Magic From Below - Waller, Charles

Waller, Charles: Magic From Below
©1929 George Johnson, London
Hardcover, 4x6.5", 176 pages

Comments: Mostly stage or parlor effects. Illustrated.

Contents:

3 Introduction
5 Contents
6 Dedication

7 Part I
7 The Magic Pop-Gun: with a pop-gun, a handkerchief vanishes and appears on the cork
12 The Versatile Tube: variation of the Ghost Tube or Drum-Head tube
16 Some Effects With the Tube:
16 - Production of Silks
16 - The Drum Head Tube
16 - Billiard Ball Production
17 - Billiard Ball Vanish
17 - Ball Color Change
17 - The Crystal Tear
19 Eat More Fruit: card in orange
23 Hell's Bells!: Effect with a Jack-In-The-Box and a hat
39 Pickled Pieces: coins penetrate into a bottle
41 And The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon: plate and spoon vanish from paper bag
46 Cones Within Cones: flowers appear from cones
54 These Little Pigs: guinea pig vanishes from newspaper bundle
63 Just On And Off!: handkerchief penetrates a walking stick
67 The Beetle Crawls: a variation of card to pocket
71 The Productive Flower Pots: production ideas
76 The Great Packing-Case Escape: a burlesque

88 Part II
88 The Tell-Tale Cigarette: mentalism through smoke rings
94 The Dunce's Cap ; Or "Beware Of The Joker!": a card box routine
101 Tea And Sugar: transposition under cups
106 The Rival Imps: a small imp bottle and a large one compete
113 No Place Like Home: billiard balls and tubes
125 The Sorcerer's Scissors: string passes through fingers
127 A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: Card trick
133 The Curse Of Scotland: shooting a card into a bottle - almost
137 A Message From The Sea: a mentalism routine
144 The Chinese Porter: a production routine
152 Pistol And Golliwog: a pistol and a doll in newspaper transpose
163 The Balls That Rebounded: a sucker trick where balls almost transpose into a hat
168 A Box Of Sweets: the appearance of a girl

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Item Description: London, George Johnson, 1929., Hardcover, 12mo.,Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition. 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. 160 pages. green cloth boards with gilt lettering on cover, slight fading on the spine, bookplate, line drawings, 178pp Contains the bookplate of HARRY J. ALPIGINI
on the endpage, who was a magician of repute performing in Shangai for over 25 years until his migration to Australia. Charles Waller was also a magician of some repute who was born in Australia and in this book explains some of the tricks of magicians.
Item Description: George Johnson, London, 1929. Hard Cover. Book "Below" refers to the Antipodes, where Charles Waller lived. (The reader must rely on the text for instruction, as there are no illustrations.) The Magic Pop-Gun, The Versatile Tube, Eat More Fruit, The Tell-Tale Cigarette, Tea and Sugar, The Chinese Porter, A Box of Sweets, and more! A charming collection of effects with their very English names.

“has small marks on outer covers, former owner's name stamped throughout, spine is slightly faded. ”

Product Details
No. of Pages	178
Original Title	Magic From Below
Original Publisher	George Johnson
Original Publication Year	1929

Personal Details
Read It	No
Location	Magic Library (Home) Shelf Top
Purchase Price	$5.50
Current Value	$100.00
Purchase Date	2/26/2015
Condition	Fine
Owner	Bryan-Keith Taylor

Charles Waller

Born
Charles Gordon Waller
December 08, 1879
Australia

Died
May 30, 1960 (age 80)

Charles Waller (December 8, 1879 - May 30, 1960), born in Australia, was a businessman, amateur magician and author.

Biography
Waller met Levante in 1912 and became friends. He contributed articles to Magic Mirror, Thayer's Magical Bulletin, Magic Wand, The Sphinx, The Linking Ring and Genii.[1]. Australia's first I.B.M. Ring in Melbourne, no. 84, was named the Charles Waller Ring in his honor.

Books
Up His Sleeve (1920)
For Magicians Only (1924)
Waller's Wonders (1926)
Magic from Below (1929)
Happy Magic (1932)
Magical Nights at the Theatre (1980)

References
1. The Life Story of Charles Waller by himself in Linking Ring July, 1928.

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Will Alma (November 4, 1904 - May 6, 1993),

born Oswald George William Bishop in Melbourne, Australia, was described in March 1987 issue of The Linking Ring as "Australia's most famous magician" and "a successful club and vaudeville magician, manufacturer and dealer, teacher of magic, editor and publisher of conjuring periodicals, a writer and outstanding collector of magicana."

Biography
Alma's father was, Oswald Henry Bishop, a tinsmith by trade, but also performed professionally as "Alma, the Court Magician" and his mother, Rose, who was Australia's first "floating lady" in 1903.

Alma began doing magic against his family's wishes, studying David Devant's book Magic Made Easy (1903) while working at engineering firms (which helped him develop the skills in constructing apparatus). His father however deserted his them in 1913, making his way to American Samoa and finally settling in Hawaii.

From 1926 to 1931, Alma was touring country towns with his own illusion show.

In 1927 he married his dancing partner, Florence Stemming, but they eventually were divorced in 1947.

Alma was associated with the Will Andrade magic shops in Melbourne and Sydney before starting the Will Alma Magical Co., manufacturing equipment in the 1930s.

During 1940, Alma joined the Great Levante as adviser and technician in Australia.

From 1945 to 1948, Alma was chief mechanic for the Tivoli theatre in Melbourne and entertained troops at U.S.O. shows in Queensland.

In 1953 he married his second wife, Eileen Margaret Hastings, who remained his beloved wife, his closest friend and ally until her death in 1988.

During the Korean war, he performed for the troops along the 38th parallel, followed by engagements in North Borneo, Tokyo, Manila and Hong Kong.

From 1967, Alma devoted himself to collecting, acquiring more than 2,500 conjuring books, some 8,000 magazines, 1,500 photos, posters, scrap books, programs and cassettes. He donated it all to the State Library of Victoria where it is to be kept in a special area known as "The W. G. Alma Conjuring Collection".[1][2][3][4][5]

Honors and Awards
1958 was elevated to Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star.
1989, Presidential Citation from International I.B.M. President Edward Morris in recognition of his services to the Art of Magic.
1991, the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honors for his services to magic.

References
1. http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/news/focus_on/alma.html
2. Obituary Magic Circular, Vol. 87, 1993 page 99
3. http://calisto.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-74/t1-g-t3.html
4. Obituary Linking Ring, July 1993.
5. Obituary Genii 1993 July

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Bookplate of Harry J. Alpigini

From Magicpedia, courtesy of Genii magazine:

Harry J. Alpigini

Died
September 29, 1959
Burlington, New Jersey

Alpigini (?-1959) lived and performed in Philadelphia for many years. In later years he moved to Baltimore and frequented Yogi Magic Mart on 215 N. Charles St., where during the late 1940s where you could find him reminiscing. A tri-fold brochure, which was given as a supplement in The Magic Cauldron #29 states:

As the Wizard of the East, Mr. Alpigini stands unquestionably alone among the leaders in the special line of work. His personality, refined bearing, marvelous dexterity and the ease and grace with which he performs the most amazing feats, all entitle him to the utmost consideration by churches, associations, or individuals seeking the best in the field of entertainment. To those seeking the last word in entertainments, however, Mr. Alpigini offers the acme of perfection in his elite combination, consisting of Artagraphs and Magic. His remarkable versatility enables him to adjust this program to the requirements of every situation and assembly.