I.B.M. British Ring 21st Annual Convention 1957

The 21st Annual Convention of I.B.M. British Ring No.25 takes place 18th–22nd September 1957 in Scarborough, with Convention Headquarters at the Grand Hotel and events at Olympia, Arcadia, the Floral Hall and the St. Nicholas Hotel. Under the presidency of Jeffery Atkins, with the Mayor of Scarborough, Councillor R. P. Robinson, sending his welcome and International President L. A. Waterman sending his greetings, the week brings together overseas visitors from Australia, the U.S.A., India, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and Holland for Fogel’s bullet-catching feat, the Four-a-Side ‘War of the Roses’, the Convention Overture with the cutting of the British Ring Birthday Cake, the Grand Dealers’ Exhibition and Mammoth Dealers’ Demonstration, lecture-demonstrations by John Howie, Scotty Lang and Alex. Elmsley, the Ladies’ Afternoon, the Civic Reception, Ball and Cabaret, Midnight Magic, the Annual General Meeting, the Competition for the British Ring Shield, the Hospital Show, the Convention Banquet and After Banquet Entertainment, Children’s Playtime, the Collectors Session, the Grand Magic Gala at the Floral Hall and the Magic Films, closing on Sunday with the Convention Service and the Installation of Les Levante as the new President.

President Jeffery Atkins extends greetings on behalf of the British Ring to all members and overseas visitors who are with the Ring to celebrate its Twenty-first Annual Convention — without doubt, he says, a very special occasion in the history of the organisation, and one he is proud to preside over. He thanks the hard-working Secretary and the members of the Convention Committee for the excellent arrangements made to ensure a memorable Convention, thanks the Mayor and Corporation of Scarborough for their invitation to meet in their delightful town, and wishes that a pleasant time will be spent by all and that many new friendships will be formed. The Mayor of Scarborough, Councillor R. P. Robinson, writing from the Mayor’s Parlour at the Town Hall, extends a welcome in advance and looks forward to meeting everyone in person; Scarborough once had a slogan, ‘There’s Magic in the Air’, which he considers most appropriate to the occasion, and he hopes for a record attendance and that the 21st Convention will be a highlight in the history of the Brotherhood. The International President of the I.B.M., L. A. Waterman, sends a photograph with greetings and salutations to the Ring at its 21st Annual Convention, with best wishes for every good thing to British Ring No. 25 and the hope that the Ring in Britain and the I.B.M. in America may continue to work together in harmony.

The Ring’s officers for the year are President Jeffery Atkins, President-elect Les Levante, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Organising Secretary Wm. G. Stickland (“The Wand”, Ferndown, Dorset), Assistant Hon. Secretary and Treasurer H. J. Atkins (176 Hill Lane, Southampton), Hon. Librarian Bill West, Hon. Editor Ken De Courcy (editor of ‘The Budget’), Hon. Solicitor Donald Crombie, Hon. Auditor F. A. Carter, Publicity Officer Robert Johnson and Welfare Officer Eddie Dexter (14 Derwent Avenue, Southport; Southport 87342), to whom Ringers hearing of any case of sickness or accident should report. The Scarborough Convention Committee comprises W. Frankland, Paul Graham, Francis Haxton, Geoffrey Robinson, Wilfred Tyler and Peter Warlock, with Paul Graham in charge of Stage Management and Oscar Paulson directing the Shield Competition.

The British Ring welcomes its Overseas Visitors, including: from Australia, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Warner, I.B.M., and Mr. Chas. Wicks (International Vice President, I.B.M.); from the U.S.A., Dr. Zina Bennett, I.B.M., Mystic Craig, I.B.M. (I.B.M. Ambassador of Goodwill) and Mr. and Mrs. John B. Cook, I.B.M.; from India, Gogia Pasha, I.B.M.; from Canada, Mr. and Mrs. ‘Scotty’ Lang, I.B.M., and Mr. and Mrs. W. Stoba; from Sweden, Mr. and Mrs. Nils Simonson, I.B.M., and Pedro; from Italy, Prof. Alberto Sitta, I.B.M. (President of the Club Magico Italiano) and Mr. Tedeschi; from Norway, Mr. and Mrs. Egelo; from Belgium, M. Daurie, M. Paternotte and Mr. Van Hove; from Denmark, Mr. Nils Staalo; and from Holland, Henk Vermeyden, I.B.M., and Cas Ziekmann.

Convention Headquarters is the Grand Hotel, where events are announced on the fixture boards at the Registration Office, and a blackboard is provided for any alterations or special announcements. Official Convention hosts, distinguished by ‘Ask Me’ rosettes, are particularly anxious to assist newcomers to conventions, who should make themselves known to the hosts with a view to introductions being effected, and the Stewards will also be happy to give information regarding any events. There are two Registration Desks, open in the headquarters throughout the Convention — one for delegates who have previously registered, the other for registrants at the Convention. Please wear your Convention badge, which shows all delegates your name: the rule “Admission only by badge” will be strictly enforced for Convention events, and the badge admits to all events excepting public shows and the banquet. A service of buses for the convenience of delegates attending the evening Gala Show will run from the Aquarium Top to the Floral Hall and return, fare 6½d. each way.

The Convention opens on Wednesday 18th September. The Grand Dealers’ Exhibition opens in the Ballroom of the Headquarters Hotel and runs Wednesday to Sunday, with seventeen dealers exhibiting — Murray, Chris Thornton, Max Andrews (Vampire) Ltd., Bradford Magic Studios, Jack Hughes, George A. Jenness, Gil Leaney, Val Andrews, Magical Exchange Service, Oscar Oswald, Presto Magic, Cliff Lount, Supreme Magic Co., Theatrical Supplies, Unique Magic Studio and Dick Chavel, with L. Davenport & Co. in a Private Suite. Each year dealers go to considerable expense to present their exhibitions at the British Ring Convention, and all are eager to show their ‘latest’, with many exclusives on show for the first time. At 2.30pm in the Olympia Ballroom, The Amazing Fogel attempts to catch six bullets at once between his teeth: each member of the firing squad may use his own rifle and ammunition, and the bullets will be marked. A dozen magicians have been killed over the years attempting to catch one bullet and no man has ever tried to catch six; even Lloyd’s will not insure Mr. Fogel for this experiment, though he has indemnified all concerned against any consequences — and those who cannot bear to watch may read all about it in Thursday’s newspapers. At 3.15pm at Olympia comes A Four-a-Side ‘War of the Roses’, in which Yorkshire — George Horner (Leeds), Bob Lawrence (Yorks.), Ralph E. Hall (Sheffield) and Harold G. Beaumont (Huddersfield), arranged and compèred by Cyro — meets Lancashire — Jack Eddleston (Blackburn, ‘Magic with a Smile’), Alastair (Manchester, Mysteries), Mo Howarth (Burnley) and John Todd (Southport), arranged and compèred by Ken Green — with the performances judged by Nils Simonson, Ken Warner, Zina Bennett, Cecil Tebbett and Douglas Swanson. At 8pm at Olympia the Convention Overture opens with the official opening by the President, Jeffery Atkins, and the cutting of the British Ring Birthday Cake by the Mayor of Scarborough, Councillor R. P. Robinson, followed by the introduction of the overseas visitors and ‘Short and Snappy’, a stage presentation of magic and novelty with Scotty Lang (from the land of the Maple Leaf), Henry Francis (Dignified Deceptions), The Nonsuch Sisters (Riding to Tennessee) and Harry and Marjorie Fletcher (Tricks of the Trade). Close-Up Magic at your own table is presented by Jack Avis, George Blake, John Derris, Alex. Elmsley, Frederica, Tom Harris, Francis Haxton, Fred Lowe, John Ramsay, Gustave Southall, Peter Warlock and His Honour Ernest Wethered, plus dancing until midnight with Peter Legh and his Orchestra. The thanks of the British Ring are extended to Jack Hughes for the Birthday Cake.

Thursday 19th September begins at 9.45am with the judging of the Dealers’ Trophy, presented by Mystic Craig for the most attractive stand and currently held by Max Andrews, by V. W. Brown, Esq., Display Manager, by kind permission of Messrs. Rowntrees, Scarborough — who will win it this year? At 10.30am in the South Lounge of the Grand Hotel the Mammoth Dealers’ Demonstration begins, each dealer taking a thirteen-minute turn: Theatrical Supplies (10.30), Jack Hughes (10.43), Magical Exchange (10.56), Supreme Magic (11.09), Cliff Lount (11.22), Unique Magic Studio (11.35), L. Davenport & Co. (11.48), Dick Chavel (12.01pm), Gil Leaney (12.14), Oscar Oswald (12.27), Max Andrews (Vampire) Ltd. (12.40) and Presto Magic (12.53). At 2.30pm in the South Lounge John Howie, the North Country magician known to readers of the ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Pentagram’, gives the lecture-demonstration ‘K(NO)W Tricks Like Old Tricks!’, and at 4.15pm ‘Scotty’ Lang, the Canadian visitor who last came to Britain when Buxton was the Convention venue, presents ‘Canadian Capers’, a number of personalised items requiring the minimum of apparatus but giving the maximum effect. At 2.30pm the Ladies’ Afternoon, ‘Fashions & Flowers’, takes place in the Ballroom of the St. Nicholas Hotel (opposite H.Q.): a fashion show of separates, both English and Continental, presented by Messrs. Country Clothes of St. Nicholas Street, with afternoon tea, and a Millinery Parade, each hat accompanied by a suitable floral arrangement, presented by Mrs. Edna Garvey of The Hat Shop, 36a St. Nicholas Cliff, and ‘Louise’ the Florist of St. Nicholas Street. Voting papers for the Annual General Meeting must be left at the Reception Desk not later than 4pm. In the evening, at Olympia, the Mayor and Mayoress of Scarborough (Councillor and Mrs. R. P. Robinson) give the Civic Reception, Ball and Cabaret: dancing in the Ballroom at 8.00pm; the Mayor and President and the official party proceed to the Ballroom at 8.30pm, where the Mayor will briefly welcome his guests; continuous refreshments are served on the Balcony from 9pm until 11pm; the Cabaret at 10.45pm features Milton Woodward and Millicent Cooper in ‘A Spheric Silken Fantasy’, The Taylor Maid Lovelies, and Susan and Derek Dene; and the evening closes with the National Anthem at midnight. George Smallwood’s Tombola Stall will be calling for support at the Civic Reception. At midnight at the Grand Hotel, British Ring members of the Order of the Magi present ‘Midnight Magic’, a fast-moving magical entertainment.

Friday 20th September opens at 10am prompt with the Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers in the South Lounge of the Grand Hotel (members only), under Chairman Jeffery Atkins; a printed agenda will be handed to each member. The Group Photograph is taken at the Grand Hotel at noon, and the Harry Kaye Memorial Album will be on view at the Registration Desk, with all members and visitors invited to record their names in it in remembrance of the late Harry Kaye. At 2pm sharp at Arcadia, Oscar Paulson again introduces the Competition for the British Ring Shield (Band Call 11.30am), with twenty-three competitors — Fred Wiles (Derby), A. Seth (Hull), Ralph Hall and Mollie (Rotherham), Ken Miller (Whitley Bay), Clare (East Grinstead), David de Twistah (Paisley), Jack Stephenson (Newcastle-on-Tyne), Hedley and Vilma Fawcett (Otley), Arturo (Hull), Revd. Michael Seacome (Gloucester), Kal Ellis (Kings Lynn), Joy (Fenay Bridge), Ron MacMillan (London), Frank Richmond (Blaydon-on-Tyne), Yogi (Largs), A. Chapman (Manchester), Sandy Jordan (Wolverhampton), Harold G. Beaumont (Huddersfield), Hubert Caddy (Lewes), Dennis Gardner (Nottingham), Matheson Taylor (Solihull), Margaret Wilson (Birmingham) and Alastair (Cheadle) — judged by The Great Levante (Chairman), S. H. Fewster, Scotty Lang, J. Lea Axon, Mystic Craig, Rev. Louis Ewart, Charles Wicks, Milton Woodward and Claude Chandler, with Mo Howarth as Stage Manager, Alfred Gabriel as Musical Director and Jack Potter as Timekeeper. The awards are the British Ring Shield and a cash prize of £10 for the most entertaining magical act, the Conventioneers’ Trophy for the greatest originality, the Craig Trophy for the best performance by a lady magician, the Theo Speaker Cup and £5 for the runner-up and a third prize of £3; competitors are allowed ten minutes, with a red light flashed after nine, and anyone exceeding ten and a half minutes is automatically disqualified. At 2.30pm, in the Children’s Ward of Scarborough Hospital, Cyro, Tom Harris, Masko, Wilfred Tyler, Fred Wiles and Bill Herring present the Hospital Show; artistes leave H.Q. hotel at 2.00pm with transport arranged, and Conventioneers who wish to go along should arrange their own transport and will be most welcome. The Grand Convention Banquet is held at the Grand Hotel at 7.0 for 7.30pm, with the President as Chairman and Paul Graham as Toastmaster: the menu is Hors d’Oeuvre Suédoise, Garbure aux Perles, Suprême of Halibut Véronique, Roast Surrey Capon and Bacon with Bread Sauce and Game Chips, French Beans Sauté and New Potatoes, Peach Dijonnaise, Petit Fours and Coffee; the toasts are to The Queen (the President), The Borough of Scarborough (proposed by J. Milton Woodward, with response by the Mayor), The British Ring (proposed by Wm. ‘Scotty’ Lang, with response by the President) and The Ladies and Visitors (proposed by Rex Reader, with response by Dr. Zina Bennett); and the lucky number on your menu card might win you the Craig Surprise. At 10pm you have the choice of two after-banquet entertainments: ‘What! No Magic’ in the Sea View Lounge, an entertainment of magic’s kindred arts presented by members of the British Ring — Troublewit (Ken De Courcy), Balloonology (Frank Land), Rag Pictures (Professor Bofeys), Ventriloquism (Mo Howarth), Paper Tearing (Oscar Paulson), Mentalism (John Todd and Jill), Lightning Artistry (Valdo) and Campanology, with Fred Crowson presenting ‘The British Ringers’, compèred by John Salisse; or ‘International Magic’ in the South Lounge, a special entertainment by visitors from overseas — John Shearer (Scotland), Egelo (Norway), Henk Vermeyden (Holland), Dr. Zina Bennett (U.S.A.), Pedro and Helge Widstrom (Sweden), Daurie (Belgium), Ken Warner (Australia), Scotty Lang (Canada) and Gogia Pasha (India), introduced by Mystic Craig. Following the After Banquet Entertainment, British Ring members of the London Society of Magicians present ‘Midnight Magic’ at the Grand Hotel.

Saturday 21st September starts at 10.30am with Wilfred Tyler’s Children’s Playtime at Arcadia, with a selection by The Arcadia Pianists, Edwin (the West Country Magician), Drew Masters and Tess in ‘Talk, Tricks and Tartan’, Stanley Marelle of Birmingham with ventriloquism as well as magic, Chas. Bowyer (the Ace of Magical Jokers), Margaret Kent and her poodles and Fred Barton of Southport, with the clowns and funny men Uncle Tom Harris, Fred Wiles, Masko, Will Norman, Bill Herring, Billy McComb and E. Jackson Laurie; Cyro is Stage Manager, Marjorie Robinson Wardrobe Mistress, Roy Harrison House Manager and Helen Strachan Property Mistress. At 2.30pm in the South Lounge of the Grand Hotel, Stanley Thomas organises and introduces the Collectors Session — following his lecture ‘Relics and Recollections’ at last year’s Brighton Convention, a panel of collectors each display and talk about a selection of their magical treasures: Wilford Hutchinson (‘Rising Cards’), Dick Armour (‘Le Roy Talma & Bosco’), George Davenport (‘Pulls’), George Jenness (‘The Maskelynes’) and Capt. Leonard Williams (‘Past Magicians’ Masterpieces’). At 4pm in the South Lounge Alex. Elmsley, though young in years one of the finest magical thinkers in the country, presents the lecture-demonstration ‘Low Cunning’, showing how subtlety and skill can be blended to produce the miraculous. The International Brotherhood of Magicians (British Ring) presents the Grand Magic Gala at the Floral Hall at 2.30pm and 7.45pm, headed by Gogia Pasha, the world-famous Indian magician and original Gilly Gilly Man, direct from India: the Stars of Magic are the Fred Percival Orchestra, Tom Harris (The Magical Schoolmaster), Joy (‘A joy forever’), Chung Chin Foo of Italy in ‘A Chinese Fantasy’, Valdo (The Original Tramp Artist), the Wonder Bar presented by Milton Woodward (The Magical Bartender) and Millicent Cooper (The Mannequin), introducing the Lightning Dress Parade, and, after the intermission, Egelo (The Master Magician of Norway), Pedro (the internationally famous Swedish comedy magician), the popular T.V. personality Teddy Bear Sooty with Harry Corbett and The Great Gogia Pasha, introduced by John Salisse with Paul Graham as Stage Manager. At 11.45pm in the South Lounge, Mystic Craig presents Ed Murrow’s ‘Person to Person’ film featuring Blackstone, and other films including his ‘Highlites of the Brighton Convention’.

The Convention closes on Sunday 22nd September with a Special Convention Service at the Grand Hotel at 10am, conducted by Ringer Rev. Canon Louis A. Ewart, Chaplain of the Actors’ Church Union and the Showmen’s Guild and Vicar of Earls Barton, Northampton — undenominational, with hymn sheets provided and a silver collection for the Welfare Fund — followed at noon in the Grand Hotel by a Cocktail Party and at 12.45pm by the Installation of the new President, Les Levante. Au revoir until we meet in 1958.

Throughout the Convention, the Giant Tombola, arranged by George Smallwood and Dorothy Fiddick, raises funds for the Benevolent Fund, and the Museum, with Dick Armour as Curator, invites you to ‘see the new that’s old and the old that’s new’ — with a special display, The Evolution of a Trick, of posters, coins, cards, photographs and old apparatus. Greetings to the Convention are sent by the International Brotherhood of Magicians (International President L. A. Waterman, 1st Vice President Mrs. Hazel M. Krock, 2nd Vice President Reeder C. Hutchinson, International Secretary A. L. Baldwin, M.D., International Treasurer Thomas A. Dowd and Linking Ring Editor Alvin R. Plough, with Wm. G. Stickland as International Vice President for Britain), and The Magic Circle invites everyone to continue the magical ‘Merry-Go-Round’ at its Magic Festival at the Scala Theatre, London, 14th–19th October. Convention stewards include Jeffery Atkins (Registration), Francis Haxton (Banquet, Close-Up and Midnight Magic), Peter Warlock (Souvenir Programme, Convention Prelude and Lectures), Eddie Dexter (Dealers’ Exhibition), George Smallwood (Tombola), Wilfred Tyler (Children’s Playtime), Captain J. Turner (General Meeting and Chief Steward), Paul Graham (International and Kindred Arts Shows), Robert Johnson (Ladies’ Afternoon, Publicity and Outside Attractions), Wm. G. Stickland and Jeffery Atkins (Gala Show), Oscar Paulson (Shield Competition), Mystic Craig (Magic Films) and Stanley Thomas (Returning Officer).