A Magical Place in Michigan

By Linda Tancs

Touted as sporting the largest collection of magic open to the public, the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan, is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of magic for audiences of all ages. You’ll find thousands of artifacts illuminating the stories of Houdini, Blackstone, Thurston and many others. Its collections are based on the vast holdings of the late Detroit-area journalist Robert Lund, who amassed apparatus and illusions, more than 12,000 books on conjuring, letters, diaries, memorabilia, photographs, 3,000 posters, scrapbooks and periodicals, costumes and approximately 350,000 pieces of ephemera. No wonder the museum has been called the “Smithsonian of American Magic.”