I am looking for information about the different ways that bags have been used in the history of magic.
I imagine that one of the earliest uses was the gibecière used by street magicians.

The GENII MagicPedia article on change bags says that "one of the first appearances of the change bag first in print (used as a method to force a number) is in Philosophical Amusements by anonymous."

Here's a link to an engraving of Isaac Fawkes producing a dozen or so eggs
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/isaa......ger.html

Milbourne Christopher showed the same engraving on page 19 of _Panorama of Magic_ with the caption "Isaac Fawkes and his famous bag trick. From a bag he produced eggs and birds."

Who was the first to invent/market a pull-apart change bag?

Thanks for any comments.

----- Sonny Narvaez

Not familar with a "pull apart" change bag. Perhaps it has a different name
But for a brief history of the change bag...

GO HERE:
https://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.ph......&s[]=bag

FrankFindley’s post might be of interest:
https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view......orum=133

Since pockets in clothing was not popular until the 17th century, folks carries pouches on belts or straps -
some hidden and others garish. So, these were all "bags" to carry props and hidden things for magicians.

These do not have to be "gimmicked" to support steals, ditches, switches and serve as a "third hand."

Sonny, Isaac Fawkes was using an Egg Bag not a change bag for his routine. The Egg Bag was central to his act and he was quite well known for it. The Egg Bag seems to predate the Change Bag in Magic by a few centuries. It seems the egg Bag was in use as a magic prop to at least the 13th century (1200s). I suspect that it was pretty common for street, itenerant performers well before that. As you can tell by the Fawkes print, the bags in used then were quite a bit larger than those we are costumed to see today.

The small form Egg Bags seem to date from the 1800s. The small form of Egg Bag, as is generally used in modern times, is credited to Herbert Albini (Abraham Laski), in the late 1800s.

By the early 1900s the small form Egg Bag was the standard size.

Arnold DeBier was a famous magician of the early 1900s that was well known for using it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfDJoosgQds

The Change Bag seems to be of more modern origins. It seems to date from the 18th century with an early reference being dated 1769. It was used as a force bag. The change bag with the handle seems to date from there late 1800s. I couldn't find a reference for the terra-apart or Pull-Apart Chang bag but I figure that three days after velcro hit the market some magician had already figured a dozens uses for it including the Pull-apart change bag.


Other bags being used would would, of course include the Mail Bag escape from ca. 1900. The Mail Bag escape is a classic magic trick popularized by Harry Houdini, who first performed it in 1907. The trick involves a magician being sealed inside a locked mail bag, from which they must escape. Likewise Doug Henning used a person sized cloth bag to escape. He climbed into the bag and a member of the audience (me in one case) tied it closed. He vanished fro the bag almost instantly leaving the bag still tied.



Ken is right when he mentions the lack of pockets and the use of pouches as being the main mode for carring small items. A case in point is the gibecière (game bag/poucher's pouch) in Europe. In 15th-century Europe, woodcuts depicted street performers using the Cups and Balls, often with a gibecière visible.

By the 17th and 18th centuries, the gibecière became a common accessory for magicians, enhancing their performances in taverns and public squares. It is still being used today by magicians, especially street magicians to facilitate their Cups and balls routine.

Jeff Sheridan used s shoulder bag (sometimes a camera bag, some times a messenger bag) to carry his props when he was a street magician in the 1970s. He'd often use it as a gibecière but hanging at his hip not belted in front of his waist. This reinforces Ken's (runaway) thesis that the bag does not have to be gimmicked.


A simple cloth bag (which matches the cloth used in a table cloth) can be used to produce oranges, candy, a bird, bunny or a stack of goldfish bowls full of water and gold fish (all have been done).


I'm rambling and free associating but that should give you some ideas of what magicians have used bags for historically.