1902

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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Maskelyne and Cooke Egyptian Hall programme, 29th consecutive year

29th consecutive year, 1901-1902. There is more than one copy in the collection. One copy has the hand written date June 1902. The bill includes the sketch ‘The Entranced Fakir’, the first performance of which was on 6 April 1901, according to the book on the Maskelynes at the Egyptian Hall by George Jenness. The date must therefore be no earlier than this. It was in ‘The Entranced Fakir’ that Maskelyne first showed his latest, world beating, levitation. Valadon was also on the bill and Animated Photographs were shown. On this programme Mr. E. Morehen plays the part of Fraser in ‘The Entranced Fakir’.

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