Cherchez La Femme

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Bob Farmer
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Cherchez La Femme

Postby Bob Farmer » July 15th, 2021, 10:13 am

In this version of Three Card Monte, three very large cards are used. This is not the Al Baker version from Greater Magic (pp. 512-513). Instead, the cards have a common middle section that is slightly raised so that a double-ended card can slide under it and from one end to the other.

Because of this, any card can be shown as a Queen or as some other card.

Do I have the name correct for this version?

Background?

Thank you.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Richard Kaufman » July 15th, 2021, 11:36 am

German, mid to late 1800s.
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Bob Farmer
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Bob Farmer » July 15th, 2021, 12:12 pm

Thanks to Richard, see, "The Changing Card" and "The Unique Changing Card," pp. 220-225, in New Era Card Tricks by A. Roterberg, 1897.

Jonathan Townsend
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Jonathan Townsend » July 15th, 2021, 12:32 pm

Pat Page had a version where the frame was misindexed.
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Richard Kaufman » July 15th, 2021, 12:58 pm

DeLand was the first to do that on the frame.
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Edwin Corrie
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Edwin Corrie » July 15th, 2021, 1:02 pm

In "Pages From Patrick's Notebooks" Pat Page says it's a very old idea (i.e. the simple split face cards associated with Hofzinser, though they were around well before that) and says his contribution is adding the corner indices. The sliding panel versions in Roterberg (1897) and Conradi (1896) are all without indices, but Deland also had sliding panel cards with double indices.

"Cherchez la femme" is usually just a name for the three card trick.

Bob Farmer
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Re: Cherchez La Femme

Postby Bob Farmer » July 15th, 2021, 1:09 pm

Excellent, thank you.


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