New Peabody Essex Museum Exhibition Conjures the Spirit World - Northshore Magazine
“I wouldn’t deceive you for the world.”
This was the catchphrase of Howard Thurston, the most famous magician of the early 20th century. While his flamboyant, theatrical brand of magic is overshadowed in cultural memory by the dramatic stunts of Harry Houdini, it was Thurston’s ability to make rabbits turn into boxes of candy and women levitate that made him the quintessential “magician.”
That’s why a six-foot poster to one of his shows, from 1929, opens a new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Muse...
This was the catchphrase of Howard Thurston, the most famous magician of the early 20th century. While his flamboyant, theatrical brand of magic is overshadowed in cultural memory by the dramatic stunts of Harry Houdini, it was Thurston’s ability to make rabbits turn into boxes of candy and women levitate that made him the quintessential “magician.”
That’s why a six-foot poster to one of his shows, from 1929, opens a new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Muse...