At the age of 8, young Charles Mattmueller presented an impromptu version of
the Spirit Cabinet for two schoolmates. Charles was tied with ropes and locked inside a bread cabinet. A short time later, knocks and raps were heard coming from the cabinet frightening the onlookers. It is unknown how Charles with no knowledge of magical principles figured out how to do this, but it began an interest in magic that would last throughout his life. As a teen, he performed under his
last name Mattmueller, and then later changed it to Germaine, and eventually Germain. He was a popular artist who worked in the
Lyceum and
Chautauqua circuits. ==Performing career==