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the march on Shanghai, a new era was born. All of Sam’s properties and theatres were seized. Sam and Poldi returned to New York City, where Sam was given refugee status and American citizenship. The Chinese were allowed to apply for citizenship because of their service to the United States during the war, and Japanese-Americans found themselves in their own internment camps. Poldi was not allowed to apply for refugee status because she was European, even though she had held a Chinese passport for more than forty years. She had to keep going back and forth to Canada to renew her visitor’s visa.
    Sam and Poldi spent the 1950s based out of the Ruxton Hotel on West 72nd Street in New York City. He worked with emerging magicians and mentored some of America’s next big talents, such as Orson Welles. They passed late nights at the hotel, going over the newest close-up magic act from vaudeville’s golden days.
    Sam spent the last part of his life in great pain due to his acrobatic activities. Unknown to many, he had large [bone] spurs sticking out of his spine. In spite of this, he continued to perform throughout his remaining days. His last performance was at the Roxy Theater, where he served as master of ceremonies for “The China Doll Revue.” Sam performed his famous water bowl trick, where he did a frontward somersault and came up with a bowl full of water. Although many people think this trick originated with Sam, it did not; however, Sam was one of few artists who could perform it. He was seventy-threeyears old at this last performance.
    As a young girl, all I knew of my great-grandfather was that he was a magician who could make coins appear from behind the ear. What happened to this man throughout his extraordinary life? It has taken me five years of travelling the world, researching magicians, historians, and long-lost relatives to meet my great-grandfather. This man has shown me a sliver of twentieth-century history in a new light. As immigrants of the world, necessity sometimes compels us to move forward without our histories. But we are all part of history; we are all part of a continuum. It is through the details of the lives of our families that we see how we fit into this world, a world combining the magical with the mundane, and suffering and sorrow with the extraordinary and the exciting.
    Timeline
    1885: Long Tack Sam is born.
    1893: Sam is recruited by the Tan Kwai troupe.
    1903: Sam and his troupe tour Europe.
    1908: Long Tack Sam becomes director of the Tan Kwai troupe.
    1908: Sam trades in his Buddhism for Catholicism.
    1911: Sam and his troupe have to cut off their braids, curtailing a large part of their act, when the Ching dynasty is overthrown.
    1914: Because of an economic depression in Europe, Sam tours the United States, where he gains popularity.
    1914: During World War I, Sam waits to go back to Europe after the troupe is caught in the US.
    1918: Once the war is over, Sam returns to Europe to make his wife, Poldi, his manager and train his daughters to be in his act.
    1920s: Sam acquires ownership of many theatres in Shanghai.
    1920s: Sam has befriended everyone in magic and has become a member of every vaudeville and magic association.
    1923: Harry Houdini asks Sam to join his prestigious magic club and eventually takes a patent on Sam’s ancient Chinese needle-swallowing trick.
    1927: Talkies take centre stage; however, Sam still manages to garner large audiences.
    1930: Sam’s daughters successfully perform on their own.
    1932: Sam and his crew perform at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
    1933: Daughter Mina leaves the troupe to help the Red Cross with its efforts in the Japanese war.
    1934: Daughter Neesa becomes the troupe’s manager.
    1936: Neesa marries and leaves the troupe; Sam retires.
    1938: Germany and Austria invade Poland, forcing Sam and Poldi’s son, Frank, to flee to the US.
    1940: Sam is interviewed by the World newspaper.
    1943: The