Revisiting Rothschild and the "Roterberg" Back: The Appearance of Elias Stanyon

One of the first posts offered on Propelled Pasteboards was a discussion of a stock card back design that I dubbed the Roterberg Back, named due to its availibility in a catalog offered by magic dealer August Roterberg in or around 1927.  That post identified a dozen throwing cards printed on this stock as recently as the 1970s.  In subsequent posts we have examined several additional cards bearing this intriguing and beautiful back design, including posts for Ralph Powell (one of my favorite stories) and Millo the Mystic Our sharp-eyed friend Lee Asher recently spied the following ad from Stanyon's Magic relating to the back design:

It may well be that Stanyon's ad did not show up in all of our searching as he describes the cards only as "business cards," (even while mentioning that the could be thrown)  rendering this text unresponsive to searches for "throwing cards," "throwout," "scaling cards" and the like.  But since this ad first appeared in Stanyon's in April 1908, nearly 20 years before the aforementioned Roterberg catalog, it seems that my use of the term "Roterberg back," could well be considered a misnomer.   Moreover, in describing the "elegant design, Stanyon mentions that the "plate . . . has been prepared at considerable expense," suggesting that he commissioned the design.  So, indeed, it may be that this design should properly be referred to as a "Stanyon Back."

For those unfamiliar, Wikipedia summarizes Stanyon's career as follows:

William Ellis Stanyon (January 1870 – September 1951) was a professional magician and magic dealer in London. Stanyon published and edited his own journal known as Magic.  The journal's aim was to‚ 'popularize the Art of Sleight of Hand'.   It was first published from October 1900 and ran for 177 issues with a break during World War I; the final issue was published in June 1920.
Stanyon in his journal published a method of escaping from packed boxes. Biographer Kenneth Silverman has written that the magician Harry Houdini "accused Stanyon of having posted a bounty of several pounds for his secrets... Houdini dismissed the methods purveyed by Stanyon and others as being nothing like his own, "puny attempts at duplication."  Magic historian Henry R. Evans wrote that Stanyon was "one of the most prolific writers on legerdemain in the world, and his hand-books on magic are largely sought after."

And while I'm expanding on this tiny piece of history, I am pleased to be able to offer more information about Clarence Rothschild, whose elegant throwing card first came to my attention when exploring this back design.  I have found no mention of Rothschild in magic literature, and in the past, have been able to tell you nothing about him.  However, a fortuitous journey into the world of real estate led to a trove of information about this little-known performer.

Clarence "Rocky" Rothschild (1890-1978), a Jewish-German immigrant, is described in several books and periodicals as a pipe fitter, naval draftsman  and pilot, as well as a magician and ventriloquist who lived and performed in California through the late 1940s.  His claim to fame, however, was his purchase of the Starr Mansion in Vallejo, California, a stately home sporting panoramic views, widow's walk and ceiling murals. The

mansion, seen here, was built in 1869 by grain magnate Abraham Dubois Starr, one of the founders of the Starr Mills Grain Elevator.   When the elevator project failed in the bank panic of 1893, Starr abandoned the home.  Clarence purchased the home in 1933, supporting several relatives in the rooms of the massive estate which is allegedly haunted. While the house was being renovated as a bed and breakfast in 2005, workmen discovered Rothschild's flight logs, ventriloquist dummies and several books by Houdini.