Search the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections

Searching for

Refine by

Results 1-20 of 37

Photograph

Ben Bergor on Stage

Date: 1930
Description: Magician Ben Bergor of Madison with the stage equipment he used for his performances.
Photograph

Ben Bergor Performs

Date: 
Description: Magician Ben Bergor of Madison performing a trick on stage. With him are his wife, who performed as Madame Alva, and an assistant.
Photograph

Cowboy Eddie and Friends

Date: 
Description: Madison television personality Howie Olson (right) with Cowboy Eddie and his friend magician Ben Bergor.
Photograph

Ventriloquism Act

Date: 
Description: Ben Bergor, Madison magician, ventriloquist, and entertainment agent, performing with Jerry O'Reilly at a farm show. With Bergor is his wife Alva who often...
Photograph

Madison Picnic

Date: 
Description: A Goldenberger Family picnic in the Madison area. The woman on the far right is Olivia Goldenberger, who performed on the operatic stage as Olivia Monona. ...
Photograph

Chicago Magicians Hijinks

Date: 1937
Description: Ben Bergor, a Madison area magician (standing third from the left), with a group of Chicago area magicians. Identified individuals are (seated, left to rig...
Photograph

Houdini Award

Date: 1941
Description: Ben Bergor, a Madison magician, receiving the Houdini Award from the widow of Harry Houdini. Behind him is the trunk from which Bergor had escaped, and fou...
Photograph

Convention Floorshow

Date: 02 1954
Description: Elevated view of entertainment at the annual convention of the Wisconsin Retail Lumberman's Association in Milwaukee.
Photograph

Waiting in the Wings

Date: 1960
Description: The Wisconsin veterans homes and hospitals regularly enjoyed entertainment provided the Madison Elks via Ben Bergor's entertainment agency. The performance...
Photograph

Off to the Trenches

Date: 05 05 1918
Description: Send off for World War I recruits at the railroad station. The man leaning out of the train window is Ben Bergor, a professional magician and vaudeville pe...
Photograph

Butterbeans and Suzy

Date: 1962
Description: Jodie "Butterbeans" Edwards and his wife "Suzy," a vaudeville comedy act. After Suzy died in 1962, Edwards continued to tour until the time of his death in...
Photograph

Dizzy Sizzlers

Date: 1950
Description: The Dizzy Sizzlers were a comedy band based in Watertown that performed throughout Wisconsin during the 1950s and 1960s.
Photograph

The Harmonicats

Date: 
Description: The Harmonicats were a popular jazz harmonica trio, originally known as the Harmonica Madcats, that was formed in 1944. The original musicians were Murad (...
Photograph

It's Those Johnson Boys

Date: 
Description: The Johnson Brothers, billed as "Clean, Fast, Swedish Comedy," was a musical comedy act based in Racine, Wisconsin.
Photograph

Hypnotism Act

Date: 
Description: Dr. Morton Greene, a graduate psychologist, performing his hypnotism act.
Photograph

Dave & Pauline Coleman

Date: 
Description: Magicians Dave (left) and Pauline Coleman performing their famous "Hindu Torture Board" trick using an anvil on a board full of nails positioned on the abd...
Photograph

Dr. Earl Lockman

Date: 
Description: Dr. Earl Lockman, a well-known escape artist, and his handcuff collection.
Photograph

Under Water Packing Crate Escape

Date: 1914
Description: Harry Houdini, born Erik Weisz in Hungary and raised as Erich Weiss in Appleton, Wisconsin, preparing to do one of his famous escapes, this time from a sub...
Photograph

Joe Berg

Date: 
Description: Joe Berg, a professional magician and magic dealer, who was based in Chicago. This autographed picture was presented to Ben Bergor, a Madison area magician...
Photograph

Dorny Dornfeld

Date: 1929
Description: Quarter-length studio portrait of Werner "Dorny" Dornfeld, a Chicago area magician who was a leader in several national organizations of magicians. The "Be...

Have Questions?

If you didn't find the material you searched for, our Library Reference Staff can help.

Call our reference desk at 608-264-6535 or email us at: