Stevens Magic Emporium (SME) has enjoyed over 50 successful years working in the magic business catering to the working professional magician and hobbyist. SME was started by Joe and Martha Stevens. Initially, Joe started selling collectable magic in the 60’s; which turned out to be the springboard that started the larger and full-time operation. Over the years trading magic and information with t
he likes of Buma Sr., Harold Martin, Les Smith and others, the transformation was made to full time magic in 1973. Realizing the importance of outreach SME has been credited with being the first company in magic to develop a “mag-a-log” (or cat-a-zine) consisting of high quality items along with features stories and celebrity profiles. This combination was successful and is a recognized consistent feature in all future sales publications. In addition to the unique aspects of the mag-a-logs, the featuring of sequential photos of actual products (not sketches or just text), coupled with extensive ad copy, allowed the recipient to be able to actually see how the effect played out by viewing the sequential photos. These and other features (the catalog printed on heavy stock, glossy front paper) helped SME gain prominence and respect from magicians who longed for details that previously were not available. In fact, many collectors have saved all the SME catalogs, claiming that they will be worth a lot in the years to come (similar to old K.C. Card Catalogs). We are honored to hear these remarks and wish we would have saved some of our early catalogs, too.