Thursday, November 14, 2024

Have you read Red Magic?

We have one last centennial to celebrate this year. This weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the launch of Houdini's "Red Magic." The syndicated newspaper supplements debuted in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, November 16, 1924, and continued until at least 1929. They were published in red ink, hence the name. Papers that elected not to use red ink rebranded it as "Home Magic." Below is the ad that appeared in The New York World announcing the series 100 years ago today.

McCord-Stewart Museum Collection

Red Magic was basically a collection of puzzles and simple magic tricks using home objects. Houdini did take a little heat for publishing "exposures," but this seems silly when viewing what these actually contained. Each issue featured a banner crediting Houdini as the editor. The style of the banner and photo of Houdini could be different from paper to paper. I've included a selection below. After Houdini's death, "Edited by" was changed to "Founded by."


I would love it if someone published a complete facsimile collection of Red Magic, ideally from the New York Sunday World, which appears to have published the most complete issues. I think that would make a terrific Houdini/magic book.

Want more? I've collected several issues of Red Magic into a PDF "sampler pack" that I'm offering as this month's free Patreon member reward. Lucky patrons!

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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 14, 2024 at 4:14 PM

    I remember decades ago someone (maybe Repro71?) sold reproductions of, "Red Magic". How many issues can't remember.
    Diego Domingo

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    1. John CoxNovember 15, 2024 at 7:16 AM

      Oh wow, I didn't know anyone had ever done repros.

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  2. Leo HeviaNovember 15, 2024 at 6:45 AM

    Puzzles, optical illusions, and simple tricks with matchsticks and handkerchiefs. And the SAM jumped on Harry for that?

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    1. AnonymousNovember 15, 2024 at 7:59 AM

      The Society of American Magicians? Why?

      Well… I guess the whole “A magician never reveals their secrets.” thing.

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    2. AnonymousNovember 15, 2024 at 8:00 AM

      What else was in these fun red pages?

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    3. John CoxNovember 15, 2024 at 8:28 AM

      I took a quick look at the Red Magic controversy in MUM. I haven’t gone too deep, but it seems the criticism was more about the potential of Red Magic to become a source for exposure. Houdini published his correspondence with the New York World, showing how he had enacted a promise that he and the SAM exposure committee would be able to review all tricks before publication to ensure no exposures were printed. This seemed to calm everyone down.

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    4. John CoxNovember 15, 2024 at 1:39 PM

      Bit more on this. Sounds like the major objector was Harry Leat who put out a magic circular in England called Leat's Leaflet. He was a real crusader again exposures, and in issue No. 4 he voiced his displeasure with HH in a piece called "The Unmasking of Harry Houdini." Unfortunately, I can't seem to find this issue (or any issue of Leat's Leaflet) on Ask Alexander.

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    5. Leo HeviaNovember 16, 2024 at 6:41 AM

      Man I'd love to read Leaflet #4. Clinton Burgess was another one not fond of HH. He called HH The Hog because of his magic book hoarding in 278.

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