Asking Alexander about Alexander - Part II: The Results

As described in my last post, I decided to use these long-unidentified throwout cards to test the powers of Ask Alexander, a proprietary web site/search engine housing a vast database of magic publications.

Asking Alexander about Alexander - Part I: The Challenge

Who is this all-knowing powerhouse?   The image here, inspired by an iconic stone lithograph from the vaudeville-era mentalist Claude "Alexander" Conlin, is taken from the Ask Alexander site one of several fascinating services offered by the Conjuring Arts Research Center.  Ask Alexander is an elegant, proprietary search engine for a vast, and ever-growing collection of digitized magic periodicals, books and other publications. And, in this post, we're going to put Ask Alexander to the test ,,,

Rehco – Magician Extra Ordinary

This throw-out card for a magician named Rehco has always fascinated me. The reason being, it has “Good Luck” written on the face of the card three times. On the back of the card is an advertisement for a funeral home! Is that not an interesting contrast?

 

When I went to research Rehco, I could find nothing on the massive magic database Ask Alexander. So I thought I would do a Google search for the funeral home as I know most funeral homes are around for years if not decades. Sure enough, this business in North Tonawanda, New York is still around and has been since 1947 and is still in the same location, and even the last four digits of the phone number are the same! Wow!

I could not find Rehco however. Then I remembered a free newspaper database that a friend told me about. It is Fultonhistory.com and has a search engine for New York state newspapers. Putting in “Rehco magician” got me two hits, and a door was opened.

North Tonawanda New York Evening News for April 3, 1953

 

Not only did this newspaper story tell us about a Rehco performance, but “Everyone attending will be presented a 'good luck' Rehco card”. It is not every day that a throw-out card makes the papers!

Another Tonawanda Evening News story from October 5, 1985 had an interesting article about a North Tonawanda Public Library exhibit of magic memorabilia that had belonged at one time to a deceased man whose “name was Roland Hauck and worked professionally under the name of Rehco”.

Looking up Roland Hauck gave me a number of items from several New York State newspapers. In March of 1962, this story ran which had a photo that included Roland.

From the Tonawanda Evening News for March 26, 1962.

It is amazing what was considered to be newsworthy back then. In a different story under the topic of “Fire Calls”, Mr. Hauck fainted while at church in August of 1962, and the fire department had to be summoned and Hauck was given oxygen. The story gave his age, address and lots of personal details that might be considered an invasion of privacy today.

Going back to Ask Alexander and searching for the name Hauck gave me a couple of references for a Ron Hauck being a guest of the Rochester, New York assembly of the S.A.M. This clipping for M-U-M for May of 1972 had this to say:

 

From what I have been able to find online, it would appear Roland E. Hauck was born on October 21, 1898 and lived most, if not all of his life in North Tonawanda, New York. He passed away in May, 1976, at the age of 77.

I did find an obituary for Roland Hauck’s wife who was named Irene. She died at the age of 64 in 1973. Her funeral services were held at a funeral home in North Tonawanda…. the same funeral home as on the back of Rehco’s throw-out card from years before.

Claude Noble and “Gypsy’s Party”

This little round “Good Luck” card is not exactly a throw-out card, but it is on heavy card stock, blank on the back, and who’s to say that they were not thrown like a “Frisbee” out to an appreciative audience. I acquired this card many years ago, and I believe it was a purchase on eBay. When I tried way back then to find out who the “Gypsy” was of “Gypsy’s Party” I hit a brick wall.

That was before the creation of the fantastic Ask Alexander database. My posts on this blog would be a single paragraph if it were not for Ask Alexander, and the access it gives to so many magic periodicals from the past, and the history contained in them.

 

What drew me to this card was the statement that this “Good Luck Card was touched by the Magic Wand of Howard Thurston”. The card was given out by Claude Noble who I knew to be a good friend of the late Thurston. As a matter of fact, Noble would travel from his home in Detroit to Columbus, Ohio for many years on the anniversary of Thurston’s death and hold a little ceremony at the great magician's crypt, where he tried to make contact with Thurston’s spirit. He would hold a wand in his hand and hope that Thurston’s spirit would strike it to the floor. For all of the years Noble tried, he never made contact. Below is a photo of Noble with Thurston’s brother William from the 1937 ceremony.

Claude Noble with wand, William Thurston standing.

In The Billboard for August 21, 1943, there was a mention that "Mysterious Lawrence and Claude Noble helped entertain the kiddies at Edward C. Little's 15th annual Ice-Cream Party".  Further research led to many mentions of Ed Little's annual parties in Wabash, Indiana.  In The Linking Ring in September, 1942 it stated that it began "as a neighborhood party.  Through the years it has grown to be a city-wide affair".  There would be a flag raising by members of the American Legion.  There would be a talk to the children on safety by the local chief of police, and of course there would be a magic show by various magicians over the years.

I mentioned that “Mysterious Lawrence and Claude Noble entertained at the event related to the above “Good Luck Card”.  In the May, 1972 issue of The Linking Ring this article was written.
 

All that is left to discover is who was Gypsy? Well Gypsy, otherwise known as Gyp was Ed Little’s small dog. “In theory it’s Gyp’s party, and the children are Gyp’s guests. Of course, the grownups come along, too, just to see the children enjoy things”, so The Linking Ring stated back in 1942. The parties went on for so many years, that when the first Gyp passed away, Ed Little continued on with the celebrations with Gyp II. Here is a photo of Ed, Gyp II , and Gyp’s guests.

From The Linking Ring for September, 1942

 

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.

The Eng Sung Enigma: Resolving a Riddle for the Chinese New Year!

 Last year, in celebration of the Chinese New Year, we were proud and pleased to bring you a post about Chen Ting Soo, showcasing a vintage throwing card and featuring a genuine Chinese-American magician.  This year, with the same holiday approaching, I turned to a card recently added to my collection featuring "Eng Sung - Chinese Magician."  The piece is a keepsake, featuring a handsome portrait of the performer and an absolutely wonderful graphic of a levitation illusion.  I started to wonder -- Who was Eng Sung?  Little did I know that my curiosity would ignite a fast and furious debate among significant members of the throwing card blogosphere, that quickly and conclusively resolved a mystery.

Deploying the powerful "Ask Alexander" tool, I could only find three articles containing a reference  to Eng Sung, all three of which described the very same performance at a 1934 convention of the Keystone State Federation of IBM Rings. So, whomever Eng Sung was, he didn't perform for very long.  Or, I posited, at least it was an assumed name that some magician only used for a short time.   The reporting contained little detail about his performance, other than to place him on a bill with a number of better-known performers, including Burling Hull, Max Holden and LuBrent.  And then there was the emcee....more on him in a moment.

Could this be the same fellow pictured
on the Eng Sung card?

In studying the card, I noticed was that "Eng Sung" did not appear to be Asian, but, more likely, was part of the then-popular, insensitive tradition of a Western magician playing the role of a Chinese magician.  (On these pages, you'll find references to several such performers, including Chung Ling Soo, Chang,and  Okito.)  This led to the suspicion that he likely performed under one or more other names.

Because the card provides no other information about him -- other than the photograph -- there wasn't much to work with.  But that picture, it seemed to me, was familiar.  It reminded me of a photo of another performer on a card for Namreh the magician, seen here.  Namreh was one stage name for Herman Weber (1900-1953).  "Namreh" is Herman spelled backwards.  And then I looked back at the performance reports .... Herman Weber was the emcee for the only show at which Eng Sung had been recorded as appearing.

"Rice, Rice, Rice" -just one of many Asian-themed
effects that Herman Weber published.  

Could the two be one and the same?  I was quickly able to convince myself of the viability of this theory.  Weber had written quite a bit about performing "Oriental" magic, and included some in certain of his programs.

He had assumed other characters -- like Namreh -- who performed in devils robes.   And the more I looked at the pictures of Namreh and Eng Sung, the more I grew convinced that they looked the same.

So I did what I often do when I need more material for magic research: I turned to our friend Jay Hunter.  I was hoping, most of all, that Jay could come up with another throw-out card featuring the same "Levitation" back, which, if it was for Herman Weber, could close the deal.

Jay dug into his extensive collection, producing a remarkable quantity of material in a very short period of time.   The materials he gathered about Herman included the wizard offering "Oriental Mysteries" and performing in different characters and costumes.

The levitation graphic in a book
authored by Herman Weber.

And then Jay found what I thought would be the silver bullet: he found the "Levitation" graphic, not on a throwout card, but in a booklet published by Weber!  And, Jay added, he had seen this graphic nowhere else.  While he expressed interest in my theory, he had his doubts as to whether the two men appeared to be one and the same, and raised some concerns about the ages of the performers pictured compared to certain biographical facts.

So we called in the rest of the Propelled Pasteboards team.  Tom Ewing -- our resident expert on Pennsylvania-based magicians -- advised that, unbeknownst to us,  he's currently working on a book about Herman Weber, having come across a trove of materials on the Allentown native.   While he had not come across anything about Eng Sung, Tom confirmed that Weber was an exponent of Chinese-themed magic, devoting half of his stage show to that style of performance.  Tom liked the theory, but thought we needed to do more work on the question.  He supplied a vintage ad for the sale of Namreh's show, reproduced here, which makes it clear that a large portion of the show was devoted to  "Oriental" magic.

Enter Gary Frank.  Using nothing but his keen powers of observation (which could perhaps characterized as superpowers) Gary provided a point by point facial analysis of the Namreh and Eng Sung cards -- too long to reproduce here -- that included details such as the "flow of contour" of facial characteristics, "cupids bows," hairline shape, etc.   Suffice it to say that Mr. Frank concluded they were different fellows.  An Internet based facial recognition program into which I fed the two photos reached the same conclusion.  Everyone was sold that my theory was wrong ... even though I continued to hope.

Based on the evidence we had assembled, Mr. Frank theorized that they were pals and knew each other, and he focused on a critical clue: the initial reports of Eng Sung's performance noted that one of his assistants was someone named "Miss Snyder."   Using this clue, I was able to formulate more Ask Alexander searches.  And this time, I hit pay dirt.  Herman Weber did indeed have a pal named Edgar Snyder, who had acted as Weber's assistant at one time.   Reports also noted that Edgar Snyder's wife was an accomplished magician's assistant.

Armed with this new fact, I found our man: Eng Sung was Edgar Snyder (d. 1970), who also hailed from Allentown.  He was specifically identified as such in several magic magazines, but never spelled correctly: writers listed him as "En Sing," "En Sung" and even "Yen Sen."  These misspellings explain why initial searches didn't turn up his identity.   Having completed the record, it turns out that Snyder has a fairly long career in magic, performing a s "Eng Sung" during the 1930s, and later moving to Florida and becoming an officer and important organizing force in the S.A.M.

Here's one description of his performance as "Eng Sung" from the Linking Ring in 1933:

"Then came Edgar Snyder (En Sing) of Allentown, doing Oriental Magic, using large Chinese Blocks, and a production silk act from large tube, finish- ing with a 30 foot silk banner. He also used a new idea in Chinese rice bowl. Mr. Snyder's apparatus has been decorated by a real expert in Chinese art."

Oh, and just as "Namreh" is Herman spelled backwards, Snyder left us a similar clue: Eng Sung and Ed Snyder both have the initials "E.S." 

Jerome E. Cook – Magical Enthusiast

This blog is devoted to a gentleman who by most standards never reached the level of professional or perhaps, even semi-professional. Maybe he was only an amateur, but it is clear he loved magic, performed at club shows and even created a startling little coin trick that even today would amaze.

Cook had a scaling card (below), of course, or we wouldn’t be writing about him. It features his name and contact information over an eight of hearts. His address is given as 47 Sidney Place, Brooklyn, NY and there are contact phone numbers. The reverse side of the card is one of the old Steamboat “999” cards produced by Russell & Morgan, the company that eventually became the U.S. Playing Card Company. The back design was first introduced in 1883 but neither the card, nor Cook, date from that period.

 

He was born June 7, 1901 in Brooklyn to his father Alexander and mother Alice. As a young man, he was briefly enlisted in the Army near the end of World War I. His draft card shows him attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and being inducted on Oct. 11, 1918. His rank was private and he was honorably discharged two months later on December 9, the war having ended on November 11th. 

There are many Jerome Cooks, and while I tried to ensure that our subject Jerome E. Cook, was located on the hunt, some likely hits may, in fact, not be him. In 1923, Billboard reported that the New England Conjuror's Association held their big show on October 27. President Paul Noffke opened the show with card tricks and then on the stage show appeared one Jerome Cook who was described as impersonating a, “simon-pure Blue-Jay tramp offering various deceptions in pantomime.” Our guy? Perhaps.

Then at the February 1925 meeting of the S.A.M. Parent Assembly, here comes Jerome Cook again accompanied by Paul Noffke and representing members in Springfield, Mass. Houdini presided at the meeting. Is this our Brooklyn boy? Unlikey, but perhaps.

One thing we do know for certain, is that our Jerome E. Cook was in Pittsfield, Mass. in May 1930, and performed a fascinating coin stunt for U.F. Grant.

Grant wrote about it in The Sphinx for that month. He wrote:

"It is certainly a pleasure to be really baffled on a new trick, but when a man calls on you and baffles you on three new ones, one right after the other, why it is a sensation of once in a lifetime, and I was the victim and the gentleman that called on me was a Mr. Jerome Cook of New York City. These are his original tricks which he has worked for some time, but I am the first Magician to witness them. He borrowed a half dollar from me and balanced same on the back of his first two fingers, and holding the balanced coin right under my nose, it suddenly started to revolve while in the upright position, then it stopped and started revolving in the opposite direction; then he returned my half dollar which appeared as good as when I loaned same, and there were no threads used. Really, in my mind, the best coin stunt of late years and very weird looking."

So, what was this fantastic coin stunt? Thanks to the file of instructions on Ask Alexander, we know it was marketed as, “Revolvo - The Hypnotic Half-Dollar.” The instruction sheet with complete descriptions of how it is accomplished is provided below. 

It was accomplished with a nearly invisible, rotating sloted coin holder that is concealed between the two fingers and into which any ordinary half dollar can be inserted. Instructions for concealing the gimmick are provided. It was a great seller in Max Holden’s booth at the Fort Wayne I.B.M. convention in 1930. 

Cook may also have been a member of the International Magic Circle as he is mentioned in an issued of Seven Circles, once again accompanied by Paul Noffke. Our guy? Who knows? I could find no death certificate or notice in any of the magic magazines. I was able to confirm that he was a member of the I.B.M. and so, I close this post with the speculation that he was an enthusiast – a creative one I’ll give you – but yet another conjuror who felt compelled to create a scaling card for himself as he pursued his passion for magic.

Tom Ewing

Schrieber the Magician (No, not that one)

This post is devoted to an all-around magic fan, club joiner, collector, enthusiast and frequent performer from Minneapolis. His name was William Gustav Schreiber. As has been my practice in past posts, I am violating the true scaling card criteria to devote this post to our subject.

Schreiber was born in 1885 and there is no record of how he became interested in magic but the lively Minneapolis magic scene with its various magic shops and slew of local magicians must have swept him up. He was one of those magic enthustiasts who, when you search for him on Ask Alexander, comes up with pages and pages of "hits" for his appearances at local magic club meetings and shows. In "real life" he owned the Schreiber Company, a printing and loose leaf manufacuring firm.

I originally thought he had a scaling card but it turns out one was business card and the other a promotional giveaway. The business card shows Schriber doing a card trick in tuxedo and top hat and advertises his contact info and the informative note, "Alive in Minneapolis, Ask Any Policeman."

The revserve offers his services for all types of dates and asks, "Your Next Entertainment Why Not a Magician?

Of a bit more interest was his Diminishing Card Giveaway which appears as a large ace of hearts with his booking info on it and with the pass of a hand, turns into a much smaller version of the card. It came with instructions on the back for performing this miracle.

                                                                                 Instructions for the Diminishing Card.

For over 25 years he was a feature act with the Shrine Merrymakers as well as performing at local clubs and lodges. He was a member of various Masonic bodies, the Society of American Magicians, The Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences and the Houdini Club of Wisconsin. Although not a member of the I.B.M. he was a big supporter and frequent performer on the local club shows. He was also an early and avid attendee at Abbott's Magic Get-Togethers.

According to magazine reports, Schreiber had a very large collection of magic and theater in his home. During a June 1950 visit to Minneapolis by Jay and Francis Marshall, Francis wrote, "If there is anything in magic that Bill doesn't have in that basement theater of his, we couldn't name it." This included lovely bound volumes of magic magazines which he bound himself at his company.

According to one report, Schreiber must have levitated the famous actress and TV star Arlene Dahl, although it must have been when she was a youngster as her pay was only $5.00. The article noted she likely wouldn't admit to the levitation if asked at the time.

Throughout the early 1940s he appeared both as himself as as "Chin Low, Chinese Magician," a portrayal of Asian magicians that many consider inappropriate today, but which was in great fashion years ago. In February 1946 he sent a the TOPS Magazine, a photo of a 24-sheet billboard announcing his appearance in Winnepeg. It was likely a billboard for the Shrine show and not his personal billboard. In 1942 he registered for the draft as World War got underway. At the age of 57 it is unlikely he served.

Schreiber died January 22, 1957 at the age of 71. Obituaries appeared in The Linking Ring and TOPS Magazine and remarks about him were glowing. In TOPS they wrote, "Magicdom lost an enthusiastic devotee in the passing of William G. Schreiber. Known to many Magicians all over the country for his bubbling personality will be missed at the various magic conclaves he was wont to attend. Particularly will this be true of the Abbott Get-Togethers where he was one of the "regulars."

In The Linking Ring, a friend, noted, "many magicians will remember him for his shirt and cap made of playing cards and mouth organ, string of dollar bills with uncutting scizzors, three-foot long stocking pocketbook and his work at conventions when called upon." A one-column feature on his passing appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Survivors included his wife Selma, three daughters and four brothers. After his death, his entire magic collection was purchased and put up for sale by Bert Forsythe who operated The Magic Center magic shop at 1411 West Lake Street. He placed an ad to this effect in The Linking Ring.

Where’s Waldo?

What? Are readers of this blog now being asked to find this favorite children’s character in his red-and-white-striped shirt, bobble hat, and glasses, hidden among throwing cards? No, but that’s not a bad idea. Rather our subject in this post is Waldo the magician and wonder worker. And the question is not “Where’s Waldo?” but “Who’s Waldo?”

Waldo was obviously a magician and proud member of the Society of American Magicians as evidenced by his scaling card above which includes the S.A.M. logo. In addition to working wonders, he also offered, “Merry Moments of Modern Magic, Mirth and Mystery.” The reverse side of his card features the Mahatma design as sold by Martinka. So, in coming upon this card in the “W” section of my accumulation, I wondered whether Waldo was his real name or stage name. It appears to be the later.

A search through Ask Alexander turns up a number of Waldo’s in early reports of the S.A.M. There’s Waldo E. Holbrook and Waldo O. Ege, but none really from the New York metropolitan/state area. And, there were hundreds of references to some guy named Ralph Waldo Emerson. The clue, I believe to Waldo’s identity lies in his business agent, George W. Quirk, 41 Sarah Ann St., Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y.

I found a George Washington Quirk being recommended for membership at the seventy-fifth monthly meeting of the S.A.M. in September 1908 at Martinka’s Magical Palace in their renovated and redecorated little theater. A few minutes after his membership recommendation, the society elected a new vice president to replace Harry Houdini who had resigned. Houdini’s replacement was William A. Ransom who was elected without opposition. No further mention of Waldo nor his S.A.M. membership number was published.

Now, if the conjuror in question had simply been “George W. Quirk,” it might have been difficult to find out more information, but with “Washington” as his middle name, a search on Ancestry.com uncovered our guy. He was born June 23, 1886 in Tompkinsville, Staten Island, NY. This would have made him 22 years old when he joined the S.A.M. Quirk joined the U.S. Navy during World War I, and was trained at the Naval Training Station at Pelham Bay Park, in New York. The training lasted from April 24, 1918 to November 11, 1918, when the war officially ended. He was a Seaman Second Class and Ship’s Cook. The only other information available on Quirk is the fact that at one time he worked on the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street.

He must have performed magic in his early years though because his scaling card indicates he could be secured for, “Churches, Clubs, Societies, Lodges and Entertainments of all kinds.” No obituary could be found on him and no further references in magic periodicals. 

Update 

Some years ago magic collector and historian Sal Perrotta discovered Waldo's trunk in an attic on Staten Island. The owner told Perrotta that Waldo's actual name was (as noted above), George Washington Quirk. There was some nice equipment but only a few newspaper clippings regarding his shows. Included among the items in the trunk was Quirk's WW I dog tag. 

Also, Perrotta found a wonderful decorated set of Passe Passe Bottles from the early part of the past century. Given Quirk's induction into the S.A.M. taking place in Martinka's Palace of Magic, it is almost entirely certain the set of bottles came from Martinka's. 

Thanks for Sal Perrotta for sharing this new information on Waldo/Quirk. What a great and sharing world is found among magic historians and collectors. 

Tom Ewing

Harry A. Weitzel – “America’s Leading Thimbleist”

This throw-out card is about a magician who was known for a particular specialty. I have always found it interesting because as a playing card, it is slightly smaller than average, but it has a great look to it with the image of the performer and the sewing thimbles on each side of it. The manipulation of sewing thimbles was what this magician was remembered for more than anything else.

Throw-Out Card of Harry A. Weitzel

When I started to look into the magic career of Harry A. Weitzel, I found many references to him in magic periodicals on the Ask Alexander database. He was mentioned frequently as a member of the Pittsburgh Association of Magicians during the late teens of the last century, and into the nineteen-twenties, acting for many years as their secretary.

From the Billboard for September 25, 1920

Two things about Weitzel really came through about his involvement with magic. He was very good when it came to the manipulation of thimbles, and he was incredibly shy when it came to showing it. In The Sphinx for June of 1918, the Pittsburgh Association held an annual show and they had this to say: “Next on the bill was without a question the biggest surprise that the association has ever had.  Our esteemed most bashful brother, Harry A. Weitzel, made his appearance and did several mechanical tricks, one of which was the production of a cake a la Hoover, then Harry made the hit of his life by some very clever thimble manipulation that was well worth the gracement (sic) of the Palace, New York.  Harry had them all guessing and made an appearance that would be hard to equal.”

From the Billboard for December 31, 1921

Weitzel was variously known as “Harry Thimbles”, “Baron Thimble”, and Weitzel of “Nimble Thimble” fame. Charles J. Colta referred to him as “America’s Leading Thimbleist”. The Sphinx even said about him that he “does thimbles so much that his head is getting shaped like one”. It also said that he used “the regular Woolworth Red Celluloid Thimbles”. Perhaps the oddest comment in The Sphinx stated: “Incidentally, Weitzel is still single and it looks as if he will be for some time as he spends more time practicing thimble manipulations than he does making love”. I thought that was an odd and maybe inappropriate comment for a magic magazine in 1922!

While Weitzel’s prowess with the thimbles was well documented, trying to find out anything about his personal life outside of magic has come up empty. The Harry A. Weitzels I have found in my available resources, I could not confirm for sure which one was really him. I guess Weitzel, as a magician, left us with one last mystery to ponder.

 Tony Spicer – The Joker

According to the dictionary Autolycus is defined as “One who is a snapper up of unconsidered trifles,” and this is a very apt description of our subject Tony Spicer, for as described in The Magic Circular, Tony Spicer was, “. . . a born collector of antique magical trifles which he has dressed up and used in his modern magical entertainments.”

This well-known British performer was multi-talented offering magic, ventriloquism, Punch & Judy and serving as a Toast Master. In addition he also wrote a regular newspaper column in the Southampton Echo. He was born in 1911 and lived in Birmingham originally, later moving to Southampton.

Here is his promotional playing card featuring a photo of the smiling Spicer with a fan of playing cards behind him. It notes his membership in The Magic Circle (London) and the Aladdin Brotherhood of Magicians. Just to be thorough he includes “author” and “lecturer” as two of his skills. Not being familiar with British playing card back designs I am unable to identify who might have produced this Bridge-sized promotional piece. It looks to be from the 1950s.

A review of The Conjuring Arts Research Center’s Ask Alexander database shows him to be a popularperformer at British magic club meetings, banquets and shows. In July 1939 Spicer was entertaining crowds at the popular seaside resort Littlehampton, the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the Arun River.

 

He appeared at the Associated Wizards of The South “Whizz” magic show in December 1972 on the same bill with Jeffrey Atkins, the late International President of the I.B.M. and organizer of many of the British Ring conventions, who performed “Dizzy Limit.” Dizzy Limit is the vanishing of a motorcycle and rider from inside a large crate. Spicer also appeared on the Presto Show in Wessex in 1967. On this show he impersonated a Chinese magician Chung Ming Fu. He also MC’d the show of the Portsmouth One-Day Convention in June 1973.

Spicer’s note of being a lecturer was quite true. He frequently lectured on the presentation of magic before fellow conjurors. One lecture titled, “Spice of Variety” was presented to Magic Circle members on the 17^th of March 1969. He told attendees that he hoped he was an entertainer and not just a presenter of a collection of magic tricks. He added, “Whilst tricks could be bought from the dealers, experience is what counted and experience could not be supplied by the dealer.” Freddie Brickman, who authored the Circular piece on Spicer wrote:

Simplicity was what he strived for and he at all times endeavour3ed to avoid complicated effects – the audience must clearly understand the plot of the effect and the performer must understand every necessary move in order to bring it to its logical conclusion. It was also very important to have an “out” ready in case of something going wrote – and something usually did go wrong at some time or other no matter how good and skilled the performer might be.

 

Shown below is Brickman’s report on the magic Spicer performed:

In January 1972, Spicer gave another lecture and performance at the Associated Societies of the South Convention where he spoke on “Old Props and Posters.” On Monday January 19, 1973 he performed at The Magic Circle offering a variety of effects involving cards, cigarettes, ropes and mental magic. They were all presented and enhanced by his collection of apparatus that he assembled over the years. Among his most cherish props were Will Goldston’s Hand Dagger Box, Harry Leat’s Coronation Card Box for the production of a full pack of cards; Walter Wandman’s Card Box and a cigarette box that delivered a cigarette into the performer’s hand ready for production. Again, he presented Hoffman’s Flying Cards to great applause.

Spicer died in 1980 at age 69 and his obituary noted that he was a full-time entertainer ever since leaving the Royal Navy. He left a wife, son and daughter. This popular entertainer of children and adults was certainly a colorful and interesting figure in magic. He was some who added spice to his profession.

 

Francis the Famous

This post falls into the category of some performers featured on this blog who had their own scaling card but about which very little is known. Our subject is Francis G. Cuttle. A thorough search through Ask Alexander, Ancestry.com and newspapers.com (something any conjuring historian of worth should utilize), I was able to turn up a little background. This is odd for someone who billed himself as “Francis the Famous!”

Cuttle’s card features his photo with the caption above it, “The Young Wizard.” He does look fairly young in the picture. To the left is his signature and, like many show people in the early part of the previous century, inquiries could be addressed to the New York Clipper, the newspaper for all things show business. The reverse side is not by one of the larger commercial card companies, but is attractive and pink in color.

Cuttle was most closely associated with Columbus, Georgia. In October 1930, the magicians of Atlanta, Georgia gave their fall benefit show in the auditorium of the Women’s Club. It was sponsored by the Atlanta Child’s Home. The bill was filled with local magicians including DeVaughn (a female magician); Mac and Frances; Albert Harrington, Homer Hulse, Dr. F.E. Van der Veer; Julian Boehm; and others.

No, Cuttle was not on the bill, but The Linking Ring covered the event in their November issue and noted that after the show the magicians had the pleasure of meeting Francis G. Cuttle of Columbus, Georgia who had heard of the show and traveled 200 miles to attend. He was identified as an, “ex-magician,” who was known in his professional days as, “Francis the Famous.” That’s it.

We also know Cuttle was married. According to The Atlanta Constitution, his wife, Annie Robinson Cuttle, died Monday December 18, 1934, after a long illness. She was born in Lowell, Mass., and her body was returned there. She had lived in Columbus since 1910. And one last interesting note – she was survived by her husband Francis and one brother — wait for it — William E. Robinson of Atlantic, Mass. No, not THAT Robinson, but an interesting twist to a story without a lot of details. Cuttle now arises from near obscurity to near visibility among Propelled Pasteboard's panoply of prestidigitators.

Tom Ewing

Happy Holidays from Propelled Pasteboards and Bill Wagner!

With the holidays upon us, I thought it might be nice to share this lovely card, featuring William "Bill" Wagner on a beautifully-executed color throwout card.  This wonderful keepsake has several fine features not often seen on a scaling card.  First is the holiday theme, which is rare, if not unique. Second, the face of the card bears a date -- 1930 -- providing true holiday joy for the researcher interested in the history of these items.

Wagner also demonstrates another interesting phenomenon.  I first posted this card shortly before the demise of throwingcard.com, planning to list Wagner as yet another "Man of Mystery," about whom I could discern nothing.  I  had even planned to offer a bounty (specifically, a free throwingcard.com postcard) to the first intrepid reader who could tackle the challenge of finding out about Wagner.  However, with increased digitization of books and magazines, the efforts of historians and writers on various sites, and the rise of the Ask Alexander search engine, the task of tracking down obscure performers has grown increasingly easier.

The Mahatma Mystery Solved!

Advertisement appearing in Mahatma in 1895.

From 1895 through 1906, Mahatma, the first U.S. newspaper catering to magicians, was published at Martinka's magic shop in New York City.  Another thing Mahatma published, as indicated in the print ad seen here, were "Playing Cards With Your Advertisement Printed on Them," at a rate of $1.50 per thousand or $6.00 for 5,000.   These ads appeared from time to time in the periodical's decade-long run, but alas, without ever including any images of the cards.

Ad from 1905

The first reference I encountered about cards printed by Mahatma was the June 1944 article by John Mulholland, which is excerpted on our Back Story page.  "Scores of magicians had cards made with a back design, 'The Mahatma' magazine had
drawn," Mulholland wrote. "This design pictures a number of different pieces of magical apparatus." Mulholland did not provide an image of this unique back design created by the folks at Mahatma.   I began thinking about the dozens of cards we had posted here on Propelled Pasteboards, but it was difficult to think of any that fit Mulholland's description . . . except for maybe one.

Indeed, my leading suspect was the back that I've referred to as the Roterberg Stock Card  as they were sold by dealer August Roterberg.  Examination of the back, as reproduced here, proves consistent with Mulholland's description: a custom-drawn back picturing various magical apparatus (including fans, birdcages, funnels, wands, hats, etc.)   And given that the ad for these cards appears in Roterberg's catalog circa 1915, the timeline seemed to fit.

But that was just a suspicion.  Before I acted on it, I decided to consult our friend, Jay Hunter.  In what seemed like minutes, Jay responded with an email containing images of throwing cards featuring the Mahatma backs in two colors.





























How can be be sure that Jay is right?   Well, just look closely at the design -- there's a signature: it says "Mahatma,"  As for the faces of these cards, they bear advertisements for magicians named "George Heller" and "M. Roberts."  Their stories will await another day.

But a third Mahatma card from Jay's collection sheds just a bit of light on another mystery.  Regular readers may recall the elusive Geo. Heir from our discussion of Bamberg Throw-Out Cards.  If you'll recall, Heir was one of our dedicated Men of Mystery, about whom we have been unable to locate any data even with the help of Ask Alexander.   Well, Jay found another Mahatma card, this one featuring Mr. Heir:

So, with that card, we add another data point to Mr. Heir's profile: he hailed from Jersey City, N.J.  That may lead to more....

Of course, only after Jay cracked the case, I found an ad for Mahatma cards with an entirely different "Mahatma" card back.   See below:

But before we leave the issue of magic magazines printing throwing cards, there's one more thing I'd like to cover.  In researching this piece, I happened across another ad -- this one in an old copy of The Sphinx from 1902, featuring nearly the exact same ad, this time attributed to The Sphinx rather than Mahatma:

Apparently, Mahatma wasn't the only magic magazine moonlighting in the throwing card business.  And if you'd like to see one of these backs on a card, check out the Leon Herrmann posting!

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Postscript: After reading this post, my co-contributor Gary Frank dove into his wonderful collection and turned up three more of these wonderful cards.  The story of these performers will await another day... but meanwhile, now appearing on Propelled Pasteboards are the magical styles of M. Roberts (whose back design appears above), Marvill and Burton the Magician.