Many years ago by a stroke of good luck, a fortunate combination of circumstances, I acquired a complete file of Thayer instruction sheets designed to accompany the apparatus. This just may be the only complete collection of Thayer secrets in existence. Recently I happened to mention this to Lloyd Jones who urged me to compile these instructions in book form, stressing the tremendous value of such a collection to magicians. This I consented to do but found there was too much material for one book. It was therefore decided to issue these secrets in several volumes, of which this is the first.
Some of the instructions may seem a bit sketchy because the apparatus furnished needed little explanation. No attempt has been made to alter the instructions as it seemed desirable to preserve the Thayer touch created by Thayer's wording.
"They don't make 'em like that anymore," is an oft-heard expression. This could well apply to the magical apparatus made by Floyd Thayer in the 20's and 30's. The Thayer slogan "Quality Magic" was no idle boast. The workmanship was equal if not superior to the best including Roterberg, Conradi, Bartl, and Willmann.
Eugene Burger was a big fan of this compilation of instructions. He wrote:
"Reading magic catalogs taught me a great deal about what I might call 'the magic that was available to the many.' It is important to have a thorough understanding of this kind of magic - so that one's own magic, at least in part, is able to transcend it. These collected instruction sheets will give any beginner an astonishing and valuable lesson in the art of reading magic dealer ads."
- INTRODUCTION
- Excerpt From An Old Thayer Catalog
- Tricks with Balls
- No. 485 - Cone and Billiard Ball
- No. 707 - Improved Ball and Cone
- No. 486 - The Invisible Ball Transposition
- No. 669 - Flag, Cone and Ball
- No. 489 - Travelling Billiard Balls
- No. 668 - "Aeroball"
- No. 155 - Thayer's Handkerchief and Billiard Ball Act
- No. 107 - Spooky-Ookum
- No. 484 - Thayer Perfection Color Changing Billiard Balls
- No. 122 - Novel Billiard Ball Trick
- No. 117 - Perfecto Ball Stand
- No. 103 - The Ball Cup
- No. 119 - Interchange of Form
- No. 108 - The Cylinder and Ball
- Tricks with Cards
- "Find The Lady Cubes"
- No. 62 Thayer's Rising Card Tray
- "The Card and Balloon"
- No. 66 - The Sand Frame
- No. 48 - Emergency Card Frame
- No. 60 - Presto Card Frame
- No. 68 - Incomprehensibility
- No. 689 - The Transfixed Deck
- No. 40 - The Card And Orange
- No. 34 - Thayer's Phantazma Coin And Card Tray
- No. 390 - Simplex Card Locater
- No. 705 - Flash
- No. 375 The Transposition Card Trick
- No. 398. Rising and Penetric Card Trick
- No. 463 Cards and Mysterious Boards
- No. 468 The William Tell Card Tray
- No. 64 - Thayer's Mento-Mystery
- No. 42 The Vanishing Pack of Cards
- Tricks with Dice
- No. 223 - The Die and Box of Flags
- No. 242 - The Die and Mirror Casket
- No. 244 The Phantom Die Cabinet
- No. 204 - The Changing Die
- No. 403 The Mystic Box and Lucky Die
- Escapes
- No. 273 - The Brooks Trunk
- No. 598 New Triple Escape Illusion
- No. 275 Ideal Packing Box Escape
- No. 564 - The Spirit Sack Escape
- No. 601 - Mail Bag Escape
- No. 247 - The Stocks of Solomon
- No. 572 - The Spirit of Spirits Escape
- Tricks with Flowers
- No. 257 - Germain's Flower Growth
- No. 551 - Our Candle to Bouquet
- No. 710 - A Vase of Flowers
- No. 509 - Flowers From a Paper Bag
- Illusions
- No. 268 - The Goddess and the Reptile
- No. 695 - The Temple of Buddha
- No. 462 - The Haunted Window
- No. 277 - New Electrocution Mystery
- No. 281 - New Canvas Box Illusion
- No. 720 - The Double Box Illusion
- No. 632 - Confusion in the Ark
- No. 557 - The X-Ray Double Box Illusion
- No. 609 - Mysterious Materialization
- No. 722 - Thayer's New Illusion The Princess of Thebes
- No. 421 - Flash Appearance
- No. 697 - Seeing Through a Man
- No. 721 - Improved Noah's Ark
- No. 280 - In Again - Out Again
- No. 270 - New Cross Escape
- No. 555 - Theo, The Flying Lady
- No. 276 - Costume Trunk Mystery
- No. 279 The Glass Lined Trunk Illusion
- No. 682 - King Tut's Chariot
- No. 1454. The Elusive Lady
- No. 605 - The Vampire Illusion
- No. 271 - The Substitution Trunk
- No. 602 - The "Stroubeika" Illusion
- No. 418 - Lightning Vanish Illusion
- No. 696 - The Girl in the Drum
- No. 608 - The Artist's Dream
- Tricks with Liquids, Glasses, Bowls
- No. 516 - New Vanishing Glass of Water
- No. 580 The Hindoo Water Tube
- No. 188 - Glass Go
- No. 582 - Smack it!
- No. 664 - Buckley's Milk and Watch Trick
- No. 262 - The Turn of the Tide
- No. 560 - Dribblego!
- "MILK-O"
- No. 225 Penetrating Glass of Water
- No. 50 - The Jumping Spoon
- No. 613 Marvelous Fishbowl Production
- No. 549 - Mammoth Bowl of Water Production
- Tricks with Livestock, Doves
- No. 267 - Thayer's Super-Vanish Extraordinary
- No. 263 - The Flight of the Rodents
- No. 266 - Multum in Parvo (After Bamberg)
- No. 422 - The Hong Kong Duck Vanish
- No. 637 - Sucker Pigeon Vanish
- No. 254 - Cupid's Doves
- No. 259 - Bowl of Water, Confetti, and Doves
- No. 232 - The Tube of Peace
- No. 507 - The Tri-Color Boxes and Mysterious Flight
- No. 224 - The Hats and the Rats
- No. 526. New Pigeon Vanish
- No. 252 Superba Wonder Tray
- Miscellaneous Tricks
- No. 249 - No Assistant Nest of Boxes
- No. 577 - Master Changing Table
- No. 442 - The Aerial Egg
- No. 198 - The Latest Candle and Flag
- No. 233 - The Vanishing Bottle
- Arnold's Great Cane Mystery
- No. 248 - Vanishing Alarm Clock
- No. 149 Thayer's Solid Through Solid
- No. 393 - Glass Cylinder Stand
- No. 166 - The Mandarin Sticks Of Fung-Chu
- No. 159 - The Mirror Casket
- No. 506 The Expanding Egg Improved
- No. 246 - Here - There - or - Where?
- No. 617 - Poko Chinko
- No. 698 Chocolate Box Mystery
- No. 550 - Nic's Napkins
- No. 183 The Mysterious Paddles and Changing Pips
- No. 694 - Chest of Chu Chin Chow
- No. 234. The Vanishing Lamp
- No. 680 - The New Orange and Lemon Mystery
- No. 543 - The Linking Links
- No. 667 - The Croquet Trick
- No. 278 - The Multiplying Chairs
- No. 552 - Challenge Box Rod and Ring Mystery
- No. 624 - "Baffo"
- Tricks with Money
- No. 93 - The Coin Ladder Table
- No. 96 - The Presto Coin Combination
- No. 388. Mystic Coin Vanish
- No. 77 - The Vanishing Half Dollar
- No. 86 - Latest Obedient Coins
- No. 678 - Simplex Half-Dollar Vanish
- No. 79-A - The Gambler
- No. 82 - Vanishing Coin Box
- No. 98 - New Era Coin and Lemon Trick
- No. 97 - The Latest Coin in Ball of Wool
- Productions
- No. 241 - Our Wonder Screen
- Oriental Tubes of Mystery
- No. 524 - Phantom Dove Box
- The Production Cabinet
- No. 512. Marvo Production Box
- No. 644 - Thayer's New Drop-Model Production Cabinet
- Tricks with Silks
- No. 143-A - The Jolly Roger
- No. 143 - 20th Century Handkerchief Trick
- No. 142 Superba Color Change
- No. 157 - The Flag Staff
- No. 400 - Instanto
- No. 133 - Miniature Silk Vanish (Pencil Wand)
- No. 638 - The Hanky That Says "Ta-Ta"
- No. 136 - Thayer's Combination Drum Head Tube and Ball Cylinder
- No. 147 - The Drum Head Tube
- No. 154 The Wand and Handkerchiefs
- No. 523 The Wizard's Presto Tube
- No. 399. The Traveling Silk and Spirit Knots
- No. 481 Ultra Handkerchief Wand
- No. 596 - The Triple Tube Vanish
- No. 162 Presto Handkerchief Trick
- Spiritual and Mental Effects
- No. 1363. Thayer's Super Spirit Paintings
- No. 313 - The Mysterious Dr. "Q" Dark Trumpet Seance
- No. 558. A Mystery in Modern Seership
- No. 565 - The Spirit Tom-Tom
- No. 505 - The Spirit Answer
- No. 199 - Thayer's Mystic Ballot Box
- No. 288 - Visions of the Dark
- No. 287 - Multo Parvo Seance
- No. 717 Medium's Reaching Rod
- No. 686 - Mento Detector
- No. 665 - New Pedestal Reader
1st edition 1978, 322 pages; PDF 265 pages.
word count: 107531 which is equivalent to 430 standard pages of text
