antiques — Stories — Public Sale

The Limit of the Marvelous

Ladies and Gentlemen! Yes, ‘tis true, dear friends, “Kar–Mi” (aka Joe Van Victorina, aka Joseph Bryant Hallworth – a Chelsea, Mass. child prodigy who performed as a teen with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show before cobbling together a classic American medicine show featuring snake–charming, fire–eating, fortune–telling) would indeed swallow a loaded gun barrel and, while it was down his throat, shoot a cracker off a man’s head.

PS!July 9, 2025antiques, antiques Hudson Valley, Hudson ny, auction houses New York, Public sale, kevin dann, harry houdini, circus

High–end Havoc

Whether, as amateur etymologist, you hold that the word “havoc” comes from: the Middle English signal for soldiers to seize plunder, crier havok –‘to cry havoc’; the Germanic havot – ‘to seize’; or the Latin haber – ‘to possess,’ you are sure to get a mental image of your messy garage or attic.