Was just wondering when was the standard magician's wand, a black stick with white tips, first used? Where? And by whom?

These books and monographs should get you started:

Joe Lantiere – The Magician’s Wand: A History of Mystical Rods of Power.

William Rauscher – The Wand: In Story and Symbol.

Antony Real – The Story of the Stick in All Ages and Lands.

It was one of Robert-Houdin's many wand designs. The Ebony and Ivory thing got popular about the same time as the art deco movement as a miniature cane type accessory. The conductor's staff shrank down to a baton (wand) after some poor guy hurt his foot. Stuff happens - and the start contrast black tie/tails/tophat all were in place to make the wand as we know it from magic shops seem a congruent accessory. Kinda like those M rings in the 1970s or black nail polish in the 1980s.

LOL LOL LOL LOL That was some good funny reasoning. I can't stop laughing.

As Bob Read used to say to the audience (holding up his wand):

"This isn't a magic wand, it's just a stick that I've been stirring paint with".

The more you know. It's funny how one can go through many many years in a given field and not be aware of the nature of one of its most inseperable symbols. I'll be looking into the afore-mentioned literature.

There's a wand being sold at the Harry Potter section of Islands of Adventure in Orlando that is a tip of the hat to the classic magician's wand. It's an Olivander exclusive, meaning it is ONLY available at the park. They actually base the exclusives on the Celtic calendar (or so I was told), so my birthday being late September, this was the wand "chosen" for me. Made of resin, it's not indestructible, and certainly not cheap. Mine's a little bent, even :/

But the look is nice and I'm using it in a Harry Potter-style act I perform in a few weeks. Basically it looks like a very thin traditional wand mounted on a wood turned handle. Only white is on the tip (not the base where the "wood" handle is), and the white is weathered. It looks like a wizard decided to slum it and perform a Muggle's kid shows

If anyone is interested I'll post a pic. Here's a good example of one of the exclusives, however: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insidethemagic/4672977494/

I always said " a magic wand is a white stick with a black stripe down the middle"

Many spend their lives believing lies they never thought to test or explore. Part of being a muggle.

I say wand as in hand...
gotta problem with that?