Fredrik becomes BLACKSTONE THE GREAT

Early in his career, magician Harry Boughton used a variety of names and promoted himself "The Great Stanley," "Mr Quick," "Leroy Boughton," and "Beaumont the Great" (among other names). Sometime about 1917 he was able to purchase -- at a great discount -- lithographs advertising a magician known as "Fredrik the Great." The herald on the left promotes a two night stand at Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Opera House in October of 1917. According to Blackstone's first wife, Inez Blackstone-Kitchen (promoted on this herald as "Inez Nourse, the Little Banjo Fiend"), anti-German sentiment was growing as the US entered World War I. That, combined with the start of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, was having a noticeable and negative effect on the box office. One night after a particularly light audience, Ms. Blackstone-Kitchen recounted the story of walking down the street in January 1918 as the great magician pondered the future. As she explained, they spotted a powerful billboard for Blackstone cigars and instantly the name "Blackstone the Great" was chosen. Over a three day period the name Fredrik was dropped and the billing was changed to BLACKSTONE. The herald on the right shows the same basic design used about three years later to promote a performance at Smith's Opera House in Geneva, New York. These very rare pieces are in the collection of former Blackstone assistant Richard L. Berry, who was given the heralds by the great magician while working at his home in Colon, Michigan during the summer of 1949.