Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
HOW IT BEGAN
WRITTEN by Percy Abbott IN 1956
It all happened in the year 1934. Originally the business was conducted in upstairs quarters, rented at a very nominal fee. After Recil Bordner joined forces and expansion was the aim, we began looking around hopefully for more space. Within a very short time a building of sorts was available. It was a building in which had been housed for many years, a Buggy factory. The "buggy" referred to here is the horse-drawn vehicle of the B. A. (before automobiles) era. In fact, when we took over the building there still remained, wrapped and stored up against the uppermost rafters, a fancy "cutter", the winter substitute for the buggy. The renovating and moving to this building, an operation which took a great deal of our labor and efforts, was accomplished during the spring and early summer months.
Already, news of this new venture had reached the ears of the initiated and we were beginning to see the arrival of many interested Magicians.
Because we were proud of our accomplishment and our expansion we wanted to celebrate, so it was decided to invite a number of those followers of the Art to view our handiwork. The week of Labor Day was chosen for the occasion and that first year the great number of approximately fifty persons arrived. Shows were planned for their entertainment. Gayety, laughter, comradeship and enthusiasm were the order of the day.
That initial affair was such a happy success from the viewpoint of the guests as well as the hosts that, on the spur of the moment, a suggestion was voiced, "Let's make this a yearly affair." So came the Get-Together. Like a tiny child, nurtured by happy associations, memories, the bond of true brotherhood, it grew and grew and grew, until in recent years, despite constant improvements, changes, etc., it was impossible to contain itself in the cramped environment of a small town. Housing facilities, eating problems became acute, and thus it has moved on seeking the most desirable atmosphere. It shall always seek for its guests the most that can be offered.
Throughout the many years of its existence THE GET-TOGETHER has remained non-politic, non-partisan, and very much nonconformist. There are no barriers erected here. All are welcome - the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the black, the white . . . dwellers all, for a short time each year in the sharing of secrets, friendships and memories.
Both Recil and I have established homes in this community. (Recil has two boys and I two boys and two girls.) We have been able to provide a good living for our families, but most of all we have found delight and happiness in the thing we were doing and we have, I believe, given much to Magic and its followers throughout the world.
Percy Abbott - 1956
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?
WRITTEN BY PERCY ABBOTT IN 1958
When we had the first Get-Together in the original old building, with the theatre upstairs. The only possible entrance and exit for the acts was by means of a ladder to the ground from a side window off the stage?
That during these early Get-Togethers in this building - that Recil always made it his business to check the foundations of the old structures and see that ample supports were there, just in case!
That we had a really truly wedding on our stage?
The year - 1948 to be exact, when Jim Sherman brought Edgar Bergen for his first appearance on our stage. Quietly executed, no one, not even the stage electrician, knew that he was to appear. It was a thrill long to be remembered.
The year that our youngest, Linda, aged four, decided that she too should appear on the stage. Daddy tried to explain that he was not doing an Act and she would not be making a much coveted appearance. But, oh, she did. and how! On one of the evening shows, during a musical Act (one which had, incidentally stayed on stage a little too long), Percy heard constant laughter. Sneaking around back stage for a look at the cause, he discovered his smallest, perched on the top of the steps leading to the stage, facing the audience and proceeding to make ridiculous faces - being careful to keep exact time to the music! Needless to say "Daddy" removed her forthwith, and said young lady was severely reprimanded. Arthur Buckley felt very fortunate to have caught this complete "act" with his movie camera.
The Get-Together when Gene Bernstein and several other equally charming rogues framed a poor defenseless Hypnotist. This unsuspecting young novice had done entirely too much bragging about his abilities as a Hypnotist, so the frame-up consisted of allowing him to put a young man (already wise to it) in a deep sleep. Everything worked fine until it came time to wake him up. In desperation and fearfulness the inexperienced Hypnotist tried again and again -alas to no avail. He then called on the help of one who really knows - Gene. Gene explained that the outcome of the test rested in the hands of the man who put the victim to sleep and he, Gene, would suggest that if the young Hyp failed, he had best call an ambulance and rush his victim to the hospital as fatal results might ensue. This was, of course, the final straw that almost literally "scared the pants" off the performer, who on the pretext of dashing madly for an ambulance, instead dashed madly out of town - never to return!
In 1955, a peculiar series of events, a disappointment on an overseas act and an exchange of letters brought to the Get Together one of the most unusual acts in existence. A Genuine Crucifixion – done by one, Chami Kkan, a Peruvian Inca.
By many, we were criticized for having this attraction because of it being REAL. If this had been an illusion , we are certain that the presentation of it would have been a mere trifle when compared to illusions depicting bodies sawed in half, heads severed, etc., but due to the fact that it employed the little understood Yogi philosophy – to some, it became difficult to accept.
Strangely enough, it was the one remembered and talked of act for many months after the affair and we received letters with quotes such as “I would have gone a thousand miles to have seen just the Crucifixion” or “The Crucifixion alone was worth the price of the Get Together”, or “Never will I ever have the privilege of seeing anything like the Crucifixion again”. A debatable and controversial act it is true, but the one redeeming feature was that to those who had the opportunity to meet Chami Kkan personally, they found him to be a most charming individual.
Almost a volume could be filled with the incidents that have occurred over the years. We are sure that all of you have your little pet memories which are very dear to you. We sincerely hope that all the memories of our affairs have been happy ones. These are the 'things' "which moth and rust do not corrupt", nor men “breaks through and steal" and let us say that we hope these will be part of your celestial luggage.
Percy Abbott - 1958