Oh that ... I dunno... the board rules read pretty strict about reveals, and it's only 103 years old, and was found in probably every 5 and dime in the country ...

Here you go (I better not get in trouble with the cabal of magicians!): http://magicmakersinc.com/learndeland/

Interestingly, when I tried figuring it out on my own, I got the stack backwards, but the corner indexes still work--they just tell you the next card, not the previous one in that case.

Finally found it. Full instructions, too, so thanks!

Better yet, I found they did a professionally-produced trailer for it. That's just adorable.

Unfortuantely, two points:

1) I know the principle, not the details of this particular variation
2) I suck.

(3, I could no longer lay claim to be The Anonymous Rando)

If I were Penn, I could probably come up with a way to reduce the audience to just those in the know, like a farmer slaughtering sheep to bring down the size of the herd. But unfortunately, I don't think I could break things down without being completely obvious about it, not with the little verbal flourishes he uses as cover.

So I think I'll just leave it for now, secure in my triumph (even if you don't believe me!)

Not for carrying around, but for storage. I mean, sure, you can keep them locked in a filing cabinet, but what's the fun in that? A nondescript box with a hidden magnetic catch, or a drawer with a false bottom would be way cooler. I would also take "hidden nook cut into the drywall behind a painting" as an acceptable answer.

I've always wanted to build something like this: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/secret-locks-and-compartments-woodworking-magic-tricks/ to store gaffs and packet tricks.

I've got one of these... an older copy, not entirely sure of the vintage. It's cute. I didn't have any instructions with mine (it was second-hand), but I was easily able to figure out the left-hand index, and with some googling, the right-hand index (and that it's got a stack based on a non-chased Si Stebbins). But can't seem to find out anything on the stuff in the middle (something to do with depths of cuts). Anyone know or have a link to full instructions?

That's a very good idea, thanks! This is the same thrift store I found Drueke chessboard last year (http://www.chessusa.com/product/DB-102.html ) so needless to say, I'll be a regular from now on!

With the exception of 1 of the expert backs, none of them have two jokers (and I suspect it was robbed from the pack with none). When was the second joker added to USPC decks? And would they have come with advertising cards back then?

Hi, everyone, first-time poster.

I'm not a collector, at least not of vintage decks, but I think I might have Done Good.

Now, I like to thrift for boardgames, as the current boardgame renaissance has mostly passed by the kinds of games I like (abstract strategy and classic card games).But  I nearly always skip over the playing cards, since I've certainly got plenty already, and they're cheap enough that second-hand doesn't really make sense. But for some reason (maybe it was the larger than usual number of decks), I decided to paw through them today. There ended up being quite a load of Bicycles, though not rider backs.

I've handled enough decks (having gone through my magic phase) to know that these were old, no coating on the box, just plain paper, and some sort of tax stamp, etc.. At $.49 a deck, I figured it was worth speculating a bit. So I picked up a couple of the ones in the best shape. Wasn't till I got in my car that I made out the cancel in black on the stamps: 4-1-19. At that point, I went back into the shop and picked up anything that looked remotely old. They vary from well-played but still snappy, to still-in-the-original-wax-paper. Boxes range from "pretty chewy" to "mint, but for the glue that didn't last 100 years".

My haul:
bikes (all with at least portions of the stamp dating to no later than 1924, most with that 4-1-19 cancel visible)::
5 expert backs
2 tangent backs
1 wheel back
1 new fan back

others:
1 rexall drug (same stamp as the bikes)
1 uncle sam (only deck not to have a stamp, appears later, as flap states 1942)
1 arrco canasta (later as well, card in shrink, having the 1940-1965 stamp)

I can post pics if anyone is interested. Interestingly, none of the bicycles seem to line up with the alphabetic dating system found on cypressfilms.com. The main "collection" (i.e., not the Uncle Sam and Canasta decks) seem to have had an interesting legacy. Clearly someone was enough of an avid card player to buy up 10 decks, but somehow only through a couple, leaving most of them close to intact for 100 years.