A Merry Christmas Throw-Out Card from Jay Hunter and Charles Arbuthnot III

[Having read my recent post about Al Munroe which decries the scarcity of holiday throwing cards, our friend Jay Hunter picked up the throwing card gauntlet, dove into his copious collection and came out with this wonderful item.  So here it is, just in time for Christmas and the Magical New Year!  Thanks, Jay]

A Merry Christmas Throw-Out Card

by Jay Hunter

This throw-out card from Charles Arbuthnot III wishes everyone “A Merry Christmas” and “A Magical New Year." Arbuthnot, who went by “Arb” was born on September 1, 1888 in Pittsburgh, PA. He was a past president of the Pittsburgh S.A.M. assembly and contributed to several magic magazines. Something he had in common with Judge Brown of this particular website is that they were both Yale University alumni, with Arbuthnot graduating in 1912.

Arbuthnot worked as the vice-president of a floor covering business, and was dubbed by The Linking Ring in 1942 as "the exemplification of a gentleman,"  who "has injected a higher intellectual level into our art."  Arbuthnot, who became interested in magic in 1939,  contributed effects to most of the periodicals of his day and assembled a large, valuable magic library.  His contributions were highly desired by magic editors of the time.

Cartoon from Linking Ring
article re: Arb's purloined book

One of the interesting stories about Arbuthnot derives from his interest in magic literature.  Arbuthnot always carried a leather bag with a copy of Greater Magic, a then recently-published tome containing effects penned by numerous prominent magicians of the day.  Whenever he met one of them, Arbuthnot would procure the autograph of the particular contributor on the page where his effect appeared.  In February 1942, at a magic event in Tampa Florida, the book - by that time laden with signatures and quite valuable -- reportedly disappeared.  Arbuthnot offered a hefty reward for its return, purportedly to no avail.  In April of that year at a Pittsburgh magic event, an Indianapolis-based mindreader identified only as Sir Edward (real name: Ramon La Rue) offered readings of sealed questions.  The Linking Ring reports as follows:

"Among those present was Charles Arbuthnot III, whose valuable auto­graph book vanished February 17 during an affair held by Tampa Ring 13, International Brotherhood of Magicians, at the Roosevelt. On his card he had written a question that even his offer of a liberal reward had failed to answer, "Who stole my book?"
Mr. Arbuthnot can't explain it— and as far as this skeptic is con­cerned, you can write your own answer—but when the sealed ques­tion was held to the blindfolded
mentalist's ear, he said, "Your book will be returned to you at 10:30 to­night." At 10:35 a Western Union boy walked in and handed Mr. Arbuthnot his autographed "Greater Magic" book."

Arbuthnot died on January 2, 1951. 

The image on the face of his card is a small photo of himself that has been pasted on. The back of the card is a blue Fox Lake design.

Howard Thurston on a Bicycle!

We have, elsewhere on this site, sung the praises of Howard Thurston's beautiful throwout cards, some of the most fabulous ever made.  Indeed, one of the hallmarks of his cards are the interesting things advertised on the reverse side, either by attracting sponsors (such as Wrigley's Gum or Miller Tires) or, even more interestingly, his promotion of his own acts or odd speculative investments and inventions (like the "Perfect Sleep" anti-snoring device).

Bicycle Expert Back

In other posts, we have examined the intersection of magician's promotional cards with the massive advertising campaign aimed at drawing attention to gorgeous card backs manufactured by U.S. Playing Card Company, among others.   These cards, apparently subsidized by USPCC and others companies, dominate the field.  Leave it to master collector Jay Hunter to discover the intersection between these two apparently disparate threads.   And that intersection is found, here, on this single, fabulous pasteboard.  

The face of this card depicts a young, tuxedo-clad Thurston, famous enough that he need not say that he's a magician.  The card simply reads "good luck, Thurston."   And the back is a Bicycle "Expert" back, one of the company's original designs.  

Many thanks to Jay for another amazing contribution.

Karl or Carl? A Guest Post by Jay Hunter

Introductory Note: We're very happy to bring you this guest post authored by Jay Hunter, whose scholarly contributions were recognized on the Roterberg Stock Card post.  Jay is a noted magic collector who has invested a great deal of time and energy into assembling and curating an amazing collection.  His thoughtful contribution follows. - Judge Brown


This post features two throw-out cards for magician Howard Karl. Both cards took advantage of what appears to be a way to get your card made and to have someone else pay for it!  One card is on an early Bicycle red Cupid back and is part of the U.S. Playing Card Company promotion discussed elsewhere on this site.  The other card is an ad for Pluto Water, and the Bamberg Magic and Novelty Co. which Judge Brown has written about in his Triple-Promotion post.

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz and later Ehrich Weis) born March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American illusionist, stunt performer, and noted for his sensational escape acts. So much has been written about Houdini’s life from articles to books. The life he lived and the secrets he took with him over ninety years ago are still being researched and found today. There still seems to be an endless source of material around the world.

Over the past handful of years alone, anything from scrapbooks, posters, and letters seem to appear, and it doesn’t seem there will be any end in sight. The name Houdini will continue to live on as a goal setter. Whether it was his method of publicity, his public recognition, or just good timing; the name Harry Houdini has been the bar to reach for in magic.

Harry scaled playing cards with accuracy and he could cut a card in mid-air with a pair of scissors. Thanks to Jay Hunter for solving one part of the Houdini throw out card mystery. Jay found the following in "The Sphinx" for June, 1936. Included in John Mulholland's "Editor's Page", he included the following from Harry's brother, Theo Hardeen.  "...Hardeen wrote the following interesting letter to me: 'The very beautiful story about the card throwing of Herrmann and Thurston in the May issue interested me very much. However I think that it is a little incomplete in not mentioning the name of Houdini. In 1894, when Houdini and I were performing as the Houdini Brothers, Houdini threw out steamboat cards with his picture on the front. These were the regular cards, no thicker. Then when Houdini joined the Welsh Brothers tent show, after his marriage, and worked the act under the name of Harry and Bessie Houdini, Jim Bard of the famous Bard Brothers (Jim and Eddy) taught him how to do a back somersault. After that Houdini would scale out the cards and the last card, he would throw out, turn a back somersault and catch as it returned to the ring." 
        If it wasn't for one particular publication by someone who has surpassed Houdini in his prowess of handling cards, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the image below what appears to be the Houdini throw out card. Here is an image of the front of the card published in the 1977 book by Ricky Jay titled, Cards as Weapons. I want to make an open request, please. If you own this throw out card, it would really be nice to know what is on the back. What is the actual size and would you be so kind as to allow us to post a perfect image? One wonders, what happened to all of these cards? 

             To honor the man whose name continues to be brought up almost daily around the world, here is another image in the form of advertisement that nearly coincides with our site.

This 7.62cm x 11.43cm card was used to promote soap.

            It should be mentioned, the facts on the back of the card are not all correct (well, they got his name right). Possibly those were the facts they received at the time of the publication. This is one cards advertising Orocrema Almond Soap that was created in the early 1920’s. Each card measured three inches by four and a half inches (7.62cm x 11.43cm).

Loosely translated the card reads:

“A single film has been enough to make this fantastic artist universally known. Son of a wealthy merchant was born in Chicago, in 1887, where he studied the career of an engineer. Since childhood, he has always shown an engaging and decadent character that led him to the realization of his daring plans. He built an armored armor that was the main reason for his only film titled "Houdini and the human tank" that gave him popularity. He is of a nervous temperament, and his numerous prowess has made the stairway of the facade of a "skyscraper" with the sun helping his feet and hands. He is currently retired from cinematography.”
              Houdini's skills were somewhat legendary, as discussed on the sites Wild About Harry and The Great Harry Houdini. According to many sources, he would scale steamboat cards with his autograph on the face. Images of such cards can been seen on Pinterest and here on this site Propelled Pasteboards.

This three sheet poster is currently on display at the famed Winchester House in San Jose, California (Yes, that's me).

              As seen above, there was always one item that really would have made a perfect throw out card, but alas, it was only created as a poster.

Thayer Magic - The Wand of the West

Anyone even remotely interested in the history of conjuring knows the name Floyd Thayer, a magician and craftsman who established The Thayer Magic Company in California. Thayer was born in 1877 and at first made magic wands and for non-magicians, tourist trinkets and souvenirs of out orangewood which he turned on his lathes. Those lathes later turned out some of the most remarkable magic effects, especially his multiplying billiard balls which came in many sizes and colors.