The Last Greatest Magician in the World

by Jim Steinmeyer

  Thurston’s early show business career is taken from the Grace Thurston manuscript, Grace Thurston and William L. Rohde, My Magic Husband, Thurston the Great (Phil Temple, 1985), the original of which is now in Rory Feldman’s collection. Thurston’s time with Sells Brothers is recounted in Harlow Hoyt’s Town Hall Tonight (Bramhall House, 1955).

  Houdini’s association with the Columbian Exposition is from William Kalush and Larry Sloman, The Secret Life of Houdini (Atria, 2006), and the Dahomey Village is described in guidebooks and photo books of the fair, as well as Bernth Lindfors (editor), Africans on Stage (Indiana University Press, 1999).

  Thurston’s carnival career is from David Lano, A Wandering Showman, I (Michigan State University Press, 1957); I’ve reconciled the dates of Thurston’s and Lano’s accounts.

  CHAPTER FOUR. “THE MYSTIC FOLLIES”

  The account is from My Magic Life, My Magic Husband by Grace Thurston and William L. Rohde, and the St. Mark’s Church speech. Thurston recounted the Harry Davis dime museum in a 1930 letter to his brother Harry, from Ken Klosterman.

  I’ve been asked by many magicians and collectors about the veracity of the Grace Thurston manuscript, as Grace’s account—Thurston’s rough early career—was a revelation when it was published. I have no doubt that it is accurate, as the early memories, names, and dates have since been corroborated by independent sources like A Wandering Showman, I. However, Grace Thurston’s manuscript must be read with caution. It postdates Thurston’s own autobiography as well as George Boston and Robert Parrish, Inside Magic (Beechhurst Press, 1947) and Grace quoted from both without attribution, using these books to bolster her memories. In some cases, she took stories from Thurston’s autobiography and inserted herself into them, neither adding to the information nor correcting mistakes. This external evidence indicates that Grace Thurston’s book was composed (or completed) sometime in the early 1950s.

  Information on Dr. Elliott and the Back Palm is from Harry Houdini (editor) and Clinton Burgess, Elliott’s Last Legacy (Adams Press, 1923) and from correspondence between Elliott and T. Nelson Downs (collection of The American Museum of Magic, Marshall, Michigan), for which I thank William Kalush, Ricky Jay, and James Klodzen. It is also discussed in magazines The Sphinx, August 1910 and October 1922, Mahatma, June 1900, The Wizard, December 1908, and Hugard’s Magic Monthly, June 1943. Information is also recounted in Howard Thurston’s Howard Thurston’s Card Tricks (Howard Thurston, L. Upcott Gill, 1901). A rare journal, called Entertaining, October 1908, contains Elliott’s account of the trick; this is from Mike Caveney and discussed in Caveney and William Rauscher, Servais Le Roy, Monarch of Mystery (Magical Publications, 1999).

  The Thurston Brothers show is discussed in My Magic Husband and in Robert E. Olson’s The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston (Hades Publications, 1993).

  I’ve reconciled accounts of the Rising Cards from My Magic Life and My Magic Husband , taking into account the mechanics of the trick as well as later historical accounts, which demonstrated the evolution of the routine. Thurston described his use of Moody’s words in My Magic Life.

  CHAPTER FIVE. “DISINTEGRATION OF A PERSON”

  The creation of the Rising Cards was fully burnished by the time of Thurston’s autobiography, My Magic Life, My Magic Husband has an alternate version, although Grace borrowed many of the details from her husband’s book, including the mistakes. I’ve reconciled the accounts, based on historical evidence.

  Roterberg’s New Era Card Tricks (Routledge, 1897) did not include the name Soerenson, but Roterberg offered the name to Houdini in a December 8, 1901, letter in the collection of the Conjuring Arts Research Center. I’m grateful for William Kalush’s help with this.

  The account of Thurston, Texola, Evans, and Maitland is taken primarily from My Magic Husband, but there are corroborating details in My Magic Life. I wrote about the Thurston, Robinson, and Herrmann meeting in The Glorious Deception. Robinson’s account is from Todd Karr (editor), The Silence of Chung Ling Soo (The Miracle Factory, 2001), and a contemporary account appears in the Denver Post (October 23, 1898).

  CHAPTER SIX. “THE APPOINTMENT”

  I think that Thurston’s performance for Herrmann, a fascinating event in the history of magic, provides a rich situation and a problem for historians. Each of the eyewitness accounts, previously cited, had reasons to tell the story from their own perspective. Unquestionably, the best account is from the local newspaper, but it omits any of the scheming or a hint of motives. Yet I feel that the presence of the reporter, on Herrmann’s stage, indicates the treachery involved. Thurston was not the wide-eyed beginner, pleading for a break. Robinson was not the helpful professional, offering to aid an associate. There are many minor villains in this story, at least one victim (the unsympathetic Leon Herrmann), and no real hero. I’ve dramatized the events based on these four accounts.

  CHAPTER SEVEN. “THE MAGICIAN’S ASSISTANT”

  Official records, including censuses, show their ages, proving that Harry was a younger brother to Howard. To most who knew them, Harry seemed older, and Thurston’s autobiography mentions only one brother by name, Harry, but includes a reference to his childhood with an “older brother,” unnamed, adding to the confusion. This older brother would have been Charles. Harry is discussed in Inside Magic, and Percy Abbott, A Lifetime in Magic (Abbott’s Magic, 1960). The archives of Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, confirmed Harry’s position as bill poster.

  Thurston’s poster was reproduced in Henry Ridgely Evans, The Old and New Magic (Open Court Publishing, 1906).

  Information on Hilliard appeared in Robert Lund’s article “John Northern Hilliard: An Appreciation,” The New Conjurer’s Magazine, June 1947; Hilliard’s Billboard magazine obituary (March 23, 1935); and W.C. Brumfield’s Indianapolis Star article, March 15, 1935.

  The Plimmer story is from Howard Thurston’s “The Experiences of a Magician,” The American Magazine, January 1920. I wrote about Pastor and vaudeville in The Glorious Deception. This account of Pastor is also based on accounts from Douglas Gilbert, American Vaudeville, Its Life and Times (Dover, 1963); Parker Zellers, Tony Pastor, Dean of the Vaudeville Stage (Eastern University Press, 1971); and Frank Cullen, Vaudeville Old and New (Routledge, 2007).

  George White remained a mystery for many years, but recently I located a record of him returning on a ship with Thurston; this offered a middle initial and accurate age, yielding census records. Armed with this information, my friend Diego Domingo has unearthed valuable information on his family and his later life.

  Curiously, the “Zenda Waltzes” (the title is plural) became so associated with Thurston that it became a standard melody for magic acts. It was featured in Cardini’s innovative sleight-of-hand act, popular through the 1930s and 1940s. I heard the melody played at my first magic convention, Abbott’s Magic Get-Together, in 1971, where it was part of the repertoire.

  Thurston’s early vaudeville success is from My Magic Life and from My Magic Husband. His letterhead appears in The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston, and the review is from Edwin A. Dawes (editor), The Wizard Exposed (David Meyer Magic Books, 1987).

  CHAPTER EIGHT. “ORIGINAL CARD PASSES”

  The vaudeville comedy magician Emil Jarrow, famous for making a borrowed bill disappear and reappear inside a lemon, used to claim the “Boat Sails Wednesday” story. But I’m sorry to say that my research points to Sweatnam. The dates are right and the style of humor is right. Of course, like any great show business story, it is foolish to vouch for it. It appears, with Sweatnam, in the autobiography of Al Jolson’s brother, Harry Jolson, Mistah Jolson (House-Warven, 1951).

  I wrote about the American magic acts coming to London in The Glorious Deception. Houdini’s successes appear in The Secret Life of Houdini and from Kenneth Silverman, Houdini: The Career of Ehrich Weiss (HarperCollins, 1996). The Times review appeared on July 10, 1900.

  Thurston’s success at the Palace is recounted in My Magic
Life and in My Magic Husband . The Black and White Budget and review of George appear in The Wizard Exposed.

  Thurston’s Howard Thurston’s Card Tricks has been in print in numerous editions. David Meyer (compiler), Howard Thurston’s Card Tricks: An Illustrated and Descriptive Checklist (David Meyer Books, 1991) provides the history of the publication.

  Thurston’s exaggerated biography is taken from a ten-cent souvenir booklet in George Daily’s collection, Thurston’s Easy Pocket Tricks (Pfeifer Show Print, no date, but circa 1907), subtitled “A Two Hour’s Performance with One Hour’s Practice.” If that title doesn’t seem incredible to anyone contemplating a public performance, then nothing inside the book will surprise.

  Robinson’s material is from The Silence of Chung Ling Soo, and the Thurston credit to Robinson is from The Wizard Exposed.

  I wrote about Maskelyne and Devant in Hiding the Elephant and The Glorious Deception. The history of Egyptian Hall is detailed in George Jenness, Maskelyne and Cooke Egyptian Hall, London, 1873-1904 (George Jenness, 1967), and Devant’s history is from David Devant, My Magic Life (Hutchinson, 1931). Downs’s report is from the December 1902 issue of The Sphinx.

  The Houdini-Thurston correspondence is from Conjuring Arts Research Center. The letter to Harry was recalled in a February 18, 1931, letter from Harry to Howard, from Rory Feldman.

  CHAPTER NINE. “THE REVERSED GIRL”

  The description of Thurston’s new act is from My Magic Life, My Magic Husband, and The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston, as well as later reviews that included individual effects, as in the Thurston Scrapbook from the Billy Rose collection, New York Public Library; this includes reviews from the later Australia tour. Both Thurston and Grace Thurston conflated some of the effects from later shows. Early Thurston lithographs show his Oriental costume.

  My speculation about the inventors of Thurston’s act is based on the current London magicians, as well as their later relationships with Thurston. Fasola certainly met him at this time, and would have had a strong influence. I’m grateful to Gary Hunt and Trevor Greenwood for their research into Fasola’s career. Notice, also, that special effects designers, like Langdon McCormick, were probably involved in many of Thurston’s scenic effects.

  The story of Thurston’s breakup with Grace is from My Magic Husband. Thurston’s engagements are from contemporary issues of Mahatma and The Sphinx magazines. The newspaper quote, Thurston at Keith’s, is reproduced in The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston. The nest of boxes (Triple Trunks) is discussed in correspondence between Thurston and Fasola, from Gary Hunt.

  Thurston wrote about Henry in My Magic Life, and his last name, Couzens, appears in playbills of the time. Amazement is described in The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston, as well as in Australian reviews. The Houdini correspondence is from the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

  I wrote about Harry Kellar in Hiding the Elephant and The Glorious Deception. Additional material is taken from Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, Kellar’s Wonders (Mike Caveney’s Magic Words, 2003).

  Thurston’s Australian tour is described in Charles Waller, Magical Nights at the Theater (Gerald Taylor, 1980) and from Charles J. Holzmueller, Trouping with Thurston the Magician, 1905-1907 (Phil Temple, 2002). Information on Beatrice Foster is from marriage and divorce documents, as well as a newspaper article, “Presto, Magician to Change to a Hubby” (no source or date, circa May 1910), in the Houdini scrapbooks, Conjuring Arts Research Center.

  CHAPTER TEN. “A STREET SCENE FROM THE ORIENT”

  The story of Thurston’s Australian, Oriental, and Indian Tours is from Thurston’s My Magic Life, Waller, Magical Nights at the Theater, Holzmueller, Trouping with Thurston the Magician, 1905-1907, and Olson, The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston. I also used Australian reviews and newspaper articles, Thurston Scrapbook, Billy Rose Collection, New York Public Library, and the collections of Ken Klosterman and George Daily. Passenger lists confirm some of the travel to and from Australia. Harry Thurston arrived in Sydney on the Ventura on January 27, 1906, and arrived in Vancouver on May 26, 1906. Material on Servais Le Roy is from Servais Le Roy, Monarch of Mystery.

  The story of the yogi in India appeared in my book, Jarrett and Steinmeyer, The Complete Jarrett (Hahne, 2001), where Guy Jarrett reported it as backstage gossip attributed to Beatrice. Presumably he was unaware that Thurston had already included the story in his own autobiography; Thurston was not embarrassed by the incident at all.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN. “THE LEVITATION OF PRINCESS KARNAC”

  I wrote about Herrmann’s retirement in The Glorious Deception, and Kellar’s retirement, with Valadon and Hilliard, in Hiding the Elephant. Additional material is from Kellar’s Wonders. Hilliard and Kellar are also discussed in John Braun, Of Legerdemain and Diverse Juggling Knacks (Kenneth Klosterman, 1999).

  Fritz Bucha and his shoes are recounted in the December 1935 issue of The Linking Ring.

  Harry Thurston’s information is from census records. Thurston’s tour is from My Magic Life and from Trouping with Thurston the Magician, 1905-1907. Ships’ logs record the crew’s travels back to America, as well as Howard and Beatrice’s travels. Thurston and Maskelyne’s contracts are from The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston.

  Jarrett is quoted from The Complete Jarrett. Evans is quoted from Stanyon’s Magic, April 1907. The Thurston and Kellar contract is from Rory Feldman. Thurston recalled his travels with Kellar in My Magic Life.

  CHAPTER TWELVE. “MAGICIANS PAST AND PRESENT”

  Thurston and Houdini’s disagreement in Chicago, and Downs’s letters to Houdini, are from Thurston and Houdini, and Downs and Houdini correspondence, Conjuring Arts Research Center. Thurston’s initials in the alley and his account of the last performance are from My Magic Life. Author David Price noted Thurston’s mention of Kellar as his inspiration in Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater (Cornwall, 1985).

  Mortgage information on the Cos Cob property is from Ken Klosterman. The account of the farm is from The Sphinx, September 1910. The Thurston Amusement Company flyer for Maid of Mystery is from Twin Cities Magic and Rory Feldman. The account of the Waltz Ride is from patent papers, Twin Cities Magic, and David Bamberg, Illusion Show (David Meyer Magic Books, 1991). Thurston’s divorce is reported in The Conjurer’s Magazine, September 1907.

  Thurston’s show was described in the February 1969 issue of The New Tops magazine. I’ve also taken patter from Howard Thurston’s Illusion Show Work Book. Thurston’s manuscript to Devant appears in the same book. Mike Caveney has the Thurston poster advertising the missing illusions.

  The Fasola letter is from Gary Hunt. The description of the Lady and the Lion is from Howard Thurston’s Illusion Show Work Book.

  The account of Valadon and comments on Thurston are from letters from Elliott to Downs, from the American Museum of Magic.

  Kellar’s retirement is from Kellar’s Wonders. Kellar and the painted magic prop is from Illusion Show. The “thirty percent” remark is from the August 1954 issue of The Linking Ring. George Daily has a playbill from Paris, showing Thurston and Bamberg on the same bill, 1902, though Bamberg claimed to have met Thurston years later, when he toured the Orient. Their partnership is from Illusion Show, and Theodore Bamberg and Robert Parrish, Okito on Magic (Edward O. Drane, 1952).

  Information on Carter is from Magical Nights in the Theater, from Mike Caveney, Carter the Great (Mike Caveney’s Magic Words, 1995), and from Kellar’s Wonders. Thurston’s marriage is from the previously cited article “Presto, Magician to Change to Hubby.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN. “DO THE SPIRITS RETURN?”

  The Palladino story is taken from the New York Times, May 20, 24, 27, 1910, from an article in Magical World, January 4, 1911, and from Howard Thurston’s “Do Dead Men Ever Tell Tales?” National Pictorial Monthly, April 1922. This last article appears to have been ghostwritten by Carrington and was quoted in a later (undated) clipping from Ghost Stories M
agazine. Carrington commented on the séances in Hereward Carrington, Psychic Oddities (Rider and Company, 1952). Rinn’s quotes are from Joseph Rinn, Searchlight on Psychical Research (Rider and Company, 1954).

  Thurston’s marriage is taken from the marriage license. Correspondence concerning Swanson is from Ken Klosterman and Rory Feldman. Correspondence with Houdini is from the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

  The Automobile Mystery is described in Howard Thurston’s Illusion Show Work Book; Jarrett described the “leg drop comedies” in The Complete Jarrett. Bamberg and Thurston’s planning was described in Illusion Show. David Bamberg provided an excellent description of the Thurston show.

  Fernanda Myro and the Myro troupe are described in The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston. Her name, Lucille, is in an early souvenir newspaper, as pointed out by Robert Olson.

  Germain and Kellar are taken from Stuart Cramer, Germain the Wizard (The Miracle Factory, 2002). Carter and McAdow are from Carter the Great. Jarrett is from The Complete Jarrett. Kellar’s formula for building magic was quoted by Thurston, December 5, 1925, in Literary Digest. Thurston’s patter is from Howard Thurston’s Illusion Show Work Book. Kellar and the match is quoted in Illusion Show.

  The Thurston loan paperwork is from Ken Klosterman, including an accounting of the trunks of the show. Hyman Fish’s conviction is from the New York Times, March 20, 1915.