When I was a kid, I could get great brightly colored silks at the 5 and dime. They were generally also quite sheer (being cheap) and thus compacted excellently.

I doubt anyone too much younger them me even knows what a "5 and dime" IS any more.

Where did the cheap silks go? Anyone have any leads?

Have you hears of "Dollar Stores"? That's today's equival;ent and yes, you can get inexpensive polyesters (I won't pretend they are silks) that will work nicely in most effects that don't require a genuine silk.

Yes, those sheer ladies head scarves are still available. Being all the 5 and dime stores are gone, Spellbinder is correct, look at the Dollar Stores.

Mike Ammar sells them on his web site for something like $8 a piece.

Depending on the size silk you need, the China silks are about the same price they were back in the 1970's. If $3 or $4 is not cheap enough for you, try coin magic or card magic, that is for a 12" or 18" silk.

Bill,

It's a better deal than that! Real 100% pure China silks with the best 2mm hems are $2.00 for 12" and $3.00 for 18". People pay as much for a deck of cards they trash after the show.

This topic has been treated before:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=54

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Wow, thanks guys!

I can afford that easily

Cyberqat,

There is cheap, and then there is inexpensive. Bob Sanders sells inexpensive silks. You should send him a PM and get the lowdown!

Regan

Well .... I looked at both Mike Ammar's and Bob Sanders' sites and couldn't find silks.

Am I blind? Mike's site currently has some bad links...

Posted: Jul 9, 2010 2:55pm
Oh just saw that note. Okay I'll PM Bob. Thanks.

No you are not blind, I guess he sold most of his extra stock, and now only offers the scarves with his famous coins through silk handling.

My only point is the kind of scarf you were refering to in your orginal post was that he was selling the scarves for $8.00 a piece. They maybe cost $3.00 in a normal store.

Check out womens stores in the accessory department or area for the sheer nylon scarves. They are still around, but hard to find, not that most retail stores have gone out of business.

I have a close-out of brand new Japanese silk and acetate blend 9" silks for a buck a piece. Red, white and blue. Also some 12"

I often get scarves designer quality silk at thrift stores 2$ for 100 dollar designer silks great for 5 corner scarves (Billy mc Comb) they are not so thin but Great graphics and think less can be more in a square circle.( I only buy top quality silks and leave the acetate for others )

I usually pass on remarking any title of a subject that has the words "find cheap" in it....BUT I feel I must comment.

As a kid or hobbyist it is ok to look for inexpensive and EFFECTIVE silks because you do not expect to do a trick more than a few times then throw it in a drawer. BUT, as a semi-professional or pro -- buying cheap has some corrosive effects and magic and the attitudes of both performer and audience to silk magic in particular.

It, to me, is important to remember that silk was once the province of ONLY the wealthy and royalty. It spelled power and beauty. It took until the 1940s (WWII) until nylon, rayon and other "substitutes" were manufactured in quantity and attacked the franchise and prices of "real" silk. But to my eye and touch, none of these fabric inventions comes close to the touch, compresability and flash or "real" silk - well made, well SEWN and well dyed. I have silks that I had used for 25 years or more -- looking as good or better than many new cheaper silks.

This brings me to the idea of "cost per performance." If you are going to only perform something a few times and put it in a drawer -- by all means you do not have to respect the trick and buy top grade silk for it. If you ruin the lower grade rags -- then you can afford to replace them and even be a careless performer
not worryng about snags, dirt, wrinles, washing, etc. -- or your audience's perception of how you feel about magic.

But, after you spend $600 on a beautiful butterfly or dragon six foot silk by P&A you will feel, see and respect the difference in quality. You, instead of following the urge to frame it at home as a piece of art, male sure your props work well -- do not snag or hang up or pull threqads. You appreciate the seams which compress flat and do not ravel.

I believe (my opinion) is that that care must continue all the way down to thumbtip sizes. If I could have afforded it ALL my silks would have been by top manufacturers -- but reliability of supply for specials became a problem with some companies.

Fortunately Williams Magic in Tucson discovered a supplier who has consistently made very good solids in sizes through 36" with "reasonable" prices and color consistency inside the brand lot to lot. While not cheap, they last hudreds of performances with moderate care. Which means that their cost per performance
worked out to be less than replacing "cheap" silks.

My preferred way of approaching silks, were I able to do it all again, would be to stock up on the basic colors in various sizes -- and exclusively purchase my specials from them for color and quality consistency...2 at a time (performance and back-up.)

And - I would keep cost per performance and respect for the magic of real silk before my eyes a lot more than "cheap" purchases.

But, that is just my take after 69 years of living, with magic being part of the 55 years.

Another option, many of my customers are utilizing, is purchasing slightly irregular, but high quality 100% silk silks from regualr stock, particularly solid color silks. The irregularities will not affect the service of the silks, and the slight flaws are not noticeable to the audience. Generally, the defects are very minor and can include a break or irregularity in weave or slightly uneven coloring or hemming. These silks are not used, and customers frequently can not find the irregularities. These gems are slightly below our rigid requirements for “perfect”, but allow us to offer you our high quality magic silks for a fraction of their regular prices. Often magicians looking for a bargain or practice silks prefer to purchase irregulars, when they are available.

Bravo Ruth -- they should go fast.

Just thought I would interject my 2 cents worth here.....there's a difference between "cheap" and "good value".

If you are a working magican, cheap silks won't last........I use 8 momme China silks whenever I can....they hold up to doing professional shows, and in my opinion, are exceptional values because of that.

Yes, there are other weights of silk that are certainly usableand good values, too.

Last year in Colon, I bought Bob Sander's DoveLight Line of Silks and matching silks, and consider them good values.

The bottom line for me is "the quality of an item remains long after the price is forgotten."

I am, and always have been a believer in Silk King Studios. The ones I saved, were the original Rice silks. I threw all the other ones away, as they began to look raggedy. Even the oldest (20+ yrs) Rice silks still look NEW!

I cannot recommend any stronger...go with Rice's! Thanks Ruth!

Doug

Sometimes you can get a great price for silks on E-bay.
I just got a dozen 12' silks for $8.00.

WOW! That's less than 5 cents per square foot (I know you meant 12"...)

When I was about ten years old and just starting out in magic, our local Sterlings 5&10 store had 36" 100% silk scarves for about $3.00 each. They looked exactly like what I had purchased from magic dealers. There were many colors available, and they are all still useable and looking nice. I just wish I had bought more, but my allowance was only about $1.00 per week...