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This is such an amazing book. Have a gander at what a select segment of American society got to experience during the first part of the last century. Burlesque Paraphernalia not only covers the history of the DeMoulin Brothers and their very specific marketing focus, but also contains catalog #439, full of gag and lodge initiation devices, used by such organizations as the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, etc., many of which seem terrifyingly, rediculously dangerous and near
This is a remarkable publication, reproducing a scarce catalogue of supplies for "side degrees" of fraternal organizations in the early 20th century, along with really useful contextualizing essays by Charles Schneider and William D. Moore. A 28-page appendix gives scripts and ways to use the devices in fraternal ritual, originally published to accompany the sales catalogue; there are also several patents reproduced. I've seen a few of the items shown here in the antiques markets, and have read
Super weird ingeniousness from a golden age of non-liability.
Creepy weird- it's a lot of effort to put into humiliation.
Quirky. All the more so because this was a real catalog. The market in the 1930s for electrified carpets and 32 caliber blank loaded paddles must have been something.
I wrote the intro and had a lot to do with this book.
With an introduction by David Copperfield, and participation by noted magicians and collectors like Mike Caveney and John Carney, this fascinating catalog of equipment that was used to initiate folks into fraternal organizations is must reading for magicians. And jokesters. Great "fun" was had, and the membership rolls increased with gadgets that were designed to shock (literally), soak, scare, and generally disorient candidates for membership to these lodges. It is also, as the author points ou...
