FOUND! One of Asa Jr.'s Magic Tricks Located

I didn’t build this site and write a book about the life of Asa Candler Jr. with the belief that I know everything about his life. Quite the opposite. While at this point I can say with confidence that I know more about his life than anyone else, including previous biographers, I’m intensely aware of the remaining gaps in his history.

Asa Jr.’s magic years is a period that I’m particularly interested in, one where I’ve most wanted to find documentation and photographic evidence but come up empty handed everywhere I look. I’ve spoken with the two most prolific magic collectors in the country, one of whom is the archivist for one of the most famous celebrity magicians working today. Although both men knew about Asa Candler, Jr. and his infamous collection, neither had documentation or photographs.

Fortunately a magician by the name of Baffling Bill contacted me through this site and sent me information about an apparatus that he owns: a Thayer-made trick called the Phantom Cargo Cage, that’s confirmed to have originally belonged to Buddie. This is a trick that resided at Briarcliff Mansion in the third floor ballroom and would have been used during one of his magic soirées between 1928 and 1931.

Visit the Magic page to read about Asa Jr.’s magic years, view photographs of this trick and another one Bill helped to identify from Buddie’s original collection, and see a video of the Phantom Cargo Cage illusion being performed in front of a live audience. It’s pretty awesome.

If you know anything about Asa Jr.’s life, no matter how small the detail, please let me know me through the contact form on this site.