Charles H. Larson

Charles H. Larson
Cover of Genii (1939)
Born	Charles Henry Larson circa 1870 Chicago
Died	April 21, 1950 (age 79) Manhattan Sanatoriuim, New York City

Charles H. Larson (c.1870-1950), born in Chicago, was collector and active in the magic community in New York City.

Biography

Before his retirement he was active in the automotive field. He is best known for his Museum of Magic in New York which contained nearly 20,000 tricks from all over the world. The March 1941 issue of The Sphinx had an article describing the collection illustrated with numerous photographs.

Greater Magic A Practical Treatise on Modern Magi by John Northern Hilliard (1938) has a chapter on OLD AND NEW APPARATUS from The Charles H. Larson Collection.

It was report in Genii June 1950, that Charlie sold part of his vast collection of conjuring to Lou Tannen. In 2009 George McManus, magi-lawyer, purchased the rest of it. It eventually ended up at the Ringling Circus Musuem in Florida where it languished until Charles Kalish purchased the remnants years later. Kalish sold things piecemeal to a number of collectors, Klosterman and Ellenbogen possibly chief among them. Many of the items have a "CMS" number on them showing the Circus Museum provenance.

Honors and Awards

• The Caryl Fleming Award of the I. B. M.
• Cover Charles Larson Genii 1939 January

References

• The Linking Ring, Vol. 19, No. 4, June 1939, Viewpoint – about Charles Larson, page 275
• The Sphinx, Vol. 49, No. 3, May 1950, Charles H. Larson Dies, page 65
• Tops Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 6, June 1950, Charlie Larson Dies, page 12
• The Perennial Mystics, No 10 (1992), Larson Museum of Magic, Charles Larson, page 17