History of Plastic Magic

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Right after Jim Swoger was realeaced from military service in 1945 he made friends with a man who worked for Rohm Haas. Rohm Hass invented and manufactured plastic materials of different compositions and colors. Jim took a personal tour. It was a pretty big deal.

Jim took samples home and made the flip over box in the photo. The next project was a crystal box that made spring flowers appear, then he was off and running. Jim, being the first manufacturer of plastic magic, was called " The Plastic King". The banner to the right was made in 1948. Notice the phrase "Home Of Plastic Magic".

Production Dice were made in 47-48. The original dice had black spots. The were made by drilling holes through the white plastic. Then using a hole drill, dots were made from black plastic then inserted in the holes and bonding them together. The sparkly dots came later.

other items below: The Massey Card Dagger was made from wood, metal and the blade was plastic.

Jim experimented with different techniques in manufacturing. Genii Tubes were made, in two sizes, Using his oven at home, he layed the plastic over forms. Heat allowed the plastic to take the shapes as shown below. They were then asembled into the Genii Tubes

ABC Block Tricks (without the letters) were made around 47-48.

The Vampire Block was made until the 70s. Jim glued black plastic to red before cutting the parts for assembly. (Notice how the inside of the tube is black.)

Made in the late 40s, The Card Between Plates is perhaps the nicest example of Jim's efforts. Here you can see the emergence of the "Layered Look". This piece was the inspiration for our new style of effects. The advantages to this type of construction is that the audience sees props from a distance much better then painted wood. It also looks very nice up close. Below is an example of wood Vs plastic on our Rib Blocks.
On the right is our Rib Block II. here is a link to see more details. LINK
From left to right

Massey Card Dagger, Oriental Card Between Plates (late 40s), Vampire Block. Flip Over Box (45) , Production Dice (47-48), Genii Tube.

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