Fox Lake Playing Cards

During most of the 20th Century, most magicians were familiar with the promise of this box and its logo.  It could contain any of a variety of treats: a Svengali deck, marked cards, a stripper deck, a forcing pack, etc.   Indeed, at a time when a gaffed bicycle card was nearly (or even entirely) unheard of, Fox Lake produced almost every gimmicked deck available along with a wide range of packet tricks, like the famed Wild Card.

Where did these cards come from?  Here's some history from the Haines House of Cards website:

Washday Magic . . . Wait .... What?

So, this card presented something of a mystery.  What exactly is being promoted here?  And what does it  have to do with the world of scaling cards and magic?

The face of the card advertises "Washday Magic with Gas and Electricity," and sings the praises of owning an "Automatic Washer" and "Automatic Dryer." The whole magilla is presented wrapped in a gigantic magic hat, accompanied by a stylized magician.  Yet, no brand name is mentioned, nor is any specific performer identified. And the back design is immediately recognizable to magicians as the ubiquitous Fox Lake pattern made by Haines House of Cards.  So what's going on here?

Poking around  Ask Alexander, the magic history database, provides a satisfying answer to this unusual puzzle.

Topper Martyn – Citizen of the World

When Victor “Topper” Martyn died May 24, 2004, the magic and juggling world lost one of its more charming clowns. He left much in his legacy including many wonderful and antic performances captured on video as well as several scaling cards. Given his act, it’s not likely he scaled them into the audience but rather they probably dropped out of his tuxedo by the hundreds.

Grdina

John J. Grdina came to America at age of five with his family and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Checking through the internet, in 1940, census indicates he stated he was born in Yugoslavia in 1886 and not in Austria in 1885 as it has been indicated online and in past articles. Grdina became a naturalized citizen in May 1898. Years later he was in a theater audience in Cleveland and saw Harry Kellar perform. That show changed his life.

King Baile

It is a pleasure to write this particular post because it involves a number of areas of interest to me. First, the subject was not a “big-timer” but rather a journeyman, sideshow barker, circus promoter, pitchman, and collector. He is the long-forgotten King Baile.

His full name is Everett Bail Drumm and he was born Oct. 28, 1888, in Michigan. What prompted this post is a scrapbook on Baile assembled by my late friend and collecting mentor Frank Dailey of Indianapolis. The thick scrapbook is filled with everything Frank could find on Baile and which he obtained after some tremendous detective work. 

According to Frank, he learned that an auction house in Terre Haute, Indiana had once auctioned off the estate of a local magician. He started contacting local auction houses in the city and finally found the one where Baile’s magic had been sold. In discussions with the auction house he learned that Baile’s magic equipment had come to them stored in steamer trunks. Apparently the auction house thought the trunks were worth more than the magic and so they sold the trunks.

Tommy Windsor

Tommy Windsor was born Thomas Lowry in July 1906 in Marietta, Ohio. He once said that a good solid stage name would take him to the road to success and he was right. He performed on showboats, in tent shows, and also in mud shows. He was seen throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan on the Chautauqua Circuits as an actor and magician. Windsor would entertain his audiences with his cartoon drawing and chalk act titled “Brush Talks”. In between the creations he would add a little song to keep the audience amused. He would promote his show as “A Whole Week’s Entertainment in one Big Show.” 

While performing on the road, he met Jeanne Anders, whom he married. Jeanne was added to the billing of the show as “World’s Greatest Girl Ventriloquist”.  They toured their combined act from Zanesville, Ohio to Drexel, North Carolina. Audiences enjoyed watching Windsor perform his “Magical Street Faker” act and then be entertained, as Jeanne would converse with her ventriloquial friend, Jane Jones. 

Windsor wasn’t the run-of-the-mill performer who stuck to one type of act. He was able to present a full evening show by including rag pictures, hypnotism, dancing, magic, cartoon drawing, and he too had his own ventriloquist act. 






           The card, seen above, featured a green-and-black "Ace of Clubs" with ad copy, along with a handsome portrait of the performer on the back.  The same card also was produced with an aviator-style Fox Lake back. 

In his hometown of Marietta, Windsor was known as “The First Entertainer of the First City in the Northwest Territory”. His published works include How to Make Money at Trade Shows and Fairs with a One Man Show, Tommy Windsor’s Dye Box Book, Sixty-four Ways to Make Magic Pay, and Tommy Windsor's Pitch Act Book. Among his magic products he is best known for the creation of the Popcorn Dye Box. Magicians all over the world are still using this effect and many others of his creations today.

 

        When asked what he remembered most about his longtime friend, publisher Lee Jacobs mentioned, "Practically everything good I learned about selling magic I learned from Tommy Windsor.”