Sought-after Society of American Magicians membership card issued to Edwin Fay Rice for 1918, 4 x 2.5, boldly signed at the bottom in fountain pen by Harry Houdini as president, and countersigned by Oscar Schutte Teale as secretary. Mounted and framed with a photo of Houdini leaving a prison cell to an overall size of 11.5 x 18. In very good condition, with overall soiling, creasing to the upper right corner, and a small area of surface loss to the lower right edge; the accompanying photo is silvered and discolored, but could easily be replaced.
Founded on May 10, 1902, in the back room of Martinka's magic shop in New York, the Society of American Magicians expanded under the leadership of Harry Houdini during his term as National President from 1917-1926.
A journalist for the Boston Daily Times, Edwin Fay Rice (1849-1919) had a short but impactful career in the world of magic, and was a key figure in helping found the Mystics Circle of Boston as a member of the Society of American Magicians.
Oscar Schutte Teale was an American architect, magician, and writer (1847-1934) who served as the fourth President of the Society of American Magicians and who worked as Houdini’s private secretary and ghostwriter; when Houdini's book A Magician Among the Spirits was published, Teale stated that he had written ‘the damnable work.’ Teale also designed the exedra monument for Houdini's family.
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