James Wesley Swoger, born January 26 1918, died November 2 2006 I.B.M membership # 8087, SAM membership #4510. he was an accomplished illusionist, sleight of hand artist, ventriloquist and builder. He became interested in magic when he was six. One of his older brothers showed him a magic trick and he was hooked. His father owned a music store, manufactured the Swoger electric organ & supplied many Vaudeville acts with sheet music for their shows. This gave Jim a backstage pass to Vaudeville at an early age. He watched all eight acts at one theater then saw eight more at four others every week for several years. At the age of eight, Jim met Houdini, backstage before a show, and talked with him an hour and a half.

Jim excelled at woodworking in high school and was building magic projects using school equipment while older students were making nick nacks. He saw a picture of a square circle and was probably the first person in America to make one. James Swoger invented hundreds of magical effects. His most notable invention was tricky bottles he estimated that he sold fifteen thousand before 1965. Jim Swoger was also the first person to produce magic made from plastic. Known as the Plastic King he was one of the largest producers of magic in the world during the 40s and 50s.

The House Of Enchantment was born in 1937 then shortly thereafter Jim was drafted into the army. He naturally wound up entertaining the troops. He was in the same USO unit as Melbourne Christopher. A friend kept the mail order business going until Jim was released from the army then Jim was free to build and perform. He also printed catalogs under the name of The International Magic Company.

Jim Swoger made props for all the major retail shops during the 40s through the 80s. In the early 50s he teamed up with Ed Mellon and the two of them produced many great mental effects. He also bought the rights to producing a hundred different products and he bought out a few business outright until he owned the largest magic manufacturing business in the world. His owned two large printing presses. Not only could Jim make the tricks and the boxes, they were sold in, but he printed the instructions and stamped out the boxes all at the same location. The store was first located in Wilkinsberg Pennsylvania. It was called Regow’s House Of Enchantment. The name Swoger was inverted, to prevent confusion, because hid father owned a music store and one of his brothers was a photographer, all sharing the same last name.
Swoger - Regow.

When the city of Wilkinsburg tore Jim’s building down to make a parking lot he moved to downtown Pittsburgh. The owner of a retail store, offered Jim space because he was Jim's first assistant in a traveling show. Jim’s had 18 assistants and started performed in the days where you needed ship your illusions, to the next town, by train because the roads were too bad to drive, even though the trip was only 30 miles.

When the store owner decided profits from magic sales were not paying the rent, Jim moved his retail shop and manufacturing plant completely into his home on Capital Avenue in Pittsburgh, in the early seventies The adventure of walking up the extremely steep hill to Jims house was not fun but going down was a breeze. Jim again moved further up the hill to Plainview Avenue to a larger house where he continued to built all his products in the garage. When another magician bought Jim house he moved fifty miles to Summerset PA. where he and his second wife Betty made magic tricks, ceramics and sold costumes. This location was in a half acre warehouse with no heat or insulation. The plan of action, in the winter, was to push covered shelves into a circle and sleep between them with a little space heater going full blast. Jim got an offer to move to California where he expected to start up the business again however things came to a standstill when a truck full of equipment and props, being moved to California, were involved in a head on collision and the driver who was Jim's’s partner was seriously injured. Jim semi retired.

In 1995 Jim asked Jay Leslie for one dollar. For his dollar Jay bought the rights to the House Of Enchantment name and all of the equipment and props that Jim still had.

If you never saw Jim swoger perform magic, you missed it. He had the wonderful ability to perform each effect as though it was the first time. Those who watched his manipulation with coins, balls, rope and cards were mesmerized. He hardly ever performed the same routine twice. His moves were a melody of motion where no one cared how he did it they were more interested in what came next. He was a true artist. He was especially proud of the fact that he headlined 18 convention shows with his sleight of hand. He had a loyal following of friends and students who often drove across the country to spend time with him. Once, Del Ray called the party he was supposed to at and told them his car broke down because Del was trying to learn a rope move that Jim invented and Del needed to know... right then. Jim Swogers nature was very
gentle. He tried very hard never to say anything negative about anyone. He always made people feel good about their skills and encouraged them to become better because it was what they wanted to do. We say good by to a man who lived and breathed more magic - who was a walking encyclopedia and was the nicest, kindest gentlest man I’ve ever met. He is survived by his wife Betty his daughter Andrina her daughter Stephanie. his son Jim Jr. and his other unofficially adopted son Jay Leslie.

Jay Leslie

What I am going to do with Jims magic and memorabilia.

I have inherited all of Jims magic, tools and memorabilia. Currently I am working (starting several years ago) to make the ultimate tribute to one of the founding fathers of commercial magic production and sleight of hand artistry. I plan to put out a DVD with hundreds of historical letters written to and from Jim, and others, that will open your eyes. You will see what really happened when a new trick was invented, who made it, how it was sold and who made the prototype. You will appreciate the relationship between the "old time" magic dealers and how close everyone was. These were different times where people pulled together to help on another, not like today where tricks are ripped off an hour after someone makes it.

If you are a collector this DVD and / or book will become a very important tool in research. I plan to add footage of Jim performing, hence the DVD format, but there is a possibility that this could become a book and DVD set. There are currently several hundred letters that you will find spellbinding. The only way to be first on the list for this effort is to Email me with a request to add your Email address to my list. I can not say when it will be done, it might take a year or longer. You have no idea how many pages, articles, pictures ect. I have to sort through while doing my regular manufacturing. You really have no idea unless you actually saw it yourself at one of Jims homes or shops. It is a bitter sweet task but I owe it to the magic community to make this monumental reference available and to create a tribute to one of the greatest producers of magical apparatus the world will never see again.

Please add you name to the list, share a story of what Jim Swoger meant to you or contact me for any other reason.

Jleslie@quik.com