Abbott's has long been recognized as a pioneer in magic and magic inventiveness. Of course you will find standard magic and new magic from across the globe, but you will also find some of the most unique magic on earth that is not sold anywhere else. While we no longer do factory tours (insurance requires we don't), you can take a virtual tour of the plant through some of the videos below while we tell you the tale of Abbott's Magic Shop.
Our history begins during the Great Depression and back then the life of a magician was not always easy. Lots of travel usually means cold food and hotel beds. Wouldn't it be wonderful to find a town designed to give magicians a little rest and relaxation, a place where magicians can gather - a place located about halfway between two major cities, Detroit and Chicago? Colon Michigan was that city and on this day, Harry Blackstone has just invited Percy Abbott to visit him for some rest, relaxation, and fishing on Sturgeon Lake. Blackstone owned 208 acres of land in Colon, MI and it was not uncommon for Harry to invite fellow Magicians to Colon where they could temporarily escape the rigors of their profession, but this particular visit would make magic history.
A few days after his arrival at Blackstone Island, Percy met Gladys Goodrich, a local girl, and he decided to make Colon his home. Percy, needing a way to support his wife, then joined forces with Blackstone and helped found the "Blackstone Magic Company" as a partner with Harry Blackstone Sr. However, this first magic shop would close its doors when a misunderstanding between Percy and Blackstone ended the partnership. The misunderstanding was that Blackstone had traded some items from the shop for an illusion he wanted. The illusion arrived at the shop with a list of items that were to be sent in return. Percy filled the order but assumed the illusion was property of the company and later sold it to another magician. The rift between the two was legendary and they would never reconcile for the remainder of their lives.
Now with a wife and a child, Percy needed a steady income and decided to open a second magic store in Colon in January of 1934, this one above a grocery store. He named this shop "The Abbott Magic Company". In March of the same year Percy met a young magician from Eaton, Ohio - Recil Bordner. Percy, who at the time had $100 to his name, was already in debt to the local printer for printing the 20-page catalogue of tricks and he recognized an economic opportunity in Recil Bordner. He convinced Bordner that if he wanted to invest in magic, it would be wiser to buy into the business of manufacturing magic, specifically, the Abbott Magic Novelty Company. Bordner borrowed $1,000 from his father and bought half interest in the company, and a partnership was formed (it would last 25 years till Percy's retirement in 1959). The newly partnered business remained above the grocery store until Labor Day of 1934, when the partners leased a building which had been a horse & buggy carriage factory. The partners got some paint and painted the building black. Recil then used a stencil which he had cut for an illusion and painted white skeletons on the front of the structure.
Unfortunately the company - which was essentially a "mail order" company - did not do so well at the beginning so in an attempt to increase lagging sales, the partners decided to hold an open house on Saturday, Sept. 15, 1934. Advertisements were placed in trade journals. The event was attended by 80 magicians and sales totaled $88.00 (a great days profit during the Great Depression). Magicians came from Kalamazoo, South Bend, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Fort Wayne to watch two hours of magic performed by several magicians including Recil Bordner. Percy acted as master of ceremonies, and his wife, Gladys, accompanied the performers on the piano. Following the show, a buffet luncheon was served to the performers and audience. The open house was closed to the public in general. This "open house" is considered the first Abbott Get Together.
The success of the open house convinced the partners to host a second which they termed the annual Abbott Get-Together in the autumn of 1935. That year it was still a one-night affair, held in the tiny Abbott Theater which could only accommodate an audience of about 100 people. Again, only magicians were invited. It was during this convention that Lester Lake (Marvelo), an escape artist, coined the phrase "Magic Capital of the World". He chose this phrase to describe Colon because Abbott's Magic Novelty company was fast becoming a leading producer of magical apparatus in the United States; because the Great Blackstone made his home in Colon; and because the Abbott Get-Together was becoming a major attraction for magicians. The phrase caught on and is still being used today.
In 1938 the original buggy carriage building burned down and that should have been where the story ended, but it didn't. The partners doubled down and built from the ground up a new building - the only building in the world designed for the sole purpose of manufacturing magic. More than 50,000 square feet is divided into the following departments: Business Offices, Printing Department, Art Department, Silk Dyeing, Computer Room, Sewing Assembly, Silk Screen Processing, Blacksmith Shop, Lathe, and Precision Metal Work, Plastic and Chemicals, Metal Casting, Tool and Die Making, Shipping, Experimental, Wood Working, Sheet Metal Shop, Stock Room, Paint Shop, Showrooms, Demonstration Stage and Magic Theatre.
Now in a little tribute to the partners who really started this whole thing off, we have a video of Percy Abbott above and a video of Recil Bordner below. We hope you enjoy them and thank you for your interest. We hope to see you soon in "The Magic Capital of the World"!
