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{{Infobox person
[[File: JNHilliard.png|right|thumb|200px|[[ John Northern Hilliard]]]]
| name = Bob Elgas
 
| image                    = Eglas.jpg
'''John Northern Hilliard''' (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man  and clever amateur magician.
| image_size                =
| alt                      =
| caption                  =
| birth_name                = Robert G. Elgas
| birth_day                = July 3,
| birth_year                = 1929 
| birth_place              = Rapids, Iowa
| death_day                = October 22,
| death_year                = 2013
| death_place              =
| resting_place            = Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality              =
| nationality2              =
| known_for                =
| notable works            =
| flourished                =
| awards                    =
| website                  =
| misc                      =
}}
'''Bob Elgas''' (1929-2013), a piano store owner, performed as Elgas The Wizard and was a nephew of the [[Great Nicola]].


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Elgas was an apprentice in his teen years to [[Harry Blackstone Sr.]]
Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met [[Howard Thurston]] while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.
 
He served in the U.S. Army, as part of the Musicians Corp. After getting out of the Army, he opened The Baldwin Piano Store in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He also owned a magic store in Colorado Springs, which included a Magic Theater. He rebuilt pianos and built magic illusions for himself and other magicians.
 
He was a member in the [[International Brotherhood of Magicians]].
 
Elgas' two hour stage show  took 8 hours set-up time.


Elgas would move to Las Vegas where he continued to repaired pianos  and owned the Piano Store. He also was the proprietor of the Magic & Music Hall of Fame, on the second floor of the old Fitzgerald Casino in Las Vegas.
With the urging of [[Floyd G. Thayer]], John starting writing for [[Thayer's Magical Bulletin]] magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.
 


[[Bob Elgas|Read more about Bob Elgas...]]
[[John Northern Hilliard|Read more about John Northern Hilliard…]]

Latest revision as of 09:23, 20 February 2026

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John Northern Hilliard (1872 - 1935) was a Rochester newspaper man and clever amateur magician.

Biography

Hilliard was dramatic critic with The Chicago Herald and later on the staff of The Rochester (N. Y.) Post Express. After moving to New York, he met Howard Thurston while a reporter on The New York World and became interested in magic. John was credited with securing the master magician with his first engagement on the stage. Several years later Thurston induced Hilliard to give up his newspaper work and become his personal representative.

With the urging of Floyd G. Thayer, John starting writing for Thayer's Magical Bulletin magazine. In 1925, Hilliard became an advance man for The Thurston show. During this time he accumulated notes on what he was learning about magic. In 1932, Carl Waring Jones urged him to turn his notes into a book, offering to publish it. But Hilliard suddenly died of a heart attack in 1935 while in a hotel room in Indianapolis.

Read more about John Northern Hilliard…