Howard Thurston – 150 Years Old Today!

Some months back I had a post entitled Thurston - Some Throw-Out Card Trivia concerning items that I had found on Howard Thurston, arguably magic’s greatest “Throw-Out Card King” of all time. Since then, I have continued my research for additional items of interest in terms of trivia. Here is some of what I found.

 

On January 31, 1926, the Pittsburgh Press ran an ad in the newspaper for Thurston’s “Perfect Breather”. This was an anti-snoring device that Thurston was marketing in hopes of financial gain. Like many of his investments outside the magic arena, it was not a success, and finding one of these devices today is difficult as they are quite rare. Below is the ad, an image of an actual “Breather”, and a throw-out card also used to advertise the device.

 

The Morning Call of Allentown Pennsylvania for December 6, 1928 wrote about Thurston, “He is still regarded as the greatest card magician in the craft”. They went on to say, “In the difficult feat of throwing cards to all parts of the theatre, Thurston has no rival.”

I particularly like when I can find images of Thurston in action with his cards. Below are a couple of new ones that I have found. These are from very early in Thurston’s career.

Thurston gave a demonstration of his card throwing skill on September 22, 1931, by throwing cards from the top of a skyscraper, the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis. According to the Minneapolis Star, "Thurston hurled 1,000 cards from the tower to demonstrate his prowess, and 100 of these contained free admissions to two persons each to see his performance at the Minnesota”.

I have done further research on the lawsuit brought against Thurston when an errant throw of a card injured a spectator in the audience at one of his shows in Detroit. The following article appeared in the News-Palladium in Benton Harbor, Michigan on April 14, 1927.

Thurston had a number of throw-out cards made advertising Miller Tires. He even created a revolving tire illusion to be used in company promotions. It spun “in the air with no apparent means of support”. Below is an advertisement and an article from the Harrisburg Telegraph for November, 1916 in which the illusion was being shown at the Sterling Auto Tire Company. For good measure I am including one of Thurston’s Miller Tire Cards.





Finally, today is the anniversary of Howard Thurston’s birth. He would have been 150 years old today. In recognition of this historic occasion, I have been saving this post for today. Happy Birthday Howard!