U.F. Grant & MAK Magic: A Vintage Magic Collector’s Guide

Who Was U.F. Grant? The “Edison of Magic”

Ask any magician who came of age between the 1940s and the 1980s about the colorful boxes, tubes, and stage illusions that filled their local magic shop, and one name comes up again and again: U.F. Grant.

Ulysses Frederick Grant was born on January 12, 1901, in New York. Over a career spanning more than five decades, Grant became one of the most creative minds the magic industry has ever produced. He wasn’t just a builder of props — he was an idea machine. Genii Magazine famously dubbed him the “Edison of Magic,” and many historians believe Grant created more magic effects and methods than anyone else in the history of the art. His inventions numbered in the hundreds, touching nearly every category of magic: silks, ropes, mentalism, stage illusions, kid-show magic, and close-up.

U.F. Grant The New York Years (1925–1939)

Grant began his career as a magic dealer in New York City in 1925, right in the golden age of vaudeville magic. During this period he built his reputation as an inventor who could take a big illusion concept and engineer it down to something a working magician could actually afford, carry, and perform. Early classics like The Farmer and the Witch (circa 1935) and Walking Thru a Ribbon (circa 1937) date from this era, along with the Alagen Rope routine developed with Winston Freer around 1939.

The Columbus, Ohio U.F. Grant Era

Grant later relocated his operation to Columbus, Ohio, where he would remain until his death in 1978. It was in Columbus that the U.F. Grant catalog truly exploded. For a stretch of the mid-20th century, Grant partnered with magic craftsman R.N. Menge, and props to which both men contributed were sold under the “G & M” label — pieces like the G & M Suspension Board and the G & M Passe Passe Bottles. These G & M-marked items are especially interesting to collectors today because they represent a distinct, datable chapter of the company’s history. Grant and Menge eventually parted ways and became rivals, after which Grant worked closely with Don Tanner, who wrote and illustrated the instructions for many of the items the Grant company marketed, and edited many of Grant’s books.

Grant was also decades ahead of his time as a marketer. In the 1940s and 1950s, he filmed demonstrations and lectures of his newest tricks and mailed the reels to magic clubs across the country — essentially running a YouTube channel before television was even in most homes. Those surviving films remain a treasured window into Grant’s personality and performing style.

Grant was an active member of the magic community as well — a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), the Society of American Magicians (SAM), the Order of Merlin, and the Columbus Magic Club Ring 7.

The Birth of MAK Magic

In 1964, Grant’s daughter Mary Ann married Jimmy King, who began collaborating with Grant on producing new effects. Grant turned the business over to his daughter, and the company was reborn as MAK Magic — named for Mary Ann King’s initials. Jimmy King eventually took over day-to-day operations, and MAK Magic evolved into the brand most magicians of the 1970s and 1980s remember: shelves of brightly screen-printed tubes, boxes, and cans in nearly every brick-and-mortar magic shop in America.

Critically for collectors, MAK Magic continued to manufacture many of U.F. Grant’s original designs for decades after his passing in 1978. That continuity is a blessing and a challenge: it kept Grant’s magic alive for new generations, but it also means collectors need to learn how to distinguish an original Grant-era prop from a later MAK Magic production run (more on that below).

The Most Popular U.F. Grant Magic Tricks

Grant’s catalog was enormous, but a handful of effects have become true classics — the pieces collectors chase hardest today:

• The Farmer and the Witch (c. 1935) — Grant’s beloved sucker die box-style routine and one of the most famous kid-show tricks ever created. Early versions are prized.
• Super-X Levitation (c. 1942) — A brilliantly practical suspension/levitation of an assistant, engineered for working performers without a Broadway budget. Still performed today, and vintage units are highly collectible.
• Temple Screen (c. 1944) — A classic production screen that became a staple of stage and parlor acts.
• Slate of Mind (1947) — One of Grant’s celebrated mentalism creations.
• Devil’s Newspaper (c. 1948) and Chink Cans / Passe Passe Cans (c. 1949) — Utility props found in countless working acts of the era.
• Bengal Net (1953) — A vanish/production net illusion that became a Grant signature.
• Cow Trick (c. 1955) — Pure Grant showmanship, a comedy classic.
• Witch Doctor Can (c. 1958) and Chen-Lee Water Suspension (c. 1962) — Liquid magic favorites.
• Strat-o-Spheres (c. 1962) — The famous three-ball tube mystery, copied endlessly but never bettered; original Grant/MAK versions are the ones to own.
• Candle-Lite (c. 1963) — A classic candle production/manipulation prop.
• Other notable Grant creations include Bullet Proof Girl, Mystery of the Temple Jewels, Head Dagger Chest, Atomic Vision, Ball Box (Die Box), Brilliant Ring Box, Citation (1949), Pig Turns ‘Round (c. 1952), and Ment-A-Flex.

Grant’s fertile mind extended to print as well. Collectible U.F. Grant books and manuscripts include Victory Carton Illusions (1955) — his legendary collection of stage illusions built from cardboard cartons — plus 15 Pick-Pocket Stunts for Magicians (1952), Window Stoppers (1953), Grant’s Fabulous Feats of Mental Magic (1954, with Don Tanner), Center Tear Methods (1962), Bodies in Orbit (1963), and Grant’s Manual of Magic (1964). Many of his silk magic inventions are documented in Rice’s Encyclopedia of Silk Magic, and his rope creations appear in the Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks — a testament to just how deeply Grant’s ideas are woven into magic’s literature.

The Most Popular MAK Magic Tricks

When MAK Magic took over, it kept the best of the Grant line in production while adding new effects and modern manufacturing. MAK Magic props that remain especially popular with performers and collectors include:

• Fantastic Spikes Thru Balloon — Based on the Spikes Thru Balloon concept invented by Bob Gurtler (André Kole) in 1956 and marketed by Grant beginning in 1958; the MAK version became a magic-shop staple for decades.
• Strat-o-Spheres — MAK’s colorful production runs of Grant’s classic are the version most magicians grew up with.
• Topsy Turvy Bottles — The comedy classic countless magicians first saw demonstrated across a magic counter.
• Farmer and the Witch, Bengal Net, Super-X Levitation, Temple Screen, Chen-Lee Water Suspension, Candle Thru Arm, Witch Doctor Can, Passe Passe Bottles — All continued under the MAK banner with the brand’s unmistakable bright graphics.
• Mummy Ashrah, Magician’s Dream Production, and other memorable catalog items whose evocative names fired the imaginations of young magicians paging through 1970s magic shop catalogs.

For collectors of a certain age, the MAK Magic look — bold silk-screened graphics, dragon stencils, vivid lacquered tubes and cans — is the look of the classic American magic shop.

Collecting U.F. Grant and MAK Magic Today: What to Look For

Original U.F. Grant props and early MAK Magic apparatus have become genuinely collectible, and in many cases hard to find. Here’s what experienced collectors evaluate before buying:

1. Era and Markings

Learn to distinguish the three broad production eras: original U.F. Grant pieces (pre-1964), G & M-marked items from the Grant/Menge partnership, and MAK Magic production (1964 onward). Original Grant-era props and G & M pieces generally command the strongest premiums. Construction materials, paint style, stenciling, label design, and instruction sheets (many written and illustrated by Don Tanner) all help date a piece.

2. Condition — With Realistic Expectations

These were working props, built to be performed. Honest wear — light paint cracking, edge rubs, minor scuffs — is normal and acceptable on a 50- to 70-year-old prop. What you want to avoid is amateur repainting, replaced panels, or “restorations” that destroy originality. In vintage magic collecting, as in antiques generally, original finish beats restored finish almost every time. Always study close-up photos carefully before purchasing.

3. Completeness of Gimmicks and Instructions

A vintage prop missing its gimmick, fake, or secret component loses much of its value to both collectors and performers. Original printed instructions — especially Tanner-illustrated Grant instruction sheets — add real value. Complete sets with all spikes, balls, shells, tubes, or silks intact are worth paying more for.

4. Original Packaging

Original boxes with period graphics are the hardest element to find, because most were discarded decades ago. A common MAK trick in its original box can be worth multiples of the same prop loose. If you find a boxed example of an early Grant piece, don’t hesitate.

5. Provenance and Rarity

Pieces documented to Grant’s Columbus workshop, limited editions (such as MAK Magic’s U.F. Grant commemorative releases produced for the 30th anniversary of his passing, limited to just 100 sets), and props from known magicians’ estates carry premium value. Auction records — collections of Grant and MAK apparatus regularly appear at magic auctions and estate sales — are a useful benchmark for pricing.

6. Watch for Later Copies

Because Grant’s effects were so popular, many were copied by other manufacturers (Strat-o-Spheres alone has been knocked off countless times). Study authentic examples, compare graphics and construction, and buy from sellers who specialize in vintage magic and stand behind their descriptions.

Where to Find These Rare Pieces

Authentic U.F. Grant and MAK Magic apparatus surfaces through magic auction houses, estate sales of retired magicians, magic collector conventions, dealer sites specializing in vintage apparatus, and — of course — right here at MagicTrickCollection.com, where our own curated collection of U.F. Grant and MAK Magic props has grown to more than 400 unique pieces over the decades. Browse our Rare & Vintage Collectible Magic section to see what’s currently available in the shop.

Final Thoughts

U.F. Grant gave working magicians more practical, performable magic than perhaps any inventor who ever lived, and MAK Magic carried that legacy into the living memory of every magician who ever pressed their nose against a magic shop counter in the 1970s and ’80s. Collecting these props isn’t just about acquiring apparatus — it’s about preserving the story of American magic’s most prolific creative mind.

Whether you’re hunting an original Farmer and the Witch, a boxed Strat-o-Spheres, or a G & M-marked rarity, the golden rules hold: buy the best condition you can afford, insist on completeness, treasure original packaging, and buy from sellers who know and love this material.

Have a rare U.F. Grant or MAK Magic piece you’re looking to sell, or a collection story to share? We’d love to hear from you — reach out through our contact form.