You sound like my ex wife.

Ken and Roberta GRIFFIN used "volunteer" (from the sponsor committee) help to unload the truck and load in and out. Ken would be in the truck, with one or two show assistants, and Roberta would be backstage, with one or two show assistants.

All trunks and crates were numbered and had in large letters: "UC" (upstage center) "DR" (downstage RIGHT) "UL" upstage LEFT, etc.

As the volunteers hauled in a piece, Roberta just pointed! They didn't have to move crates once they were spotted!

My 45 minute school assembly program packs in ONE 13" x 20" x 8" fiber case. (Like a "fat" attache case.) I work out of the case which sits on a waiter's tray stand. Prop case and stand weighs about 23 lbs.

I never "unpack" anything! I don't have time to unpack and repack in separate little cases. My set up time, once on stage, averages 3-4 minutes. Tear down and on way to the RV, in 2 minutes.

I once tried using a suitcase table (somewhat like Joe Lefler's) The case weighed about 45 lbs, when loaded with the props! (I spent $$$ witH chiropractors that season!!!)

As noted above, the prop case has "pigeon holes" (open top pasteboard boxes) A prop is taken out, used, and returned to the pigeon hole, as I work. I have lines to cover, where needed, to stow the prop. There are no stalls!

My manager could schedule 3 and 4 schools in one day (allowing for actual travel time!). School assemblies are/were "K-MART SHOW BUSINESS".

PS NO 'DUMP BAGS'!!!

I tell some stories about ED RENO, CLEM MAGRUM, ROY MAYER ET AL, IN MY BOOK!

Off the road, I store books in book cases! Spare props (back ups) are stored in old prop cases. I don't "display" props in my "winter quarters"! (I don't live in a "museum"! Props are my working tools!)

Yep.

Dick's THE UNDISPUTED KING of spare props stored in old prop cases.............trust me on this one, I've helped Dick Load 'em, UnPack' em, Pack 'em and move 'em!

I think Jay Marshall, at one time, had about a million books in his library.........

I think Dick Oslund has about a million old prop cases laying around somewhere......<smile>

Closer to a half million!

Jay must have had a million PLUS! He and Bob Lund had a mutual agreement: Whoever survived the other, inherited the decedent's books! Bob died in '95. Jay had room for about a half DOZEN more books!!! If I heard him right, he said, "Leave 'em in MARSHALL (!!! Michigan!

Because "everything I own(ed) has wheels underneath, or a handle on top", it was necessary to store old or unused props in old cases. The cases were more portable!

I am/was an itinerant mountebank! I neither needed nor wanted a "towner's" concerns! (lawn mowing, snow shoveling, ETC.! I lived in a "gypsy wagon". (Some 40 milers call them "RVs".) I NEVER "displayed" props.

99% of my kids show fits into two rolling keyboard cases with a handle on top and wheels on the bottom; along with two keyboard stands, the trick comes out, I perform with it and it goes right back in, At the end of the show while a parent holds the rabbit in her lap as the kids are petting the rabbit, I zip up the bag and I ask for help from the dads to roll out the cases while I carry the stands.I make a special trip in and out with the snake basket and the rabbit = 1%


Click on the link to see the cases
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gator/GK-76-......-Case.gc

Egad! (the prices on those keyboard cases!!!)

I have bought only two fiber prop cases (new) from a luggage maker in my life! When I first started doing assembly bureau tours, I had bought a fiber 'salesman's sample case" . about 30" x 15" x 10", to carry all the props. I was using a Disecto, and the props for Inertia (eggs, tray, and glasses) then. The school provided a Caféteria table for the big case to sit on, and I had a Stan Payne "Star" table for the chopper. The full case weighed about 30lbs. The inside of the case had "pigeon holes" as mentioned above. I worked out of the case.

After a season or two, I was able to red light the two big props, and, with careful planning, I carried the whole show in a case, 13" x 20" x 8". The case sat on a waiters tray stand. Case and stand weighted 23 lbs. For two seasons, I experimented with a Merv Taylor style suitcase table. I went back to the "fat attache case"!

I did carry a fiber case for the two doves for over 20 years, until the doves went to "the big lot" in the sky. The extra case was justified! (Those two doves did 8 minutes!)

I think the 13 x 20 x 8 case, bought new from Ikelheimer & Ernst in NYC, cost about 50. I've used it for years. It has seen two oceans, and, two borders! --and, it's still trouping!

I have a number of old salesman's sample cases, picked up in thrift shops on the road, cheap, to store "stuff" in, in "winter quarters" I haven't SEEN one in a few years. Apparently, salesmen don't carry samples anymore!

i can remember picking up a used ANVIL case, cheap, in a California thrift shop. I didn't need anything that strong. I gave it to a clown friend.

If flying (which I tend to do for a lot of bookings): Use hard-side cases that are padded inside. You might have to pack fewer props to make weight, but it's worth keeping those few props in great looking condition.

I've been performing magic professionally for well over 25 years, and still use many of the same props I purchased back then. I made cloth bags with drawstrings to store individual props in. After every show, the prop goes back in the bag. This prevents scratching, paint damage, prop damage. If you don't know how to use a sewing machine, you can learn fast to make these simple bags.

Hi disneywld!

I've been a professional, performing, on the road, from coast to coast, and border to border for fifty years. Bobo and I compared notes when I visited with him, in Texarkana, back in the early '90s. We both estimated that we had done about 20,000 (+ or - a few!)shows.

I've described in a couple of posts, above, how and where I work. I don't use any boxes, tubes, cans, pans, or red velvet bags on a stick. Most of my props are GENERIC (rope, silks, coins, cards, etc. They don't need the type of packing that you describe. (Although I still use a DEMON WONDER BOX that I've had since 1954. It still looks like it did, when I got it!)

If you carry a lot of "plywood", I can understand your cloth bags. When I was a teenager in the '40s, C. Thomas Magrum packed like that. It took him a half hour, or more, to set props for his 50 minute program!, and, the same time to pack up and load out.

School shows, as I noted above, were "K-MART SHOW BUSINESS". At the end of the day, he was physically exhausted. I describe his program, in detail, in my book. For several seasons, Clem was carrying ten pieces of luggage!

Back in the early '70s, on a tour for Southern School Assemblies, I experimented with a Merv Taylor "Su-Table". I red lighted it, after two tours. The "Su-Table" weighed more than the props. The bureau manager, had over booked "magic", that season. Three magicians were playing the route. John Todman carried a van load of props, including a sound system, backdrop, lights and two illusions. Max Hapner carried a sword basket with small props carried in it. Both had their wives along to help set and strike. I carried everything (except a dove carrier) in the Su-Table. I could set in 4 minutes, and strike in about 2 minutes. I work alone. >>>WE WERE ALL GETTING THE SAME MONEY!!!<<<

The late Fetaque Sanders used to say: "Patter packs easier than props!"