The name of Hartz is famous in the world of Victorian magic. Augustus and Joseph Hartz, born in England to German parents, were well known for their performing skills and innovative tricks. The brothers came to the US to tour in the 1860s. Augustus Hartz settled in the US and opened several magic shops in various parts of the US in the 1870s, including New York City.Augustus Hartz (1843-1929) was the younger brother of Joseph Hartz (1836-1903), a magician famous for his "Floating Head" trick and also for conjuring many strange things out of hats - such as bottes, ribbons, bones and rabbits. Joseph was also known for what he called "Crystal Magic" - working with transparent objects only, so that he seemed not to be using any special tricks. Joseph patented several of his magic tricks. I wrote about one, the Magic Bon Bon Box, in an earlier post.
Augustus Hartz specialized in making a woman seem to vanish from her chair. He also performed his brother's "Inexhaustible Hat" trick. According to MagicPedia, Joseph and Augustus Hartz had a magic shop in New York City in the 1870s. Augustus settled in Cleveland, Ohio about 1880, and left the stage; though he later managed the Park Theater in that city.
And then there was the rather mysterious George Hartz, of Hartz and Levy in the above ad. George Hartz and Mark A. Levy ran the Magical Bazaar at 1131 Broadway in New York City in the late 1870s. In 1871 they had run the Magical Repository in Boston, at 309 Washington Street. George Hartz was born in England about 1846, like the famous Hartz brothers - just the right age to (perhaps) be a brother of theirs.
I assume that George Hartz was a relative of Augustus and Joseph Hartz. George and Augustus were two separate individuals: Augustus was enumerated in Cleveland in the 1880 census and listed his occupation as "Traveling Showman." Joseph had gone back to Europe by 1880. George Hartz was living with the Levy family (his wife's family - Mark was his brother in law) in New York in 1880 and did not list a profession. In 1880, Mark Levy was listed in the census as a Marble Dealer. The Magical Bazaar was no more.
Perhaps the two Hartz magic shops on Broadway was just a strange - perhaps magical - coincidence. As for the Oriental Trick Ball, the ad does not make it abundantly clear what it did. I am hoping that readers better versed in magic history will illuminate this and anything else about the Hartz family, in the comments.
Advertisement from Guide to N.Y.C. and vicinity (1873) at Internet Archive.
Christopher, Milbourne. Magic: A Picture History. (New York: Dover, 1991), p. 107.
Vacha, John. Showtime in Cleveland (Kent State UP, 2001), p. 56.
An excellent short biography of Joseph Hartz is here at Magicnook.
George Hartz: 1880 US Census, Isabella A. Levy household, New York City Ward 16, see here at FamilySearch.
Augustus Hartz: 1880 US Census, R.M.N. Taylor household, Glenville, Cuyahoga, Ohio, see here at FamilySearch. Augustus states that he was English-born, like George, which strengthens the possibility of their being related.
9 comments:
Nice researching job Lidian! Magic history is so interesting. I've always wondered if you were born as an identical twin back then, if one of the most promising career choices you had was theatrical magic. Maybe they were related?
I could use an inexhaustible hat. Sure would make storing all my stuff a lot easier!
Eric - I think that George was their less-famous brother or cousin, probably. It would be fun to do tricks if you had an identical twin to help out...hmmm, that might work in a mystery novel plot! :)
Tori - It would be great. And the hat could do all the cleaning, too! :)
If you get a chance come over to my blog. I have a vintage restaurant that is operating. Pretty neat. It is in the next town over.
Grampy - Will do! That sounds great.
Unfortunately when I hear the name Hartz I don't think "magic", I think flea products for pets!
Hairball - Yeah, I kept getting the Hartz Mountain people when I googled! You know, it would have been cool if it was the same family - the Disappearing Flea Trick Collar, etc.
Hartz and Levy also opened Chicago's first magic shop at the end of 1874. It lasted only a few months.
ChgoMagic - I wonder why it was not more successful?
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