January 23, 2020, Filed Under: Art, Digital Collections, Exhibitions + Events, Featured1, Theatre + Performing ArtsThe Golden Age of Magic Posters DETAIL. Otis Lithograph Co. (American, active 1880s–1930s) “George: The Supreme Master of Magic,” 1928. Lithograph, Magic Collection. The turn of the twentieth century was a period of innovation, when advances in printing and color lithography coincided with a new golden age in the performance of magic and illusion. This convergence resulted in the most stunning, color-saturated advertisements in the history of magic. In the early 1900s, lithographs were popular in advertising, especially for stage magicians who used posters such as these to convey a sense of mystery and exoticism in their acts. Strobridge Lithographing Company (American, active 1867–1960) “Frederick Bancroft: The Magnificent Orient and the Wizard’s Enchantments,” 1895. Lithograph, Magic Collection. Strobridge Lithographing Company capitalized on its location on the Ohio River in Cincinnati—an important trading city bridging the American north and south, and the east with the expanding west. They excelled in creating full-color lithographic posters for variety performance (circus, magic, minstrelsy, etc.), developing an internationally-recognized reputation as a leading advertising company. Lithography is a complex printing process, which, at the time, used smooth stone plates. An artist drew the image on the stone with grease or wax. An acid wash created an etching where the stone was not protected by the grease. Water could be absorbed into the etched stone, but oil-based inks stuck to the grease image. When pressed on paper, the ink transferred, reproducing the original drawing. Color lithography involves multiple layers of printing with different colors of ink, and eventually translucent inks that would blend to create different color tones. Unidentified artist, ‘Houdini’s Vanishing Elephant,’ 1918. Watercolor on paper. Harry Houdini Papers, Gift of the Hoblitzelle Foundation. In 1918, Harry Houdini performed his famous ‘Vanishing Elephant’ trick at the Hippodrome in New York. He commissioned these designs for a poster to advertise the performance, but ultimately, for unknown reasons, posters were never made. They are rare examples of the magic poster design process. Numerous examples of these lithographs are on view in the Ransom Center galleries through February 2, 2020, as part of the exhibition, Stories to Tell: Selections From The Harry Ransom Center. These highlights represent only a fraction of the extensive collection of stage magic advertisements largely collected by Harry Houdini and gifted to The University of Texas at Austin by the Hoblitzelle Foundation in 1958. Strobridge Lithographing Company (American, active 1867–1960) ‘Kellar in his Latest Mystery: Self Decapitation,’ 1898 Lithograph. Magic Collection. Harry Kellar (1849–1922) was one of the most celebrated American stage magicians of his generation, and is credited with inventing a number of now-canonical tricks. He was named the first Dean of American magicians in 1907. He retired the following year, naming Howard Thurston as his successor.
