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.

The Roterberg Stock Card

As the curator of the now-defunct throwingcard.com website, it was a privilege to further the study of throwout cards through the aggregation of information from a number of generous and knowledgeable magic collectors and historians.  Through an iterative process, we were able to assemble an interesting history of the Roterberg stock throwing card, which began with curiosity over a beautiful card back.  I wanted to share that here:

Ken Klosterman sent me this charming, elegant piece, circa 1927, featuring Clarence Rothschild, a little-known, California-based performer and dealer.   The face is mostly text with a small period graphic.  More interesting is the back, pictured below, showcasing a plethora of magical images, including skulls and renderings of vintage magic equipment.  

The very same day I received the Rothschild card, Scott Morley asked me about a blank throwing card he had in his collection, bearing this same back.  Scott has been able to trace his blank card to a listing in a August Roterberg magic catalog, as seen below:

It thus appears that Rothschild used a stock throwing card, available from Roterberg, overprinted with information about him and his act.   We even know the cost of the stock -- $2.50 per 1,000.   This was the first use of a stock throwing card that I'd been able to identify.

Enter Jay Hunter, throwing card collector extraordinaire, who has assembled a collection of hundreds of throwing cards.   Jay scoured his collection in search for other examples of the Roterberg stock card.  Amazingly, in addition to Rothschild, he found ten:

1. Millo the Mystic

2. Adolphe Blind

3. Earl A. Lockman

4. Eddie Bass

5. Phil Dalee

6. Troseth.

7. Alvin Gentil

8. Loring Campbell

9. Patricola

10. Oran Dent


Having uncovered all of these examples of Roterberg stock throwing cards, Jay provided another remarkable service for magic history.    At the 2007 Magi-Fest in Columbus, Ohio, he sought out Ohio magician Oran Dent, and put him in contact with us.   Oran kindly provided a copy of his Roterberg card, pictured above, and related the following history of its manufacture:


"I think my use of this back design dates to the early 1970's, when I lived in Cincinnati. I think I simply copied the design from a blank face stock card that I had on hand, and which I found today, still in my accumulation of interesting bits and pieces. The back is very striking, I thought at the time, and very magical, and I still agree with these observations! Ron Maifeld, who was active in magic circles in Cincinnati at that time, worked for the Post Office and had a small printing business on the side that he ran from his basement. He handled the printing for me, but I don't know whether he did it himself or farmed out the job. As far as I know, Ron is still in Cincinnati, but I haven't seen him in quite a while. I don't remember how many were printed or what they cost, but now I just have a few remaining and I'm sure that Ron charged me a very reasonable amount for the work. I know I didn't give out all that I had--they were discarded along the way. At the time of printing, I had developed a club act using all jumbo cards and was trying to market it locally. I did some targeted direct mailing, and I even had a nice mention in one of the popular columns in a Cincinnati newspaper. Would you believe, not a single booking emerged from this! After a while, I went on to other approaches in my magic, although I'm still partial to jumbo cards, even after all these years."

Many thanks to Ken, Scott, Jay and Oran for their help with documenting this interesting bit of magic history.