The 12th Annual Convention of I.B.M. British Ring No.25 takes place 30th September to 3rd October 1948 in Bournemouth, with the Burlington Hotel as Convention Headquarters and events at the Town Hall and the Boscombe Hippodrome. Herbert J. Collings is President, with Oswald Rae, Past President and Founder, welcoming delegates on his behalf, and Harry Kaye is Director of Programmes. The programme includes a Civic Reception given by the Mayor and Council of Bournemouth, the Competition for the British Ring Shield, a Ladies Only Afternoon, an International Cabaret, Childrenâs Playtime, the Grand Magic Gala and the Grand Convention Banquet, with overseas visitors from the U.S.A., Australia, Denmark, France, Belgium and Holland.
The Twelfth Annual Convention of the British Ring (International Brotherhood of Magicians No. 25) is held at Bournemouth â âA Garden Cityâ. The Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor J. W. Moore, J.P., extends a very sincere welcome and hopes that delegates will not make the error of arranging so heavy a Convention agenda that they have no opportunity of enjoying the amenities of the town; Bournemouth in September, he says, is a lovely place. The Corporation kindly offers delegates free facilities during the Convention for Golf, Bowls, Tennis and Putting in the Public Parks, and for Bathing and Deck Chairs on the sea-front and in the Pleasure Gardens; delegates wishing to use them must show their Convention Badges.
The President, Herbert J. Collings â whose greeting in the programme, under the name Col Ling Soo, wishes everyone a very happy time and offers a special welcome to visitors from across the seas â is unable to attend through indisposition. Oswald Rae, Past President, Founder and Hon. Life Member of the British Ring, welcomes magical visitors on his behalf, joins in wishing the President a speedy recovery, and thanks the Convention Committee and particularly the hard-working Hon. Secretary, Bill Stickland. Wm. G. Stickland, welcoming delegates to his âHome Groundâ, recalls that the Ring has grown from a membership of fifty in 1931, when the first Convention was held in Professor Bofeysâ garden at Cheltenham, to a present membership of over seven hundred, and extends a special welcome to the Immediate Past-International President, Ren Clark, and Mrs. Clark, to Charles Wicks, President of the Australian Society of Magicians, and to the other overseas visitors. Ren Clark writes on behalf of the Executive Board, International Officers and Members of the I.B.M. that his fondest hope to be with the Ring at Bournemouth is realised, and sends greetings to all in attendance. The I.B.M.âs officers include H. Adrian Smith (International President), Walter Coleman (1st International Vice President), Ralph DeShong (2nd International Vice President) and Wm. G. Stickland (Vice President, England).
The British Ringâs officers are President Herbert J. Collings; Past President and Founder Oswald Rae; Vice-Presidents Ralph Chart, Gus Fowler, John Gambling, Harry Kaye, Les Levante, Jasper Maskelyne, âMurrayâ and Wm. G. Stickland; Hon. Secretary and Treasurer Wm. G. Stickland (âThe Wandâ, Dudsbury Crescent, Ferndown, Wimborne, Dorset) with H. J. Atkins (40 Northlands Road, Southampton) as Assistant Hon. Secretary; Hon. Librarian Archie Tear; Hon. Solicitor Donald Crombie; and Hon. Editor Howard D. Denovan. The Committee is L. Bofeys, F. A. Carter, Ralph Chart, Douglas Francis, Harry Kaye, Walter Kemp, M.B.E., Wilfred Tyler, Peter Waring, Peter Warlock and Eric P. Wilson; the Benevolent Fund Committee is John Gambling and F. E. Walker; and the Convention Committee is Ralph Chart, Harry Kaye and Wm. G. Stickland. Harry Kaye is Director of Programmes, the Competitions are under the direction of Professor Bofeys, the Childrenâs Show is in the charge of Alfred Legge and the Gala Box Office is in the charge of Percy Bee. Members of the British Ring wishing to become full members of the I.B.M. should apply to Wm. G. Stickland for membership forms. The overseas visitors welcomed to the Convention include Ren Clark and Arnold Furst (U.S.A.), Charles Wicks and Len Mason (Australia), Fritz Olai (Denmark), Jean Poisson and Guy Bert (France), Louis Tummers and De Bodt (Belgium), J. H. Vermeyden (Holland) and Stanley Davis and Cardessa (Wales).
The Convention opens on Thursday 30th September. The Registration Office opens at 11am in the Hall of the Burlington Hotel, where members and visitors receive their Official Badge and Programme and where tickets for the Convention Banquet (10/6) are obtainable. At 4.30pm the Official Opening of the Convention takes place in the Ballroom, by Oswald Rae, who will introduce the visitors. At 7.45pm the Civic Reception is held in the Grand Hall of the Town Hall, by invitation of the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the County Borough of Bournemouth, with the Mayor and Mayoress receiving guests, Impromptu Magic and dancing until 11.45pm (evening dress requested; entrance only by invitation cards issued with the Convention Programme). A cabaret, compèred by Paul Graham, presents Fritz Olai of Denmark in âA Symphony in Silkâ, Stanley Norman with Enid Scott presenting âGeorgie Fitzalanâ and Jimmy Green as âThe Human Time Tableâ, and Peter Warlock presents the first phase of âMind Out of Timeâ, an experiment in which he will attempt to see and record the headlines of Saturdayâs âBournemouth Daily Echoâ. A special service of buses runs from the Burlington Hotel at 7.30pm. After the Civic Reception, Magic Films and Close-Up Magic arranged by Francis Haxton are shown at the Burlington Hotel. Throughout the Convention Bill Pennâs Famous Card Exhibition is shown in the Billiards Room from 5.30 to 6.30pm each day, the Dealersâ Exhibition is open in the Writing and Other Rooms until Saturday evening, âStick a Cardâ offers âLucky Spotâ prizes to those pinning a card on the board in the Entrance Hall, and âThe Sun Never Sets on Magicâ, devised by Robt. Johnson, provides up-to-the-minute magic news from all the posts of the Universe.
Friday 1st October begins at 10am in the Burlington Hotel Ballroom with the Competition for the British Ring Shield, for the most entertaining act or effect, to be held for one year (holder George Smallwood), under the direction of Professor Bofeys with Donald Crombie as M.C. The judges are His Honour Judge Wethered, O.B.E., G. Sylvestre, T. Chislett and R. Andrews (Editor of âThe Bournemouth Daily Echoâ); F. G. Anderson is Timekeeper, Paul Graham handles stage management and Madge Strange is the pianist. Each competitor is limited to ten minutes, with a warning given thirty seconds before the time limit. First prize is the British Ring Shield, an Inlaid Magic Wand (presented by the President) and a ÂŁ5 5s. voucher presented by Burtini; second prize is vouchers of ÂŁ3 3s. and ÂŁ1 1s. from L. Davenport & Co. and G. Jenness; third prize is a ÂŁ3 3s. voucher from E. C. Lewis (Magikraft); and other prizes from Max Andrews and Unique Studios go to runners-up. The Worldâs Fair Cup is awarded by the Publishers for the most entertaining effect or act presented during the Convention. At 12.45pm all delegates are requested to be present for the Group Photograph in the Hotel Grounds. At 2.45pm there are two simultaneous attractions: Lectures â Demonstrations in the Dining Room by His Honour Judge Wethered, O.B.E. (âClassical Card Sleights and Modern Variationsâ, supported by Francis Haxton) and Peter Warlock (âSome Aspects of âMagical Inventionsââ), and the Ladies Only Afternoon in the Ballroom, arranged by Poppy Stickland, with a Magiciennes Programme compèred by Betty King (Trixie Queen, Yolanda, Elizabeth, Kathleen and Alice Maclay), a Fashion Parade presented by Messrs. Butlers of Boscombe (compère F. A. Fewster), Character Delineation by Madame Miranda and tea (non-residents 2/6). At 8pm the Magical Miscellany in the Hotel Ballroom opens with âA Fluorescent Fantasyâ by Jack Potter, followed at 8.20pm by an International Cabaret featuring Stanley Davis and Cardessa (Wales), Jean Poisson (France), Arnold Furst (America), Louis Tummers and De Bodt (Belgium), Guy Bert (France), J. H. Vermeyden (Holland) and Len Mason (Australia). At 10pm S. E. (âDexterousâ) Dexter presents a lecture and demonstration of Mass Hypnotism and Contact Mind Reading, and at 10.45pm Maurice Hurling, British Representative, presents the International Brotherhood of Ventriloquists programme with De Voco, Wynne de Lyle and Fred Atkins, with Close-Up Magic arranged by Francis Haxton.
Saturday 2nd October opens at 10.30am with âChildrenâs Playtimeâ at the Town Hall, arranged by Wilfred Tyler, with the Madge Strange Trio, Wilfred Tyler, Robert Edmanson, Percy Bee, Prof. Woodley, Syd De Hempsey and Stanley Marelle of Birmingham; the Registration Ticket admits delegates, and additional tickets are 2/- for adults and 1/- for children. At 11am artistes appearing in the Gala are requested to attend a Band Rehearsal at the Hippodrome. At 2.15pm the Grand Magic Gala is held at the Hippodrome, Boscombe, by courtesy of F. J. Butterworth, Esq., under the direction of Harry Kaye with Walter Kemp, M.B.E., as compère. It features George Smallwood assisted by Dorothea Woolley, Horace King and Betty, Voltaire and his Petite Parisienne, Ren Clark of the U.S.A., Deveen and his New York Blondes, Harold Poole, Marius and Mariette, George Sylvestre and Raoul and Company, with the Hippodrome Orchestra under the direction of T. S. Clarke-Brown. At 7pm the Grand Convention Banquet is held at the Burlington Hotel with Oswald Rae in the chair; the toasts are The King, the County Borough of Bournemouth, the British Ring (proposed by Charles Wicks), Ladies and Visitors (response by Ren Clark) and The Press, and the second phase of Peter Warlockâs âMind Out of Timeâ is revealed. The After Dinner Entertainment, compèred by Arthur Culpin, features Neville Crathorne, Cecil Tebbetts, Victor Peacock, Edward Love, Frederick Barlow and Marie White, Will Ayling, Norman Cliffe and Fred Castle. Impromptu Entertainments arranged by Francis Haxton follow at 11pm, and at midnight Geoff Robinson presents his latest inventions that âwill be on the market soonâ.
Sunday 3rd October closes the Convention. At 10.45am the Annual General Meeting and Election of Officials is held in the Burlington Hotel Ballroom for members only, with Oswald Rae in the chair; a printed agenda will be handed to each member and voting papers not already posted to the Hon. Secretary can be handed in at the Meeting. At 2.30pm the New President addresses the delegates in the Ballroom and declares the Convention closed.
The Convention Committee thanks the Mayor of Bournemouth, the Town Clerk (A. Lindsay Clegg), the Publicity Manager (W. Birtwisle), I. G. Woolf, the Restaurant Manager and staff of the Burlington Hotel, His Honour Judge Wethered and Peter Warlock for the lectures, Mr. & Mrs. Percy Bee for the Box Office and Registration, Francis Haxton for the impromptu shows, Walter Wandman for the badges, Eddie Dexter, Jack Potter and Geoff Robinson for the demonstrations, W. Penn and A. R. Johnson for the exhibitions, Alfred Legge for the Childrenâs Show, H. C. Martin Harvey for publicity, the prize donors, and F. J. Butterworth, Esq., and the Manager and Staff of the Boscombe Hippodrome. Notices in the programme remind delegates to wear their Convention Badge and carry their Registration Ticket, which admits them to the various functions; invite them to the First French Ring Convention at Lyons (28th April to 1st May 1949; particulars from Guy Bert, 6 Rue Saulnier, Paris 9e); remind them of the Associated Wizards of the South âGet-Togetherâ on Saturday 13th November 1948; and announce The Magic Circleâs Festival of Magic at the Scala Theatre, 4th to 9th October.
