The Davenport advertisement describes the effect: after closing your hand around a portion of the pillar, a few passes are made and, to the utter amazement of all, the pillar has vanished. Complete with instructions.
Vanishes
The magician ties a simple knot in a length of rope which then magically dissolves in front of the audience. Complete with Davenport instructions. The special item that comes with the instructions is not shown to protect the secret.
The description on the envelope tells us that a borrowed coin is placed on the table and covered with a ring and a disc. When these are lifted, the coin has vanished. The envelope also has the initials LD, standing for Lewis Davenport, on the front.
A number of tricks are possible with these packets which were sold in pairs. For example, the performer holds a packet upright and drops a sixpenny piece into it. The packet can immediately be shown to be empty, although the coin can be produced again from the packet at any time. Another trick described in the instructions involves the use of both packets.
With this holder between the magician’s teeth, it is possible to produce or vanish a cigarette. The advertisement illustrated here gives more details of the routines that can be used.
The magician borrows a cigarette and places it in the nickel plated tube, before putting the cap on the tube. When the tube is opened, the spectators see that the cigarette has vanished.
As it says in the Davenport advertisement: ‘You ask a friend if he will have a cigar, and as he reaches out for it, the cigar instantly vanishes. No sleight-of-hand required. A Novel pocket trick. Can be worked by anyone and at any time.’ Note that the band around the cigar has a Davenport Demon head on it.
A quantity of these coins was presumably purchased by the Davenport family following the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. They would not have been expensive following the Coronation. These large, showy coins could easily be converted into an effective vanishing coin trick which was included in many of the Maskelyne’s Mysteries magic sets which were produced and sold wholesale. Also shown here is a photograph of one such set which shows the coin inside.
As it says on the cardboard box in which the trick was sold: ‘A number of coins or other small articles placed in the little box instantly disappear’.
The audience see the magician place three pennies on the table. They take a look at a brass cup and the magician places it over the three pennies, hiding them from sight. When a spectator lifts up the cup, they discover that one of the pennies has vanished. They can confirm that no penny remains in the brass cup, because there is a hole in the middle of the cup when it is held up to the light. The magician then finds the vanished coin in any desired position. Complete with instructions.
The coin cup and a handkerchief are handed out for examination. A number of coins are dropped into the cup which is then placed on the handkerchief. Despite the corners of the handkerchief being securely held by the spectator, the coins all vanish. Complete with instructions. The cup is made of plastic and in the collection there are both yellow and red examples.
The brass coin cup and a handkerchief are handed out for examination. A number of coins are dropped into the cup which is then placed on the handkerchief. Despite the corners of the handkerchief being securely held by the spectator, the coins all vanish. Complete with instructions.