Ray Goulet by David Goodsell

Heart and Soul a Collector! Ray Goulet By David Goodsell The wonderful things about a personal tour of Ray Goulet’s Mini Magic Musuem are the stories, the personal details about who previously owned the items and how Ray came to acquire them. Ray showed me three coin wands from the late 1800s. “I got these about 15 years ago from the estate of John Brown Cook, a great amateur magician who lived in New York City. He was great friends with Vernon, Carlyle, Slydini, and everyone else in New York. Cook was very wealthy and owned two Mercedes automobiles, with vanity plates that said Mr. Cook and Mrs. Cook.” Holding the wands in what can only be described as “with affection,” Ray continued. “All three are the same,” he told me, “but one is nickel plated, the second brass and the third a kind of gray, treated metal with black tips. I am familiar with Brema’s work and am pretty sure they were made by him. This looks like his work. These wands used 1800s half dollars, and look, the original half dollars are still in them – 1867, and 1889.” That is the icing on the collector’s cake! Turning toward the huge Houdini Master Mystifier “Bur- ied Alive” poster on the south wall, Ray rested his hand on the post of an upright frame holding well over a dozen small frames of glass, tilted in opposition, zig-zagging down the center of the frame. On top of the frame was a top hat. Picking up a goblet containing several coins, Ray explained how it worked. “The coin ladder was quite popular in Europe and En- gland. It usually followed a miser’s dream sequence, in which the magician produced coins and dropped them into the top Ray with Martinka Nest of Boxes noted for its hat. The hat was placed on top of the frame and the magi- claw feet. The set was advertised in this catalog. cian caused to coins to leave the top hat one at a time, clinking from one glass frame to the next with a pleasant tinkling sound, until many coins were musically cascading down the glass ladder at once, ending up in a glass bowl at the bottom of the ladder. The effect was very strong and usually used as a clos- ing number. Perhaps you have seen Norm Nielsen perform his coin ladder. It is not as tall as this, but it is a beautiful routine to see. “This ladder was made by Friedrich Conradi in Germany during the 1930s. Notice these small eagles at the top corners of the ladder. This eagle design was the symbol of Nazi Germany, and I feel quite sure Conradi had no choice but to include them on this piece. But that’s the way it was in Germany at the time. At least it doesn’t include the Nazi Swastika. “I wanted this coin ladder for years. There are only two of these in this country that we know of, and the other is owned by Bill McIlheny in California. This one is in mint condition, and I don’t think it was ever used. I got it from David Haversat several years ago, but I don’t know where he got it.” Ray stepped over to a handsome wood-and- vase disappeared, only to be found under one glass display case on the top of which was a large of the cones. An orange, placed under a cone, bell jar containing Conradi’s Wine and Water disappeared and reappeared in the vase where equipment. “This is very rare,” Ray explained. the rice was. It is a lovely piece of magical engi- “The props are beautiful, so I set them apart with neering. When they sold in the 1890s, the set cost this bell jar. I have probably refused 50 offers for $15. with the eagle on the vase, and $10 without. this item, many of them quite substantial.” I have one with the eagle, and I added the silver cup to hold the rice because I thought it looked Also on display were five nickel-plated items: better than a paper bag. three tall cones; an ornate vase to hold a large quantity of rice, with a simple cover, but bearing “John Gaughan owned this set, and I had a gold wing-spread eagle; and a cup, in which wanted it for years. It was not a matter of buy- was an orange. Ray picked up the orange. ing the set from John, however, for it was not for sale. But a trade! Now that is how true collectors “This is my latest treasure,” said Ray. “This work. Finally I offered John a 1784 Pinetti man- trick is described in Hoffmann’sModern Magic as uscript, consisting of loose papers, not bound, ‘The Rice and Orange Trick’ and was a favorite enclosed in a custom-made book box, and two of Alexander Herrmann. Rice poured into the mortars. Mortars and pestles were commonplace in the 1800s, used by pharmacists for grinding medicines and by house- wives for grinding spices and herbs. It is not surprising that enterprising magicians came up with a way to gimmick both the mortar, or bowl, and the pestle. For example, a pocket watch placed in the mortar could be smashed by the pestle and the broken pieces shown. Placed back into the mortar, they could be restored. This was all due to the mechanics of the devices. They are rare magical props; and I had two of them, one turned in wood by Thayer. John wanted those, especially the Thayer mortar. When I added the Pinetti manuscript to the mortars, the deal was made. I figure we both received equal value.” That Rice and Orange set would sell for about $10,000 today. “By the way,” said Ray. “that Orange Vase was supposed to be all Conradi; but it turned out the cones were made by C. Milton Chase, who was one of the early magic dealers in Boston. He was an excellent crafts- man and his work is very hard to come by. When I found his mark, it gave me quite a lift!” I asked Ray if he had a favorite in his collection. “Favorites? They are all favorites. I could not tell you what is the best. Some of Bamberg’s custom-made items are wonderful, but so is the Delaporte table. I have the largest collection of P&L props in the world. I never tire of them. Are they favorites? Yes. But the last item I would give up is Herman Hanson’s ‘Expanding Egg’ trick.” “In my stage show I finished my egg bag routine by switching out the egg, vanishing it. Then, In addition to being manager of Holden’s just as Herman used to do, I said, ‘Ladies and Boston magic shop, Herman Hanson had been gentlemen, I would like to show you the world’s a seasoned vaudeville magician and a principle fastest incubator, direct from Sears and Roebuck.’ assistant to Howard Thurston, filling in for that I showed the open cloth cylinder and showed the master late in Thurston’s career. He was a won- table, turning it so the simple back framework derful, kind man and was Dean of American could be seen. I then produced a big egg from the Magicians from 1959 to 1979. Herman Hanson’s cylinder. Taking the egg, I supposedly ‘cracked’ expanding egg was a feature of his show. it on my knee and produced not a chick, but a Cochin hen! It was a very popular trick, and from “I knew Herman in the 1950s. ‘You should a stage the egg did look like a real, giant egg. The have this, Ray,’ he said and gave it to me. I used last time I did that trick was in 1984 when I per- it many, many times over fifteen years, up until formed at the White House Easter Egg party. I I stopped doing the stage shows and turned to a produced a rabbit, not a chicken.” club act. Ray’s love of New England-built magic is evident in this small table designed for a cups and balls routine. “I got this from Dave Downs, son of the late Herb Downs,” said Ray. “It was in de- plorable condition, but a large part of the fun in collecting for me lies in restoring old equipment. This was originally built by Al- phonse Delaporte, an amateur magician from Springfield, who was a nut on cups-and-balls and gimmicked tables. This one was built in the forties or fifties for Delaporte by Herman Hanson, to Delaporte’s specifications. It has wells, or pockets, into which balls vanish, and pistons, or lifts, that bring balls and other objects to the top of the table under the cups. After Herb passed away, Dave brought it to me. He said he knew I would take care of it. I spent quite a bit of time on it and wouldn’t part with it. That table is described in Michael Am- call from Kevin Menard who said, ‘I’ve got your mar’s book The Complete Cups and Balls, by the Girl without a Middle illusion.’ ‘I’ll buy it,’ I re- way.” plied, and I paid $750 for it – more than what I had been paid for all those illusions! However, I asked Ray about The Girl without a Middle, we used to have a lot of magic club activity here a centerpiece set at one end of the main room of back then, and the illusion just took up too much the museum.

Load more