Ok here's one for you. Anybody remember
House of Enchantment? At one point in the
70's it was located in Somerset PA. At that
time I was living in Somerset County.
Jim and his wife Betty had their store there.
I spent many hours there talking and learning from
Jim. Great memories !!

Sure, I remember Swoger's House of Enchantment. Some of the material read "Regow's"--which, of course, is Swoger spelled backwards.

I didn't know Mr.Swoger personally, but he had a reputation for making high quality products.

David,

I grew up in magic in the Pittsburgh area. Prior to Somerset, Jim had a shop in the North Hills. If I remember correctly, magician Doc Dougherty lives (or did live) in the house.

Jim is living in California with Jay Leslie who now runs the "House of Enchantment" there. I can't be certain how Jim is doing as he has been listed on the IBM Sick and Convalescent list for awhile. I know most of his peers have passed on...

~ Fredrick

I not only remember Regows and JIm but had the pleasure of running into him again at San Diego IBM convention. He is retired now and works some with Jay Leslie. Still look good and had his green sport coat.

Regow's was one of the dealers at the Magifest in Columbus, Ohio in the 1950's. As I remember, his room (not booth) was a delight to visit. Being in my teens at the time, the whole convention was unbeleivably exotic and mysterious.

You may want to follow this link for the current House of Enchantment run by Jay Leslie - http://www.houseofenchantment.com/

~ Fredrick

Jay ran House of Enchantment out of Costa Mesa CA, for awhile and I believe He is now located in Huntington Beach, Ca.
--Chris

Wow, brings back memories. I remember very well "The House of Enchantment" in Somerset, Pa. Up until the early 80's ( until Jim moved ) I used to mail order from him and talk on the phone quite a bit with him. Jim was always ready to help and personable, he would often include a small gift with the mail order.

I am also a collector and have a sealed bottle of 'Regow's' oom type milk and a couple of early brochures of Jim Swoger highlihting his Evening show, this was when he was located in Wilkinsburg, Pa.

Jim Swoger is an interesting character. One of the things that makes him very interesting is that he sold the rights to his products to two different people, perhaps more. He sold them to Viking, and also to Jay Leslie.

I recall visiting his place once. He was near an aunt and Uncle of mine in Western PA. Glad to hear that he is still around.

My goodness, I wonder what age Jim is now.....I too have seen his name on the sick and convalescant list in "The linking Ring." I went to college in Western Pennsylvania and went to his shop several different times. This was in the late 60's.....from what I remember he had to be at least 50 years young then.
Interesting man, hope he is doing well

Man does this bring back memories, Jim Swoger started me in magic back in 1972. I remember his small shop in Pittsburgh, to the long term construction of his shop in Summerset. My proudest moment ever was when Jim hung a photo of my wife and myself on his wall of fame. Everything I own is made by or purchased from the House of Enchantment. Hey, does anyone remember the Chihuahua Jim had that would do a handstand to pee.
Thank You Jim.

I lived in Johnstown, PA for a while...I was there for the big flood in 1977 as a matter of fact. While there, I heard about Swoger's place and ended up visiting there a few times. Nice folks as I recall.

They also had some lectures I attended. On had some of Slydini's protoges come down and give a presentation and sell some books and materials. Seeing some of these guys work coins, silks and paper balls was a pretty amazing experience. Perhaps my memory is fading--it's been almost 30 years--but I recall one of the guys palming 4 silver dollars and showing us the hand, front and back, as empty...and then demonstrating how it was done. An amazing feat of digital manipulation and misdirection.

Or not. Maybe it was real magic. It's been so long it's hard to know the difference...but my recollection is I was pretty darn impressed.

BooRadley