This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2024
[P&L] Three Petrie and Lewis Non-Magical Products. New Haven: P&L, 1920s – 30s. Including the Sand Pencil, a toy used to draw or paint with sand. Five pencils in wood and metal with original pictorial box, sample of colored sand, and advertising materials; Ultralite, a chromed telescoping pocket flashlight with original box, instructions, and extra “ruby” lens in the original mailing envelope; and a sample/display P&L Puzzle Set with original box and instructions, including several wooden, metal and paper puzzles, the lid outfitted with a window for display. The largest 14 x 9 ¼”.Petrie and Lewis was known as the “house where tricks are born,” yet made efforts to break in to the toy and novelty market by patenting and producing items like the Sand Pencil, a motorized Sand Bucket, various wooden toys, and the like. Ironically, the company had its beginnings as the Mysto Magic Co., a partnership between J.A. Petrie and A.C. Gilbert. The pair parted ways because Gilbert wanted to focus the firm on manufacturing toys, while Petrie remained devoted to conjuring tricks and their creation. Gilbert when on to helm one of the largest toy manufacturing concerns of its time, while Petrie’s magic company maintained a sterling reputation for quality, albeit in a much smaller and less lucrative marketplace. Even so, Petrie was a gifted mechanic and inventor and occasionally made forays into fields outside of magic. In many ways these non-magical products he produced are far more scarce than the tricks and gimmicks manufactured by P&L for its nearly five decade long lifespan.