Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: magicians

"Heaney the Magician. Good luck to you. Good luck. Heaney, World's Foremost Magician, and Company. Adults. Admit one. Heaney the Magician." Gerald Heaney (1899-1974) was a stage magician who performed as "Heaney the Great." See also an enlargement of the top portion of this 10-ticket sheet.

"Heaney the Magician. Good luck to you. Good luck. Heaney, World's Foremost Magician, and Company. Adults. Admit one. Heaney the Magician." This is the top portion of a 10-ticket sheet for stage magician Gerald Heaney (1899-1974), also known as "Heaney the Great." Those devilish creatures crouched on Hearney's shoulders are "whispering imps." Other magicians also used whispering imps in their advertising. See Howard and Jane Thurston Good Luck Throw-Out Card and The Great Raymond Is Here for examples.

Chandu the Magician , "one of the longest running radio adventure serials," first aired in 1931. Beech-Nut Packing Company was a sponsor of the show in the 1930s and advertised Beech-Nut Gum and other food products. This "Season's Greetings" card may have been an insert that came with chewing gum or another product. "Beech-Nut and Chandu extend the Season's Greetings. Dorothy Regent, Princess Nadji, Betty-Lou, and Bobby join Chandu in wishing their many friends of 'Chandu, the Magician' another year of enjoyable entertainment. Presented over thirty radio stations by Beech-Nut Packing Company, makers of Beech-Nut Gum, Confections, and Beech-Nut Coffee, Peanut Butter, and many other foods of finest flavor."

"Chuck and Louise Harrison present magic, hand shadows, comedy, Punch & Judy. WIl liams 1-3629. 189 Orchard Street, Cranston, Rhode Island."

"The Great Raymond. ¿No lo ha visto ud? [Have you seen him?]. Ya llegó [He is here]." This circular advertising piece--similar in size and appearance to a luggage label--shows two small imps or devils whispering in the ears of Morris Raymond Saunders (1877-1948), a magician whose stage name was "The Great Raymond." If the translation from Spanish (above) is correct, one imp is asking, "Have you seen him?," and the other is answering, "He is here." According to Rhett Bryson, professor in the Theatre Arts department at Furman University, "The image of the sagacious magician looking knowingly at the viewer with small imps whispering the enduring secrets of magic in his ear has been often used on magician's advertising posters. This image of the magician getting the 'secrets' from these underworld demi-devils apparently started with Harry Kellar (on his 1894 poster)." For further discussion and additional images of imps imparting information to magicians on posters and other advertising materials, see Bryson's A Visual History of Whispering Imps on Magic Posters . For another example of whispering imps, see the Howard and Jane Thurston Good Luck Throw-Out Card (small image below).

Magician Howard Thurston (1869–1936), who performed with his daughter Jane, used cards like this in his card throwing act. For another example of a magician using "whispering imps" in advertising, see The Great Raymond Is Here (small image below).