Salon de Magie: The Klosterman Collection Part I

Charles Larson’s Card Wheel. Berlin: Conradi, ca. 1933. Thirty-two cards in two nickel-plated wheels atop a tall stand are exhibited. With their backs turned, the wheels are spun and three cards are freely chosen, then placed in a holder attached to the stand. These cards infallibly match the names of three previously written on a slate. Height 39 ½". With Larson’s own pack of cards used to perform the effect, a photograph of Larson holding the wheel, his hand-written notes regarding the prop, and a hand-lettered exhibit card from the Circus Museum of Sarasota. See Salon de Magie, page 274. Larson appeared on the cover of Genii’s January, 1939 issue with his prized Card Wheel. At the prior year’s IBM Convention, held in Cincinnati, Larson’s performance with the trick secured him first prize in the contest. This prop was among several in Larson’s collection featured in John Northern Hilliard’s seminal work, Greater Magic (1938).