Analyzing 150,000+ Hits on Propelled Pasteboards' 6th Anniversary
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| Our own promotional throwout card out of print and now a collectible! |
This month, Propelled Pasteboards marked its six year anniversary, having racked up more than 150,000 visits in that time. So, it's time for our version of the "People's Choice Awards," finding out which posts attracted the most interest. Some magicians who made our "Top Ten" list prove quite predictable, while others might just surprise you. And you'll never guess who ranked #1.
The four writers who regularly contribute to Propelled Pasteboards - Tom Ewing, Gary Frank, Jay Hunter and me - have offered an astonishingly broad array of posts - 250 listings which encompass some of history's best known magicians to performers so obscure that they nearly defy our investigative research efforts. And these listing have drawn well over 150,000 hits (some of our early data was lost to a conversion from http:// to https://). In this post, I'll be examining those posts that have attracted the most hits.
Perhaps most predictably, Gary Frank's feature on Harry Houdini made the top ten list, with well over 1,000 visits. Shockingly, however, Houdini did not place first! More on that in a moment. Other superstars closely connected with card throwing - like Jeff McBride & Juliana Chen - predictably placed on our top ten list. (Ricky Jay did not make the cut, though several posts dedicated to him made the top 20 list.) David Kwong, also placed high on the list, perhaps we used the opportunity to highlight his then-popular show, The Enigmatist. Our salute to women in magic also proved quite popular, with both the "Women in Magic Month" post and articles on Melinda and Ms. Chen taking three of the spots. Visitors also showed interest in the production of throwout cards, with posts spotlighting Fox Lake Playing Cards also making the cut, while a post about DeLand made the top twenty. (Relatedly, we have two static pages on throwing cards and throwing card backs that racked up similar numbers, but don't get ranked on the top ten list as they're not "posts.")
Other posts that proved popular are more puzzling, as they feature lesser known magicians. Jay Hunter's feature on Ben Franklin IV ranked third (with more visitors than Houdini), while Tom Ewing's terrific feature on Colta & Colta came in seventh. But perhaps the biggest surprise is our top contender. The number one, most visited Propelled Pasteboards blog post, indeed, the only post with more than 2,000 visits is . . . [drum roll] . . . Leslie Guest! This unanticipated placement remains unchanged from our analysis of hits when the site marked 100,000 hits. Please don't misunderstand, at Propelled Pasteboards we pride ourselves on featuring magicians of all kinds, often celebrating obscure, mysterious and even unsuccessful performers that you won't find anywhere else. Furthermore, Gary Frank's feature on Mr. Guest is thorough and interesting. But that Guest would best Houdini, Thurston, Kellar and some of the other historic greats we've featured is something no mentalist could have predicted!
But for the record, at this writing, this is . . .
Propelled Pasteboard's Most Popular Posts
The Top Ten List with Official Hit Counts
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