So, here in North America, it is the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year. And as we ponder darkness and shadow, what a perfect time to reflect on this fine specimen, advertising the magical services of Brewerton Clarke (1905-1986) early in his career, before he became more widely known as Sir Felix Korim. Note the unusual incorporation of the common devil theme -- Clarke casts a shadow in the shape of a demon. Clarke, who began his career as a graphic artist, may have designed this card himself -- regular readers may recall that he illustrated
one of the Moore cards we featured in our very first post.
The reverse of the card (and this particular card is badly damaged from scrapbook removal) advertises the Tarbell course, making this one of the keepsakes sponsored by Harlan Tarbell in connection with his seminal correspondence course on magic. If you take a peek at the
Back Story page, you'll note that
John Mulholland specifically called out the sponsorship by Tarbell of a number of cards for the first printing of the mail order course. And while we're talking about Harlan Tarbell, it is also interesting to note that he is the artist who designed the
Merlin/Korman card recently featured in a post.
So, here in North America, it is the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year. And as we ponder darkness and shadow, what a perfect time to reflect on this fine specimen, advertising the magical services of Brewerton Clarke (1905-1986) early in his career, before he became more widely known as Sir Felix Korim. Note the unusual incorporation of the common devil theme -- Clarke casts a shadow in the shape of a demon. Clarke, who began his career as a graphic artist, may have designed this card himself -- regular readers may recall that he illustrated one of the Moore cards we featured in our very first post.
The reverse of the card (and this particular card is badly damaged from scrapbook removal) advertises the Tarbell course, making this one of the keepsakes sponsored by Harlan Tarbell in connection with his seminal correspondence course on magic. If you take a peek at the Back Story page, you'll note that John Mulholland specifically called out the sponsorship by Tarbell of a number of cards for the first printing of the mail order course. And while we're talking about Harlan Tarbell, it is also interesting to note that he is the artist who designed the Merlin/Korman card recently featured in a post.
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