Doc's Midway Cookhouse Presents The American Midway Archives, Carnival History and more . . .

Old Carnival Photos, Carnival History, Traveling Shows, Sideshows

You are here: Home / Magic Acts History / Mentalist Shows

Mentalist Shows

By

Can Someone Really Read Your Mind?

Mentalist Shows were popular on carnival midways in the early 1900’s.

alt="mentalist shows"

Mentalist Shows and fortune tellers were all the rage at the turn of the 20th century.

Even the Great Houdini found interest in this area and because of his training in magic, set about in the 1920’s on a crusade to debunk practicing spiritualist as frauds. ( a practice that cost him his friendship with the great writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle )

Shows like these provided entertainment that delighted the rather naive crowds of that period.

They should not be confused with fortune telling “Mitt Camps” which promised to tell your future by reading the palm of your hand or the bumps on your head but were often nothing more than ‘clip joints’ and run by pickpockets and bunco artist.

This rather grainy photo of the Great Hilliar’s mentalist show was taken sometime in the early 1900’s

I wish I could buy a ticket to go see it today…

Magic Acts

Magicians Hilliar and Houdini

Midway Magic Acts – Houdini and Hilliar Were Great Friends  William J. Hilliar was a magician and author who edited Billboard‘s “Magic and Magicians” page for many years. He was also close friends with Houdini. “That friendship will always stand out as one of the dominating factors in my life,” said Hilliar. In 1933, Hilliar […]

Carnivals

WILLIAM C. GASKILL

The Second Generation of the Gaskill Midway October 22, 1882 – February 1935 William C. Gaskill was born in Alliance, Ohio, on October 22, 1882, the son of pioneering carnival showman Frank W. Gaskill and Mary Lou Osterstock Gaskill. Unlike many children who later entered the carnival business, William did not have to discover the […]

Carnival Movies

Showbiz And The Big Screen

Hollywood And The Midway Movies Come To The Tented World If you’re like me, you love old films that have anything to do with ‘The Biz’. Victor Mature is great in the 1959 classic: The Big Circus which is an example of a little known Hollywood gem. Elvis Presley in Roustabout features colorful scenes from the […]