potter & potter Auctions CARDINI: THE SUAVE DECEIVER c a r d i n i the suave deceiver Potter & Potter Auctions • April 6, 2013 april 6, 2013 www.potterauctions.com Public Auction #018 CARDINI the suave deceiver HIS PERSONAL PROPERTY AT AUCTION exhibition • April 2-5, 2013 •10:00am–5:00pm auction • April 6, 2013•10:00am inquiries • 773-472-1442 [email protected] potter & potter auctions • 3759 North Ravenswood, Suite 121 • Chicago, IL 60613 Paging Mister Cardini ow do we meet our heroes? timing, he created an act for the ages. The tricks seemed to For most admirers of the bygone nightclub era, happen to him, as opposed to being caused by him. Cigarettes Hthe halcyon days of vaudeville shows, and the Keith- and cards plagued him, appearing at his fingertips again and Albee-Orpheum circuits, the answer is through the pages of again and yes even with gloves on, after being thrown away. But a book, the typed-out lines of a fading letter, or a dramatic reappear they did, his trademark monocle popping out of his theatrical photograph. We meet them as they are now - as eye at the sight of yet another smoldering cigarette or another memories, as legends, and as the protagonists in stories of fan of cards. showbiz success — as headliners with their names in lights. And yet, despite his apparent shock at these unexplainable Few are those, today, who can recount personal moments in happenings, Cardini’s technique was flawless — as was his the presence of such stars. And in the case of Richard Valentine character. His sleight-of-hand was so good as to be invisible. Pitchford — Cardini — those that remember him from in- Here was a dapper gentleman, slightly tipsy, to whom the most person meetings, those that saw him work his singular brand amazing things happened. He was an actor and a finger-flinging of sorcery, number fewer and fewer each year. (But not all of master all at once. them. One friend, as a younger man, took a date to see a show That act, all twelve minutes of it, was honed by Cardini on featuring the Cardinis. To this day — he is now 90 — he can world tours, and it took him to the stage of Radio City Music recall the exact seat in the theater where he first saw the act, yet Hall, put him on the pages of Vogue and The New Yorker, and somehow he has forgotten the girl.) eventually before the cameras of the first major American Cardini was born on November 24, 1895 in Mumbles, Wales. television magic special ever broadcast. Cardini entertained He died on November 13, 1973 in Gardiner, New York. In the royalty and Presidents, worked with stars of stage and screen, intervening 77 years, he rose from obscurity and a working- played Palace and Palladium — and even Indianapolis, once. class upbringing, to serve his country in the Great War, and finally to the pinnacle of vaudeville fame. Pitchford became Val Decades after the footlights faded, I found myself outside a Raymond, who eventually became Cardini, unquestionably the modest home in upstate New York, listening to the same voice most imitated magician of the twentieth century. that called out the line, “Paging Mr. Cardini!” thousands of times. Whereas Alexander Herrmann was the archetypal magician But this time, it was calling out my own name. Swan Walker met of the nineteenth century, what with his waxed moustache Cardini in Chicago in the 1920s and after a whirlwind courtship, and satanic countenance, Cardini was the model of the smart, became his wife, as well as his ever-present, indispensable on modern magician: nattily attired in top hat and tails, a lit and off-stage assistant. She also became his protector, and the cigarette permanently planted between his lips. He was the steward of the Cardini name. That she was uncomfortable with handsome, the suave, the ideal. magicians made it that much more of a luxury to spend time With the most humble of objects — a few decks of cards, a with her. pack of cigarettes, and a clutch of billiard balls — and impeccable I continued visiting Swan, and over the course of 15 years, His Personal Property At Auction - April 6, 2013 • 3 1 heard her distinct voice many times. I sat with her, asking But in the years since those moments of discovery, I’ve often 3 questions. She answered them, relating stories and anecdotes, wondered what would happen to all of those things. Should the handing over information to me, tidbits treasured alongside her archive stay together? Should the family keep it all for future friendship. She showed me physical fragments of their career, generations? and hinted at others I never saw: steamer trunks she and Dick The decision has been made, as the pages that follow make had toured the world with, and a box of memorabilia stored clear. Now you can share in the story. These relics represent away in a closet. Our visits were many, and went by quickly, a lifetime in magic. They tell the tale of one of the art’s most but we never seemed to get around to looking through that box. important practitioners. Some of these objects have traveled the A couple years passed, and finally, Cardini’s daughter, Carole, world, and others, until now, were meant only for the eyes of explained that she had saved her parents’ personal effects. the Suave Deceiver himself. Elements of “the act” were in her care, along with hundreds My hope is that you enjoy these things as I was able to, and 2 of precious scraps of paper. Everything from news clippings learn from them, as I did. Through the tales they have to tell, to photographs, correspondence to contracts, was there. She’d you may also be able to meet Cardini, just as I did. saved it all. Yes, Swan had mentioned my name, and yes it AwArds And MeMorAbiliA would be all right for me to come out to Bakersfield and look —Brad Ball 1. Cardini’s Card Stars of the U.S.A. plaque. Oak Park Illinois, 2. Cardini’s Inner Magic Circle presentation wand. London, through what she had. ca. 1955. Engraved brass plaque mounted to polished walnut, 1960. Silver plated presentation wand engraved with the I tried to downplay my interest, but doubt I managed to bearing the text, “Magic’s most exclusive organization/limited message, “Presented to Cardini, M.I.M.C. 1960.” Hallmarked by hide my enthusiasm. to ten living members/Honors/Cardini/With life membership/ the maker. On a hardwood stand with inlaid Magic Circle zodiac I arrived in California on a Wednesday, and Carole opened Card Stars of the U.S.A.” 9 x 6”. Good. logo. Wand considerably tarnished, otherwise very good. her home — and its secrets — to me. Access to Aladdin’s cave 400/500 400/600 had been granted, including the very box I’d wondered about An entire chapter of John Northern Hilliard’s magnum opus, Greater for all those years. Over the course of a day, images, paper, Magic, was devoted to the ten living “card stars” of the United States 3. Cardini’s Inner Magic Circle membership certificate. and stories flooded my mind. There, in my hands, were the – the most talented and inventive card conjurers of the generation. London, 1960. Engraved certificate of Cardini’s induction in to trimmings of Cardini’s act and its props — some used, some Nearly twenty years later, in 1955, Jay Marshall revived the idea in this most prestigious of magic societies, at its highest level, with prototypes — all of them bearing evidence of the master’s touch. the pages of his magazine, The New Phoenix. At that time, four of the Gold Star designation. Dated May 5, 1960 and signed by the Having never met Cardini, those moments felt transcendent. stars were deceased, so Marshall polled 50 well-known magicians to President, Secretary, and Chairman of the Council of the Magic I’d been taken back to World War I, then through the vaudeville elect four new members to magic’s “most exclusive organization.” The Circle and bearing the society’s embossed seal. 17 x 15”. Linen era, and finally stopped my journey at the dawn of the television end result was an impressive list: Cardini, Dai Vernon, Stuart Judah, backed. age. What I uncovered that day, and in that box, was the life Bill McCaffrey, John Scarne, S. Leo Horowitz, Francis Carlyle, Paul 300/500 story of one of the stage’s most successful variety performers. LePaul, Ed Marlo, and Charlie Miller. Dr. Jacob Daley was also elected The memory of that day looms large in my mind, engraved posthumously. Eleven plaques were engraved, and one was presented there permanently. to each living Card Star. The eleventh was presented to Daley’s sister. 4 • Cardini: The Suave Deceiver His Personal Property At Auction - April 6, 2013 • 5 6 5 4. Cardini’s Magician’s Guild trophy. New York, ca. 1947. Marble and brass trophy presented to Cardini, who served as president of the Magician’s Guild from 1944 – 46. Brass hand holding a fan of cards suspended over a marble representation 8 7 of a planet. Engraved brass plaque affixed to base. 10” high. 200/300 The Magician’s Guild of America was founded as an organization for 7. Cardini’s New Haven Magic Society Proclamation. 8. Cardini’s Royal Command Performance Certificate. professional conjurers – only 15% of its members were amateurs. The Connecticut, Paul Noffke, 1958. Hand-illuminated proclamation London, 1933.