The Mummy Deluxe by Oskar Rey, Inzani-Henley

The first time the Wandering Mummy was available from a Magic dealer was in the mid 1950’s from the German Magic Dealer Joe Wildon.  These were manufactured by Oskar Rey and were similar to the set produced by Inzani-Henley in England but more detailed, gold in color, and about five years earlier.

Remo Inzani and John Henley obtained the rights in the late 50’s to craft and sell The Wandering Mummy in their own catalog. The first mention of Inzani-Henley’s mummy was in The Magic Circular September 1959, then in Abra November 1959 and in their own catalog in 1964. The first sets sold by Inzani-Henley were made for them by Oskar Rey, and later sets where made for Inzani-Henley by a craftsman in Devon, England. 

This set was in fact made by Oskar Rey of Switzerland. I have had this confirmed by John Henley via Todd Harris (of The Magic Attic fame).

This is a deluxe version with a number of differences from the standard Mummy released by Inzani-Henley (if you look at the final four photos after the adverts you will be able to see these differences as I have compared them with the original mummy).

• The two sarcophagi are adorned with better quality fixtures.  In particular on the sarcophagus where the mummy vanishes a full-size mummy is used instead of the more common small shrouded figure.
• The mummy’s themselves are much more detailed and less toy like.
• A neat presentation case houses both of the sarcophagi with padded foam and felt to stop them moving around when closed. These mummies are securely protected.  This case is not part of the original set, but looks and works perfectly.
• Even the instructions have been re-typeset and printed on vintage antique stationary, instead of the usual poorly printed photo copy that I have seen three times now.  This is a good thing because the instructions provided by Inzani-Henley are one of the best sets of instructions you will find.  They are so good in fact that Dr. Albo directly copies them in Dr. Albo Vol. 7 when he describes The Mummy (pg. 42).

Effect: IT FLOATS! IT VANISHES (from one coffin)! IT REAPPEARS (in another)! This is really unusual off-beat magic and is best summed up by these two reviews which appeared in the Abracadabra:

• “A beautiful outfit for the table worker – a transposition of a Mummy from one lovely sarcophagus to another . This is not a cheap item, but it is first rate apparatus that produces top-class magic.”
• “Having enthused over THE MUMMY, the table apparatus routine showed by Inzani-Henley, I have now had the opportunity of examining and presenting the item and find my admiration in no way diminished. The apparatus looks splendid at close quarters (as it is intended to be worked) and the Mummy not only floats but makes its way from one coffin to the other. All the performer has to do is tell his story and follow the instructions.  It is good and good-looking magic.”

It is the sort of apparatus laymen expect magicians to have!

The two coffins (5 1/2″ x 2 1/2″  x 2 1/2″) are well made and each lid is decorated with a ‘hand carved’ figure … one of a Mummy and the other a Sphinx head. The Mummy itself is brightly colored, and the patter story is factual.

To read my patter based on these instructions see here.

(Click here for more history about The Wandering Mummy)

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