Rare Robert-Houdin Magic Token Help Needed

I was contacted by Paul Courville, a collector of magicians tokens,  concerning an item he has acquired of Robert-Houdin. Specifically, he is searching for any information or individual with information that could provide him with additional details about the item.

Paul found a reference for this coin dating it to France 1935, created by J Dhotel, however, the listing says the back of the coin is blank, but Paul's has writing on the back. The back of his coin reads "Association Francaise Des Artistes Pretidigitateurs". (see photo very bottom of page)

Additionally, he found an image of a plaque, which also has the 'Association....Prestigitateurs' on the bottom of the plaque and a bronze image of Robert Houdin in the center, with the exact same likeness as that of the coin. (see below)

If you happen to have any information regarding this coin and it's history, would you kindly contact Paul at paul@paulcourville.com

 

The Other Blackstone Book Review

Back in 1999 Daniel Waldron wrote a book called Blackstone A Magician's Life. It was a fantastic biography of one of the true greats in our business. If you've never read it. find it and read it! You'll be glad you did. One of the great things about the book are the first hand accounts by George Johnstone and Nick Ruggiero, both who worked on the Blackstone Sr. Show.

In 2016, a new book was written by Daniel Waldron called The Other Blackstone. Though not as extensive as the first book, it's still an enjoyable recollection of the the other Blackstone. This book is about Alfred Peter Boughton, who was born March 1st 1887. He was the younger brother of Harry. Yes, the name was originally spelled Boughton.  The book has 6 chapters and a epilogue, plus a lot of photos. It's only 40 pages long, so it's a quick read, but it's a fun one. There are some great stories in the book, and as I mentioned, great photos to match.

And the great thing about the book is the co-author, Adele Friel Rhindress, who also worked on the Blackstone Show.  She has her own great book on her adventures with Blackstone called 'Memoirs of An Elusive Moth'. The recollections of her time with Pete really help the reader to see him as a living breathing human being, and give a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a famous touring show.

I remember the first time I saw a photo of Pete. I was confused as to what I was seeing. I thought it might be some double exposure photo that Harry had produced. But then I found out that Harry had a brother. According to Adele, it was Pete who really RAN the Blackstone Show. Harry was the star, but Pete handled everything backstage.

I purchased this book at the Yankee Gathering from David Haversat. I'll be honest, I don't know how many were produced. But I would check with him to see if there any left. 

ThrowingCards, The Blog, Check it Out!

There is a new blog that just hit the internet called ThrowingCards.blogspot.com. It's the brainchild of Gary Brown, who used to have the site Throwingcards.com a number of years ago. That original site was on a free platform that has since vanished into the night, as many of those 'free' sites eventually did. But now, Gary, along with Gary Frank, and Tom Ewing, have restarted the site as a blog. And it's very cool.

What is a throwing card? Well, it's a very clever piece of advertising that magicians would use at their shows and during appearances. From what I've seen, it was a customized playing card with the artists information on the front of the card, and the back usually like a playing card back, but not always. Sometimes, the cards would be from the same stock as playing cards, other times they might be from a thicker card stock. Often the magicians would throw or scale the cards from the stage. In other cases, they might simply hand the card out, like one would hand out a business card. I did not know it, but this was done by a lot of performers, both famous and not so famous. I was aware of the Thurston throw card, in fact, I own one. But outside of that, I didn't really think it was very popular. Wow was I ever wrong!

I would encourage you to go over and check out the site. As I mentioned, they have three regular contributors so I'm sure you're going to see some great pieces. I was so inspired by viewing their site that I am not considering a throwing card of my own! Go check them out,  http://throwingcards.blogspot.com