Heard it through the
Grapevine An Ordinary Beer Mug? Not if you use your head; this one holds magic! Another trick (or treat) from Ralph Finch If you saw this ordinary beer mug on sale for, say, $5, would you pass it by? If you did, then the trick would be on you. See, earlier this year, this mug sold for $780 (including buyer’s premium) at Potter & Potter’s three-part auction of Jim Rawlins collection of magic stuff, including a ton of gadgets owned by world-famous magician Harry Blackstone. Now, keep your eyes on my hands as I type this story and reveal the trick. Here is how Lot 10 was described (edited): “Harry Blackstone Beer Trick Beer Mug, circa 1940. Heavy ‘sham’ glass beer mug owned and used by Harry Blackstone Sr. in his stage show. Accompanied by an LOA from George Johnstone, Blackstone’s assistant. Johnstone’s letter explains how
Well, That Caps it! Return this article by Ralph Finch, and get your 5¢ deposit back … or maybe not Selling May 23 was this item from the Signari Gallery of Las Vegas. It was estimated at $600-$800. It was described as “Dedicated to Andy Warhol by Aurelio Cesareo, 2008. Featuring one of Warhol’s famous icons, the classic ‘Pepsi’ bottle cap, 19.75 by 27.5 inches.” I sorta like Art (as in Garfunkel), and I really like classic Roman art of, um, zaftig women, but this is art? Hmmmm. I know what I like, but $800 for a bottle cap? I’d go a quarter, a buck and a quarter if the bottle — with contents — is attached. And whatever it sold for (and I don’t care), there was a 30 percent buyer’s premium.
4
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
the glass was used by Blackstone in great detail: ‘The glass beer mug was used after Harry produced the giant beer bottles from the empty (?) box. One of the bottles contained real beer. Harry filled the mug you now own and offered it to the band leader in the orchestra pit. He refused, saying it was too much beer for him to drink on the job. One of our girls handed Harry a smaller glass, about the size of double whiskey shot glass. Harry poured the contents from the big into the small glass and gave it to the band leader. The beer glass you own is not a legit one. It is thick glass but looks like it holds a lot of beer, ’taint so!” FYI: The auction featured “Blackstone memorabilia owned, used, and collected by the master, among them original oil paintings, show costumes, Blackstone’s famous Vanishing Birdcage (and other props), stone lithographs, photographs, correspondence and archival material, original cartoons and artwork, film footage and audio recordings of Blackstone and his troupe, and much more.”
