The Yogi Wonder Card Trick

Happy Friday the 13th!

This was the smallest, most folded set of instructions I have come across. The scan makes it readable, but in reality the print is so small it is nearly microscopic!

I'm going to have to go through my sets of random cards and see if I can find that 6/7 of spades!

Thurston's Card-Raising Trick

Once in a while I read message boards & such where they are debating about giving up magic trick secrets, and how it was always very hush hush. Apparently no one told that to this journalist (probably from the 1920's), who decided to disclose the secret behind one of Thurston's tricks. I wonder if Thurston minded.

Thayer's New Mystical Coin Act (Page 6 & 7)

...and we're done with the entire booklet! Tomorrow I have the last page to scan, which is interesting for the artwork & such, but still no date on any of it! Anyone have any guesses?

Thayer's New Mystical Coin Act (Page 4 & 5)

We're already at the center to the booklet, and the more I look at the type and such, I am thinking this is much younger than the first edition I found on ebay. I am going to have to do some digging and see if anyone is still performing a trick like this!

Thayer's New Mystical Coin Act (Page 2 & 3)

This is a huge list of items needed for a coin trick! The words that stuck out to me were "Obedient Coins." Since they were capitalized, I assumed it was the name of a trick, and I was right (once you get through the ads, it is an interesting science experiment):



Obedient Coin
Uploaded by RobertKrampf. - Videos of the latest science discoveries and tech.

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:

DeLand's Wonder Change

This is probably the smallest print I have ever seen on something that was designed to convey instructions! If you want half a chance at deciphering the secret behind the trick, feel free to click and enlarge the scan!

The scan on the left is how I found the card tucked into the package. After reading the instructions, I had to imagine seeing this performed, and I have to admit that I think it would have been obvious that the little center panel could slide back and forth. While the scan doesn't really convey it well, the flap that the panel slides through really protrudes from the card.

Yet, one of the interesting things about these tricks is that while I am seeing them sometimes in their most primitive states when they were first introduced to the public, they have evolved and are still used today.

I learned via the Genii Magazine message boards that this trick was designed and sold by DeLand around the turn of the century, and over the years it was engineered with heavier material and became "Giant Monte". You can watch a version of it here. Although it is not in English, you will still get the idea!

Here is a better look at the sliding insert:

Here is the back of the card- I always take note of different DeLand's card designs.

Card Secrets No. 9 Mental Telepathy

Another from the series I posted last month. This isn't as much illusion as it is "attempt to screw with someone's head for fun & profit." Of course you would have to get really great at flipping the cards swiftly or else they would probably catch on when you paused at the one they were supposed to remember!I love the part about making the target disgusted with themselves by flipping through the cards too quickly and then acting like they are the ones who are not normal because they didn't pick a card yet.

Mini Spirit Slates!

I learned about Spirit Slates at the end last month, and I guess it is a good thing I stumbled upon the ad first, or I would have had no clue what I was looking at when I found this:

It is just a little bigger than 4x6. I can see the chalk markings of where someone had once used it. The little secret take-away panel comes out a lot easier than I thought it would.

Between the panels, I found this typed description:

Stripper Tricks

Sorry, not those kind of strippers. I had never heard of a stripper deck, but I guess if you know card tricks, it is a pretty basic term. I found this video on youtube and in it, the guy explains a 'stripper deck' for us novices and shows a great stripper deck tutorial:

Card Tricks for the Ameteur Magician

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!

Card Secrets No. 5 Methods of Forcing

This is one of the pieces from the 1940's. This is number 5, but I am having a hard time finding out if this was sold as a set, sent away for via the mail, or if it came in a larger kit. I didn't find anything on the author, Mr. Charles M. Bedford, but I did track down a mention of the booklet online, and was able to possibly locate the website of the publisher, S.S. Adams Company. Unfortunately they don't allow inquiries for anything other than wholesale, so this booklet might not be able to teach me anything more useful about it's origins.

Here is the first page of the inside instructions. I love the thought of someone actually sitting around typing all of this out- it really looks like it was done on a typewriter!

A Complete Set!

More DeLand's goodness- this time I found an envelope I have pictured below.



Next to it is the actual "card locator", which reminds me a lot of star finders with it's rotating wheel.

Also with the envelope, but it would not actually fit in the envelope, was this post card with more description of the product:

The reverse side of the information card- I love the method for remembering the suits of cards!

Finally, there was another set of folded instructions:
A seller at Worthopedia says, "REMARKS : A Rare Warehouse Find!!! This Effect is Very Hard to Find in any condition, Let alone in this Mint Condition......." I don't think mine is "mint" but I do have all of the pieces, so that is a pretty good thing. It also says the card is from 1914. I have found more items dated in this range, but also from the 1930's and 1940's.

The Siberian Transport Chain

I love this illustration, and I hope I can find the chain in one of the boxes. Unfortunately, the entire page seemed to have ripped off a long time ago. I have been lifting things out very carefully since the pages are so fragile. Whenever this ripped, it would seem the bottom half was discarded. I found an ad for this trick in an old scan of Popular Mechanics Magazine from May of 1930. I am not sure if that is from where this particular trick was purchased, but I think it is a good start to discover where all of this came from.

Pick It Out

I was really excited that I was actually able to find something about the maker of this trick via MagicPedia:

Theodore L. DeLand, Jr. (1873- January 25, 1931) created the phenomenon of packet tricks between 1906 and 1915, during which time he marketed almost 100 tricks using gimmicked cards and decks, many of his own unique creation.

DeLand was a clerk at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and died in a hospital in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

DeLand's tricks involved the following principles, some of which he was the first to introduce:

* Double-faced Cards
* Double-backed Cards
* Specially Marked Cards
* Printed Fans

The large instructions are actually printed onto an envelope that contains dozens of cards that have the great back images I have pictured, even though the instructions only call for the use of three cards.

The Pull

This caught my attention as it was folded into a tiny sliver of paper and was stuck at the bottom of the box. I don't see the "enclosed pear shaped mysto pull" anywhere in the box this was in, but there are 3 other boxes of things, so maybe I will discover it. The closest info I could find on this trick was via ClassicMagic.Net.

String-and-Ball Trick

A clipping. This actually has something on the reverse, and judging by the paper, I was guessing it came from a magazine. With a little googling of the author's name, I found a reference via ChestofBooks.com. It looks like it appeared in an actual book: The Boy Mechanic Vol. 2 1000 Things for Boys to Do. There was a 1914 edition, and a 1940 edition, but I am unsure which edition this was cut from. If it was the 1914 edition, this collection could be a bit older than I originally thought!

Multiple Tricks

This was the first page from box one. The boxes are all old cigar boxes. Some of them are from Chicago where I know my Grandfather lived. The page, like many I will scan and show you, seems to be clipped from a larger source. There is nothing on the other side of the page.