Here we have the first page of the trick. I am wondering is this is younger than the original version I wrote about yesterday, just because of the fonts and style used- it just looks newer than 1918.
I was curious about the "ala Miser's Dream" statement, so I started looking around and found it was still a common trick! Below was my favorite version, via MagicGeek.com:
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:
Obviously a book with the words, "animal tricks," in the title will include pages of animal tricks. Mostly the guide gives many different kinds of tricks you can teach an animal to do. It was interesting to see animal training written about so plainly when today it is considered a very contoversial subject, and you have entire nations banning the use of any animals in the circus.
Today's scan features a quote from Mr. Bostock, and I am thinking that would be the Bostock from Bostock and Wombwell's Menagerie. I read a little about what a menagerie was via this article at the Fairground Heritage Trust. The Bonstock & Wombwell show was unique in that they had such a diverse and large amount of animals, and were willing to haul their traveling zoo all over the earth.
I was able to find this youtube video with actual footage of the Bostock farm:
The center of the book focuses on the secrets of "sideshow freaks". While there have been many people who were born with deformities and made a living (sometimes willingly and other times unwillingly) traveling with the circus, this book gives you a practical guide to producing the illusion without the reality.
I have always felt kind of uncomfortable looking at pictures of "freaks" because it seems so horrible to give money just to point and stare at someone, so I admit that this part of the book was a little hard to research. You can find a list of the top ten circus sideshow freaks here...but it is slightly NSFW.
For a thorough history and collection of circus performers & sideshow folk check out ShowHistory.com.
Here is a scan of the inside pages. You'll see it is a list of who was who in circus attractions at the time this was written. The mention that caught my attention was of Jumbo the elephant. Jumbo was P.T. Barnum's prize creature. Jumbo had already traveled a lot- starting in Mali, then going to Paris, and becoming a hit in London zoos before arriving in the states.
Jumbo was extremely popular in life, but in death his story took several bizarre turns. He died after being hit by a train, and from what I've read, why the train hit him depended upon who you asked at the time. Barnum swore Jumbo protected a baby elephant. Others said he charged the train in anger. There are also stories that suggested Jumbo was drunk at the time! You can read eyewitness accounts via this article in Tufts Magazine.
Jumbo's story did not end after he died. Barnum, always quick to take advantage of a situation, had him stuffed and put on display at the Tufts museum. What happened next was the subject of a recent short documentary that was also a tribute to the filmmaker Chelsea Spear's father. You can read more about her work on the project via this Boston.com article.
Upon opening the book I immediately spotted the dedication to Thurston. I learned all about him back in May. You will also notice he thanks Thurston again on the introduction. Wanting to learn more about their connection, I was able to find this little story about the pair (and fellow dedicated Harry Kellar) and their meeting and investigation of real psychic phenomena.
This is an interesting little book. The cover is actually in a lot better shape than the scan would suggest- I was surprised how washed out it looks, when it is actually a very solid shade of dark blue. I was also suprised when I started looking up information about this book and finding it being sold for $175.00! It is honestly just a few pages with a card stock cover.
The first inner page:The author, Hereward Carrington, was a prolific writer. He published over 100 books on psychic phenomenon, magic acts, and 'alternative health issues'. You can buy reprints of his books around the web- the one I recognized first from the inner flap was The Boys Book of Magic.
We will be looking at this book and at Carrington for most of this week!
Another booklet- this one was dated from 1921! This booklet was put out by the U.S. Playing Card Company. You might recognize them, because they are the same company that makes Bicycle and Bee playing cards! In fact the back page of the book has an advertisement for both Bicycle and Congress playing cards.
The other 14 pages in the book (that I scanned a sample of below) is a chronicle of dozens of instructions on card tricks. I already recognize "The Forced Choice" instructions from yesterday's post, and this booklet was 20 years old than Card Secrets No. 5!
Here we have the first page of the trick. I am wondering is this is younger than the original version I wrote about yesterday, just because of the fonts and style used- it just looks newer than 1918.
Jumbo's story did not end after he died. Barnum, always quick to take advantage of a situation, had him stuffed and put on display at the Tufts museum. What happened next was the subject of a recent short documentary that was also a tribute to the filmmaker Chelsea Spear's father. You can read more about her work on the project via this Boston.com article.
The author, Hereward Carrington, was a prolific writer. He published over 100 books on psychic phenomenon, magic acts, and 'alternative health issues'. You can buy reprints of his books around the web- the one I recognized first from the inner flap was The Boys Book of Magic.
You might recognize them, because they are the same company that makes Bicycle and Bee playing cards! In fact the back page of the book has an advertisement for both Bicycle and Congress playing cards.
