I found a Vanishing Birdcage on eBay that I don’t have in my collection. I don’t know who made it.
This one is interesting because of its dimensions. Its 5 x 5 x 5 inches, so a square. For perspective, my Owen Vanishing Birdcage is 5 3/4 x 5 x 5, so a rectangle.
What I find strange is the square dimensions make cage look smaller and not really give you any advantage as the cage collapsed is virtually the same size as the Owen cage.
The amount of bulk reduced in your sleeve after the vanish is negligible, and it’s only one bar shorter than an Owen Challenge Cage.
What is interesting is the weight of the cage. I compared it to my Baby Lindy and Owen cage and this cage is 20% lighter than the Riser/Summers Baby Lindy Vanishing Birdcage and about 2/3’s the weight of the Owens Challenge Cage.
New Cage – Maker Unknown Summers/Riser Baby Lindy Owen Challenge Cage
The lighter weight is the only advantage for this cage, however I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have made it a bit wider or shorten it’s depth to give it that rectangle shape to reduce bulk.
I’m glad to have it in my vanishing birdcage collection!
-Louie
I’ve seen several of these square cages listed as being Gene Devoe cages (although as I understand it , the cages that Devoe sold were made for him by Charles Lindhorst, Will Lindhorst’s brother). So I associate the square cages with Gene Devoe. Supposedly, the Devoe cages were all aluminum , which made the cages lighter weight. Based on that it seems likely that this cage is a Charles Lindhorst/Gene Devoe cage from the 1950’s – 60’s era. (Charles Lindhorst was still active as a builder up to the late 60’s. He died in 1972.)
You’re probably right. The lighter aluminum doesn’t have the same “pop” when I release it as a heavier cage does for the flash vanish. I’m using the technique where it’s the initial release shoots it up the sleeve, not the technique where it’s dragged up the sleeve.
I bet the aluminum being lighter is a good selling point for people who haven’t done the cage before.
Louie