New Photo of Charles Jordan

[Joe Mckay]

I haven't seen this photo of Charles Jordan before:

http://postimg.org/image/kkdf8nk4n/

[EDITOR'S NOTE: THAT URL HAS BEEN HACKED]

He was a really interesting creator. I remember Richard Kaufman published some unpublished Charles Jordan tricks in MAGIC magazine back in 1992.

Just curious how he managed to find those tricks? And does he still think T. Nelson Downs was really the real Charles Jordan?

http://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.php?id=misc:charles_jordan_controversy

[Ted M]

Gotta love Lloyd Jones writing in The Bat:

"Would T. Nelson Downs if HE had created such maglo let another take the credit?
THAT, my friends, needs no answer."

This certainly matches my understanding of Downs' character from reading the Vernon biography by David Ben...

[Richard Kaufman]

I wrote a large two-part article in MAGIC years ago based on a notebook of T. Nelson Downs that he had given to John Hilliard to pick tricks for Greater Magic. Many of the tricks in the Downs' notebook were also published by Charles Jordan.

That mystery remains unresolved, and I don't care what Lloyd Jones wrote. I had the physical evidence in my hands. I don't know much else about Jordan; DeLand is my specialty.

[Ted M]

Downs was an obsessed collector of secrets, published and not. He had a piracy network of Faucett Ross, Ed McLaughlin and Eddie McGuire to help him acquire, duplicate and trade manuscripts and private notes of tricks disclosed in confidence.

Just because Downs had somebody else's material in a notebook doesn't mean he created it -- he had everybody's stuff.

I want to go read your article, though. I'm hoping I have those early issues of MAGIC.

[Richard Kaufman]

This particular notebook of Downs' was presented as original material to John Northern Hilliard, to be used in Greater Magic under Downs' name. It was returned to Downs after Hilliard died.

[Joe Mckay]

Not sure what happened to the link. Apologies for that.

And you can find the fascinating article (along with unpublished tricks by Jordan and Downs) in the August and September 1992 issues of MAGIC magazine.

[Bill Mullins]

Arguing against any "controversy" about Jordan being a front for any other magician are a number of contemporary records:

The 1920 census lists him as living in Vallejo, CA with his mother Mary (a poultry farmer) and sister Margaret; his occupation is listed as "writer and magic". In 1930 he still lives with his mom, and his occupation is magazine writer. In 1940 he and his mom live in Petaluma, and he is a puzzle specialist, working contest puzzles.

An article about "sex detectors" in the San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Oct 1920, says: "[William} Hilliar says he first found it in Petaluma, where a certain farmer was using it to detect the "sex" of his eggs. The farmer told him some gypsy he had met showed him the trick. He said it works on eggs about 98 times out of 100 – that the only time it did not work was where an egg for some reason or other did not hatch. C. T. Jordan, the noted magician, who has a ranch at Penngrove, was also mystified by the "detector" applied to eggs."

The San Francisco Chronicle of 31 Dec 1922 has him as a second-place prize winner in a detective story contest, and says about him: "The second prize of $50 goes to Charles T. Jordan of Penngrove, near Petaluma. Jordan, a chicken farmer, is noted as an unraveler of mysteries. His fad is inventing subtle card tricks for magicians, and he has written considerable fiction of the detective story type."

From the California Death Index, his middle name is "Thornton".

Jordan's grave.

This, presumably, is a list of his detective fiction.

[Joe Mckay]

Just had a chance to try my original link again and it works fine for me.

[Bill Duncan]

Maybe someone could clarify what "hacked" means and why if the site has been compromised the URL is still active on this site?

[Richard Kaufman]

"Hacked" as in photos of semi-clad young women inviting me to interact with them. I saw no photo of Charles Jordan!

[Ted M]

I saw nothing but a placeholder a few days ago.

Currently Joe's link now shows a page from The Bat with a photo of Charles Jordan outside in his yard wearing some seriously high-waisted trousers.

[Joe Pecore]

Same photo is here http://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php ... les_Jordan

[Ted M]

Er, am I the only one who sees two different photos at those links?

Joe McKay:
http://postimg.org/image/kkdf8nk4n/

Joe Pecore:
http://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php ... les_Jordan

[Tom Gilbert]

I saw them too Ted, two that is.

[Joe Pecore]

I can't see his. I just assumed it was the same, being from the same Bat magazine.

[Joe Mckay]

Here is a different link to the same image:

https://i.imgflip.com/108im1.jpg

[Bill Mullins]

Richard's articles from 1992 include a third photo of Jordan, different from the two referenced above.

[Joe Mckay]

Cheers, Bill.

And here is another photo of Charles Jordan:

http://postimg.org/image/paak8ap17/

Just being reading an article by Francis Haxton in which he outlines the conspiracy theory that Arthur Finley was the real genius behind Charles Jordan's effects.

[James Foster]

In the 1970s, Penngrove (CA) was home to one of the great little one-day conventions for magicians. If I recall, Nahmen Nissan (who ran the hardware store in town) would host locals like Daryl Martinez and Vic Kirk, but bring in great talent. I do recall Larry Jennings as special guest and he spent most of this visit holding court in the hotel/restaurant bar. Fantastic stuff for me, at the time only 15 years old.

Years later, when I was first interested in Jordan, I remember being wonderfully surprised that he had been living in Penngrove. At the time it was a small rural area. These days it's been gobbled up by the sprawl, but it holds many magical memories.

James