Mr. Wayne, I stay in a self induced state of semi confusion much of the time as you're rather quick to point out but you're confusing the Byrons here as the Byron I was referring to is not Byron Wels but Byron Walker.

It's been a while since I owned them but wasn't his (Byron Walker, not Wels) wife/ex-wife, Barbi involved in the Thayer books??? Perhaps I was being a little loose with the terms.

-=tabman

Ahhh, I feel better now after an oatmeal and coffee shake!!

Michael, The Joe L is Joe Lantiere, and perhaps I misspelled his name as spelling isn't my strong suit, but he put together a rather thick collection of lore on magic sticks of all kinds some years ago and I seem to recall that he has recently republished a revised edition that I think the venerable Bill Palmer has available at his Adesso-Verlag website. But here again, my memory isn't what it once was so maybe Bill will interject some correctness here.

Now, according to Sachs (and I quote), The very first thing a conjuror must procure is a conjuring wand - an implement that is always supposed by the audience to be for show only; and for such they must always be made to think that it is. It is, however, an absolutely indespensible article, both to the beginner and proficient, as it serves as an auxilary to the concealment of any article in the hand, as will be explained hereafter. He goes on to describe the wand as a round stick of ebony, about 18in. long, fitted with ivory, silver or brass ferrules (not caps) countersunk at each end....

In The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic we learn that the wand is a small ebony rod with ivory tips, 13 to 14 inches in length and that it should be elegant.

However in Modern Magic we find out that the wand should be 12 to 15 inches in length and made of any material and decorated to any manner fancied.

So to answer Dan's question, obviously none of us know the answer but it did keep me awake part of the night. Thanks again, Dan!!

-=tabman

Thomas -- my apologies for not mentioning those two wonderful wands of yours -- the super deluxe silver, abalone, ivory and ebony wand, and the one with the drama masks. Since the fellow who made the original post was more concerned about money than super quality, maybe that's why it slipped my mind. But those two wands you made are the pinnacle of the wandmaker's art.

I should add that with the resources Thomas Wayne has at his disposal, he should have no problem at all constructing ANYTHING you need in the way of a wand.

Actually, I only said that I thought you were confusing these two sets of books in particular, not making a general statement regarding your usual faculties. I thought you Moonshine Holler boys had thicker skin

Sadly, my copies of the Thayer volumes are on loan to a history professor friend; won't have time to look more closely until after the WMS. Willing to take your word on it though... until such time as more precise information may become available.

Regards,
Thomas Wayne

Those sound very fancy Bill. I'd love to see them. Any chance you have a pic of them on your website somewhere???

-=tabman

Look here Tabman:

http://www.cupsandballsmuseum.com/wandsdu.htm

They are nice.

~michael

Thanks Michael. I'll check them out. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Wayne's work over the years though I've never actually met him.

Bill Palmer gave me the idea to put up a webpage on the tabman tables site to give some tips to magicians who are interested in fashioning their own wands with readily available materials and minimal tools. Hopefully you and TW, Palmer and the others who are involved in wand making might contribute a tip or two along with a photo and I will get started on it next week if there's any interest. I'll certainly credit and refer as you well know.

Send tips and pics to tabman@questx.com

-=tab

Hey gentlemen...

Sorry to come so late to the party. Nothing I like better than digging into the research library...

Byron Walker's book was the P&L Book.

The "keep the wheels turning" books were:

THE CARL OWEN BOOK "Keep the Wheels Turning..." (Volume 1)
THE FLOYD THAYER BOOK "Keep the Wheels Turning..." (Volume 2)

The latter two put out by Owen Magic.

All good resources...

Busy couple of days performing coming up but hope to get into the Hay material on wands after...

Back to the discussion on wands!

Andrew J. Pinard

That's right, it was the P&L book I was thinking about. Was that the blue one???

-=tabman

Does anybody here know the early references, perhaps the first known, to a coin wand in magic literature??? And by coin wand, I'm referring to a unit that by various means causes a coin to seemingly appear at its' tip or on its' side.

-=tabman

Tabman,
Coin Wand The History...
The Coin Wand has been a part of magic for centuries. One of the earliest records of coins wands dates back to Professor Hoffman. Recent manufacturers include Abbott's Magic, Owens Magic, Zanadu, Chazpro, Colin Rose, and more recently Joe Porper. Most of these models were formatted after the original Hoffman version. One afternoon, I received a phone call from Tony Clark. Tony wanted to produce an affordable Coin Wand. Always fascinated by this effect, I couldn't wait to see the prototype. A few days later it arrived. We ordered the materials and got to work producing a very solid, long-lasting piece of magical apparatus that you will use and enjoy for years to come.

The above apears on the web site of "The Trickery"
at: http://www.thetrickery.com/?nd=full&key=7515

Not complete history, but perhaps it's a start.

Bill

Thanks Bill. So Hoffmann seems to be the starting point? I'm not going to try to make any of these but I have a friend who asked me about the origins of it and I really didn't know. I have the reference in Hoffmann but wondered if there are any earlier mentions of it.

Also, do you know of any versions that produce two different coins like a half dollar and an english penny for example???

-=tab

Tabman

I am not aware of any Wands that permit different coins to be used, this does not mean they do not exist, I'm just not aware of them.

Bill

You could just make it up with a c/s F/C. Kirk

Holey smokers!!! that's brilliant!!!

-=tabman

Make sure to send me my cut. Kirk

The cat's out of the bag now and you know how hard it is stuff one back in once it gets out!!??? Downright dangerous!!!

-=tabman

I will instead count on your honour and gentlemenlike status. Kirk

Will do!!

Jim Maloney over on the Genii Board did the research on the black with white tips wand for me and here is what he sent me:


Tabby,
Check out this thread from a few years ago on Google Groups:

Specifically, the post from Joe Lantiere which seems to indicate that the originator of the black wand with white tips was...guess who...Robert-Houdin.

-Jim



-=tabman

Just a side note; for the most recent WMS I built an Ebony two-piece wand with Sterling Silver ferrules that are engraved in a design VERY similar to the Brett Sherwood Silver cups. The ferrules are capped with 30,000+ year-old Mastadon Ivory.

I would love to post a picture, but the wand got snapped up so quickly that I really had no time to take one. I'm hoping the owner will provide me with one for my future website.

Regards,
Thomas Wayne

I mentioned this elsewhere, but it bears repeating. David Price had a Robert-Houdin wand in his collection. It was about 18 inches long, and quite slender. It was of a reddish wood, perhaps cherrywood, with ebony tips.

Great posts here guys.
I treasure one of Thomas' wands as well. Gorgeous!
Sorry Tabman, for the sleepless nights;-)