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History of the Three of Clubs

Posted: April 25th, 2002, 10:43 am
by Pete McCabe
Anyone fan of Penn and Teller knows that -- in their books, at least -- if they have to force a card it will almost certainly be the three of clubs. (The card on the headstone at Forest Lawn cemetary is the 3C).

I didn't think too much of this until I saw a photo of, I think, Harry Lorayne holding up a three of clubs. Since then I've seen it in several photos of magicians who preceeded Penn and Teller.

So I'm wondering: who started this mini-tradition. Jamy Ian Swiss pointed out one advantage of the 3C; it can be easily recognized from a distance (i.e. by a large crowd). This is also true of other cards.

So who first standardized the Three of Clubs as their force card?

Re: History of the Three of Clubs

Posted: April 25th, 2002, 1:22 pm
by Lisa Cousins
Pete,

I noticed it in the spider web in the "sketch by a young Germain," and I thought of Penn & Teller. I'd love to know what it means, too.

Lisa