Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been the home of a magic shop for over eight decades. The establishment started out in 1949 as a one-room store called Stoner’s Magic Shop, which Albert and Lynda Stoner, along with their son Dick Stoner, started with inventory they bought from a store in Michigan.
The establishment has grown since then; it’s still in its original storefront but now also sells gag gifts, wigs, stage makeup, costumes, and theater props along with magic tricks. It also now goes by Stoner’s Funstore to reflect their wider array of products and proudly describes what it sells as “goofy, funny crap.”
In light of it running for almost 80 years, the local TV news show 21Alive did a spot on the store, including interviewing 95-year-old Dick Stoner, his grandson Colin Haines, and Kevin Stoner, Dick’s son and uncle to Colin.
Heather Herron
“When I was a kid, I thought this was all very normal and that of course Dad and Grandpa go to Las Vegas and do magic shows,” Haines told 21Alive. “It’s all very normal. So, to kind of grow up and it’s almost kind of shock factor, in a way, when you realize not everyone grows up like this and makes you grateful that you grew up in such a fun environment as a kid. And I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up any other way.”