This routine requires three people from the audience to participate. The presentation would appear slow to a modern audience, but the magician ends up divining a word chosen by one of the helpers. The method is particularly devious.
Stanley Collins
The effect is the magical production of a huge display of flags. Davenports sold this trick in the 1930s based on the method used by Stanley Collins. A Davenport advertisement includes: ‘In producing this wonderful effect, we have discarded the old iron flag sprays that we had on the market many years ago and now introduce our special Demon featherweight aluminium flag sprays. Beautifully made. None genuine without the Demon Trade mark.’ It is known that Jon Martin, the famous magical mechanic, produced some aluminium flag sprays for Davenports. There are three sprays of flags which fit together to produce the overall effect, the largest spray being at the bottom. The illustration is from a Davenports catalogue.
The first edition of this book was originally created and sold by Stanley Collins. It enables the magician to predict a word that is chosen at random. Davenports purchased the rights in 1942 and sold copies like this one that had been printed by Archie Byford. Included are L Davenport instructions. For further details on this edition of the book see Chapter 26 of the Edwin A Dawes book ‘Stanley Collins: Conjurer, Collector, and Iconoclast’, published by Kaufman and Company in 2002. See also Ref. no. N1337.
This book enables the magician to predict a word that is chosen at random. The book title is ‘Anthology of Love Poems’, collected by S Wynne Burne. This is the original edition put out by Stanley Collins. For further details see Chapter 26 of the Edwin A Dawes book ‘Stanley Collins: Conjurer, Collector, and Iconoclast’, published by Kaufman and Company in 2002.
This is Elcock’s original artwork for page 188 of the November 1913 issue of ‘The Magician Monthly’. The sketches are from the Magicians’ Club entertainment on 9 November. Elcock’s sketches cover Mr Chas Morritt; Mr David Devant; Chris Van Bern; Eugene Devôt; Lerano; Mr George; Chas Mansfield; Capt Kettle; Mr Ernest Sewell; Mr Collins; Chas H. Vernon; Hewson Brown; Mr Swingler; Claude Chandler. Mysteriously, there is also a sketch of Archibald the Pigeon. The evening is written up on page 185 of the same issue, also illustrated here.
This die looks like an early version of the Collins and Bretma die trick. The diagram is from Goldston’s ‘Magicians Annual 1910-1911’. The box was given to Dick Ritson by Stanley Collins. In 1960 Ritson gave it to Harry Carson, who gave it to John Davenport in 1982.