You're welcome. In a couple of my previous posts I had listed a few tricks or effects that were not in the main section of DOW.

There are so many tricks in DOW and HPJ that are either still performed today or close variations are that it does not take a lot of work to adapt them for modern audiences.

For instance, this morning I was looking at the Dover Secrets of Alkazar book (Allan Kronzek) when I read about a trick that I had previously skipped called the Stamp Collector. Basically, the trick consists of a blank scrapbook and a glass full of stamps. You dump the stamps into a cone of paper, they disappear and mysteriously reappear in the scrapbook. As I was reading, it came to me that the modus operandi used was exactly what is used in the DOW/HPJ picture book trick (a book contains blank pages, then it contains drawings with changing colors). The DOW/HPJ account is pretty hard to decipher, but with this little Dover book it all becomes crystal clear! (By the way, this is a trick I had really wanted to perform but was not quite sure how to do.)

Henry

With the general claim that pockets are not period, it is especially fun to see a 16th century trick that demonstrates the ubiquity of pockets at the time.

Plus it just looks like a fun trick. Sometimes the simplest tricks are the best. I wonder how hard it would be to put together a period-appropriate force deck...

Patrick

The coloring book trick is alive and well.

I just found it at Midwest Magic under the title "Coloring Book--Three Way," for $12.95.

Yep, the old is new again.

As for pockets, I think we should differentiate with regards to function.

Yes, the pocket as we know it is later period--15th century? It originated as a way to conveniently locate purses (pouch if you prefer).

However, there is the magician's functional aspect to consider. It does not have the same function as that used by the population at large--it is an apparatus designed to conceal things. So no, it would not be what we commonly be a pocket.

But there is still the need to hide things, and I think it is probable that some form of rudimentary "pocket" may have been sewn into clothing to accommodate small items--coins, string, etc. It would have been sewn in such a way that it was "invisible" to the casual observer. When I make my "magician's" costume I plan to include a few strategically placed.

Because this is actually Aslak's thread, we may consider to continue under a new thread.

Henry