Paper Tearing Scrap Book (Detail)

This scrap book is about the art of paper tearing. The booklet consists of a copy of J. Albert Briggs’ ‘Paper tearing made easy’ instructions, as well as newspaper cuttings and illustrations and handwritten notes.

This item is part of a collection of magic paraphernalia in the State History’s collection which belonged to magician Harold John Watson. He was born on 20 March 1900 in Meadows. Besides his career as a school teacher in South Australia, he was fascinated by magic research and became a semi-professional magician. Known as The Wizard Watson he had his own branded props to entertain the audience with mystery and excitement in his shows.

Paper tearing scrap book, detail, HT 2017.1530

This detail image shows a cartoon stuck into a scrap book about the art of paper tearing which reads "Now, let's analyse the news"