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.