The Levitation of the Princess Karnac
While there were many imitations, there are really only two levitation units built by, or under, the direction of Kellar himself. It is my honor to own most of the second version, the one used for many years by Harry Blackstone Sr.
The story of how it came into the Blackstone show is an interesting one. It is well known that Kellar did not invent the principle upon which the princess floated, but rather learned the secret from Paul Valadon whom he lured away from Maskelyn and Cooke’s Egyptian Hall where the illusion was first perfected and presented. The levitation was a mainstay in the Kellar show for many years.
The apparatus was complicated and difficult to set on stage. For starters it packed in nine trunks and weighed a ton and a half. It also required a trap be cut into the stage of every theater where it played. This was to accommodate the weights and winch which activated the lifting. And, while we can’t get into the intricacies of all the workings of the levitation, it is important to note that the levitation was enabled by a fan of nearly invisible wires attached to the cradle upon which the princess reclined which were camouflaged by the back curtain.
After he retired and transferred the show to Howard Thurston, Kellar continued to improve the levitation by designing a version that did away with the traps and which could be set more quickly and efficiently. It was constructed in Floyd Thayer’s workshop with Carl Owen. His new version could be performed anywhere, even on a concrete floor and he intended to present it to Thurston with his compliments. That never happened and Thurston was to blame.
Thurston had taken to inviting a committee from the audience to come on stage to get a closer look and while they were not allowed to walk around the floating princess, they were uncomfortably close to learning the secret. When Kellar saw this he was aghast. He wrote to his friend George LaFollette:
I just came from the theater. I saw the Thurston show, and he has broken my heart. I went down with the sole purpose of seeing him after the show and presenting him with my new levitation that I worked so hard personally to supervise and help build; when I saw him present that beautiful trick and then invite a group from the audience on the stage and walk two persons around the back, that was the finish. He will never get my new one.
Eventually Thurston stopped the practice but still invited one child up on stage to walk around the floating princess. Nevertheless, the damage was done and Thurston never acquired this more portable version.
Following Kellar’s death, Thurston announced that it was Kellar’s intention that he have the illusion and that he would pick it up when he was in Los Angeles next. This did not happen.
Recently I obtained typewritten notes made by Harry Houdini after he visited Kellar at his home on October 19, 1919. Houdini writes:
"Kellar has a wooden model (model) of the cradle of the suspension, and he told Mrs. Houdini in precsence (sic) of Julia (Karcher) that he was going to give the modle (sic.) to me, and the tracing he gave me this evening, was from the modle he has in wood."
The Houdini notes also mention that Kellar felt betrayed by Fritx(z) Bucha who gave Carter the illusion (secret) as that was the only way the illusion could ever be duplicated. Fritz Bucha was Kellar's former stage manager and mechanic who would later be hired by Charles Carter.
Despite Carter having his own model of the levitation, he tried to purchase Kellar's improved version for over a decade with no success. He was not willing to pay Kellar’s niece the $3,500 asking price. Carter offered a mere $500 at first, but the offer later grew to $2,000.
Oscar Teale wrote to Howard Thurston regarding the levitation on November 1928 that it could be gotten for $2,000 cash and added, “Blackstone is anxious to possess it, and I hope that he will not succeed.”
Knowing of my ownership of the levitation, a friend dug out an important piece of correspondence and presented it to me this past November of 2020.
On January 26, 1934 Blackstone wrote an informative letter to Walter Gibson. "Not only does Blackstone tell Gibson he's a father to be, but mentions that Harry Kellar's nephew, Frank turned over the Kellar Levitation to him."
So now we have a firm date when Blackstone ended up with the illusion, and his preparations to add this featured number in the show.
Harry Blackstone amazed generations of audiences with this levitation.
George Hippisley of Auburn, NY ended up with many of the Blackstone illusions including the levitation which he still had in his possession in 1960. Harry eventually sent the illusion to his son when the younger Blackstone played the Hilton Hotel in Chicago. From there the levitation went to Recil Bordner at Abbotts Magic Co., and then it went to the University of Illinois where it was acquired by Ron Urban who stored the many trunks in his warehouse on the north side of Chicago.
Despite Kellar’s claim that this was the more portable version, the trunks in my possession (all painted the traditional Blackstone orange) still weigh a ton. The crate containing the winch must be 300 pounds alone. And, cast into the base of the winch is Kellar’s name. Another crate contains spools of the wire used to float the Princess. These heavy trunks may contain nothing but motors and wires but they are the stuff that dreams are made of.
All text and photos Copyright 2021, David Haversat
