Browser's den of magic while visiting Canada's Wonderland

Mine was Hey Presto in Sydney, Australia!
It's unfortunately closed now due to Covid but lasted a long time as one of the last brick and mortar magic shops in Sydney (and probably Australia!)

Best Magic Costume and Supply off of Magnolia Blvd in Anaheim!

I got Scotch and Soda, nickels to dimes, and a way too dangerous finger guillotine.

I might have some resentment towards the dude behind the counter.

He sold me a card magic book that taught doubles by lifting from behind with your right thumb and the book claimed "perfect shuffles" were done by riffling. I mean, what the heck. Is there a person on the planet that can consistently make it through the 8 shuffle Faro rotation by riffling?

I honestly think the bad teaching in that book is what kept me from getting into magic as a kid. I had no idea what I was doing, but I think I intuitively understood that it was full of S.

Oh...lol...and it taught card to ceiling with a tack (RIP stucco ceiling, sorry Mom).

That has to be the worst magic book ever published. Does anyone know what book I'm talking about? Not sure when it was published, but I would've purchased it in 89 or 90. It would be a fun novelty item to read again now that I (sort of) know what I'm doing.

As a kid, every time my family would vacation somewhere I would take out the phone book at the hotel and look up if there were any magic shops in that area.
The next step was convincing my parents that a visit was part of our itinerary for that trip.

Same technique I used waynet.

I remember one time shortly after I got into magic, we were on vacation on a bus tour – one of those with an upper deck that was uncovered. As we drove through downtown (I can't remember the city), we passed a magic shop. I almost jumped over the railing to get to it. Never ended up convincing my parents to go back to it afterwards.

Hollywood Magic and down the street - Bergs Magic 1950's- 70's

Tannen's in NYC

First order-by-mail magic shop: Vick Lawston's 'House of a Thousand Mysteries' (followed closely by Flosso-Hornmann Magic and Abbott's Magic Co. ... I found all three by small advertisements in the back of magazines like Boy's Life and Popular Mechanics. I ordered their catalogs and spent hours studying them, enticed by the wonders offered on those pages.)

First visit in-person to a magic shop:House of Magic at Walt Disney World. (but I count my first "real" magic shop as Al's Magic Shop in Washington, DC)

I don't frequent magic shops, but the first one I wondered into
was a "Houdini's magic shop" I believe,
probably the one at the mgm grand.

The late, great, House of Magic on Chestnut Street in San Francisco. My Dad brought me there for my birthday to let me pick out a piece of pro equipment. I had a hard time choosing between a very nice red velvet zipper change bag and a well made wooden drawer box. I went with the change bag because I liked the flash of the red velvet and the gold trim. I used that change bag for YEARS. (Now of course I wouldn't be caught dead using a change bag, but I loved it for a long time.)

Magic and Fun in Tallahassee. Long gone though.

Well, the very first place I ever brought magic from was the old Johnson Smith Catalog. Anyone remember that? 😁

But the first brick & mortar magic shop for me was the old Tannen’s Magic in downtown NYC. Man, what a magical place it was. I used to go down there every Saturday morning that I could, when I could save up a few pennies to buy some tricks. I vaguely remember the elevator actually opening up right into the shop, or perhaps that was another place? But that shop showed me my very first batch of magical apparatus and introduced me to a bevy of magicians every trip there, the big, small & all of them on the NYC scene. Hard to find magic shops nowadays, it was always quite an exhilarating experience for me.

YES!!! I remember Johnson Smith! When I was a child, I sent away for their catalog and I STILL HAVE IT! It was my very first catalog. The cover is missing and it is folded in half but all of the pages are there. It is from the early to mid sixties.

I spent many hours looking through that catalog. I discovered the word MAMMOTH in that catalog. They sold lots of MAMMOTH things so I looked up the word in the dictionary to find out what it meant.

I would occasionally buy a little something from time to time such as a box of 100 magnets (certainly not mammoth!) and other curiosities. I would wait impatiently for my purchase to arrive. What I actually received was not quite what I was expecting. The great item descriptions and cool illustrations gave me an inaccurate expectation of what would actually show up in the mail. In spite of that, I was still happy with my purchases and made the best of it. FUN FUN FUN!!!

After that, I began sending away for catalogs from actual magic shops. Boy oh boy were they fun to read and stare at! It is unfortunate that I could not afford anything substantial but did buy something when I could.

Mayette magie, Paris

My first magic shop is one that is still active in Madrid Spain, Magia Estudio, I still remember the first time I walked in and was shyly recommended a card book for beginners by the great Spanish magician A. Florensa.

My first magic shop wasn't technically a magic shop it was technically Joke shop within an indoor market in the Kirkgate Centre in Bradford, selling fancy dress, jokes and practical jokes etc. It did however sell some basic magic effects and gimmicked packs of cards which the shop owner would demonstrate on weekends to draw crowds from the market. This was where I would spend my time whilst my parents went shopping. as I developed a strong love for magic and mentalism etc. after my time in the military, my first bricks and mortar magic shop was the fabulous Merlin's of Wakefield! still going strong to this day and one which I still frequent.

it is a sad but true fact that the rise of online retailers has resulted in a drastic decline of bricks and mortar magic shops so I still like to support them where I can.

Tannen's magic shop in NYC. I have heard that it may be one of the oldest in US.

Irelands Magic Shop on Dearborn St. in the Chicago Loop was the place to go. I remember meeting Don Allan at Ireland's Magic. At that time Don was performing on a daily TV kids show and needed a new trick everyday. Irelands became Magic Inc. over the years. Wonderful memories.

Uncle Ted's Magic Shop inside a place called Maxies International Flea Market. Believe it or not!

Unfortunately never been to an actual magic shop and seeing how they keep closing thanks to online infrastructure don't see many opportunities to do so in the future in my location.