Howard Thurston

Howard Thurston (July 1869 – April 13, 1936) From his youth to his death, Thurston continued to achieve notoriety using his wit and innate ability to charm those around him. Over his lifetime, he crossed paths with some of the most noted performers in magic.

He joined forces with Harry Kellar, he nurtured a young performer named Harry August Jansen, and enlisted a worthy contender by the name of Raymond S. Sugden. He saw in both Jansen and Sugden a way to promote his name, but in doing it he lost, not only in fame, but it recognition. Both performers received praise and notoriety independently. At the end of his career, all Thurston achieved in his lifetime was lost by futile investments and owing taxes in both his own home state and the U.S. Government.

A rare photo of Howard as he performs a card trick for Jane

                                                                                  

Tampa – England's Court Magician

Raymond S. Sugden was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1887. He toured through his home state of Pennsylvania and New York picking up jobs as well as experience in the early 1920’s. In 1925, Howard Thurston had already expanded his business by employing Harry Jansen to take out a second unit show and headline it as Dante the Magician. After months of correspondence, Howard Thurston struck a ten-year deal with Sugden to tour as a third unit show under the name of "Tampa – England’s Court Magician".

Sugden agreed to the conditions of the contract with the promise his benefactor would keep this new show booked. The Tampa show was seen in the same theaters where Thurston had headlined his tour. Thurston made sure the two shows didn't cross paths. Unfortunately, for Thurston, Sugden was receiving high praise from the majority of theater managers and that didn't sit well with him at all. It wasn't that Thurston didn't like the additional money he received from his new "cash cow"; it just was he wasn't receiving the same accolades. The first promotional card that was handed out to prospective audiences during the first season of the Tampa show was no more than an enticement.

Milwaukee Mayor Daniel Hoan with Thurston and Sugden in 1928

Thurston may have been a master magician, but it seemed he was unaware of the approach of the economical slowdown that would change the future of the world he knew. The Great Depression in 1929 devastated the United States’ economy. Thurston was finding it more difficult to keep his show on the road let alone Sugden’s show. Thurston’s concern was for his livelihood first. Thurston was scraping the bottom of the files of past performance just to keep his show afloat. Sugden’s show was all but cast aside by Thurston while watching their profit dwindling away rather quickly.

         

        

Seen here are the blocks that were used for the front of the throw out card above.

 
By mid-1930, Sugden was back in Pittsburgh still waiting for Thurston to either book him (as he guaranteed) or settle their contract. It was at that time, Sugden created an idea that would open the door to another turn in his career. Radio shows were becoming more popular since the majority of the population throughout the United States found a way to pay the forty-seven dollars to purchase a new radio. The population was becoming known as "radioized homes”. Sugden took that knowledge and approached the manager at the local Pittsburgh radio station WCAE with an idea that would be filled with sounds, laughs, and entertainment for audiences from four to ninety-four. The manager agreed and the first sponsor for this new show was the McKees Rocks own Hankey Baking Company. One of the numerous forms of publicity that Sugden created for the show were two-sided throw out cards. On one side was Sugden’s image and on the other was John F. Hankey, the owner of Hankey Baking Company. The cards were made on heavy stock, with the inks of red and blue. For more information of the life of Ray Sugden, read Sugden the Magician – The Wonder Show of the Century.