Carl Ballantine Autographs
Carl Ballantine (born Meyer Kessler; September 27, 1917 – November 3, 2009) was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go "hilariously awry" to the wisecracking Ballantine's mock chagrin. He has been credited with creating comedy magic and has influenced comedians and magicians alike.
Ballantine was born Meyer Kessler in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Israel Kessler (1883–1930) and Rose Cohen (1890–1973), both Jewish immigrants from Borshchiv, Ukraine, and Russian Poland (then part of the Austrian Empire and Second Polish Republic). Nicknamed the "Jipper", he was inspired at age 9 by his barber who would do magic tricks with thimbles while cutting his hair. His first job was working as a printer.
In the 1930s, Kessler was doing professional straight magic as "Count Marakoff", "Carlton Sharpe", and "Carl Sharp" in Chicago, helping support his family, and later moved to New York City, where he performed in nightclubs and on television variety shows. In the early 1940s, he gave up "real magic" when he realized he could not be as good as some of his peers. According to his daughter, "one night, one of his tricks got screwed up, he said something to cover, and the audience laughed. So he started adding more."
Read more about Carl Ballantine on Wikipedia
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Current items with a signature of Carl Ballantine
These are the most current items with a signature of Carl Ballantine that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $57.00 |  |
Traded items with a signature of Carl Ballantine
The most expensive item with a signature of Carl Ballantine (Vintage Magic Photograph, Signed With Correspondence From Carl Ballantine) was sold in May 2025 for $161.99 while the cheapest item (CARL BALLANTINE MCHALE'S NAVY HAND SIGNED AUTOGRAPHED CARD d. 2009) found a new owner for $2.95 in November 2019. The month with the most items sold (2) was March 2025 with an average selling price of $42.72 for an autographed item of Carl Ballantine. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in August 2025 with $62.50 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $2.95 was November 2019. In average, an autographed item from Carl Ballantine is worth $53.24.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Carl Ballantine were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | Carl Ballantine Signed Autographed Vintage Photo With COA McHale’s Navy | $45.00 |  |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
 | McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $54.25 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $54.25 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $57.00 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $62.50 | |
| McHALE'S NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1999 IN-PERSON" + LOA | $61.49 | |
| McHALES NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1990s IN-PERSON" + LOA | $53.24 | |
| McHALES NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1990s IN-PERSON" + LOA | $53.24 | |
| McHALES NAVY - CARL BALLANTINE "GRUBER" SIGNED PHOTO #3 - 1990s IN-PERSON" + LOA | $61.49 | |
