The Gilbertino Master Silk Tube

Extremely Rare & Scarce!

The Gilbertino Master Silk Tube is a highly deceptive parlor magic prop consisting of a tube, two end caps, and a hidden gimmick used to seamlessly vanish, produce, or change the color of silk handkerchiefs.

Gilbertino Master Silk Tube Mechanism and Gimmick

• The Structure: The apparatus features an outer tube and two tightly fitting end caps.
• The Mechanism: It relies on a internal sliding insert or nested shell gimmick. This hidden insert isolates the silk from the rest of the tube.
• The Illusion: By manipulating the tube or loading it dynamically from a specific side, the magician can display the tube completely empty to the audience, even while a silk is hidden inside.

Common Performance Routines

The Vanish: A silk is pushed completely inside the tube, and both caps are secured. When the caps are removed, the tube is empty and the audience can look straight through it.

The Color Change: A red silk is placed inside the tube. When pushed through or blown out, the hidden gimmick retains the original color and releases a entirely different color, such as white.

The Production: The magician demonstrates that the tube is empty. After capping the tube and waving a hand, they pull out an impossible volume of silks or long streamers.

Gilbertino Master Silk Tube Background

Gilbertino Master Silk Tube, distributed or manufactured by Mephisto-Huis P.V.B.A., Veldstraat 156, Kortrijk, Belgium, likely circa late 1970s–1980s. A professional utility apparatus designed for silk productions, vanishes, transformations and exchanges. “Gilbertino” appears to identify the effect’s credited creator or professional presenter, while Mephisto-Huis handled its commercial manufacture or distribution.

Mephisto-Huis was a major European magic dealership and apparatus manufacturer, not merely a distributor’s name printed randomly on the instructions.

The business began in Amsterdam under Dutch magician and dealer Cas G. Ziekman, who opened Mephisto-Huis in 1943. Ziekman also published the Dutch magic periodical De Magiër. By the mid-1970s, the business had been sold and relocated from the Netherlands to Kortrijk, Belgium.

The Belgian address

Published magic references list the Belgian business as:
Mephisto-Huis P.V.B.A.
Veldstraat 156
B-8500 Kortrijk, Belgium

Acquisition Details

Vintage item that has multiple imperfections within the heavy-duty clear tube, scratches, marks on the tube from performance use. The end caps and gimmick show their age and what would appear to be plenty of performances. Still very functional, although in my professional opinion, a new owner may want to consider making the end cap air-holes slightly larger; complete at you own discretion. As you’ll discover, the air holes allow the gimmick to flow smoother within the tube.

Comes with one used worn silk as pictured and the instructions (rolled).  

A really fun apparatus, one you’ll want to experiment with routines and use in your performance. 

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