Magicana (Woodfield)

Inside Conjurers' Magazine

For other uses, see Magicana (disambiguation).

Magicana was a magic newsletter started by Bill Woodfield in 1946 as a "A Trade Paper for Magicians" when he was 18 at the encouragement of Walter Gibson, Bill Larsen Sr. and Charlie Miller.

The first two issues of Magicana were published as a newsletter (four pages) of 1,500 each on May and June in 1946. They contained tricks, news and reviews.

New Series #1
Charlie Miller takes over

The Conjurors' Magazine offered to publish his newsletter, beginning with Vol 3. No. 7 (Sept. 1947) issue, with complete editorial freedom inside to make Magicana "A Magazine Within a Magazine". Woodfield published a condensed version of his first two issue, which turned out to be the only one published inside of The Conjurors' Magazine.

Inside Genii

Woodfield then made the same deal with Bill Larsen Sr. for Genii magazine. Bill promised total editorial Freedom and Magicana started running inside of Genii beginning in Vol. 12, N° 5 (January 1948) issue.

Charlie Miller picked up the editing duties, also still inside of Genii (as well as the Intermission column), starting on November 1964 calling it the "New Series". Magicana continued virtually uninterrupted until April 1978. This was the last of the "New Series", which was numbered #154. A number of Charlie's later columns were ghosted by Elizabeth Wilson (wife of Ron Wilson) and Jules Lenier when Charlie was off on cruise ships.

The column had a two year hiatus until the January 1981 issue saw the return of Magician as a regular column (it was no longer numbered or considered a "magazine within a magazine".) From 1981 till 1987 Charlie's writings continued on a more or less regular basis, ghosted at various times by others, including James Patton and Johnny Thompson.

Beginning with February, 1989 issue James Patton officially took over the duties of the Magicana section within Genii. Tony Giorgio was the last editor of Magicana when Woodfield requested that Magicana in a letter to the editor that it finally be retired after 52 years of publication on August 1997.

References

• Dariel Fitzkee's review in Genii, Vol. 10, N°10, June 1946, page 333.
• Intermission by James Patton, Genii February, 1989
• Genii September 1997 page 12 - Bill Woodfield's letter to the editor.
• New Phoenix, page 93