The Magic Collection of Jim Rawlins

Birch, McDonald. McDonald Birch’s Nest of Boxes. Circa 1940. Set of five nesting wooden boxes for Birch’s signature stage effect in which a watch vanished on command, only to reappear in the smallest of the boxes. Accompanied by a signed an inscribed 8 x 10” photograph of Birch and his wife Mabel Sperry, posed with the prop. The largest 13 x 11 x 9 ½”. Accompanied by an enlarged photo of Birch and Mabel with the prop, and the tabletop used in the effect. Well-worn from professional use. Owned and used by Birch, and perhaps his best-known prop. In Birch’s performance – memorialized in the iconic Maurice Seymour photo accompanying this prop – as each box was removed from the larger one it rested inside, a tall stack was created spelling out the magician’s name. The stage picture created by this action was perhaps as memorable as the reappearance of the borrowed watch. Regardless, Seymour’s photo captured the glamour of the couple who used the props in a way few other photographers could, freezing in time a memorable pair of performers with one of their signature feats. It is reported that Birch used the Nest of Boxes so frequently he repainted the props each year. Evidence of this is apparent even now, on close examination of the boxes (the lettering on the boxes varies from the photo).