THE STORY OF

"The embroidered King who shows but half his face" — Pope.

CEO. M. MACKENZIE
 CARD TRICKS
A Card Trick is welcomed at any time. It can be carried in the
vest pocket. It is enteraining, and best, of all, the selection given
here are easy to do. There is no skill required; the cards them-
selves are faked so that you can emulate the feat of the professional
with little or no practice.

THE EVER-CHANCINC CARD

This is a single card, the Nine of Clubs. In front
of your eyes it changes to a Five, then to a
Three, and lastly an Ace. Price 6d.

PASSE-PASSE CARDS
Two cards are placed under two hats.
Without a move on the part of the per-
former, the cards change places. The
Three appears where the Ace rested and the
Ace where the Three was first placed. No
skill required. Price 8d.

PICKITOUT
The modern version of Find the Lady, only
the Lady in this case happens to be an Ace.
Three cards shown fairly, laid down slowly,
back up, yet, they can never find the Ace.
Again simple to do and an astounding
effect. Price only 1/-.

THE PROTEAN CARDS

One of the cleverest card tricks and yet so
simple. Four blank cards shown and four
only remember, yet these change to Aces
and then to Three's and finally back again
to blank cards. Simply amazing and
amazingly simple. Price 1/3i

TWO CARD MONTE

Two cards are shown, one thrown down on the table, and the
spectator asked to name this card. What a surprise he gets when
the card is turned up. The catch of the season, and only 8d.
complete.
All prices above include postage.
MAC'S MYSTERIES
132, WEST NILE STREET, GLASGOW, C.2.
 I

THE STORY OF EACH

PLAYING CARD

by

CEO. M. MACKENZIE

Published by
MAC'S MYSTERIES, 132, West Nile Street, Glasgow, C.2.
 DEDICATED TO
H. BRUCE SPENCER
Hon. Secretary
Playing Card Collectors Association
 PREFACE
For years I have been collecting1 old, curious and unusual Play-
ing Cards.
It was only about ten years ag-o I noticed that quite a few of
the cards had nicknames. This so intrigued me that I began to
collate these names.
Never did I realise that the whole of the 52 cards had a name
or incident connected with them until I started my research.
Up till now I have managed to locate 51 stories of 51 cards of
the pack. For several years I have had this material locked away.
Time and time again I have been asked to publish this, but have
always hung back as I was afraid this material would be of no
interest to anyone but a card collector.
In lecturing on this subject in recent years, I was astonished
at the interest displayed by my hearers on the History of the
Playing Card.
That a wider audience may enjoy this subject, here then, is the
story of Each Playing Card.
GEORGE M. MACKENZIE.
Glasgow, 1945.
AN ABBREVIATED HISTORY OF THE
PLAYING CARD

What's on the cards? That's a question often asked; but how

many nonchalantly holding their bridge hands have any suspicion
of the romance hidden in the cards he holds ! Is it not queer in this
age of modernism that the cards as we know them, have not altered
from the time of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." England, when
she adopted the French pack, introduced a particular Queen of her
own, the mother of Henry VIII, Elizabeth of York. That modern
players will not tolerate change in their cards is evidenced by a
happening at the beginning of this Century. A messenger was
sent to the card maker to complain that the garter on one of the
Jacks had been altered and every member was complaining that he
was unlucky and they were all losing. How they could all lose has
never been explained !

What was the origin of these oblongs of pasteboard with their

pictured Kings and Queens ? Certain hack writers now and again
rush into print with the story of the cards having been invented in
France to amuse the mad King Charles, in 1390, yet, German
knights were sending back a species of cards taken from Saracen
prisoners during the Crusades. These picture cards the Germans
called "Briefe Karten." To this day, Briefe Karten is still the
name for picture postcards in Grermany.
Where did the Saracens get these cards? These cards were
known to be used for fortune telling.
 I do not wish to inflict on the reader a mass of abstruse, weari-
some, and often contradictory evidence as to how, when and where
cards originated. Most European countries claim that they are the
originators of playing cards. One thing is certain, the most ancient
testimony comes from an MS., Pipozza de Sandro, Italy, having
for its title "Tratto del governo della famiglia, 1299." The actual
reference being "Se quichera di danari o cosi o alle carte, qui
apparucheir la via" (if he plays for money in this manner, or at
cards, you must facilitate the manner of his doing so).
The word "carte" already appears in the language of the country
at this date.
That the card originated in the East, there can be no doubt.
Thoth Hermes Tresmigestus, one of the very early kings, was the
Egyptian Mercury. It was he, it is said, who was the inventor of
the hieroglyphic system and its attendant mysticism. Thoth was
known as the God of Speech.

It seems evident too that the gypsies were the means of intro-
ducing cards into Europe.
The gypsies themselves have no history or tradition to which
we can refer, but, throughout the ages, cards have been synonomous
with this race of wanderers; cards and Eortune Telling have been
in the gypsies' blood for centuries and it is established that the
earliest cards, known as Tarots, were solely for divinatory purposes.
Gradually each country worked out their own uses and games
with cards. The symbolical figures of the Tarot pack of 78 cards
underwent a change in each country. The cards were divided into
suits as we know them to-day. The Italians took Swords, Cups,
Money and Batons. So too did the Spaniards.

The Germans, the acknowledged earliest wood engravers,

marked their suits Scheller, Bells, Herzen, Hearts, Grun, Leaves,
Eicheln, Acorns.

The French followed up about 1390 with Coeur (Hearts), Trefle

(Clubs), Pique (Spades), and Carreau (Diamonds).

England took her suits from those of France. Cards were known
in England previous to 1464. Though it is probable they were not
in common use, being confined to the Court and houses of the great.
One thing is certain, that before the end of the Fifteenth Century,
when printing was becoming more popular, they were being used
as a pastime by the idle of all classes.

It has often been asked why the pack of cards should be divided
into four suits. No doubt the Tarot pack of 78 was found too
unwieldy for games, hence the 52, as we know the pack today.

The four suits, first originated by the Italians, has a significance.

Each suit has an emblem. In the case of Italian, Cups, Swords,
Money and Baton. Although more or less modified by time, these
would have all the appearance of denoting the four castes by which
the community was anciently divided on the Nile and the Ganges.
The cup or vase denotes the priest, the sword the warrior, the money
the merchant, the baton or club the tiller of the soil or peasant.

" Sorcerers, jugglers, sharpers, say

Where do you come from, gipsies gay?"

SUITS OF THE PACKS OF VARIOUS

COUNTRIES

ITALY.
Cups (Coppers) ; Swords (Spades) ; Money (Danari) ; and
Batons (Bastoni). Four Court cards : King (He) ; Queen (Hegina);
Knight on Horseback (Cavallo) ; Fante (Foot Soldier).

SPAIN.
Cups (Copas); Swords (Espandas); Money (Oros); and Batons
(Bastoni). Spain never had Queens in the pack. The picture cards
being: King (Hey); Chevalier on Horse (Caballo) ; La Sota (a
Helper).
 GERMANY.
Hearts; Leaves; Acorns, and Bells. The early German packs
had no Queens, the Court or Coat cards being1: King (Konig);
Ober Knecht, and Unter Knecht.

FRANCE.
Clubs (Piques); Hearts (Coeurs) ; Spades (Trefl.es); and
Diamonds (Carreaux). The French, although crowning" their Queen,
called these Dames. The Court cards are: King, Dame, and Valet.

INDIA.
The Indian cards are circular in shape, generally being made of
vegetable fibre. These are beautifully coloured. There are ten
suits, some of these being: Monkeys, Viziers, Tortoises.

CHINA.
China has various types of cards, mostly used for gambling*;
the suits are two : Chains and Cakes. Some of the gambling- packs
have as many as 200 cards.

JAPAN.
The cards were introduced into Japan by the Portugese. These
are about half the size of the Bridge cards used by the "Western
world. The suits and number of the cards are varied, most of the
suits being flowers, Lotus Flowers, etc.

THE STORY OF EACH CARD IN THE

PACK

SPADES
The Ace. This was called Spadille for the games of Ombre and
Quadrille. There is also a story connected with this card: the ace
was used, along with the following ingredients, two adders, twenty
four spiders, seven toads and a ewe lamb's heart, for the concoction
said to have assisted the Corsican witch to forsee Napoleon's future
career.
7
 The King. Lafayette (1757-1834) "The President of Spades,"
superseded Jean Jaques Rousseau, the then King of Spades, at the
time of the French Revolution. This refers to the fact that about
1848 decks of playing cards in America were made without the usual
Kings and Queens, historical characters being used. The French
name this card David.

The Queen. Minerva (Wisdom), altered by the Revolution to

the virtue of Fortitude (Strength). This card is said to have led
to the conviction of the notorious Captain South in 1823. A pack
of cards with which he was playing with his victim was found in
his pocket. The Queen of Spades bore a bloody imprint, and he
was hanged on this evidence. French name : Pallas.

The Jack. (Knave). Thockmorton (1515-1571) in Queen Eliza-

beth's time, was surprised whilst plotting to put Mary, Queen of
Scots, on the throne. As he escaped, he scribbled a note on the
back of the Knave of Spades, a warning to Mendoza, the Spanish
Ambassador, thereby enabling a number of the conspirators to
escape. French name for this card, Hogier.
The Ten. This card is called Buffalo Bill's card (Colonel Cody
1846-1917). He bet he could pierce each of the ten pips with a
revolver at twelve yards range. He was successful, and the card
was eventually auctioned for £30.

The Nine. Count Cavour (J810-1861), the great Italian states-

man, wrote advice on the back of the Nine of Spades to an English-
man from whom he had won 10,000 Francs, that he should respect
small cards. Cavour's highest trump was the Nine of Spades, and,
thereafter he always referred to this as his "lucky" card.
The Eight. This card is said to have caused the death of Lord
Lansdowne in July, 1866. He was playing Whist at White's Club
and his cards~fell twice from his hand to the floor. He complained
of feeling ill, and when being assisted out to a cab, the Eight of
Spades fell from his clothes. "There is the card that disturbed
me so," said his Lordship. He went to bed and died.

The Seven. This is the only card left of the pack owned by Marie
Antoinette (1753-1793). She gave this pack to the Dauphin, and
it was taken from him by his gaoler and sold. All the cards were
destroyed with the exception of the Seven of Spades.
The Six. This card, called "Poor Dick," was so named after the
partner of William Combe (1741-1823), one of a trio of card players
at the Roxburgh Club in St. James's Square, London. The news
of the death of his partner, told to him at the card table, so upset
Mr. Combe that he trumped his partner's trick with the Six of
Spades. From that moment his luck changed and he proceeded
to win £50,000 from Sir James Malcolm.
8
 The Five. This card was found in the hand of Lookup, the noted
Whist player of Bath, when lie died. It was eventually placed in
his hand and buried with him.

The Four. Crockford, proprietor of the famous gaming club,

who made .£1,000,000 in the course of his career, once won £24,000
at Shilling' Whist. His last card was the Four of Spades, and, as
this game was the final one, the card has since been known as
"Crockford's Card." According to the "Gentleman's Magazine"
of 1790, the Four is also known in Northamptonshire as "Ned
Stokes."

The Three. This card figured in a complete pack of fifty-two

Three of Spades used by a Fortune Teller to indicate the future
husband of a lady of the House of Ormonde (Ireland, 17th Century).
The unsuccessful suitor had bribed the Fortune Teller to use a pack
of Seven of Hearts, but the old woman, disliking his suggestion,
used instead the pack containing all Three of Spades.

The Two. "There's luck under a Black Deuce" runs the old
Proverb; but on no account must the card be touched with the
elbow. Why, has never been explained and does not seem to be
known.

THE ORIGIN OF VISITING CARDS

It will be asked by a few readers, "Why was so much writing
done on cards in the old days?" The explanation is simple: until
1860, cards of all nations had been white on the backs. The French
varied this by having- some backs pink, others blue, but this was
never popular, and until Messrs. I)e La Hue, of London, patented
a process of printing- with woven wires a design of the back, the
cards before this period had all been perfectly plain.

"Under Five Reigns," by Lady Dorothy Nevill, page 302, says,

"Visiting cards, it is not generally known, originated from playing
cards, which were used as such as late as the end of the Eighteenth
Century. The visitor when calling, finding the master of the house
absent, would have presented to him by the person answering his
knock at the door, a pack of cards. He then inscribed his name on
the white back of one of the cards."

The writer of this book has a playing card with Sheridan, the
famous actor's name on the back. This had obviously been used
by the great player as described by Lady Dorothy.
 HEARTS
The Ace. Originally there was no Ace of Hearts in the early
packs of cards, but if "Latimer's Card" (sold by Sotheby's about
1107) was genuine, then the Ace of Hearts was introduced as part
of the pack of 1530.
The King. The first King of Hearts was called Carolus (after
Charles VI. of France, 1367-1422), who is supposed to be the father
of the Playing Cards in Europe. Three hundred and twenty-five
years later, Bonnie Prince Charlie used the King of Hearts as visit-
ing cards to bestow on his various hosts and hostesses. (See previous
Chapter on the "Origin of Visiting1 Cards"). This King is known
in France as Charles.

The Queen. Maria Gunning, the beautiful Lady Coventry, often

used to draw this card, and stated that it would kill her. She died
at the early age of twenty-eight.
Lewis Carroll immortalised this card in "Alice in Wonderland."
A story is told of this card at the death of Queen Elizabeth. Two
Ladies-in-Waiting discovered in the Queen's chamber a Queen of
Hearts nailed to the underside of the seat of a chair with a large
iron nail. The nail was struck through the forehead. They did not
dare pull this out and were afraid to mention the matter for a long
time afterwards.
The card is called Judith in the French pack.
The Jack or Knave. Otherwise known as the "Hearty Jacka-
napes"; the Stealer of the Tarts in the nursery rhyme. This card
is also the subject of Bret Harte's poem, "The Heathen Chinee."
French name: La Hire.

The Ten. Lord Lauderdale staked £5,000 in 1773, that, given

the Ten of Hearts, he would take a trick with it. He and his friends
had been playing for twenty-eight consecutive hands, and he
revoked. After paying his losses, he tore the Ten of Hearts in two.

The Nine. This card is called "Nap," after Napoleon. He wrote

examples of the English words he had learned on the back of a
Nine of Hearts, which happened to be handy.

The Eight. The "Parenthesis" or Eight of Hearts, got its name

by the birth to a married lady at the card table of a baby girl. The
Eight of Hearts of the pack with which they were playing was
missing and never turned up again.
10
 The Seven. Lord Clive, on November 22nd, 1774, turned up
this card at whist at his Berkeley Square house. He asked to be
excused and was found with his throat cut; a pen-knife being on
the floor.

The Six. This card acquired in Ireland the name of "Graces

Card" from, the spirited answer returned by John Grace, Baron of
Courtstown, to Marshal Schomberg, who sent to tempt him to
espouse the cause of William III. "Tell your Master," he wrote
on the back of the card, "I despise his offer and that honour and
conscience are dearer than all the wealth and titles a Prince can
bestow."

The Five. The Reverend John Taylor, a famous card player,

once revoked with the Five of Hearts and g^ave up card playing
for ever.
The Four. H. Collingwood, last heir to an estate in Northum-
berland, was found with his throat cut in a wood, and the Four of
Hearts clutched in his hand. From then onwards it was known as
"Hob Collingwood," and considered unlucky to hold this card in
one's hand.

It is also considered to be unlucky to elderly spinsters holding

this at whist.

The Three. Soon after the fateful "South Sea Bubble" (early
in the 18th Century), Aislabie and Law met at Venice and proceeded
to play a game of cards. The back of the Three of Hearts had a
Dutch satire on their own schemes in the "Bubble." This so offended
them that they gave up the game at once.

The Two. "The Deuce take it," cried one player at a game of
whist in Bedford Row, London, in 1729. But the Deuces were
allowed to remain and whist became a more scientific

COURT CARDS

England, when she adopted the French pack, introduced a par-

ticular Queen of her own. Henry VIII. is recognised as the King,
so in the quaint lady depicting the Queen, we see his mother,
Elizabeth of York. She is always shown liolding the White Rose
11
of York.

The Knave has not been changed for 400 years; the costume was
copied from the French Rouen Pack, 1547, and the dress still
resembles that described by Chaucer in the "Canterbury Tales."
There is a theory that the word Knave has been taken from the
Spanish word Naipes, this being Spanish for Card. There is a very
interesting discussion in "Facts and Speculations" apropos this
term.

The earliest use of the appellation Jackanapes occurs in a Ballad

in the British Museum, date about 1450, where Jac Napes is applied
as a term of reproach to the unfortunate Duke of Suffolk, then
lately murdered. I have also seen the term Jack-a-Napes as "a
buffoon in a parti-coloured dress."

It is not generally known that the term Court Cards is a

corruption of the earlier name, Coate Cards. The cards until the
Eighteenth Century were known as Coate Cards by reason of the
flowing robes of the picture cards. This has gradually fallen into
disuse, and, as Kings and Queens have their Court, it is an error
which the modern world has fallen into in calling the picture cards
of the pack "Court Cards."

Samuel Rowland (1575-1630), a pamphleteer, round about 1620

wrote the following^ verse, which gives some idea of the colours and
dress of the cards of that period:

" My sleeves are like some Morris dancing fellow,

My stockings, idiot like, red, greene, and yellow;
My breeches like a pair of Lute pins be,
Scarce buttock-roome, as every man may see.
Like three-penie watchmen three of us doe stand,
Each with a rustie browne-bill in his hand;
And clubs he holds an arrow, like a clowne,
The head end upward and the feathers downe."
12
 DIAMONDS
The Ace. This is known as "The Earl of Cork," and is the
poorest card in the pack. This was supposed to be from the fact
that the Earl of Cork was the poorest nobleman in Ireland. (Erom
"Eacts and Stories of the Irish Peasantry").
The King. This card is believed an evil one. In most Eortune
Telling1 games, the card portends ill luck, its other name being1
"The Great Hanged One."
Joachim Murat, whom Napolean made King of Naples in 1808,
drew this card twice from a Eortune Teller to whom he had gone
incognito. He was executed in Italy in 1815.
Known in France as Cesar.
The Queen. Known in the English pack of 1750 as the "Lover's
Treasure."
Marked in some Erench packs "En toi le fie" ("Trust in your-
self"). The Erench call this card Rachel.
The Jack or Knave. Frederick the Great (1712-1786) is said to
have played with the Count Lacy on the eve of one of his great
battles with a pack of cards, the Knave of which is preserved in
St. Petersburg (Leningrad).
The name given by the Erench to this card is Hector.
The Ten. This card is known as "Picks" in Yorkshire, being
derived from the password "Pyx" to Medmenham Abbey in the
middle of the Eighteenth Century.
The Nine, "The Curse of Scotland." There are various theories
as to how this card got its name. It is said that the Duke of
Cumberland (1721-1765), after the Battle of Culloden (1746) used
the back of this card to write out his infamous order for the
slaughter of the wounded rebels.
Another theory is that the Earl of Stair, who was implicated in
the massacre of Glencoe (1692) had as his amorial bearings Nine
Lozenges or Diamonds.
Yet another theory is taken from the "Oracle or llesolver of
Questions" (1770). The reason given here was that the Crown of
Scotland had but Nine Diamonds and the Scots were never able to
get more.
The Eight. The Fifth Duke of Hamilton is said to have sent a
reminder of his unpaid card winnings to the Countess of Yarmouth
on the back of the Eight of Diamonds.

The Seven. In 1795, a Mrs. Hotchkiss, who was bedridden and

dying for eleven years, loved a game of Ecarte, and played this
often. She was in the act of playing this card when she had a
seizure and died.
13
 The Six. Tlie well known liymn "Rock of Ages/' so it is said,
was written on the back of tlie Six of Diamonds by Augustus
Montague Toplady (1740-1778), the English hymn writer. This
card is now in the possession of an American collector.
The Five. Charles James Fox (1749-1806), the famous English
statesman, is said to have staked £10,000 on this card one night
at Faro, at Brooke's Club, London. He lost.
The Four. This card was turned up as trumps six times running
in six rubbers of whist at Charles Lambs' house in London (1775-
1834).
The Three. I have not been able to find any story of this card
in English. The three is known as "Senor" in Spain (Three of
Oros).
The Two. Archbishop Cornwallis, while playing the two of
Diamonds, after being rebuked by King George III. (1738-1820)
for playing cards, was suddenly struck with palsy of the right
hand.

The "Trumps," called by tlie French "atout," meaning the

dominant suit, is determined by the turned up card, is derived from
"Triumph." This is evident from Bishop Latimer's sermons "on
the Card" preached at Cambridge about 1529, when he speaks of
Hearts being his Triumph card.
In Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" (Act iv, scene 14)
the word Triumph is used by Antony in addressing Eros :
The Queen,
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine,
Which, whilst it was mine, had annexed to it,
A million more, now lost, — she, Eros, has
Packed cards with Caesars, and false played my glory,
Unto an enemy's triumph.
Spain calls the Trump Card, Triunfo; Italy, Trionfo; and the
French, different as usual, calls her Trumps, Atouts.

THE JOKER
The Joker is a comparatively recent addition to the pack of
cards and as such has no tradition. Many see in this card the "Fool"
(le Fou), the card used as an extra in the Tarot pack, but the truth
is that the modern Joker was introduced by the Americans as an
extra trump in Poker and other card games.
14
 CLUBS
The Ace, This card was inscribed, as an I.O.IJ. to Sir Joshua
Reynolds (1723-1792) by Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), the
intimation being' additionally expressed by the Three Balls of
Lombardy in silhouette (the Pawnbroker's Sign). The Duke of
Cumberland (1721-1765) lost £25,000 at Bath through not holding
this card.
The King. Pope describes this card as "The Clubs Black Tyrant,
with his haughty mem, barbarous pride and pompous robe. This is
the only King in the pack to hold an Orb or Globe which only a
reigning monarch may carry.
The French name is Alexandre.
The Queen. "Black Bess" is the name of this card. Queen
Elizabeth was a blonde, so the derivation is obscure. In the
"Gentleman's Magazine" of 1770 it is said that she had an extremely
swarthy complexion, so that might account for the nickname.
French cardmakers name this Argine, which, by the way, is
an anagram on Regina.
The Jack or Knave. Jean Paul Marat (1743-1793), the French
Revolutionist, on July 13th, 1793, whilst seated in the bath reading
a book, was stabbed to death by Charlotte Corday. The marker of
his book, the Jack of Clubs, was discovered later in the water.
Known in France as Lancelot.
The Ten, Not one story, legend or note has come to the writer's
notice regarding this card.
The Nine. John Gay (1685-1732), English poet, scribbled a
couplet from, his famous "Beggar's Opera" on the back of this card.
The Eight. An Eight of Clubs was found in a watertight box
near Tobermory Bay, Scotland, having lain there for more than
300 years. It was a relic of the Spanish Armada (1588).
The Seven. For twenty years a German in an asylum turned up
a pack of cards. He had sworn to turn them up in a certain order,
beginning with the Seven of Clubs. He eventually succeeded on
the 4,246,025th time.
The Six. This card fell uppermost from a pack of cards wired
together and fired by cannon by a Federal gunner into the Rebel
lines at Richmond, Virginia, during the American civil war (1861-
1865).
The Five. "Watson's Card," so called because one, Watson, is
said to have won £1,000 at Faro on this card turning up.
The Four. The sailor's slang for this card is the "Four of
Bedposts." Is also known as the "Devil's Bedposts."
15
 The Three. The Prince of Orange, later William IV. of England
(1830-1837), played cards on the eve of crossing to England and
autographed the Three of Clubs which he returned to the owner of
the pack, Lord Dunblane.
The Two. There was, and still is a superstition about this card,
that it denoted the presence of five trumps in the dealer's hand.

A CARD PLAYER'S REVERIE

D. M. COMPTON.

If life is but a gamble,

As sings our lyric bards,
Then life is but a well-worn
Deck of playing cards.
Whenever you are wounded
By Cupid's piercing darts
And play the part of lover,
Why then, your suit is Hearts.

But man and wife will quarrel,

Ay, ay, then there's the rub,
Alas, you fain would smite,
Each other with a Club.
And when your sweetheart swTears,
To you through life she'll cling,
There sparkles on her finger,
A dazzling Diamond ring.

At last the grim, grim reaper,

And then your grave is made,
And then the old grave digger,
Must needs unplay a Spade.
16
 CARD TRICKS

THE CARDS TO MATCHBOX

A fan of cards tossed into the air change into
a box of matches, which is tossed out to the
spectators to examine. The cards have vanished
entirely. Price 2/9.

THE NUDIST QUEEN

The most modern form of Find the Lady.
Three cards are shown, the Queen in the
centre. A spectator is asked to select
the Queen, when he turns his card over,
there she is without any wearing apparel
whatever. The funniest gag in card
magic. Price 2/6.

THE DIMINISHING CARDS

The famous effect where the cards
are shown ordinary size, yet, the
performer makes these go half-sized,
then quarter, then sixteenth, and
finally makes them vanish alto-
gether. This requires practice, so
do not send unless you are prepared
to do this properly. Price 8/6.

If you are interested in Conjuring generally, why not send 1/6 for
MAC'S MYSTERIES Illustrated Catalogue. All the latest tricks
brought out in recent years are there.
To keep up-to-date in Magic, " MAC'S MONTHLY " is a
magazine issued every month. 5/- per year, post free, 5cT» for a
sample copy.

MAC'S MYSTERIES
132, WEST NILE STREET, GLASGOW, C.2.