Other Ephemera

This section includes all types of ephemera other than Posters & Showcards and Programmes & Handbills.

The collection is particularly rich in ephemera relating to the Davenports, the Maskelynes and Will Goldston.

Advertising ItemsApparatusArtworkAutographsBooksCardsLettersMagic SetsMarked DEMONMentalismMiscellaneousNon-apparatusNon-mechanical PuzzlesNoveltiesOpticalPenetrationsPhotographsPipitisPop-up Or MoveablePostcardsPrintsStationeryTranspositionsWebsite E-newsWooden Box Items

Unusual rebus puzzle advertising Maskelyne and Cooke’s Mysteries at the Portland Hall, Southsea. Commencing 25 August 1902

On one side is the rebus and a blank area where the address or name of the recipient can be written. The other side has the show details on it, as well as the answer to the rebus. This means that the card can be folded in half and glued around the perforated edges, prior to posting, so that the recipient can only see the rebus and their own name. To open the card they have to tear off the edge at the perforations, so revealing the details of the show and the answer to the rebus. Have a go at solving the rebus before you click on View Details.

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Maskelyne and Cooke’s Mysteries Provincial Tour List 1901-1902, with a separate page of financial details covering all weeks

These two items were stored together by Maskelynes, with a brass paper fastener attaching them by the top left corner. This explains the holes in the top left corners. The information gives the tour venues and confirms that the show usually spent a week at each venue. The financial summary gives a breakdown of costs for each venue and the average receipts and expenses for the whole tour. The tour usually followed the pre-printed tour dates and venues, but there were exceptions. The images included here show both sides of the Tour List and the single-sided financial summary.

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Novelty give away advertisement for Maskelyne and Cooke’s Mysteries at the Antient Concert Rooms, Dublin. Commencing 4 March 1901

This advertisement can be folded to show The Box Trick in action. The words explain: ‘The performer enters the box which he completely fills so that no part can collapse inwards. It is then locked, enveloped in a sack, corded and sealed thus preventing any section giving outwards. Yet in a few seconds the gentleman escapes without disturbing a single knot, leaving the box perfectly empty.’

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Maskelyne and Cooke’s Mysteries Provincial Tour List 1900-1901, with a separate page of financial details covering all weeks

These two items were stored together by Maskelynes, with a brass paper fastener attaching them by the top left corner. This explains the holes in the top left corners. The information gives the tour venues and confirms that the show usually spent a week at each venue. The financial summary gives a breakdown of costs for each venue and the average receipts and expenses for the whole tour. The tour usually followed the pre-printed tour dates and venues, but there were exceptions. The images included here show both sides of the Tour List and the single-sided financial summary.

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Maskelyne and Cooke’s Mysteries Provincial Tour List 1899-1900, with a separate page of financial details covering all weeks

These two items were stored together by Maskelynes, with a brass paper fastener attaching them by the top left corner. This explains the holes in the top left corners. The information gives the tour venues and confirms that the show usually spent a week at each venue. The financial summary gives a breakdown of costs for each venue and the average receipts and expenses for the whole tour. The tour usually followed the pre-printed tour dates and venues, but there were exceptions. The images included here show both sides of the Tour List and the single-sided financial summary.

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1899 partnership agreement for the Maskelyne and Cooke Provincial Company and Entertainment Bureau

The two parties to this partnership agreement were J.N. and Nevil Maskelyne (the Maskelynes) and David Devant. Devant was the managing partner. The Maskelyne and Cooke Provincial Company carried out annual tours around Great Britain from 1899 to 1905. The Entertainment Bureau operated for many years supplying high class entertainments. There is much of interest in the agreement, including the agreement on profit sharing. Anne Goulden has produced a useful summary of the main points covered by the agreement in an Article on this website which can be found here.

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Noah’s Ark pop-up card

This is one of a number of pop-up cards in the collection illustrating how laser cutting technology has allowed designers to create affordable intricate cards. Manufactured by MeandMcQ.

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