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Steven Steele Chief of Staff 1868 Posts |
I have to give kudo's to Vick Lawston, the guy advertising in the back of my "Legion of Super Heroes" comic book back in 1962, to giving me the magic bug. While I couldn't afford much (on 25 cents a week for all of my spending needs), I used to drool and dream over his catalog for days.
Last year I started searching Vick out to thank him, but learned that he had passed away. I got a chance to chat with his son and he was very pleased to hear what his dad had done for so many of us. Vick was the mail order guy who got you interested without selling the "real secrets". In those days, you had to work your way up to get "secrets". Vick and his cartoon monkey, Pumpernickel where so much fun. In those days Louis Tannen and Abbotts were not well known to us beginners not close to any magicians or magic shops. We started with Vick or Top Hat (I had their catalog too). I wonder how many magicians got a similar start in this wonderful art? By the way, a couple of years ago, I was able to successfully bid on Vick's catalog (in great condition) on e-bay from those days long gone. It's sitting in a hallowed place next to my first Svengali deck...that started it all. Steven
Coram Deo
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GeorgeG Special user Thousand Oaks, CA 977 Posts |
Ahh..Vick Lawson, those were the days. For an impressionable kid, browsing his catalog was like opening a door to a whole new world of fantasy and mystery. Not surprising, since he generally advertised the catalog in the Marvel magazines. It was as good or better than the yearly holiday toy catalog from Sears.
I remember working with my dad on a few weekends(he was a door to door salesman) and earning the then handsome sum of $20. Then it was fun, deciding what I would order from the catalog. I also got a copy of the Lawson catalog through ebay a while back and it was sure nostalgic going through it again. |
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Terry Holley Inner circle 1805 Posts |
Steve:
I can certainly relate to what you wrote. Just last night before I found this thread, I was going through my Vick Lawston "Giant Surprise Catalog." I've owned it for 35-40 years and every once in a while I take it off the shelf to "re-live" those wonder filled days. I remember the excitement waiting to receive my order of "The Vanishing Head" (found on the back cover of my catalogue, and only $1.00!). My first big order was to Top Hat Magic Co. It was about $30 and included The Human Hen, EZ Hat Loader, 4 silks (pure silk!), Vanishing Milk Pitcher, and a few other items that I can't remember. No doubt those two companies provided quite a bit of joy to kids all around the country during a simpler time and place! Terry
Co-author with illusionist Andre' Kole of "Astrology and Psychic Phenomena."
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Rennie Inner circle I think I have about 1826 Posts |
I too remember as well as have a Vick Lawston catalog in my collection. Another catalog that I feel got me as well as many others started on the road to magic was Johnson / Smith & Co., another catalog that I have in my collection. Forgot to mention Douglas Magicland in Dallas Texas, also in my collection. All great memories
Rennie
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve it is not.......
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
You're taking me back now! Yes, Vick Lawson! I will always remember the picture of a magi with sparks shooting out of his eyelids. The catalog said I could do that too for 50 cents. I finally got the trick in the mail and there it was--a half page explanation of how to put tin foil on your eyelids. But then I got together $6.50 (by stealing money from my mother's pocketbook!) and bought the brass bill in tube. What a great gimmick. It was my first real magic. Mom, I'm sorry.
Thanks for a little flashback there, landmark
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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Bilwonder Veteran user Oroville CA 327 Posts |
Vick Lawson- Yes your post does bring back memories...oddly I have met very few magicians who remember him this way..
Somehow...at the age of 3 my dad sent away to get this catalog for me..and we waited and waited for it to arrive..When it came I spent hours looking at the pictures and saw the "5 in one wand" so my dad sent for it...my first trick...I figured once I had the wand I could do most of the other magic in the book (That was also my first magical disappointment...that you often get tricked learning tricks!)...but he got me addicted to magic... I still have the old yellowed catalog as well as MANY of the instruction sheets (stamped "TOP SECRET!"). They are still a joy to read. I wrote to thank him years later and got a lovely note from his wife saying he had passed on. "From the Atlantic to the Pacific they say his magic was TERRIFIC!"
billswondershow.com
"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Mark Twain |
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Steve Hart Veteran user Cocoa, FL 388 Posts |
Hey Gang,
I did get to meet Vic several years ago. Jay Marshall introduced him to me. I did thank him for those early years of suppling me my beginner magic. I don't have any of those old catalogs only the memories. I would like to buy an old Lawston's and a Top Hat catalog. Do you know where I can find one? Steve Hart Cape Canaveral, FL USA
www.SteveHartSpeaks.com
www.magic2motivate.com "Motivational Magicians are some of the highest paid magicians, find out why?" |
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Steven Steele Chief of Staff 1868 Posts |
Steve,
I bought mine a few years ago on ebay. Just keep your eyes peeled and one might magically appear! Good luck. Steven
Coram Deo
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Steve Hart Veteran user Cocoa, FL 388 Posts |
Hey Gang,
Did you see the photo of the Vick Lawston Magic catalog in Magic Magazine, Dec. Issue 2003 page 81.....? I would still like to purchase a copy if anybody has one. I lost my long time ago. Steve Hart Cape Canaveral, FL USA
www.SteveHartSpeaks.com
www.magic2motivate.com "Motivational Magicians are some of the highest paid magicians, find out why?" |
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
I got mine through George Daily. Bill Wellington who was mentioned giving the Vick Lawston talk is going
to do a profile on him in an upcoming Magic. I talked to Paul Diamond about VL. He had only met him once but didn't think he was the nicest of guys. What was your impression Steve? |
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Frank Tougas Inner circle Minneapolis, MN 1712 Posts |
Ah yes, the House of 1000 Mysteries. I still have my Pin Cushion Balloon trick in the original plastic box I ordered from Vick. That, and a few "secret" manuscripts which I also still have. Unfortunately my catalog no longer exists.
Just a note, I was sent a free trick along with my order called The Trickster Card Trick. I still do that trick to this very day and it gets a great reaction. Sounds like the guys on this forum came up through the same ranks as myself. Hour after hour spent paging through those wonder books of magic. So secret even our parents didn't understand the attraction. Now there is so much new stuff being released month after month and kids have so much more expendable income than we did, I wonder just what their fond memories will consist of?
Frank Tougas The Twin Cities Most "Kid Experienced" Children's Performer :"Creating Positive Memories...One Smile at a Time"
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TrickyRicky Inner circle TrickyRicky 1653 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-06-07 23:09, Terry Holley wrote: Great memories--I bought that same (Vanishing Head) from Vick's catalogue. Remember the monkey (Pumpernickle)? He was all over the pages. I bought every thing he had, even the small magic kits he advertised in the middle pages. Those small wooden billard ball with the metal shell keeps slipping from my fingers. Richard Lyn |
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Acecardician Inner circle New Orleans 1390 Posts |
Vick Lawson! I remember being ripped off by him as a kid. I sent a lot of my hard earned money for tricks that were nothing but sheets of paper explaining things a 10 year old could never build. Then the couple of solid tricks I did order, he was out of stock and sent substitutions, which consisted of more sheets of useless information. I sent these back for a refund and he said he never got them back "lost in the mail", yea right. So I was out my hard earned money and had nothing to show for it. A very hard first lesson to learn as a kid.
I almost quit magic. But then I found Francis Marshall, and she was Great! Had conversations with her Saturday mornings by phone. She even talked to my mom. Needless to say, I owe her a lot for helping me out. And I got to meet her! She was the best! I think I still have 2 of the Lawson catalogs. I wanted to burn them. Maybe I can sell them on ebay and recoup some of the money he ripped off from me.
My Chinese Stick Collection: https://app.photobucket.com/u/ChineseSticks?sort=6
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tbsmith918 New user Ruckersville, Virginia 32 Posts |
I remember buying some magic from Vick Lawson back about 1970 or so... I also recall it being junk for the most part... back then ordering via mail was a long slow process (esp. for a kid)... hard earned money... long wait... and being very disappointed... that's what I remember. After seeing the junk Vick sent me my mom took me downtown to a real magic shop (run by a great old magician) where I joined a ring for "juniors"... discovered Genii magazine... and bought some real nice stuff with my hard earned money... simplier times for sure. I still have one of the two catalogs from ol' Vick... it's almost funny to look through it now.
Tom
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TrickyRicky Inner circle TrickyRicky 1653 Posts |
Hey tbsmith.
I started buying props from Vick sometime in 1958. I guess that's the time he started his mail order business. I was born in Kingston Jamaica, so you can pretty well figure out how long a time it takes for my package to arrive. I'd say about 6 months. I usually get everything I ordered from Vick,except for the odd back order items. By the time the 60's came around, I started to deal with Tannen, Hornmans,Harry Stanley,Douglas MagicLand. I spent a fortune on props just like everyone else. Richard. |
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tbsmith918 New user Ruckersville, Virginia 32 Posts |
Back then the 3-4 week delivery times felt like an eternity... six months for you... you must have learned the virtue of being patient very early on. It is amazing how times have changed... in this age of online ordering, UPS, FedEx, etc., if we don’t have our "stuff" within a few days we are wondering if something is wrong... but of course we have on-line tracking to answer all our questions. I must admit I am spoiled by it all. As to Vick... I hope you had better luck with him in '58... maybe his "merchandise" was of higher quality back then (in '58 I was more interested in learning to walk... but not too many years away from being introduced to magic via Mark Wilson’s Saturday morning TV Magic program... sponsored by Kellogg if my memory serves me correctly). The first dealers I ever dealt with (other than the shop downtown) were Tannen and Abbott's both in the mid 70's.
Tom
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
Wow, brings back memories. Supposedly in one of the major magazines there was supposed to be an article about Vic. When Paul Harris was visiting he mentioned that Vic was his first catalog, too. He said Daryl even knew the whole Pumpernickle poem. A number of years ago I tried to find out a little more info and got in touch with Paul Diamond. He had only met him once. Said he was a small man and gave him some advice. Something to the effect of when you open the envelope look for the paper--(money, checks).
Tom |
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Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
I still have my cataloges from Vic Lawston's House of 1000 Mysteries, and from Top Hat Magic in Evanston, Illinois.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
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KenW Elite user 439 Posts |
Vic Lawston MMMMM...
LOOK WHAT THAT MAN DID TO MY LIFE!!!!!!! Thank you Mr. Lawston...it has been great! KW |
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
You're lucky Michael, I have Vic's catalog, and Top Hat was another favorite, about all I can remember of that is the very rigid looking guy on the first page.
Wished I had a Top Hat and Elbee catalog.... Tom |
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