The year was 1969. I was in the eighth grade. The construction industry was in full swing. My father was an excavating contractor who was preparing to go the ConExpo69 in Chicago. This was one of the biggest trade shows in the country. Major highways were still being built. Dad decided that I could be taken out of school to accompany him on this trip. This was a big deal - I had perfect attendance through the first 7 years. I later found out that excused absences were still considered absences and thus ended my perfect streak. I later made less diligent efforts to attend…but I digress.

The show was held at the International Amphitheater in Chicago. This allowed the large cranes and heavy equipment to be set up fully and shown. Hospitality rooms were set up in the back of huge dump trucks. Large front end loaders on site could hold an entire car. A theater showed the new surrounded movies of bulldozers running over you. But, all of this paled in comparison to the magic I would see in the next few days.

It seemed that a lot of the exhibitors had hired magicians to work the show. Mark Wilson was set for Allis Chamlers with a totally enclosed theater. It allowed you to be isolated totally from the rest of the trade show, except through a one-way mirror to the outside. Mark developed the entire concept of this presentation like a full-fledged theater production. There was a stack of boxes with projected images on the box before Mark appeared. There was a flying saucer levitation. It was a perfect, self-contained show.

Eddie Tullock was working a booth. And, boy, did he work it! I remember him doing just cards, but totally jamming up the aisles of the show. Marshall Brodien was working for US Steel. I remember him doing a flag blendo, the linking rings, and the blade box. Being a dumb kid, I tried to sneak up on stage to check out the blade box. Marshall quickly caught me and I was ushered back to where I belonged. “That’s okay kid. I work alone”.

My dad got pretty tired of me running off to see the magicians. He could usually find me at the International Harvester booth where George Johnstone was working. There was something about George that appealed to me more than the others. Little did I know how destiny would later link us together.

George was doing a show on the hour. Doing a 20-minute set meant that he had to minimize the set up so he could be ready for the next show. George did the card in balloon, paper balls over the head, spot card, and three card monte. (The three card monte had International Harvester logo on it.) Knowing what I do now, George made good money selling montes to the client. George did a lot of comedy in his act as he always did. He took time to talk with me as I did have a passing interest in magic at the time. The full blown obsession was to hit later in college. I never forgot that kindness.

Later when I started to attend magic conventions, I ran into George at the Columbus MagiFest. I had started to take pictures of magicians, getting them to sign my photos of them. George was the first guy I went to talk with backstage. He still was the same kind man to a young kid. I learned that he had worked with Blackstone. Since I had just become involved with the Marshall flower business; that was really interesting to me. George told me that Horace and Marie Marshall gave them a reception at their home in Akron when he and Betty were married in Cleveland while on the Blackstone show. The Johnstones did a beautiful flower and silk act before George moved into comedy.

While going through the Marshall correspondence, I stumbled on a gem. It was a letter from George to Horace asking him to build a special flower act closing for the combined 1950 IBM-SAM convention in Chicago. He asked Horace to go easy on the price as it “been a tough year”. I talked to George about the idea. He said it had been built and used for many years by Betty and himself until the act was retired. He then loaned the flowers to the “Chinaman” De Yip Louie. I was fortunate about two years ago to acquire the original equipment. But this was after I had designed my own version of it and used it for over 15 years. I still close by stage act with it after 25 years. But the idea for it was all George’s.

Over the years, George and I had some great talks. He was such a beautiful story teller. The running joke between us was how the Blackstone book was coming along. George never did get that book done. But the little bits he did write were in the Linking Ring (for which he won awards). He later allowed them to be included in Dan Waldron’s book on Blackstone (available from Abbott’s and a must read.)

I have a cherished tape of George doing his act and introducing me at the Matinee at Abbott’s in 1992. My last conversation with George was at a Yankee Gathering in Salem, MA, where he explained the Blackstone “Tire Illusion” to me complete with sketches.

When I was asked to write this column, I thought of all the columns that I had read in the New Tops that influenced me. George’s columns were at the top of the list. There was so much history contained within them.

Thank you, George, for being kind to a kid so many years ago, for giving so much to me, and for being my friend.

Richard