Bert Douglas:
A Family Remembers

 
 
 

My brother and I remember visits to our home by fellow magicians Murray Sumner and Bill Cambridge, and on at least two occasions, I traveled with my father to Hamilton in the early 1940's for visits with Ross Bertram.


We both recall the excitement of visits with father to Eaton's Toy Department where his friend and fellow magician Johnny Giordmaine would delight young and old with his show of tricks. (He also operated the electric trains there - one of my delights!)

Magical Friends

Tom Bowyer

Ross Bertram

Although my father never owned a car, as a CNR employee he had unlimited access to the extensive passenger rail service in existence in the 20's to early 60's period. This included the CN-owned line to Chicago passing through several important centers in Michigan and Illinois, including Battle Creek, where he had dealings

Johnny Giordmaine

Sid Lorraine

Tom Bowyer with  Bert Douglas

Len Vintus, Tom Bowyer, Sid Lorraine & Bert Douglas

June 1926 (Kenton)

with the Tinker Toy Co. in developing tricks using Tinker Toy. Through the uses of passes on various U.S. railways, he was able to attend numerous conventions and other magic gatherings in major centers in the United States. In a tribute at the time of his death (New Tops, May '74) his good friend Sid Lorraine (who supplied the illustrations for many of his books) remarked that for over forty years he and my father met almost daily over lunch in downtown Toronto - often with Tommy Bowyer, where magic was the main topic of conversation. 

Howard Melson and Bert Douglas

Murray Sumner

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