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Here are excerpts
from an article written by David Price for Genii Magazine.
Howard Thurston
King Of Magicians
By David Price
"It was not until around
the season of 1926-27 that Thurston produced his Indian Rope Trick
illusion on the stage. In addition to the Otis Panel referred to
hereinabove, Thurston has a twenty-sheet lithograph printed by Otis as
illustrated on the cover of this magazine with the Indian Rope Trick as
the central illustration on the poster."
"It is made up of twenty
one-sheets each measuring 28 inches in height by 42 inches in width and
can be displayed on a standard outdoor advertising billboard."
"Thurston has invested
heavily in his 20-sheet poster featuring the Indian Rope Trick. So,
when bugs developed in the mechanical operations the illusion in
mid-season and he was forced to take the illusion out of the show, he had
a large supply of unused 20-sheet posters. His advisors suggested
that the middle panel of four posters be replace and in that way sixteen
of the twenty sheets could be saved and used in his advertising. The
problem was that some of the letters of the words "FAMOUS INDIAN ROPE
TRICK" extended over into the second panel of four sheets. The
solution to the problem is graphically illustrated by the second poster
wherein Thurston's trick involving a lion, a boy and cage was substituted
for the Indian Rope Trick. The dilemma of the wording on the poster
was solved by changing the name of the trick from "The Boy and the Lion"
to "FAMOUS INDIAN LION TRICK." A careful inspection of the color
illustration on the cover will make the story quite obvious. The
story of Thurston removing the Indian Rope Trick Illusion from his show in
mid-season was told to me by my good friend, the late Carl Rosini who was
a neighbor of the Thurston family at Beechhurst, Whitestone, Long Island,
New York."
Copyright -
© -
Genii Magazine - August, 1991 - VOL. 54 No. 10
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