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Rare Walt Williams Jr. Playing Cards
2d Playing Card Decks
 (1976)
In Collection
#1746
10*
Conjuring
Ephemera, Memorbilia
Memorbilia, Ephemera 
Rare Walt Williams Jr - International Brotherhood of Magicians 1976-77 Playing Cards
International President of The IBM 1976-77 Fox Lake Playing Cards Vintage

A vintage deck of cards featuring Walt Williams Jr.. He was International President of I-B-M (International Brotherhood of Magicians) in 1976-77 and Fox Lake had made these decks of cards. All 52 cards feature Walts photo.

The box reads: "Fox Lake Playing Cards Haines House of Cards Norwood, Ohio 45212". Box looks used but the cards are EXCELLENT, like new, even though they are unwrapped.

From his obituary (2013): A magician, Walter was elected president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1976 which boasts memberships in 75 countries and remained a member of International President of International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Product Details
Personal Details
Read It No
Location Magic Library (Home)
Condition Mint
Owner Bryan-Keith Taylor
Notes
Walter F. Williams, Jr.
July 09, 1922 ‒ December 30, 2013

Galion, Ohio

Walter F. Williams, Jr.

It didn’t take a magician to survive Nazi Germany’s Stalag XVIIB, but it didn’t hurt. The boredom, demoralization and deprivation were all orchestrated to demean the American POWs. Walter Williams, a young Army Air Corpsman from Galion, Ohio was shot down January 11, 1944, captured by the Germans, and held in the Stalag – and survived a forced march across Austria – before his liberation in May of 1945.

Walter F. Williams, Jr., authored six books, some detailing his military experiences. All were published and sold out.

He passed away Monday afternoon December 30, 2013 in Mill Creek Nursing Center in Galion. He was 91.

Born July 9, 1922 in Galion, he was the son of Walter F. Williams, Sr. and Alma (Hartman) Williams, and was graduated from Galion High School in 1940.

After his military service with the U.S. Army Air Corps’ 91st 325 Bomb Group, he returned to Ohio to work on a farm near Norwalk. He later worked at Galion Lumber for 22 years, as a manager for 15 years. He then accepted a position in sales at Fisher Printing, serving there 17 years. Walter also served as a special deputy for the Morrow County Sheriff Department.

A magician, Walter was elected president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1976 which boasts memberships in 75 countries and remained a member of International President of International Brotherhood of Magicians.

A long-time member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Galion, Walter also belonged to the Galion Historical Society, American Legion Scarbrough Post 243, V.F.W. Post 4329, AMVETS Polk Township Post 1979, Army Navy Club, Disabled American Veterans, American Ex-Prisoners of War Stalag 17B, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, and was a mainstay of local Veteran Day parades and observances. His hobbies included fishing and hunting, gardening and writing.Surviving are a daughter and son-in-law Carolyn Williams and Frank Martinez of Redmond, WA; granddaughter Lauren Martinez of San Francisco; a brother-in-law Charles Webberley of Sunland, Calif.; and sisters-in-law Madonna Williams of Sebring, Fla. and Jean Williams of Winter Park, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years Lucy (Brockman) Williams on December 16, 2009. Also deceased are two brothers Richard and Jack Williams and a sister Lorena Webberley.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, January 5, 2014 at Snyder Funeral Home Richardson Davis Chapel in Galion. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 6 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 291 N. Union Street, Galion with Rev. Anne Pairan officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Galion.

Full military graveside honors will be bestowed by the U. S. Army and the Galion Crestline Veterans Military Funeral Detail.

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International Brotherhood of Magicians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses of the acronym, see IBM (disambiguation).

International Brotherhood of Magicians
Formation 1922
Type Non-profit
Headquarters St. Charles, Missouri

President
Oscar Munoz (San Antonio, Texas)
Website www.magician.org
International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) is an organization for both professional and amateur close-up and stage magicians, with approximately 15,000 members worldwide. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Missouri, and there are over 300 local groups, called Rings, in more than 30 countries, largely concentrated in cities of the United States and Canada, though there are members of the international organization from at least 80 different countries[citation needed]. The organization publishes a monthly periodical entitled The Linking Ring, which features tricks, coverage of shows and events in the magic community, and interviews with magicians.

Contents
1 History
2 Organization
3 Membership
4 Leadership
5 Conventions
8 References



History
The organization was founded February 10, 1922[1] in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Len Vintus (stage name of Melvin Justus Given McMullen) of Transcona, Manitoba, which would later amalgamate with Winnipeg.[2][3] Gene Gordon (a.k.a. Gordon Avery) of Buffalo, New York, and Don Rogers (a.k.a. Ernest Schieldge). Unlike earlier magic clubs, such as the Society of American Magicians (SAM) in the USA and The Magic Circle in England, the I.B.M. was begun by magicians living outside the major cities, who were unable to attend magic club meetings, and who kept in contact by post.[4]

Gene Gordon established the first local group, Ring 1, in Rochester, New York. The original Ring 1 eventually disbanded,[5] and St. Louis, Missouri later assumed the vacated title of Ring 1, which it continues to hold today. Since then, a new club, Ring 4, formed in Rochester.

The IBM holds an annual convention, usually in June or July. Although the SAM and the Magic Circle held banquets as early as 1905, the I.B.M. was the first to hold a magic convention, in Kenton, Ohio on June 9–10, 1926.[4] The 66th annual convention was held in Orlando, Florida.[6]

Organization
Each international territory has a Territorial Vice President who coordinates with the Rings in that country and other Territorial Vice Presidents.

The International Brotherhood of Magicians has a number of local clubs, located throughout the world, known as Rings.[7] Each ring was originally numbered in sequence, based on when it received its charter from the I.B.M.
Membership
Membership is open to amateur and professional magicians, as well as those who collect magic apparatus and effects. Active members must be at least 18 years old, and youth members must be 7–17 years of age. Active members must have had an interest in magic for at least two years, or one year for youth members. Membership requires the endorsement of two active members, and a pledge to uphold the code of ethics.

Leadership
Since 1937, a new International President is elected to the I.B.M. each year.[8]
Past presidents include:

Len Vintus 1922–1926
W.W. Durbin 1926–1937
John H. Davidson 1937–1938
T. J. Crawford 1938–1939
John Snyder, Jr. 1939–1941
Robert C. Anderson 1941–1942
Eugene Bernstein 1942–1946
John Braun 1946–1947
A. Renerick Clark 1947–1948
H. Adrian Smith 1948–1949
William R Walsh 1949–1950
Walter Coleman 1950–1951
James B. Lake 1951–1952
Arthur D. Reichenback 1952–1953
Forrest P. Hendricks 1953–1954
C. James McLemore 1954–1955
Charles A. RossKam 1955–1956
Chauncey Sheridan 1956–1957
L.A. Waterman 1957–1958
Verne W. Uker 1958–1959
Reeder C. Hutchinson 1959–1960
Harris Solomon 1960–1961
C.L. Schmitt 1961–1962
Irving Lewis 1962–1963
Arnold Drennen 1963–1964
Thorton Poole 1964–1965
Dr. Richard O. Mossey 1965–1966
Howard Bamman 1966–1967
Sydney S. Bergson 1967–1968
J. Ronald Haines 1968–1969
Royal Brin, Jr. 1969–1970
William G. Strickland 1970–1971
Austin C. Gorham 1971–1972
Robert B. Hurt 1972–1973
Earle J. Christenberry, Jr. 1973–1974
Charles Lantz 1974–1975
William Preston Slusher 1975–1976
Walter F. Williams 1976–1977
Jeffery Atkins 1977–1978
Bill Pitts 1978–1979
Ray Mangel 1979–1980
Bruce Posgate 1980–1981
Roger Crabtree 1981–1982
John Makar 1982–1983
William A. Wells 1983–1984
Donald E. Wiberg 1984–1985[9][10]
William E. Spooner 1985–1986
Karrell Fox 1986–1987
June Horowitz 1987–1988
Edward A. Morris 1988–1989
Anthony Shelley 1989–1990
Michael Ellis 1990–1991
Michael J. Gorman 1991–1992
James L. Nagel 1992–1993
R.J. Obie O'Brien 1993–1994
Jep Hostetler 1994–1995
Kenneth Klosterman 1995–1996
Bev Bergeron 1996–1997
Abb Dickson 1997–1998
John R. Browne 1998–1999
Jerry Schnepp 1999–2000[11]
Jack Greenberg 2000–2001
Robert A. Escher 2001–2002
Michael Stratman 2002–2003
David Sandy 2003–2004
Tony Wilson 2004–2005
Roger Miller 2005–2006
Fred Casto 2006–2007
Phil Willmarth 2007–2008
Joan Caesar 2008–2009
Jack White 2009–2010
Rolando Santos 2010–2011
Vanni Pulé 2011–2012
John Pye 2012–2013
Bill Evans 2013–2014
Shawn Farquhar 2014–2015
Joe M. Turner 2015–2016
Oscar Munoz 2016–present

Conventions
In July 2008 the I.B.M. and the Society of American Magicians hosted a combined convention. More than 1,900+ amateur and professional magicians from around the world attended the gathering in Louisville, Kentucky.[12]

85th annual IBM convention was held in Phoenix, Arizona

Contest Awards[edit]
The International Brotherhood of Magicians held the world’s first magic convention in 1926. Contests are held and awards are given in several categories. Below is a listing of the First Place winners as noted in the I.B.M. Official publication "The Linking Ring". The Gold Cups and Gold Medal Awards are highly coveted and not awarded every year.