There are more than two dozen notable museums concerning illusionary magic and its associated magicians and magical apparatus, and all but two are publicly accessible.
Permanent museums
North America
278 West 113th Street, New York City, New York.[A]
The History Museum at the Castle is a local history museum located at 330 East College Avenue in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin. Owned and operated by the Outagamie County Historical Society (OCHS), the museum has previously operated under the names The Outagamie Museum and The Houdini Historic Center.
The Houdini Museum, 1433 North Main Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania.[7] It features memorabilia, artifacts, mannequins and films of the master magician. The Houdini Tour also includes a magic show as part of the tour.[8]
David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, which is closed to the public, but available to researchers. It claims to be the largest collection of magic artifacts (80,000 items),[9] notwithstanding the American Museum of Magic. It began in 1991 when Copperfield, who had acquired the Cole Collection, purchased the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts, which contained the world's largest collection of Houdini memorabilia.[9][10][11][12][13]
Smithsonian Institution, F Street Northwest, Washington, DC. In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, Harry Blackstone, Jr. donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. the original floating light bulb – Thomas Edison designed and built it – and the original Casadega Cabinet, used in the "Dancing Handkerchief" illusion by his father, Harry Blackstone. This was the first ever donation accepted by the Smithsonian in the field of magic.[16]
Museum Bellachini, Hansaplatz 8, 20099 Hamburg, shows the collection of Wittus Witt. It is Germany's only magic museum with regular opening hours to the public; from Thursday to Sunday, 11.00 am to 6.00 pm with regular shows on Friday night at 9:00 pm.
Spain
King of Magic Museum, Carrer Jonqueres, 15 08003, Barcelona, Spain. An extension of a shop that opened in 1881, exhibits include pictures and memorabilia associated with illusionists, including Carlston, Fu-Li-Chang, and Horace Goldin.[26]
Teatro Museo El Rei de la Màgia, Carrer de les Jonqueres 15, 08003 Barcelona, Spain[27] The King of Magic Museum is one of the oldest establishments in the world dedicated exclusively to sale, manufacture and teaching of illusions. In 1881 it was opened by Partagas Catalan Joaquim. In celebration of its 130th anniversary, it expanded to include a theater museum dedicated to the art of sleight of hand and the study and dissemination of illusionism. History and art, nineteenth century ephemera including hand games, posters, photographs of premier magicians, books, pictures, etc. are exhibited. Exhibitions illustrate the history, evolution of magic and its influence on Spain long before "the arrival of Harry Potter to our lives." Magic shows will include important illusionists such as Micky Conesa and Xavier Giro, winner of the 2010 Merlin Award (The ' Oscar of Magic ).[28]
Casa Museo de la Magia from "Magics Bufons". Located in Polinyà de Xuquer, Valencia. It exhibits many posters, magic objects and other curiosities, such as two pairs of "dressed fleas" or the Venus de Milo carved from a grain of rice. It has two small theaters of magic, which all offer weekend shows. They also have a magic shop.[29][30]
Central and Eastern Europe
The House of Houdini is a museum and performance venue located at 11, Dísz square in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, which claims to possess the largest Houdini collection in Europe. It should not be confused with the various houses owned by Houdini. In 1919 Houdini rented the cottage[B] at 2435 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles, while making movies for Lasky Pictures. His wife occupied it for a time after his death. As of 2011 the site of the cottage was a vacant lot and up for sale.[5] The main mansion building itself was rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 1959 Laurel Canyon fire, and is now a historic venue and called The Mansion.[31][32] While Houdini did not likely live at the "mansion," there is some probability that his widow did.[33]
Rossy Magic Museum, in the Balkans. Founded in 2001, it features the collection of "the late great magician and collector Dezider Repovic." It includes 20.000 articles, 3.000 magic and magician books, including the first Serbian language book about magic. Svetozar F. Ognjanovic, Novi Sad. Magician.[36]
Zauberkasten-Museum Schönbrunner Straße 262, Im Hofe, Wien 12, next to Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria. The largest magic set collection in the world, with nearly 3000 different magic sets, all from the collections of Manfred Klaghofer. Some sets date back to the 19th century. The museum is a work-in-progress, stemming from his first collection in the 1995, and he continues to acquire new sets (some costing thousands of dollars) at the rate of two or three per week. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.[37][38][39]
Davenport's Magic Kingdom in Norfolk, England, houses an exhibition on the history of magic as well as a live conjuring show and a recreated sideshow act.[41]
Sveriges Magi-Arkiv is run by magician Christer Nilsson (stage name Christer el Ricco) in Nyköping, Sweden, and is the country's only magic museum.[44]
College of Magic has its Magical Arts Centre in Cape Town, South Africa It is currently resident in its own premises situated on Lansdowne Road in Claremont Cape Town. These premises were officially opened as the "Magical Arts Centre" (MAC) on 24 February 1995 by the then Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. It houses an extensive collection of stage illusions, magical props and costumes.
Museu de Arte Mágica e Ilusionismo João Peixoto dos Santos (João Peixoto dos Santos Magical Arts and Illusionism Museum), Rua Silva Bueno 519 (conjunto 42), Ipiranga, BrasiSão Paulo, Brazil.[50]
Closed museums
Houdini Magical Hall of Fame, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Opened in May 1968 at 5019 Centre St., moved to 4983 Clifton Hill (Niagara Falls) in 1972, closed due to fire on April 30, 1995.[51] Housed many significant items from Harry Houdini's personal collection, including a multitude of handcuffs and leg irons, a milk can escape, a wooden packing crate he used for underwater escapes, and the famed Chinese Water Torture Cell.[52] Owned by Henry Muller, Vince Delorenzo, and partners.[53]
Le Grand David and His Spectacular Magic Company at the Larcom Theatre 13 Wallis Street in Beverly, Massachusetts had three galleries of exhibits, and was also the site of the longest continuously running magic show in the world.[59]
Houdini: Art and Magic is an exhibition of Houdini paraphernalia and art inspired by him at Manhattan's Jewish Museum.[61] The show closed in New York on March 27, 2011, and was then displayed in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Madison, Wisconsin.[62]
In 2010, fifteen museums in Singapore cooperated in hosting itinerant magic shows over the entire year.[63]
The Wellcome Collection in London hosted Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic in 2019, exploring the scientific links between magic and psychology.[64]
References
Notes
^Not per se a "museum", but it is a private residence with a documented Houdini connection and a lot of his artifacts. It has occasionally been open for guided tours. Not to be confused with the "House of Houdini", this is a former Houdini home, purchased in 1908, at 278 West 113th Street, Harlem, now called Morningside Heights, New York City that also displays Houdini artifacts.[1][2][3][4][5]
^"Not the home, which was sensationally dubbed "the Houdini mansion" when it burned in 1959, and has been rebuilt using the name "Houdini Estate."[5]
Citations
^Cox, John (January 17, 2011). "Discovering 278: the home of Houdini". Wild About Harry. Archived from the original on December 31, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017. ... I certainly knew the famous address – "278" which is how Houdini always referred to his Harlem home.
^Cox, John (June 25, 2017). "Inside Houdini's 278". wildabouthoudini.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
^Sierra, Lluis (10 December 2010). "Barcelona abrirá un teatro museo de la magia" [Barcelona will open a theater museum of magic]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
^Nyman, Christina (17 October 2011). "Sweden's Only Museum Of Magic". Från: Magic New Zealand. Sweden. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
