The Magic Collection of Ray Goulet

Byron, Roberta. Roberta & Marion’s Take-Apart Vanish Boxes. Circa 1930. A rabbit or doves are placed in the boxes, which are disassembled piece-by-piece. The animals have vanished. Well-made wooden boxes with matching paint scheme. Two different methods, the larger 17 x 12 x 9 ½”. Considered something of a child prodigy by magicians, Roberta Byron, together with her sister Marion, began performing professionally at the age of 11. Under the watchful eye and tutelage of her father, a Philadelphia attorney, the Byron sisters performed publicly, and at many prominent magic conventions, making an enviable reputation in the process. Roberta and Marion went on to careers outside of show business, but these props, most custom-made, are handsome examples of professional apparatus built for successful young entertainers of the 1930s.