Ted Bogusta of the Martinka & Co. has taken the oldest magic company in America and brought it into the 21st century. The company conducts periodic auctions online, and Bogust said results of the latest auction demonstrates the wider interest magic collecting is gaining.

Highlights of the December auction are online and include a letter from magician Chung Ling Soo from 1894 that went for $3,630. Over 4,000 bids were received on more than 500 lots.

Two brothers from Germany opened the Martinka & Co store in the 1870s in New York, and Harry Houdini owned the company in the early 1900s.

Another auction of collectible magic is planned for March 2005.

http://www.martinka.com/martinka/martinka/auctionresults.asp