american museum of magic

Open by appointment, for most of the year, this extensive museum is located right on the main street of Marshall, Michigan. It contains a vast collection of magic props, posters, ephemera and objects formerly belonging to some of the great magicians of the past. A separate building houses a massive collection of magic books, booklets, letters, correspondence and articles about magic. Most of the collection was assembled over many years by its founder, the late Robert Lund.

This museum is interesting, especially to those who love magic. It is a large eclectic collection, but it needs to be displayed and chronicled in a different manner. We went through it pretty fast, but if you take the time to match everything to the little print out the woman working there loaned us, it would be fascinating.

This museum is the loving collection of local residents, the Lunds.It is one of the largest collections of historic magic paraphernalia in the country and includes items belonging to Houdini.Copperfield has been here a couple of time to visit.

This is an amazing museum. All of the fabulous and mesmerizing magicians are represented. The exhibits were excellent BUT, what caught my eye was the Milkey the Clown corner. When I was a kid a long time ago, I watched Milkey the Clown on Saturday morning, either in ABC or NBC. I'm not exactly sure. It was the show which I would never miss. It was sponsored by Twin Pines Diary. There was magic, interactions with the audience and cartoons. Back then It didn't get any better and after my strong insistence we did drink Twin Pines milk. This alone, was worth the small admission fee. Oh, what memories.

We all enjoyed the museum for different reasons. I liked the posters, my boys liked the history, the girls liked the dress-up stage. They have some interactive exhibits, but not all were working when we were there. Overall, everyone in the family enjoyed our visit.

If your visiting or just driving through Marshall be sure to take the time to stop and see this treasure of a museum. There are hundreds of posters to browse at and a lot of props actually used by famous magicians. We were surprised to discover there was a second floor filled to the brim with more items. Plan on being there at least an hour. Admission is only $5.