It might be good to add here that all the while this was going on, Mel was also attempting to run that very same twenty acre orchard he had grown up on, as a third generation family farmer. Mel wasn't one to refuse them, and he filled these orders as well. It began as one or two items every so often, but quickly boomed into five or six at a time! Then other magicians began noticing Mel's work, and wanted custom work from him. Syd Brockman, a Seattle magic dealer in the market for used props, noticed the quality of Mel's work and requested that he make some 'used stuff' for him. This way he was able to remain completely self-sufficient in the production process.

During the early 1900's his grandfather had built a thirty by sixty foot, insulated building for fruit storage (which a later commercial warehouse eventually made obsolete), so space was available for storage and machinery. A stroke of luck had provided Mel a fabulous workshop. This continued for about 10 years, and Mel's woodworking skills improved dramatically. He proceeded to teach himself from every magic book he could layĬlub and banquet shows seemed to be the right place to start, but since money was tight, Mel began to make his own props. He says his inspiration came from that fact, and that he could do something that most other people can't. And following that was a three year stint in the Army as a guided missile electronics repairman! Once Mel got out of the Army in 1957, he realized that magic sounded like fun. In fact, after graduating from Cashmere High School, he went on to Washington State University where, among other things, he studied pharmacological sciences, geology, and general business. Mel didn't always know that magic was to be his forte. But sometime toward the end of the late 1940's, Mel ordered a two dollar magic set from the back of a comic book and changed the course of his life forever. and Mamie, his childhood was spent in their twenty acre orchard, which (though I'm sure was quite idyllic and peaceful) was probably relatively uneventful.

was born Jin the small Eastern Washington town of Cashmere. Magic House of Babcock - About Mel Mel Babcock

Possum magic book