Another point to consider is that people in those older generations
understood magic as much as most of us understand computers, email, and cell phones.
I recall a physics prof who once said that we can describe electricity, see
it, and measure it, but we really only have a theory as to what it is (same as
the spark of life)..as opposed to knowing for a fact. Just as people today
take for granted computers and Blackberries work, so did people in our great
grandparent's time take for granted that certain objects had properties we now
describe as "magic." I doubt those people ever used the word magic. The great
pity is that we have so few oral histories about what they did think when
they created concealments.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.