Society of American Magicians

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The Society of American Magicians (SAM) is the oldest association for magicians in the world. It was founded in New York City in May 1902 at the Martinka & Company magic shop, America's oldest magic company.

To date, over 30,000 magicians have been members. As an international association, SAM today has over 260 offices all over the world. The association is a member of the international umbrella organization Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques , which organizes the world championship of magic that takes place every three years .

history

On April 26, 1902, 13 magicians met under the chairmanship of W. Golden Mortimer, on May 3 there were 23 artists and on May 10 the association was founded. Member No. 1 became Saram Ellison, one of the co-founders alongside Mortimer and Francis Martinka.

Harry Houdini was elected a member in February 1904. At the 4th annual dinner show in 1908, Houdini was made an honorary member. Participants at that session included Harry Kellar , Imro Fox, Howard Thurston, Signor Deadato and T. Nelson Downs.

M − U − M (for "Magic − Unity − Might"), the official association publication, was founded in October 1911.

In July 1984 a youth organization was founded, the Society of Young Magicians (SYM).

In July 2002, for the 100th anniversary in New York, the United States Postal Service issued a Houdini commemorative stamp on the celebrations themselves.

Honors

In addition to awarding “Fellowships” and “Awards”, the Society of American Magicians awards nominations to the Hall of Fame , which is part of the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame and Magic Museum .

Members of the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame are not only artists living or at the time of SAM, but people who are or were of importance to the development of magic were named back to antiquity.

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