Take a look at Quicker than the Eye, Potter & Potter's retail division. Shop now for vintage magic, gambling, circus, and oddities. Our inventory includes used, rare, and out-of-print books, along with vintage magic posters, photographs, magic tricks, playing cards, and more.

On December 15th Potter & Potter will offer some 200 choice magic collectibles in an online-only auction. Posters, books, ephemera, and magic sets - perennial holiday favorites of yesteryear - will be included. The auction will be conducted exclusively on Potter & Potter's online bidding platform. The online catalog will be posted approximately two weeks before the date of the sale.

We start the new year with a February 2nd auction of books and manuscripts focused on Chicago, celebrating the city’s art and architecture, literature, sports, notable inhabitants, and historic events from the Great Fire to the present. Highlights include scarce pre-Fire imprints, early Chicago Cubs sheet music, and a vintage model of Fort Dearborn. Other sessions in the sale will feature comic books, children’s literature, Americana, fine prints, vintage photography, and posters.

Alive! On the Inside! On November 10th Potter & Potter was pleased to auction off the over-the-top, one-of-a-kind Barnumesque collection of renowned sword swallower, comedian, magician, and curiosity seeker Johnny Fox. The sale was like no other, populated with sideshow banners (Fred Johnson, Snap Wyatt, Siegler and Meah), tribal art and artifacts, furry mink fish (very rare), magic tricks, swords for swallowing, and oh, so much more! Sale highlights included a Diane Arbus photo of an albino sword swallower, the traveling trunk of Tiny Tim, an 1890s Phrenology bust, and an early 20th century South American shrunken head. 

Our December auction features hundreds of important vintage travel posters. The sale includes a broad range of categories: ski, railroad, airline, and ocean travel all being represented, alongside the works of famous designers, among them Galli, Klein, and their contemporaries.