Kadu The Magician

When I first unfolded this article and read it, I was curious to go and learn more about Kadu. In researching all of these items I had never come across his name- I thought I had a new magician to introduce to everyone! It would appear, however, that Kadu is simply a fictional magician created to teach children magic tricks through story telling. I don't see any more Kadu stories in the clippings... I wonder how long his run lasted in the local papers!

Japanese Chameleon Handkerchief Puzzle Box

Patent Pending!

It was interesting to me that someone took the time to meticulously rip and flatten this box for preservation, but did not bother to save the handkerchief that it once housed. I have seen a red small cloth in one of the boxes, but it didn't really look "handkerchief" size.

As for the Japanese Puzzle Co, I am guessing their patent didn't go through. I could not find even a mention of them having ever existed in St. Louis.

Via Google Books, I was able to find a chapter from Hoffman's "More Magic" in which he describes several handkerchief tricks:

.....Glass Trick

I have really hit the mystery pile the weekend! I am sure this packet is from the Mysto Set I wrote about earlier this month. Unfortunately I cannot find a listing of what was included in the set, so figuring out the title of this trick package is a little tough.

I was able to find a lot of glass magic tricks videos via you tube, but the one below reminded me the most of the illustration:

Secret of Girl-Lifting Trick

I found this fun illustration with the newspaper clippings. Hopefully I will find the article it goes with!

Cigars (Cigarette)

What a strange thing to save! I can only assume this is part of a trick in some way. I am filing it under mystery items, because I could not find exactly what kind of trick this facilitates. What I did notice is that the "burnt" end of the cigarette contains red metal foil and slightly appears lit from far away. I also noticed that it does not smell like a cigarette.

There are a ton of cigar and cigarette trick instructions online. The video below was one of my favorites:

Side-Show and Animal Tricks (Gambler Illustration)

The only other illustration in this book is on this page, almost at the end. The adjacent page and chapter describes all manners of cheating at gambling- be it with mirrors, trick decks, or even contraptions mounted inside a long shirt sleeve!

As someone who was raised in Las Vegas, this section reminded me of all of the various "cheater" stories I heard growing up. Beyond the famous MIT scandal, there were always storied of people rigging coins to trick slot machines, or trying any number of ways to "beat the dealer." For further reading, I recommend this website's poker and casino cheats hall of fame for a brief history of those who tried to beat the house.

Here is a cropped & turned scan of the illustration: