When did you first see "The Magic Land of Allakazam"?

I was one of the fortunate ones to watch the very first "Time For Magic" back in Dallas and became a dedicated Mark and Nani fan immediately. I drug my mother to a shopping center to watch one of their weekly shows they did promoting their sponsors, and it was there that I got my first magic apparatus, a wand and buddha paper trick that you got for proving you talked your mom into buying a 6 pack of Dr. Pepper and a package of Neuhauff franks.

I had previously managed to obtain several magic instructional sheets that Mark and Nani put out in exchange for mailing in 6 Dr. Pepper bottle caps. My parents were not Dr. Pepper drinkers so I had to use resorcefulness to get these bottle caps. Fortunately my Maternal Grandfather's brother, my Mother's uncle Gene, owned a country store and I was allowed to raid the bottle cap collector of their pop cold box to retrieve the needed bottle caps.

Later Mark performed with a group of magicians at a local Methodist Church in Garland, Tx. And my dad surprised me by taking me to that show, and that was the first time I got to shake the hand of the Man with the Fifty-thousand Dollar Hands! I felt I had just met the most important person on earth.

Not long after that, further begging led my parents to finally take me downtown to Tiches Department Store in Dallas where, as we got off the escallator, what should to my wondering eyes appear...but the most beautiful woman in the world, Nani. She was there promoting the Mark Wilson TV Magic Kit, which I absolutely had to have, but after speaking a few moments with Nani my mother drug me away. I was heart broken. So I turned to the king of all magicians, Santa Claus, and he came through for me, on Christmas Morning there was a Mark Wilson TV Magic Kit under the tree.

I couldn't read yet, my dad had to read the instructions to the tricks to me, but that kit became my constant companion. I took it everywhere, including a vacation my parents took to visit the couple who had been their best man and matron of honor at their wedding. While we were there my Dad collected me and told me we were going to meet an old uncle of his. I, of course, was not without my Mark Wilson magic kit. I met the "old uncle" who my Dad called "Uncle Harry", and while he and my Dad chatted about family, I sat on the floor practicing my cups and balls trick from the kit. After a bit, Uncle Harry, took notice of what I was doing and asked me what I had. I told him I was a magician and this was one of my magic tricks. He asked me to perform it for him and I probably performed the worst cups and balls routine he had ever seen in his life. Still he applauded and congratulated me on a fine performance.

He then left the room a few minutes and came back holding this little bird cage, he had me place my hands on it and in a flash it disappeared out from between my hands! I was awestruck! Finally coming to my senses I realized that Uncle Harry must also hold an interest in magic, and believing that Mark Wilson and I were the only two magicians in the world, I proceeded to tell Uncle Harry that if he wanted to be a magician like Mark and me, that he needed to get a Mark Wilson magic kit and learn magic from Mark Wilson. (Remember I was only 5 years old at the time) My dad said he wished he had a camera to take a picture of the look on Uncle Harry's face. I suppose Uncle Harry realized at my young age that I really didn't realize that I was standing before "Uncle" Harry Bouton (my last name is Bouton) Blackstone, Sr. I had no clue of who he was, so Uncle Harry laughed, patted me on the back, encouraged me to keep practicing my magic and told he he had heard some fine things about "Young Mark Wilson."

In spite of my relationship to the Great Blackstone, Mark was always my magical mentor and inspiriation. I even got scolded in later years by Uncle Harry to quit copying Mark Wilson's routines and make up my own.

We had moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1960 and my greatest fear from moving out of the Dallas area was that the local stations there would not carry any of Mark Wilson's shows (by this time he and Nani were doing the syndicated Magic Circus shows). To my great relief, one of the two TV stations in Lubbock began to promo a new series coming on Saturday Mornings called "Magic Land of Allakazam" and it was staring none other than Mark Wilson. I never missed an episode. My only disappointment was that for the first couple of years the show was not all magic, but had cartoons interrupting what I thought was the best part of the show. When the show switched networks I again worried, as we had only two stations, and one split broadcasting between CBS and ABC, we didn't get all the shows of both networks. Fortunately, Magic Land of Allakazam was popular enough in our market, that when the network switch came, the local channel continued to broadcast the show.

The interest in magic that Mark and Nani sparked in me back in the early 50's in Dallas has provided me with more enjoyment than almost anything else in my life. Magic enabled me to put myself through college and graduate school, as well as to be able to enjoy my family heritage better.