Charles Howard Sheck, the Rise of the S.A.M. and the Broken Wand Tradition

This handsome pasteboard, obtained in early 2017 from Ray Goulet, showcases Charles Howard Sheck,  a seemingly obscure performer, whose obscurity seemed, at first, something of a mystery....

Turn-of-the-20th Century magical periodicals, which provide fairly comprehensive documentation of the lives of conjurers of that period, offer only a few scraps about Sheck.  He received a few brief mentions in Mahatma, an early magicians' magazine printed by New York's legendary Martinka magic shop.  Beginning in 1899, we find Sheck in New York City "playing lyceum dates," dubbed "a clever little professor [offering] the latest sleights with cards and coins" and "busy with local work in Brooklyn."  Curiously, in the grand tradition of magicians making hay out of fooling a leading performer, he is referred to as "the man who mystified Kellar," without further explanation, and commanding ten encores in Saratoga with his "flag trick."

Almost as interesting as the information I found about Sheck was what I didn't find.  Despite exhaustive searching, I discovered little about the nature of the effects he performed, any promotional material or even a single photo.   He published no books or articles.  Aside from the throwing card pictured here, I can find no graphic material relating to this magician.   The date and place of his birth remain a mystery.

While this kind of obscurity makes sense for one of our men of mystery (like Stincel), the trajectory of his career would seem to destined Sheck for substantial influence in the world of magic.   He was among the "prominent regulars" at Martinka's magic shop, where, according to John Mulholland, he found himself among renowned company, including Alexander Herrmann, Imro Fox, Carl Hertz, Harry Kellar, William Robinson, Adrian Plate, de Lion, Zancig, Nate Leipzig, Dr. Ellison,
Frank Werner, John W. Sargent, Dr. Mortimer, Elmer P. Ransom, Bob Ankle, Frank Ducrot and Henry Hatton.  Beginning in the late 1880s, this group (including Sheck) began assembling on Saturday nights, guests of the Martinka brothers in the shop's locked back room.

The so-called "Saturday Night Club" proved to be the precursor to the Society of American Magicians, which became formalized in 1902.  Sheck was among 24 magicians sworn in as the group's founding members, along with some of the most prominent magicians in history.  According to chapter reports, Sheck was an active member, frequently appearing a meetings "with his bag of tricks," and, at one meeting, playing the bagpipes.    At another 1902 meeting, he offered "an envelope test" and a "slate test."

Then, in July 1906, on an evening when Harry Houdini was elected Vice President of the fledgling SAM, "The death of Charles Howard Sheck, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was reported."   No other details are provided.  Hence, Sheck's relative obscurity arose as a result of his death early in the history of the S.A.M. (and presumably at a young age).

His passing was not officially commemorated by the organization until three years later, at an annual dinner in 1909 (at which Harry Kellar was the featured speaker) and a list of departed members was read. At the banquet, a half dozen names of departed magicians, including Sheck, was read aloud. As each name was read, a plate was turned over and a white carnation laid upon it.

The description of this improvised ceremony made me wonder: why didn't they simply perform the traditional "broken wand" ceremony?  The answer is simple: no one had yet devised the tradition.  There would be no mention of a broken wand ceremony in the magic literature -- or even use of the term broken wand in connection with a magician's passing, for several decades.  

The earliest mention I could locate of a broken wand consists of a 1919 article about Baltimore's Demon's Club, noting that a panel painting commemorating the deaths of two members included an image of a broken wand.  According to Ken Silverman's authoritative Houdini biography, a member of the SAM placed a broken wand on Houdini's coffin, an act specifically devised to commemorate Houdini's death in 1926, but the source of this information is unclear and I could not locate any contemporary accounts.  In 1933, a piece describing the funeral of Heller (another founding member of the SAM), noted that "across his breast was placed a floral design representing a broken wand, the tribute of A. W. Fronenthal, a warm personal friend."  And the first mention I could find of an actual broken wand ceremony is found in the Linking Ring in 1936, which described the commemoration of the passing of Howard Thurston, in the following article:

It would appear, then, that Thurston's was the first broken wand ceremony, which have since become standardized and commonplace in the magic community.  

By the 1940s, magazines began to run obituaries of magicians under the heading "Broken Wands," a practice that has continued ever since.  

Rauscher Revisited

Tom Ewing has previously provided this excellent post about author/magician William Rauscher and his wonderful throwout card.   While I don't have Tom's extensive experience with Bill Rauscher, I had the great fortune of seeing Bill perform in 2016 at the New England Magic Collectors' Association (NEMCA), where he offered a wonderful, full evening stage show.


















It was a classic performance, featuring this gentlemanly star and some intriguing, beautiful magic pieces, including Aerial Fishing and the Flags of All Nations.


This spring I bumped into Mr. Rauscher at the New England Magicians Conference (NEMCON), and inquired as to whether I could obtain one of his throwout cards for my collection.  Mr. Rauscher, true to form, generously offered to send me one, and we exchanged contact information.  A few weeks later, a package arrived which not only contained the aforementioned scaling card (as pictured in Tom's post), but two other items of interest.  The first is a commemorative token featuring Mr. Rauscher.  While I'm no expert on tokens (which prove much more difficult to photograph than throwing cards), it's one of the prettiest tokens I've seen.

The second item is even more relevant to our discussions here.  Bill provided me with a copy of a baseball card-style collectible produced by an outfit called Big League cards.  This charming piece, seen above, nicely showcases our star and provides a succinct biographical summary on the reverse.  And what kid didn't dream of being featured on a baseball trading card?

Turns out, though, Mr. Rauscher isn't the only magician appearing on this line of trading cards.   Poking around the Internet, I turned up card for "Mr. Fun, the Fun Fun Man" (identified as Nick Tomei), as well as a card promoting Ray Goulet's Magic Museum (conveniently dated 1991).

Several years back, our friend Bill Mullins made some inquiries about these unusual trading cards, and learned a little of their history.  Big League Cards were produced by a firm founded by retired professional pitcher Jim Bouton,  who wanted to produce affordable short-run trading cards.  The prices proved too reasonable, and the firm eventually folded.  However, it left some terrific collectibles that may be obtained by collectors.  Mr. Mullins has collected several very interesting specimens, including pieces for famed magic author Herman Hanson, Silent Mora, Walter Gibson, and his wife Litza.  Images of several of these, along with related tokens, appear below.

Several of these cards appear to sport caricatures by magic artist Alan Wassilak.  Thanks to Bill Mullins for sharing these images and to Bill Rauscher for providing this interesting material.  

You can read more about Bill Rauscher's career here.

Professor Struck - A Contemptible, Unscrupulous, So-Called Magician?

 This fine specimen of a throwout card relates to Professor Otto Struck, sometimes referred to as a "German magician" in the trade literature, but was almost certainly from Newark. N.J.   Otto Struck certainly has the feel of a stage moniker, yet if he had a different legal name, I've yet to uncover it.  He appears in magic trade publications beginning in or around 1895, which document a number of performances in the U.S. and Canada.   By 1905, The Sphinx still called Struck a "newcomer" whose performance  "promises well for the future."  Amusingly, for reasons that will become clear shortly, a correspondent for Mahatma complimented the young performer in 1904 on his magical ethics, noting that, unlike a magician named Hornmann who shared the bill, Struck "did not have to resort to any exposes to strengthen his act."

His throwing card, obtained in early 2017 from the collection of Ray Goulet, is a Bicycle "Hold Good Cards" piece using a Motorette #2 back, which was introduced in 1907.  Take a good look at his photo - looks unthreatening enough, no?   Well, it was right around the time of the issuance of this card that things started to go south for the promising newcomer.   It seems that, by around 1909 (about when this card was printed), Struck was reportedly imitating the great Alexander Herrmann and, according to some reports, falsely holding himself out as Herrmann's nephew.    The similarity between Struck and Herrmann had long been recognized; as early as 1895, a writer for Mahatma noted that "Otto Struck, whose work, setting and personal appearance remind one strongly of the late Alexander Herrmann."

His false representations, though, placed him in the middle of controversy, culminating in the following warning being published by Adelaide Herrmann, Alexander's widow, in the pages of The Sphinx in 1910:

Bicycle Motorette #2 Back (introduced 1907)

WARNING—To Prof. Struck and Felix Kretchman—A contemptible and unscrupulous team of "so-called Magicians" named Prof. Struck, assisted by a Felix Kretchman, are playing this week at the Third Avenue theatre, this city, and billing themselves as "Herrmann the Great & Co." Repeatedly their agent, Joe Shea, has been notified that said Prof. Struck and his assistant, Felix Kretchman, have stolen my husband's name and my trade-mark. But Shea pays no attention and would rather collect the few dollars commission he receives. 

Is this a square deal? 

I hereby notify everybody, managers and agents in partic- ular, that from this date, Sunday, October 3, 1909, my attorneys. House, Grossman & Vorhaus, will vigorously prosecute each and every manager playing anybody billing themselves as "The Great Herrmann," "Herrmann the Great" or "Herrmann the Great & His Co.." and every agent who procures bookings for acts using said title will be held liable. 

ADELAIDE HERRMANN, Gilsey House. New York.
House, Grossman & Vorhaus, Attorneys at Law, 115 Broadway, N. Y. City. 

Was Professor Struck knocking off Herrmann's act?   Let's compare, side-by-side, that innocuous-looking portrait of Struck with the iconic throwing card of Alexander Herrmann:



I think you'll agree, dear reader, that Struck appeared to be styling himself like the performer who was, at that time, probably the best known magician in the history of magic.

Adelaide Herrmann lodged a complaint letter with The Sphinx concerning this cover.

And what was it about that fellow Felix Kretchman that incurred Madam Herrmann's wrath?  Well, he was more commonly known as Felix Hermann, though he wasn't supposed to be.  In fact, Kretchman was Adelaide's nephew, but she ultimately got a  court injunction forbidding him from holding himself out as being associated with Herrmann the Great.  Most interesting in Madam Herrmann's warning letter is the suggestion that Struck and Kretchman were performing together, though I've found no other references to this fact.  In any event, the battles between Madam Herrmann and Kretchman continued for many years.


I suspect that Struck eventually got out of the imitation business.  After Adelaide's warning, and a few more reports about Struck doing a Herrmann imitation in 1910, the trade press goes largely silent about him for several decades.  But by the 1920s, there are a few notices of his admittance to and participation in the S.A.M., which would have been unlikely to have granted him admission if the issue remained unchecked.  A magic historian writing about the Felix Herrmann saga for The Linking Ring in 1960 put Struck on the right side of that controversy:  "Otto Struck, Larry Crane, Imro Fox, George Holder, Bill Twickward, Edward Biedron or any of the old North Newark magicians, if living, could give you plenty of information regarding Felix 'Herman' Kretschman."

And there the trail goes cold -- at least in the trade press.   Decades later, however, Ted Bogusta of martinka.com, unearthed a trove of material about Struck, leading to this summary on his website:

Professor Otto Struck performed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was a Martinka customer, he performed with T. Nelson Downs and was a friend and assistant to The Great Herrmann. His proudest performing moment was a command performance he gave for President Theodore Roosevelt. He retired from magic due to health reasons and became a farmer. His magic then resided in a barn for nearly 100 years and was recently removed and cataloged by Martinka. 

And that biography was accompanied by a photo of Struck and one of his wands


It's not clear what materials underlie Ted's biographical sketch, but we can be sure of one thing: it wasn't a fan letter from Adelaide Herrmann.

Puzzling Pierson, the Wisdom of Petronius and the Yale Divinity School

Having long ago acquired one of Puzzling Pierson's throwout cards, pictured here, I featured it on ThrowingCard.com, without much information of value.  However, access to increasingly more powerful research tools, as well as some old-fashioned shoe leather, permits me to tell you a great deal more about this charming piece, an unglazed card with square corners and an optical illusion Deland back.  The back bears a copyright date of 1907, making this a century old piece of magicana.  The face bears a Latin phrase, attributed to Petronius, "Mundus Vult Decipi Decipiatur," meaning "The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived" and also graces Martinka magic tokens of this era.   The face design really packs it in: the unique imp-devil character, hand with wand, linking rings, appearing bird cage and fabulous font make for an exquisite example of throwing card art.  (Another variant of this card -- which I've seen but do not own -- features a steamboat back.)

Well before his first appearance in magical literature,  George Pierson, a/k/a Guy H. "Puzzling" Pierson (b. circa 1879) is mentioned in the quarterly journal of the Yale University Divinity School, which describes him as a prestidigitator who entertained students on St. Patrick's Day, 1911.  It is in the same publication that we learn of his day job -- for the previous ten years, he had served as assistant superintendent of the Divinity School's buildings.  Less than a week later, the Yale Divinity News reports, a Professor Macintosh offered a sleight of hand demonstration “in imitation of Pierson” as part of a “Faculty Stunt Night.”  By 1917, Pierson began reporting New Haven's magical happenings in the Sphinx with an occasional feature called "Pierson's Paragraph."  In 1923, he helped organize this effort by forming a magic society headquartered at the famed Petrie Lewis company.

In 1947, The Sphinx ran a wonderful autobiographical piece about this performer.   In it, Pierson describes his early influences in magic, including a seminal trip to Martinka's, a friendship with its proprietor, and his acquisition of a copy of Professor Hoffmann's Modern Magic. "In my day we could not buy or hear anything about magic, especially in small towns," he reflected.   "We started with a chair round with a brass tack stuck in the end for a wand and a deck of cards,a few tin cups made by the local plumber and a home-made table with music rack legs. But suddenly the Great Mysto Company sprang up in New Haven and we began to get some good magic."  In 1949, he wrote a reminiscence about traveling medicine shows and the opportunities they offered magicians for The Sphinx, which elicited published comments by Augustus Rapp a few months later, and in 1950, he did a similar reflection on early travelling magic shows.   The last reference I can find about him was a performance mentioned in M*U*M in 1958.



Not satisfied that I had unearthed everything I could about Puzzling Pierson, I packed one of his cards with me on an early 2017 trip to Ray Goulet's Magic Art Studio, figuring that, on a well-attended Saturday, one of the assembled experts on New England's magic history could tell me something more about him. Well, I didn't find a subject matter expert, but among the many treasures there, I found something equally interesting,  Perched near a Spirit Clock, I spotted a cabinet-style card with a photo of Pierson.   In the photo, he's posing next to a small tripod magic table covered with vintage magic equipment, including a large ghostly chronometer. The Clock in the picture appears to be a different one than the one in the shop, unless, as one of the wags present noted, Pierson made the numbers change to Roman numerals from beyond the grave!

A second Pierson variant from Gary Frank's collection.

For anyone who might be interested, I have a duplicate Puzzling Pierson card in my collection which I'd be happy to trade for something of similar vintage.

Ray Goulet – A Remembrance

On October 7th of this year, my dear friend Ray Goulet passed away after a long string of health-related issues. With his passing the magic world at large lost a wonderful friend, a talented magician, magic historian, and an all-around good guy. Among the many magical collectibles he preserved and treasured were scaling cards and his collection was impressive. It’s only fitting then that one of the remembrances given away at his viewing was a scaling card of sorts.

There were many different varieties of these cards at the viewing and all featured photographs of Ray (and often his loving wife Ann) in various stages of their magical lives. The one featured here shows a younger Ray on one side standing in front of Ask Alexander and Sorcar posters in his Mini Museum of Magic. The reverse shows an older Ray holding a proclamation with a smiling Ann in the background and a Jack of hearts index on each corner. 

Ray was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts January 20, 1930, and was a lifelong resident of Watertown. He often said that the real magic in his life was when he married his sweetheart and lifelong friend Ann M. Ford, in Saint Patrick’s Church October 12, 1949. They were married sixty-eight years. 

In a feature in the Boston Globe a reporter wrote, “For 40 years, Ray Goulet was the master of card tricks and illusions, vanishing and reappearing eggs, and a snake in a basket that could find a card chosen by an audience member. With his wife Ann, he created a traveling show and performed on 22 trans-Atlantic voyages, including once for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. He made eggs disappear at the White House during the annual Easter Egg Roll in 1984.”

Magicians all knew of Ray and Ann through their Magic Art Studio at 137 Spring Street in Watertown. It was the center of the magic universe for the Boston area and much of the greater northeast. It is also the location of his Mini Museum of Magic which still contains wonderful magic treasures collected by Ray over his lifetime. It was Ray who approached me about being the master of ceremonies for the New England Magic Collectors Association (NEMCA) and I was honored to be asked. 

Although his responsibilities lessened in recent years with these bi-annual events, he was always the driving force behind its international success. 

I must tell you of the remarkable viewing that took place the day before his funeral. With Ann’s permission, photographers from the Joyce Funeral Home gained access to the Mini Museum and took high-resolution digital photographs of the walls and cases. Then they projected them on the entire back walls of the funeral parlor where Ray lay in repose. It was a stunning visual experience because it gave every one of the hundreds of friends attending the viewing the sense that it was being held within the walls of the museum which he loved so dearly. On video screens around the two rooms, a continuous loop of images of Ray and Ann with magic friends played.

Ray, of course, was very active in the Society of American Magicians and as is customary, a Broken Wand Ceremony was conducted. However, as with all things, Ray put his special touch on this somber ritual. After the text was read and it came time for Ray’s wand to be broken, and after the following words were read, “Compeer Goulet, when you were initiated into The Society of American Magicians you were presented with a Wand, Ancient Emblem of Mystery. It symbolized the Magic Power that was yours as you used your knowledge of magic’s secrets, and your skill in their exemplification. Now its power is gone. It is a mere stick, devoid of all meaning and authority, useless without your hand to wield it.” 

At this point it is customary to break the wand. However, it was announced that Ray had chosen instead, to pass his personal magic wand on to his dear friend Ryan Lalley who helped run Magic Art Studio and who cared so deeply and did so much more for both Ray and Ann. It was one of the most touching things I’ve seen during these rituals and I have done many of them.

The following day a funeral mass was held at Saint Patrick’s Church, the same place he married Ann many years earlier, and then police literally closed down Watertown as a funeral procession of mourners drove first past the Magic Art Studio where a large memorial flower arrangement covered the door, and then past Ray and Ann’s house where neighbor’s waved Ray goodbye from their porches. Finally it wound its way to the cemetery where friends laid roses on his casket, a representative of the military played taps, and as everyone filed out, a recording of Frank Sinatra singing “I Did It My Way” played.

I will close this tribute to dear Ray with this line from earlier in the Broken Wand ritual that always moved me emotionally. It goes, “We shall miss Ray and we shall remember him. And no greater tribute can be paid to any person than this; to say that he lives on in the hearts of his friends!” He certainly does and will continue to do so for many years. Memorial donations may be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or online at www.stjude.org.

A Thurston Artifact from the Goulet Collection

Special Postscript - hours after this post first appeared on October 8, I learned the terrible news that Ray Goulet had passed away only the day before.  The timing was coincidental -- indeed, I had written this draft months ago, intending to post it on Howard Thurston's birthday.  I first had the pleasure of meeting Ray Goulet a little over a year ago.  In that time, I twice visited his shop and fabulous museum, and had the pleasure of attending the NEMCA conference in 2016 at his kind invitation.   That conference led to the creation of this blog, as Tom Ewing, Gary Frank and I, all attendees at the event, crafted the idea for creating this site shortly after thereafter.   And perhaps this post can serve as an early tribute to Mr. Goulet, who brought this treasure into my life, as he brought so much magic to countless others. 

Readers interested in learning more about Mr. Goulet's extraordinary life and career may wish to seek out a copy of Ray Goulet Recollections of a Renaissance Man by Frank Dudgeon and Ann Goulet. 

In this post, we examine a special memento of the career of the great Howard Thurston.  On a visit to Ray Goulet’s Magic Art Studio in January 2017, I was able to persuade him to part with this curious treasure -- a Steamboat playing card bearing the following hand inscription:

"This Card Was Used By Howard Thurston in connection With the Back and Front Palm, Boston, 1931, Tremont Theater." 

Being particularly interested in Thurston memorabilia, it was exciting to obtain this item for my collection.  

Of course, the provenance of such an item always presents a question.   That someone took a playing card and wrote this upon it does not necessarily make it so.   But there are several factors that can provide a high level of confidence about the bona fides of this particular piece.

Chet Karkut

Chester L. Karkut born August 29, 1915 in Shelton, Connecticut, Chet started his interest in magic late in life in his early thirties. He actually got his foot in the door as an advertising model for many of the large manufacturers. When he did start his magic interests, Chet’s act was billed as “Magic in the Modern Manner.” His act was always the highlight at club gatherings and conventions. 

The design on the back of the card is New York Consolidated Card.

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.

Kalbfleisch – The Magical Marine

During a recent visit with Ray and Ann Goulet, I had the opportunity to go through Ray’s collection of throwing cards. It’s impressive and I was able to acquire three cards with connections to the Philadelphia magic scene. One of those (below) is the subject of this post – Edward C. Kalbfleisch, “The Magical Marine.”