Colon, Michigan - Magic Capital of America

Colon, Michigan is the Magic Capital of America?

I'm from Michigan and I've never heard of Colon the Magic Capital of America. However, I have heard of the magician Harry Blackstone Sr., who had lived and was buried in Colon. There is no doubt that he was one of the world's greatest illusionists, coming very close to Houdini.

But, for years, what has been drawing magicians to this small town? At its peak, Colon's population has topped over 1200 and the closest medium-sized town is Pinckney, Michigan near the Indiana border. Maybe its Colon's natural beauty.

Harry Blackstone Sr.

Blackstone was born Harry Boughton in Chicago in 1885. As a magician, his greatest tricks had included "The Vanishing Birdcage", "The Dancing Handkerchief", and "The Floating Light Bulb."

Like many Chicagoans, Blackstone and his wife wound up in Michigan looking for a summer retreat. It was Blackstone's wife Inez who actually discovered Colon by accident. On a road trip from Kalamazoo, she got lost and came upon Angel Island, a 240 acre island on Sturgeon Lake near Colon. She knew immediately that it would be an ideal summer home and private escape for her performer husband. Harry Sr. fell in love at first sight and they bought the island. Years passed and Harry Sr. eventually made the Angel Island retreat his most permanent home and base of operations. It was at his Colon workshop where he constructed his greatest tricks.

In 1927, Australian magician Percy Abbott paid Blackstone a visit in Colon. He liked the small town and Blackstone so much that he stayed and helped the master magician start the Blackstone Magic Company.

Although Harry Sr. died in Hollywood, California in 1965, his ashes were brought back to Michigan where it was interred at the cemetery across from his Angel Island home.

Abbott's Magic Manufacturing Company

After a falling out with Blackstone, Percy Abbott started his own company, Abbott's Magic Manufacturing Company, with partner Recil Bordner, an inventor of magic tricks. In 1934, Abbott and Bordner launched Colon's first magicians' convention, Abbott's Get Together. Eighty magicians attended.

Recil Bordner

In 1959, Percy Abbott sold his share of the business to partner Recil Bordner. In 1961, Bordner invited Harry Blackstone to perform at Abbott's Get Together, burying any remaining animosity that the master magician had toward his former partner, Percy Abbott.

In 2007, Abbott's Get Together celebrated its 70th birthday, boasting over 1,000 attendees from all over the world. As for Abbott's Magic Manufacturing Company, it's now the largest manufacturer and supplier of products for magicians.

Recil Bordner's son Greg and family now run the business.

More about Colon

In 2003, Abbott's wound up with some competition when Rick and Cheryl Fisher opened the FAB Magic Company. They've differentiated themselves from Abbott's by producing magic tricks and supplies that are individually handcrafted not mass produced.

SOURCES:

"Muggles can visit Colon", Cathy Collison, Detroit Free Press, URL: (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070724/YAK03/707240402/1073/YAK)

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MIMARmagic.html

"Blackstone: a biographical sketch", Daniel Waldron, URL: (http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mhc_mhm_blackstone_49265_7.pdf)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott's_Get_Together

http://www.blackstonemagic.com/id28.htm