a paddle type effect?
I don't think so. I have talked to children and
asked them what it does. They couldn't tell me,
nor could they work the trick. In the instruction
booklet there were no illustrations either. Way
back in the seventies I wrote a book on paddles
called, "Paddle-Antics." I had photos and drawings
to illustrate the moves - even the penknife routine.
The next magic kit: A flat-pack set of magic,
in the form of a book with press-out bits, very
much like "dressing dolly books." I purchased
this recently - just to see what it was all about.
The "Clip-It" strip card effect was there, as
to was the Chinese Compass, all made in cardboard.
Two of the effects, old ones at that (and there
was nothing new about any of them), were wrongly
made.
Another magic kit (outfit), a Polish lady friend
brought back recently contained very few tricks,
although at a glance it provided a great illusion
to the contrary - making the contents look greater
then they really were. The Ball Cup was displayed
in four different units set within a bubble pack;
the top, the middle section, the fake (showing),
and the ball - all of which were on display of
course to make it look healthy. In the center
was a book of magic -- upon opening it -- there
inside were the instructions to the few items
enclosed, plus twenty more effects which were
not included. It appeared in different languages,
Polish, Dutch, German, French and English, which
as you can imagine served to make the book much,
much thicker (which I'm sure was coincidental
of course - ha ha), and thus more of a bargain
to purchase. The magic wand, which was stated
on the front of the box as being able to do, "real
magic tricks," turned out to be a thin black dowel
rod with one white tip painted on, (actually,
upon careful examination it was selotape!) along
with a sliding tip. This of course, was the well
known, "Penetrating Wand" effect. However, there
was no white tip painted or stuck on underneath
the sliding end, which meant the wand could not
be handed out for examination! This also means
to me that people watching automatically think
the wand is telescopic, (would it be for a toy
set of magic, I ask?). They had forgotten to put
on the "white tip!"
In all, the set looked good cosmetically. Certainly
the front cover of the box as always, was excellent.
Take away the bubble packing which raises up the
small tricks, and you can easily put them all
into a little paper bag.
No wonder of all the millions of children in
this country's population, comparatively few become
magicians.
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