Supreme Magic Company: British Magic Manufacturing History

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Built From a Loan and a Bet on Mail Order

The Supreme Magic Company began in 1953 in Bideford, a small town in Devon, England, when Edwin Hooper started the business with a loan from his father and encouragement from fellow magicians Jack Hughes and Percy Abbott. Hooper modeled the business on Abbott’s Magic Company in the United States, and over the following decades built Supreme into one of the largest magic dealerships in the world.

What made Supreme unusual wasn’t just its size. Hooper ran it exclusively as a mail-order operation and actively discouraged customers from visiting in person, since he never considered it a retail “shop” in the traditional sense. At its peak the company employed close to 100 people, producing catalogs that ran to hundreds of pages and apparatus that reached working magicians worldwide, including household names like Tommy Cooper and Paul Daniels.

Ian Adair and the Team Behind the Catalog

Hooper brought in Ian Adair while Adair was still a teenager, and Adair rose steadily through the company, from general assistant to general manager and eventually partner. The two traveled internationally together, dealing magic and lecturing, and Adair became one of the most recognizable names associated with the Supreme brand, later publishing extensively under his own name across decades in magic.

Supreme’s other defining figure was Ken de Courcy, who edited the company’s flagship magazine and originated or co-created several of its best-known novelty effects. Together, Hooper, Adair, and de Courcy shaped Supreme’s identity as much through print as through the apparatus itself.

Magigram and Pentagram: Supreme Magic Publishing Legacy

Supreme Magic didn’t just sell tricks, it published them. The company ran its own printing operation and produced two major magazines: Magigram, edited by Ken de Courcy, and Pentagram, associated with editor Peter Warlock. Magigram alone ran from 1966 to February 1995, spanning 27 years and more than 22,000 pages, with contributions from an extraordinary range of magic figures including Lewis Ganson, Max Maven, Billy McComb, and Maurice Fogel.

For collectors today, this publishing history matters as much as the apparatus itself. Complete or near-complete magazine runs, especially early Magigram volumes, are collected in their own right, and back issues frequently document the exact release context and instructions for specific Supreme props, making them a genuine research tool for authenticating and understanding older pieces.

What Happened After 1987

Hooper sold the Supreme Magic Company in 1987 due to declining health, ending 34 years of direct ownership. The buyers were Brian Head and Paul Dupee, who kept the business running for several more years, including continued production of Magigram under Ken de Courcy’s editorship. Dupee later took sole control before the company changed hands again, passing to the Lamond family in the early 1990s.

That final ownership period did not go smoothly, and the company entered receivership, winding down operations in the mid-1990s. Magigram itself published its last issue in February 1995 after 306 total issues. Following the closure, Supreme’s assets were dispersed: its books and publications were acquired by other magic booksellers, and a significant portion of its remaining props and stock went to dealers, most notably Paul Anthony in Wales, who continues to sell surviving Supreme and Morrissey-label inventory today as Magic Supreme Ltd.

Because sources differ slightly on the precise final closure date, treat “the mid-1990s” as the accurate window rather than a single confirmed year — what’s well documented is Hooper’s 1987 exit and Magigram’s February 1995 final issue, which together bracket the company’s last active years.

Well-Known Supreme Magic Products

Several Supreme Magic trick effects are still recognized by name among collectors and performers:

• The Vanishing Elephant — a large card effect built around the classic vanish premise, produced by Supreme at scale
• The Whipaway Vanisher — a Ken de Courcy design using a handkerchief prop to vanish small objects from a tabletop or the hand
• Oh Mummy — a Ken de Courcy comedy sight-gag prop featuring a sarcophagus that unwraps into a different figure entirely, popular for stage and parlor work

These are a starting point, not an exhaustive list. Given Supreme’s catalog size and decades of production, thousands of individual props, novelty items, and printed effects carry the company’s name, and Magigram back issues remain one of the best references for identifying what a specific piece originally was and how it was meant to work.

Supreme Magic and the Connection to Abbott’s Magic

Hooper’s decision to pattern Supreme after Abbott’s Magic Company wasn’t incidental. Percy Abbott, whose own company became a cornerstone of American magic manufacturing, personally encouraged Hooper when Supreme was just getting started, and the influence shows in how both companies operated: high-volume catalog manufacturing serving working magicians rather than boutique one-off apparatus. Collectors researching both brands often find the comparison useful, since Abbott’s and Supreme represent parallel manufacturing traditions on opposite sides of the Atlantic during roughly overlapping decades. If you’re building a collection around mid-20th-century mail-order magic manufacturing broadly, pieces from both companies displayed together tell a genuinely complementary story.

That said, the two companies developed distinct identities. Abbott’s built its reputation partly around its physical Colon, Michigan location and the annual Magic Get-Together held there, while Supreme never operated as a public-facing shop at all. Supreme’s identity was built almost entirely through print, its catalogs and magazines, rather than any single physical space customers could visit.

What to Check Before You Buy

Because Supreme’s catalog spans over three decades and several ownership eras, condition and era verification benefit from the same care you’d apply to any long-running manufacturer. Before buying a piece described as vintage Supreme:

• Check whether the piece is referenced in a Magigram or Pentagram back issue, which can confirm both authenticity and original intended use
• Look for period-correct Supreme packaging, box printing, or instruction sheets consistent with the company’s known catalog eras
• Ask sellers directly about provenance, particularly for higher-value apparatus, since documentation genuinely exists for much of Supreme’s output if you know where to look
• Be aware that some designs originated with Supreme but have since been re-manufactured under other names after the company’s closure, so a modern reproduction isn’t the same collectible as an original Hooper-era piece

Collecting Supreme Magic Today

Supreme apparatus sits at an interesting point for collectors: old enough to be genuinely vintage, but recent enough that documentation, in the form of catalogs and Magigram issues, often still exists to verify what you’re looking at. When evaluating a piece, look for period-correct printing and packaging consistent with Supreme’s known catalog eras, since the company’s design language shifted somewhat across its 34 years under Hooper alone.

Given the multiple ownership changes after 1987 and the eventual dispersal of remaining stock, provenance is worth asking about directly when a seller can offer it. A piece with a documented Magigram reference or original Supreme packaging carries more confidence than one without any supporting paperwork.

Resource: Supreme Magic Collection

Frequently Asked Questions

Who founded the Supreme Magic Company?+
Edwin Hooper founded the Supreme Magic Company in 1953 in Bideford, Devon, England, with a loan from his father and encouragement from Jack Hughes and Percy Abbott.

Is the Supreme Magic Company still in business?+
Not under Hooper’s original ownership. Hooper sold the company in 1987, and after further ownership changes it wound down in the mid-1990s. Surviving stock is now sold by Paul Anthony’s Magic Supreme Ltd in Wales.

What was Magigram?+
Magigram was Supreme Magic’s house magazine, edited by Ken de Courcy. It ran from 1966 to February 1995, spanning over 22,000 pages and 306 issues, and is a valuable reference for identifying and dating Supreme products.

Who is Ian Adair and what was his role at Supreme Magic?+
Ian Adair joined Edwin Hooper as a teenager and rose to general manager and eventually partner at Supreme Magic. He traveled internationally with Hooper dealing and lecturing, and went on to a prolific independent publishing career in magic.

What are some well-known Supreme Magic products?+
Recognized Supreme effects include the Vanishing Elephant, the Whipaway Vanisher, and Oh Mummy, though the company’s full catalog spanned thousands of items across more than three decades.

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