Showing posts with label Washday Magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washday Magic. Show all posts

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Fox Lake Playing Cards

Vintage 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:

Saturday, May 27, 2017

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.