"Tricky" Ricky Jay

An early throwout card for the wizard
better known as Ricky Jay

Inspired by my recent post about Ricky Jay et al., Tom Ewing took a deep dive into his collection, emerging with this gem from early in the magician's career.   The "Tricky Ricky" scaling card sports the name "Richard Jay Potash", the legal and original name of the master of card scaling who would eventually become world famous under his stage name Ricky Jay.  Based on my knowledge of his career, buttressed by some recent research I conducted on the use of letters and area codes for telephone numbers (more on that in an upcoming series of posts), I would posit that the card dates to the late 1960s.  The image appears to bear some edge tearing -- whether this is simply from age and handling, or evidence of propulsion by the world record-holding Mr. Jay may have to be left to our imagination.   This piece is likely extremely rare and valuable, as similar ephemera (such as early business cards for the performer known as David Copperfield) often attract the interest of collectors.

Cardini's Birthday: His Fanning Card and Mystic Craig

Today marks the birthday of the legendary Cardini (b. Richard Pitchford, 1895-1973), who was known for his superlative manipulation act, which showcased his unparalleled skills with cigarettes, billiard balls and card fanning and production. Though he progressed through several varieties of cards, he ultimately settled on the type pictured here.  This card bears Cardini's trademark back, which has a fascinating history, as related in John Fisher's terrific biography Cardini: The Suave Deceiver:

"For his fanning sequences, Cardini originally used a brand called "Park Avenue," which was obtainable from Woolworth's, until he was introduced to a card with an even more attractive back design on general sale in Walgreen.s drug stores.

Charles Oswald Williams

       

        Charles Oswald Williams (1864 - 1924) was born in Llanelli, Wales, moved to Cardiff by 1891. He performed under the name Charles Oswald. Member of the Inner Magic Circle. In 1904, he appeared on the cover of The Sphinx magazine as "magician of the Month". His specialty in magic was vast and included 'The Fairy Thimbles', 'The Haunted Parasol', and 'The Invisible Hen and Eggs'. He was also known to be a very good ventriloquist. His 'partner' Sammy had the audiences rolling in the aisles. He was friends of Chung Ling Soo and Cardini. In his later life, he became a magic dealer and contributed ideas to magic magazines and books.

Postscript by Judge Brown:  In a lecture on the Rising Card, published in the Magic Circular in 1948, George Sylvestre, MIMC, discussed the use of reels fashioned from spring-operated tape measures.   "One must not overlook the many methods employing the spring-reel,” he noted.  “A miniature 
spring tape-measure affair with thread in place of the tape.  The late C. O. Williams, of Cardiff, was an expert at camouflaging these reels to represent wristlet watches, thereby allowing the most blatant operation of the cards without detection.”