Robert Nelson

Robert Nelson
Cover of Genii (1958)
Born	Robert Alan Nelson November 16, 1901 Columbus, Ohio
Died	February 21, 1973 (age 71)
Categories	Books by Robert Nelson

Robert Nelson (1901-1973), founder of Nelson Enterprises (and Bob Nelson's Magic Shop) in Columus, Ohio, specialized in mentalism.

Biography

Nelson Enterprises was founded on February 10th, 1921 to supply props and instructions for performing mentalism on stage, as well as tools and supplies for those who pitched metaphysical lectures at public venues, and those who served private reading clients. Much of the artwork in the annual Nelson catalogues was provided by Nelson C. Hahne, who signed his art as "NH" or as "Nelson." During the 1940s, Robert Nelson purchased the entirety of Claude Alexander Conlin's stage act and remaining chromolithographic posters and sold them to performers, including Leon Mandrake, who used them to bill himself as Alexander, The Man Who Knows.

Nelson operated the "Voice of Destiny" radio program as Dr. Korda RaMayne for seven years and performed a crystal-gazing act as "RaMayne." He also published pitch books for mentalists, private readers, astrologers, and numerologists under the RaMayne name, though his Psychic Sciences publishing wing.

The company's printing department maintained its own staff to serve pitchmen and private office mentalists. Nelson's "Tomorrowscope" service, for instance, provided natal horoscope readings assembled from pre-printed sheets selected for each birth date and year, delivered to astrologers all around the United States by air-mail with a three-day turn-around. Likewise, for a slight additional fee, the RaMayne booklets could be purchased with the default author's name removed and the buyer's own name surprinted on the cover.

Nelson helped organize the Howard Thurston IBM Ring, the Columbus Magic Club, and the Magic Hobby Club of Ohio, and he served as president of all three. He maintained a small demonstration theater in his shop.

He was a prolific author of mentalism books.

Books

• Sensational Effects (1928)
• Super Mentality (1929)
• Psychic Mysteries (1929)
• The X-Ray Eye Act with Lecture (1929)
• The Psychological Reading (1929; 1933)
• Publicity Stories and Press Notices Adaptable to Your Attraction (1929)
• How to Read Sealed Billets / How to Read Sealed Messages (1929; 1933)
• Confessions of a Medium (1930)
• Psychic Mysteries (1931)
• More Effective Answers to Questions (1932)
• Pseudo-Hypnotism and Hypnotism via Radio / The Nelson Stage Hypnotism Course (1929; 1935)
• Mind Divination: One Person Program / Mind Divination: The One-Man Master Act (1933; 1957)
• Modern Blindfold Street Drive (1933)
• Super Prediction Tricks (with E.J. Moore) (1933; 1947)
• Sensational Answers (1933; 1944)
• Tele-Thought (1933)
• Hellstromism (1935)
• The Master Code (1935; 1959)
• Technique of the Private Reader (1936)
• Making Mindreading Pay (1936)
• Nelson's Super Code (1937)
• Visions of Tomorrow (1941)
• Man and Wife Mindreading Act (1942)
• The Miracle Deck (1942)
• Private Medium's Secret Guide (1942)
• Encyclopedia of Mentalism (1944)
• Sensational Answers (1944)
• Musical Thoughts (1944)
• Dante's System of Life Span Reading (1944)
• Miracles in Mentalism (and Psychic Experimentation) (1945)
• Hotel and Nite Club Mindreading (1947)
• Super Prediction Tricks (with E.J. Moore) (1947)
• The Ghost Book of Dark Secrets (1948)
• Manual of Publicity and Exploitation (1948)
• The New Dr. Q. Book (1948)
• Brain Busters (1948)
• How To Book your Attraction (1951; 1959)
• The Art of Cold Reading (1951)
• Secret Methods of the Private Reader (1953; 1964)
• The Mentalist's Manual (1953; 1964)
• TV Mentalism (1955)
• Hypno-Trix (1956)
• Projected Answers (1956)
• Miracles of the Mind (1956)
• Sensational Effects (revised) (1958)
• Master Course in Hypnotism (1958)
• New Dr. Q. Slate Routines (1958)
• E.S.P. Brain Busters (1958)
• Mentalism and Its Presentation (1959)
• More Miracles in Mentalism (1959)
• Mental Exploits (1960)
• Encyclopedia of Mentalism (3rd edition) (1960)
• Club and Party Mentalism (1961)
• Still More Miracles in Mentalism (1961)
• Comedy Mentalism, Vol. 1 (1962)
• Comedy Mentalism, Vol. 2 (1963)
• Comedy Mentalism, Vol. 3 (1964)
• Phantom Mindreader (1964)
• Sensational Mentalism (1965)
• The Horoscope Party Manual (1968)
• Sensational Mentalism, Vol. 2 (1968)
• The Last Book of Nelson : An Autobiography, Plus (1970)
• A Sequel to the Art of Cold Reading (1971)
• Sensational Mentalism, Vol. 3 (1972)
• Commercial Mentalism (1972)
• Sensational Mentalism, Vol. 4 (1977) (published posthumously)

References

• Cover The Linking Ring 1937 March, vol. 17, no. 1.
• Cover Genii 1958 February, vol. 22, no. 6.
• Obit Genii 1973 January