Hi, anybody remember the KC Card Company in Chicago? Or am I the only old dog/hustler around here?

ceh

I've only read about it in books about the period. I guess Dai Vernon used to frequent the place hoping to meet gamblers who could help him track down certain moves.

Ahh, that was the place. When I first was starting out, I got a lot of tools from them. Along with some books. The books made me even more proficient. That is where I learned the injog on the shuffle. Just like all basic moves, one adds their touch to it, and my shuffle was my bread and butter move. I perform the false shuffel using the injog so pretty and convincing, that most of the time that is all I needed to do to win the money.

Winning the battle with a few bullets was always my goal.

KC Card Company was a pro gambler/hustler's church, and the book was our bible..

ceh

Good old KC Card Co. Got one of their old catalogs (#530). They closed down sometime in '61, didn't they? Lots of neat stuff in their catalogs, even has sucker items. There's not really anything like them around anymore, I think. There are places and people, but nothing this complete (that I have access to, anyway ).

Hey ceh, you know about the big auction this weekend? Some old stuff in there that you could find in the blue book, some you couldn't. Some real interesting equipment.

http://mnw.squarespace.com/magicnewsfee ... ction.html

They supposedly have a 1st edition Erdnase. Also, Jason England mentions that those gambling holdouts(the spring up the arm bit) were generally thought to be the invention of people doing gambling demonstration. I'm inclined to agree since they look completely impracticle but he does mention that they have one in the collection that predates the time in which gambling demos were common. Do either of you guys have a comment on that? Were those just sold to "suckers" who walked into the KC Card Co.? Or did you ever hear of anyone actually attempting to use one in a real game?

The KC Card Company is lengedary among hustlers. I was coming up around real good card mechanics. They hype me to the place. Once I got their catalog, I ordered a couple machanic books. Studied them well. I took what I learned out the books, what I learned from the other mechanics, and added something to it.. REALITY. In other words, my stuff could really be done in front of people with NO SUSPICSION!!

I use to order some candy weights from KC, and the few cards I got, I learned how to make them myself. The strippers, readers, and sealed the decks back up like they never been touched.

I see some of KCs catalogs on Ebay.. Brought back a lot of memories. Since I am 20 years retired, I don't indulge any more.. But, MEMORIES ARE GOLDEN!! I Wouldn't trade my memories for all the money in the world.

KC Card Company lives on in all professional gambler's hearts..They offered services, products, and advice. If there was a Gambler's Hall Of Fame, KC would be there..

The KC Card Company is lengedary among hustlers. I was coming up around real good card mechanics. They hype me to the place. Once I got their catalog, I ordered a couple machanic books. Studied them well. I took what I learned out the books, what I learned from the other mechanics, and added something to it.. REALITY. In other words, my stuff could really be done in front of people with NO SUSPICSION!!

I use to order some candy weights from KC, and the few cards I got, I learned how to make them myself. The strippers, readers, and sealed the decks back up like they never been touched.

I see some of KCs catalogs on Ebay.. Brought back a lot of memories. Since I am 20 years retired, I don't indulge any more.. But, MEMORIES ARE GOLDEN!! I Wouldn't trade my memories for all the money in the world.

KC Card Company lives on in all professional gambler's hearts..They offered services, products, and advice. If there was a Gambler's Hall Of Fame, KC would be there..

Out of curiosity...what were some of the book titles you remember. Obviously Erdnase but I'd be interested in looking some of those up for the collector value. Thanks.

Just so happened I found the whole KC Card Catalog in pdf form.. I copied a page of the books I used. And found the EXACT book that I used as my bible..

I learned a lot of things from this book. However, as with all mechanics, they learn the BASICS, and then MODIFY to their own style. That is what I did. I took their run-up systems, their second dealing, only went from the bottom a few times, that move was not smooth enough for me to have in my arsenal and MODIFIED THEM all to suit my hands, my style, and up to my specifications of what can be done and what can't be done.

My main goal as a mechanic was very different from other car hustling mechanics, and maybe that was the reason I was so successful, didn't get hurt, and lasted 40 years. That goal was to be "STEALTH, OUT-OF-SIGHT-OUT-OF-MIND. That means, I have done the move, and nobody is even close to catching on. My style attained that goal beautifully.

The name of the book was "Card Secrets Exposed".. It went into depth on the BASIC moves that mechanics would be using in applying their trade.

I was surfing around and found a few year old post on the Magic Cafe that mentioned a copy of "Card Secrets Exposed" going for over $120.00. You should take care of that book if you still have it.

Didn't the K C Card Co. carry a bunch of other stuff for "hustling"????? Seems like I remember hearing about a lot of "dice" related items.

Yes they did. I ordered some of the dice. Playing crap was just a side thing, not my main. I would come up on games where they had cards and craps going. Cards would be my target, but also, I was alble to tell if somebody was trimming the crap game too. If the card action money was small and the craps big, I would play. Also, I found locals that could make the dice too. Just like I learned to make all the type cards that KC Card complany sold. Readers, strippers, seal up the packs like new, etc.

They also included a lot of things to be used in Magical acts too..

I noticed this in one of the pages and this is right out of the KC Card Company Catalog..Shows were Magical acts were part of their cliental too.