All anyone on this forum is doing with regard to this issue is guessing. Vernon isn't here to answer. Having said that, it is time to deal with some facts. First, here is what the book says on page 70...

"Many magicians who acquire this book will first search the pages
to find this secret, as it has become somewhat of a legend. The title
has intrigued card enthusiasts ever since Dai Vernon let it be known
that perfect "Strippers" could be made quickly with the aid of something
which is obtainable in any bathroom."

The book says perfect strippers, not half-arsed attempts at making strippers. It also doesn't say anything about the mechanic having any special tool like the "stripper plate".
In fact it describes a process involving multiple steps that are relatively involved. And the book also opines that the sort of places this Mexican gambler frequented would undoubtedly have broken windows. How's that for a nice touch?

There exists in magic a number of stories that don't seem to add up. This could be one of them. I don't know and Vernon isn't here to speak to it.

Here's the actual procedure...

"So if the reader wishes to make his own "Strippers" in the Mexican
manner, the first essential is a piece of glass with a jagged edge.
Take about one third of the pack and press one long side down
firmly on a table or other flat surface. Bevel the cards to the left and
rub the glass along half the length of the upper long sides; bevel the
cards to the right and rub the glass along the same surface, then repeat
the process with the cards held upright. Now shuffle the cards, hold
them upright on the table again and treat the same surface once more.
Treat each third of the pack in the same way, assemble the pack, shuffle
the cards and rub the glass along the same half of the long sides. Any
roughening of the edges of the cards can be smoothed away with the
polished surface of the glass.

A knack has to be acquired to treat the cards quickly and to obtain
the necessary finish, but packs prepared in this manner have passed
close scrutiny by experienced card players."

Indeed that is what the book says; not what Mr England refers to, in relation to just half a dozen cards being stripped.

As you also correctly state, there is no mention of any other apparatus (such as clamping devices/stripper tools) being used.

However, I would really like to see Mr. England create a full 'pack of perfect strippers' with just a piece of broken, jagged glass, to prove me completely wrong; and that the Vernon story AND method holds true - which was actually my initial point, that appears to have annoyed him somewhat.

I have been a Dai Vernon fan for decades - as many of my posts on here over the years will prove. However, there are a few instances whereby I've read Vernon's words, or listened to him talk during the Revelations Series (that I bought back in the days of videos) and thought to myself "hang on, you are just talking complete and utter Bo!!@c£s now mate".

Legends are what they are. And gamblers, by their very nature are less than honest folk. In the end, it doesn't really matter a whit whether the story is accurate or made up out of whole cloth. Some will believe and some won't.
You can admire Vernon and still suspect that at times he was guilty of hyperbole. No heroes can withstand intense scrutiny and come away unscathed. We're all human after all.

I have been working on a little device that was inspired directly from the bathroom strippers story. It makes N strippers. 1mm thick knife steel, extremely hard and fits on a keychain. It is getting closer to production but I recently posted a prototype image to my instagram. The oval file area stands slightly proud of the discs surface. Because it is oval it naturally forms a notch shape which you can vary in width by revolving the disc. Max notch is 40mm wide, min notch is 15mm wide. Depth depends on strokes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeE5MYjIqZp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

That is what the book says, but it's wrong and have no idea why. I can only guess. Most likely it's because Ganson wanted to describe something that a magician would be able to understand. So he describes a "normal" wedgie deck of magic strippers. But cheaters didn't use normal, wedge-shaped strippers. They never have. Why? Because the mere acts of dealing and handling cards turn them around and make the entire deck a hopeless mess. They're almost useless at a card game as any cheater can tell you.

Cheaters would have used a belly cut (which you probably COULDN'T make in a bathroom with a piece of glass) or a negative cut which CAN be made very quickly using only a small number of cards and a file, piece of sandpaper, fingernail (see: Giorgio) or perhaps even a piece of glass.

You guys can believe what you want, but both Charlie Miller and Ed Marlo have backed Vernon's story in print. Why would Marlo, who had a known, mildly (sometimes not so mildly) antagonistic relationship with Vernon for decades essentially back him on this unless it was true? Incidentally, Marlo relates the much more likely way a cheater would use the concept, by describing the creation of negative strippers in Ireland's Trick Talk, Vol. 1, No. 10 (1958). Charlie backed the Vernon story (and mentions an even weirder method of making them) in Ibidem, if my memory is correct.

Additionally, the Cervon Notebooks (dating from the mid-1960s) detail the proper way bathroom strippers were made and references the Inner Secrets mention. Bruce got it right, and straight from Vernon's mouth while sitting with him a few years after the Ganson book was published. The illustration in the Cervon notebooks clearly shows a piece of glass making NEGATIVE strippers.

I'm not sure why you seem to think the story of "bathroom strippers" is forever tied ONLY to that one write-up in Inner Secrets. I agree that that story (as written) is unlikely. But you just assume Vernon is making up a story? So why change the story to the VERY LIKELY version in the Cervon Notebooks 6 years later? Why did the details suddenly match up quite nicely with something cheaters actually have done and why suddenly is it being confirmed by both friend (Miller) and foe (Marlo)?

It is just possible there's more to this story than the Ganson write-up?

Jason,

If you're just going to march in here with your facts and calmly stated well thought out arguments based on sound logic, no one will talk to you.

Jack

My Bathroom Stripper device is now live.

https://theperfectshuffle.com/Bathroom_Stripper/

Might be a nice touch to cut a notch in it so that it can be used as a bottle opener. That way if someone asks what it is you have something logical to tell them. Plus it would have usefulness beyond its intended purpose.

2.0!

Not sure wether some magicians really believe in their gamblers presentation or if this an hoax from forum old-timers. Anyway, for non-american, the idea that a secret society of cheaters will share their tricks and discuss them at length with their magician friends is a bit… well… as someone mentioned… a very good idea. We europeans also have a couple of bridge to sell… in London or elsewhere. I personally have a very nice and romantic one in Paris. PM if interested !

I don't know what is true and what is fiction when it comes to the tales of gamblers tipping their secret techniques to magicians. I have read what Steve Forte has to say on the subject. It is in his new book on gambling sleight of hand and it is remarkable. He talks about the difficulty in getting gamblers to "open up" and talk.

Personally, I take stories about gamblers with a grain of salt. It is like gunfighters in the old west or organized crime, in that it fascinates and is fodder for much speculation and fantasy. The reality is probably never as interesting or exciting as the dramatic portrayals or the "memories" of clandestine meetings.

So long as nobody is harmed, I guess it doesn't matter.

Thank you kind sir! Some more facts:

On p. 30 of The Magic of Rezvani (1949), there is a nice little image of a clamping device with a deck of cards in it. The author instructs the reader to use "a piece of glass" to make the stripper deck.

I know some of you don't want to believe that this was a thing, but it's in print in 3 or 4 places, sometimes with all the details correct, most often with some of them incorrect.

That doesn't invalidate the concept or Vernon's story.

Jason

Click here to view attached image.

Gotta say ... catchy title to this post.

I have a device, a little more sophisticated than Rezvani’s, that can be used to produce different types of gaff deck. It's definitely not required that you use glass but I guess you could. Apart from mine there are only two others out there, one is owned by David Blaine and the other was owned by Daniel Garcia until it was recently stolen from his Vegas storage unit, so if you see it you will know it’s his!

It secures a full deck, it does not clamp, but rather cages the deck. This is an important difference that makes it more functional.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKfW5sMEMA/......NWFlZA==

Eoin

Next the ones doubting the story will claim that there isn't any such thing as N Stripper's. There most certainly is!

First, there is no need to cast aspersions at doubters, as honestly, none of us knows for sure what happened or didn’t. Unless someone is privy to some additional, secret information, we are all going off of scant evidence.

Second, just because something is possible doesn’t make it likely. In other words, if you had the knowledge to create strippers in a bathroom, wouldn’t you be more likely to carry a knife? Something useful for other tasks, and a common item requiring no excuse? Plus, when you got caught cheating, it might be good to have it as a weapon.

And lastly, it’s funny how passionate some get, refuting and/or defending stuff written decades ago. There’s nothing wrong with supporting heroes, but just don’t forget they weren’t perfect. And in some instances, far from it.

Yes there is a reason to do that to doubters. It isn't my problem if you don't like my comment.

Like I said, it’s funny.

For those that were actually paying attention to this a few years ago, the concept of clamping a hand of cards and using a piece of glass to cut the edges can be found in The Little Secrets by Frank Bonville. That book was published in 1904. That pushes that concept back another 45 years from the Rezvani reference I mentioned earlier.

In short, hustlers were making strippers on the fly (with or without clamps, with or without pieces of glass) before Vernon was 10 years old.

Jason