Gatherings Spotlight: Frank Buhla Collection

Gatherings Spotlight:

Frank Buhla Collection 2023

University Libraries

About the cover: Frank Buhla stands alongside his custom “Buhla the Magician” truck, which was likely used by him as he traveled through Southeast Ohio. In the background is another “Buhla” truck, which waits quietly for its turn to cruise the hills and greet the crowds of admirers who surely flocked to meet the great “Magician’s Magician.”

Notes by the Archivist The Frank Buhla Collection provides excellent evidence of coal mining and early industry in Ohio, which was what originally motivated Ohio University Libraries to purchase the collection at auction in July of 1974. The collection also provides evidence of a unique individual whose interests are firmly rooted in his experiences of living and growing up in Southeast Ohio.

Greta Suiter, manuscripts archivist

Born in 1907 in Athens, Ohio, Frank Buhla spent most of his life in nearby Glouster, where he followed in his father’s footsteps into the coal mines of Southeast Ohio before heading north for more work opportunities. Buhla came back to Glouster though, and in the 1930s, opened and operated a boxing gym, enjoyed work as a bartender and eventually had a successful career as a magician.

As I found out at an Archives & Special Collections show-and-tell event at the Amesville Senior Center, there are still people today who fondly remember visits from Buhla the Magician during their school years, which is not so surprising as Frank Buhla did hundreds of performances for elementary and high schools throughout Ohio in the 1960s and early 1970s. But what was surprising was the amount of joy those recollecting the show still clearly had for a performance that happened over 50 years ago.

What originally struck me about the Frank Buhla collection was the magic part.

Not only the designs of the catalogs, posters and promotional materials, but also the community aspect of these often-solo performers. Through newsletters, how-to books and self-made posters, groups of amateur and professional magicians alike shared news about performances and illusions that interested them. Members of the magic community would sometimes meet in person, but often they would follow each other remotely through a network of printed newsletters, flyers and catalogs to share ideas and build relationships.

As you look through this publication, I hope you enjoy getting to know a bit about “Buhla the Great” as well as the industrial history of Southeast Ohio.

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BUHLA THE BOXER While still a teenager working the coal mines, Buhla began training as a boxer. His first professional fight was held in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 19. Fighting professionally until 1935, his boxing career included 12 wins and only two losses. From 1933 to 1936, Buhla built and operated the Glouster Athletic Arena with his wife, Esther, during the Great Depression. However, because of the nation’s economic downturn, the operation was not financially sustainable.

Caption source: “Miner, Boxer, Magician, Mr. Amazing,” by Kenneth Breyley.

Athens Magazine, Spring/Summer, 1972.

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In the early 1930s, one of Buhla’s favorite pastimes while bartending was to learn “… a few card tricks from the various patrons.

His interest quickly grew and before long he could make coins appear and cigarettes disappear. This led to the appearance of several magic tricks, and before long, he was putting on a small show behind the bar for those who were interested.”

Caption source: “Miner, Boxer, Magician, Mr. Amazing,”

by Kenneth Breyley. Athens Magazine, Spring/Summer, 1972.

BUHLA THE BARTENDER

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In 1947 after years of learning the art of magic, Buhla began to build his career as a professional magician.

Earning a solid reputation as a top-notch entertainer, in 1964 he was awarded “Magician of the Year” by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Performing in a variety of venues, from parties to conventions to nightclubs, Buhla enjoyed the most success with the youngest of audiences – school age children. In the 1960s and 1970s, he entertained elementary and high school students with hour-long programs in 46 counties in the state of Ohio.

Caption source: “Miner, Boxer, Magician, Mr. Amazing,” by Kenneth Breyley.

Athens Magazine, Spring/Summer, 1972.

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THE GREAT BUHLA

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Working within a network of magicians in Ohio and throughout the U.S., Buhla actively collected promotional material from his peers, such as business cards, how-to books, posters, letterheads and signed photos. Many performers created their own visually distinct branding with unique cards, fake money and personal letterhead to grab the attention of audiences. It’s clear from the collection that Buhla was well liked and respected by his community of magicians. In the 1960s, magic acts were popular and could be seen on television programs as well as in live performances.

A MAGICIAN’S MAGICIAN

“ … look for the guy with the biggest smile, the fastest handshake,

the least hair and the fastest comeback. The loudest laugh and the guy that is really enjoying himself and life and that will be none other than FRANK BUHLA, truly a magician’s magician. ” —Entertainment News Scope, 1967

Tommy Windsor

(Left) Pictured is a typed letter to Buhla from Tommy Windsor, a fellow magician, close friend and a Marietta, Ohio native. “Windsor wasn’t the run-ofthe-mill performer who stuck to one type of act. He was able to present a full evening show by including rag pictures, hypnotism, dancing, magic, cartoon drawing, and he too had his own ventriloquist act.”

Caption source: “Propelled Pasteboards.”

Tommy Windsor & Jeanne Anders

(Right) Pictured here are Tommy and Jeanne, whom Windsor later married and billed “The World’s Greatest Girl Ventriloquist,” in one of many promotional materials produced by the duo. “Among his [Windsor’s] magic products, he is best known for the creation of the Popcorn Dye Box. Magicians all over the world are still using this effect and many other of his creations today.”

Caption source: “Propelled Pasteboards.”

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DAILY APPOINTMENT BOOKS

From 1962 to 1972, Buhla thoroughly documented his performance travels, money earned and miscellaneous information in his “Daily Appointment” planners. These planners also contain many names, which are likely of people he stayed with or other performers. Those planners also showed Buhla’s success at making a living as a magician. In 1964 for example, he notes 176 shows with earnings of $5,614.77. In today's market that amount is equivalent to $55,083.97.

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There is an old saying about magic, “If you want to keep a secret, put it in writing.” Pictured are just a few of the magic books from the Buhla Collection containing secrets just waiting to be discovered. Additionally, there are also many magic-related journals in the collection including: “The Linking Ring,” “Tops,” “The Journal of Hypnotism,” “The Conjuror’s Magazine” and many more.

Caption source: “Magic Books--Should Magicians Learn from a Magic Book?”

MAGIC CATALOGS

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By 1916, the Buhla family had settled in Glouster, Ohio. Frank Buhla was working with his father in the mines, where he worked for three years before heading north for factory work. On Nov. 5, 1930, Buhla was visiting, when the Sunday Creek Millfield Mine No. 6 exploded because of a pocket of ignited gas. Buhla was part of the rescue teams working late into the night to locate survivors and move bodies out of the disaster area. Eighty-two miners died that day. Buhla knew many of the miners and was personally affected by the disaster.

Buhla’s interest in mines and their history continued throughout his life. Over time, he collected over 300 photographs, which were displayed in a makeshift museum in the back of his son’s antique shop. He also lectured about the mines at the Athens Historical Society, currently known as The Southeast Ohio History Center. The following images are from his collection, many of which document the industrial history of Southeast Ohio.

Caption source: “Replica, Ledger Bring Memories,” by Linda Bailey. Athens Messenger, Oct. 15, 1972.

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Hiking Hocking Hills

Pausing on a stone bridge in Southeast Ohio’s Hocking Hills, Frank Buhla, a Southern Ohio native, is surrounded by the beauty of what happens when water meets limestone. This area is still a destination point for day hikers today.

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Sunday Creek Coa

(Left) “A crowd gathered No. 2 Mine to celebrate t World War I had ended.” one of 14 townships in Pe closed following a miner’

Text source: “History of the C

Sunday Creek Coal Company San Toy Mine No. 1 (Right) Located in Monroe Township, Perry County, the Sunday Creek Coal Company acquired the mine in 1915 and operated it until it was abandoned in 1927. Mines in the Hocking Valley, such as this mine, were marked by stoppages that included miner’s strikes, owner’s lockout, or in some cases, mine fires.

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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at the Sunday Creek Coal Company San Toy the announcement in November 1918 that The underground mine in Bearfield Township, erry County, operated until 1927 when it was ’s strike.

Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

Modoc Mine No. 281

BUHLA COLLECTION

al Company San Toy Mine No. 2

Operated by the Sunday Creek Coal Company is Modoc Mine No. 281 in Athens County. Pictured from left to right are miners Bate Vore, Henry Miller, Preston Bentley and Albert Devore each prominently wearing headlights and holding their lunch pails. These buckets often contained several compartments, so the miner had multiple meals and water available while inside the mine.

Text source: National Museum of American History

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Black Diamond Mine (Right) Pictured is a “unique concrete coal tipple and trestle of the Black Diamond No. 2 mine … operated by the Black Diamond Coal Company near Lathrop, in Bern Township, Athens County.” According to the handwritten text on the image, the coal “binns” were “designed by Professor F.A. Ray.” Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

Canaanville Mine Buildings (Right) Pictured is the Canaanville mine in Athens County, Ohio with handwritten captions depicting various structures, such as “Air Shaft,” on the far right, and “Main Shaft,” on the far left. Because of its depth, Canaan coal had to be reached by a 450-foot-long shaft, which was the deepest in the county.

Canaanville Mine No. 1 (Right) Built in 1905, this mine was operated by the Canaan Coal Company until 1925 when the mine was no longer in operation. Pictured are “men and hoisting equipment used to construct the 450-foot-deep shaft of the Canaanville Mine No. 1 … located in Athens County.”

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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BUHLA COLLECTION Steamboat River Scene Pictured is the “Champion No. 3, a coal-fired paddle boat, moored on the Ohio River across from Pomeroy, Ohio. In the background is the massive Pomeroy sandstone, which … was extensively mined in the area.”

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Railroad construction had an enormous impact on the growth of Ohio’s coal fields. In the fields, the arrival of railroads not only spurred the opening of new mines but also the growth of old mines. Railroads would soon become the principal means of shipping coal. Pictured are a group of men in various dress posed in front of cars from the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway.

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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(Right) Located in Hocking and Athens counties are loaded coal mine cars traveling to the tipple of the Murray Coal Company Mine No. 5 near Murray City. This “drift” underground mine, whose coal seams were exposed, “was operated by the Sunday Creek Coal Company until 1938, and then under a variety of leases until it was abandoned in 1952.”

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

Rodgers Locomotive Turntable The earliest use of the turntable was to redirect trains, which at that time only ran in one direction. A practical design, the turntable requires less space than its conventional counterparts. Employees working the turntable would generally rotate along with the train’s engine.

BUHLA COLLECTION

Murray Mine No. 5

Text source: BNSF Railway.

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(Left) In the 1830s, clay deposits of varying levels in the earth were found in Southeast Ohio. These deposits were suitable for various ceramic making, such as sidewalks, streets and building bricks. But “suitable shale was also found and used extensively … for paving blocks.” The industry thrived from about 1870 to 1920.

Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

Shale Hill Brick Plant (Below) “The demand for Athens County clay products dropped off by the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century.”

Pictured here is Koss Fierce and Herb White leaning against a rail car filled with shale at the Trimble Brick plant.

Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

Nelsonville Flood and Brick Plant (Above) “The brick industry, on a large commercial scale, didn’t develop in Athens County until after the Civil War … [which was] started in Nelsonville.

By 1870, there was an anxious market for bricks, not only locally, but to the North as well.” Pictured is the brick plant in the far-right corner during the 1907 Nelsonville, Ohio flood.

Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

BUHLA COLLECTION

Shale Hill

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Trimble Brick Kilns

Athens Brick Plant

Trimble Township was important in the production of bricks, and in 1883, it was reported that mining “shafts have been sunk to the fireclay under the great seam of coal … [and] its deposits of clay are immense.” Pictured are rows of kilns from the Trimble brick plant, ca. 1910.

The main office building was built along East State Street, while larger buildings were erected to house the shale carts. “Further east were furnaces and boilers, tunnels, pipes and two rows of kilns … The area was prone to floods of the Hocking River until the channel was changed. A 1907 postcard shows the eastern-most kilns covered by water.”

Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

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Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

In about 1880, Wiliam Palmer “… started a coal and brick company of his own in what is now called Glouster, Ohio,” which is pictured here. With the emergence of the railroad, so too did towns begin to emerge.

Text source: “Getting to Know Athens County.”

BUHLA COLLECTION

Glouster Brick Plant

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Train Depot “In the 1880s, a string of new towns emerged alongside the Ohio Central Railroad, chief among them being Rendville, Corning, Jacksonville and Glouster.” Pictured is a 1909 image of the Glouster train depot.

Text source: “Sprinkled with Coal Dust.”

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“The Hocking Valley mining district dominated the local economy for more than a century, until the Great Depression of the 1930s crippled an already troubled coal market.” By the 1900s, the company town of Glouster had a population that surpassed 2,000 people.

BUHLA COLLECTION

Glouster Flood

Text source: “Sprinkled with Coal Dust.”

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Glouster Baseball Team “In addition to the various social activities and entertainments, many inhabitants of mining communities interested themselves in sports. Baseball ranked highest in popularity … Although many participated, a greater number were spectators.” Pictured are players from the 1913 team, “Glouster B.B.C.” Text source: “Sprinkled with Coal Dust.”

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Pictured are “kids” from the 1910 Glouster baseball team. In the top row are Fritz Swaback, Julie Pico, Chas. Dunnett, Carl Pico, Clarence Swaback, Joe Lane and Frank (pie “doe”) Skinner; and in the bottom row are Richie Erble, Ralph Lamborn and Pat Crawford.

Trimble Baseball Club “The rise of baseball to widespread national popularity paralleled the growth of the coal industry in the Hocking Valley … [and] amateur teams sprouted up in towns throughout the nation.” Pictured is the Trimble, Ohio, 1911 Baseball Club.

BUHLA COLLECTION

Glouster Kid Team

Text source: “Sprinkled with Coal Dust.”

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Beasts of Burden The use of mules and ponies to pull cars of coal or miners was common among the state of Ohio coal mining practices in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Pictured is a group from the Monserat Mine No. 28.

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

Chauncey Mine No. 25

Gem Coal Company Mine No. 255

“Hoisting-shaft headframe, tipple and powerhouse [is] the New York Coal Company Mine No. 25 at Chauncey in Athens County. This mine … had a 125-foot-deep shaft, mined Middle Kittanning (No. 6) coal and was [later] abandoned in 1952.”

“Baily Run Mine company, located about two miles southwest of Jacksonville in Athens County, was opened in 1903 by the Continental Coal Company with various owners before the Gem Coal Company purchase in 1955 … This mine used horses until about 1906 when electric locomotives were installed for coal haulage.”

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

“The company stores were usually large, general merchandise types that include everything from grocery products to clothing, mining tools and occasionally liquor … In almost all of the area’s former company stores, credit was extended to all employees and scrip was mostly used instead of cash.”

Text source: “Artifacts of the Coal Age.”

“In many cases, a company store was aligned with a particular mine and only served employees of that mine.

At other times, when a large company operated several mines in close proximity to each other, a single store was established at a central location to serve all the miners.”

BUHLA COLLECTION

Company Stores

Text source: “History of the Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio.”

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UNI

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ITED MINE WORKERS COLLECTION

Coal Miners Strikes Beginning in 1890, “violent conflicts between workers and employers, called the ‘mine wars,’ defined labor relations ...” and triggered discord.

“The regularity and frequency of the violence prompted journalist Winthrop Lane to declare the Appalachian coalfields in a state of ‘civil war.’”

Text source: “Coal Mining and Labor Conflict.”

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Hills Covered Bridge “Ohio once had more covered bridges than any other state! A conservative guess is … over 2,000. Today, the national leader is Pennsylvania, but Ohio's remaining covered bridges are treasured artifacts.” Pictured is the Hills Covered Bridge, which was built in 1878 by the Hocking Valley Bridge Works and spans the Little Muskingum River in Washington County.

Text source: “The Hills Covered Bridge.”

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“An authentic covered bridge has a purpose for its covering – and that is to protect its wooden truss support structure from the weather. The truss system supports the entire structure, including the road.” Built in 1880, the Kidwell Covered Bridge, pictured here, crosses Sunday Creek on Monserat Road in Athens County, Ohio.

Text source: “Ohio’s Covered Bridges.”

Beverly Covered Bridge Built in 1847 by Lemuel Chenoweth, the Beverly Covered Bridge was located on Staunton and the Parkersburg Turnpike along the Muskingum River.

Burned during the Civil War, the bridge was rebuilt in 1873, but in 1951, was dismantled by the state.

BUHLA COLLECTION

Kidwell Covered Bridge

Text Source: “Covered Bridges Historical Markers.”

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United Mine Workers of America (Above) “The UMW was formed when the National Progressive Union of Miners and Mine Laborers and the Knights of Labor joined to fight the harsh working conditions. During the 1860s, miners met in the darkness of Robinson’s cave to discuss plans for improving the dastardly conditions.” Pictured is the 12th annual convention.

Text source: “COAL”

Fords in Glouster (Right) “A row of black Fords line the street in front of the Fred Beasley Ford Dealership in Glouster. Henry Ford once commented, ‘Any customer can have a car painted any color he wants so long as it is black.’ The Model-T Ford was the first affordable car that could handle the rough rural roads of Southeast Ohio.”

Text source: Athens Messenger.

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BUHLA COLLECTION

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Special Thanks to the staff at University Libraries’ Mahn Center and Digital Initiatives — and to the many people who made this publication possible.

Credits Janet Hulm interim dean of University Libraries

Contributing editors

Editor Kate Mason coordinator of communications & assistant to the dean

Mimi Calhoun undergraduate communications assistant

Greta Suiter manuscripts archivist

For more information on the collections, please contact Greta Suiter at suiter@ohio.edu

Allison Weber library support specialist Designer Stacey Stewart associate director of design, University Communications and Marketing

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Resting on a rock in front of a barbed-wire fence, Frank Buhla, dressed in a suit and a fedora hat, squats with a contemplative look on his face for a cigarette break, most likely in the hills of Southeast Ohio.

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