Gambler's Paradise

“The Cardsharps” – Caravaggio circa 1594

“The Cardsharps” – Caravaggio circa 1594
Shaders. Hold-outs. Shiners. Lodestones. Marked cards. Loaded dice. Around the turn of the 20th century, these were the tools of a charlatan…a scoundrel…a cardsharp…a low-down dirty cheat. Becoming a crooked gambler could be a highly lucrative, though possibly rather short-lived, career. The question is, how exactly did one acquire the requisite gaffs to become a professional hustler? Well, as it turns out, there was a rather thriving industry surrounding such things, as can be seen in the clipping below (taken from the January 28, 1922 National Police Gazette).

National Police Gazette – Jan. 28, 1922 Click to read

Click to read
 The more astute among you may have noticed that one specific ad was highlighted above. That particular advertisement was placed by the Hill Brothers, a mail order company based in Salida, Colorado. It was the discovery of one of their catalogs in our archives which first piqued my interest in this subject.  

Hill Bros. Catalogue 24 – front cover

Hill Bros. Catalogue 24 – front cover

Invisible ink. an amateur’s approach to card marking.

Invisible ink. an amateur’s approach to card marking.
Donning the guise of “Magical Supplies,” and purporting to be a means of “exposing crooked gambling methods” is a catalog chock-full of the tools of a rather nefarious trade. Despite numerous disclaimers scattered throughout its pages, these items are clearly designed to perform only one trick…magically transferring the contents of another’s wallet into your own.

“Remember how amazed we all were when Houdini rolled a seven.?” Weighted and/or magnetized dice

Weighted and/or magnetized dice
You may wonder whether selling such goods was actually legal—I know I did. Turns out, there was apparently some dispute about that at the time. In earlier ads (which I was sadly unable to acquire), the brothers apparently brashly trumpeted (or at least strongly implied) how much money could be made at “sporting parlors” with a rigged deck, a little sleight of hand and a certain level of disregard for personal safety. This style of advertising brought them some unwanted attention, culminating in the April 1912 arrest of Myron E. and Lawrence A. Hill on charges of using the mail to defraud.

Hills Arrested – Salida Mail April 23, 1912

Hills Arrested – Salida Mail April 23, 1912
The Salida Mail had two further articles regarding the arrest, though the focus appeared to primarily settle on Myron. There’s an odd quirk throughout the articles, in which the brother’s initials are reported inconsistently, with Lawrence identified as “H.R. Hill” and “L.R. Hill” (when in fact, census records identify him as Lawrence A. Hill), and Myron is alternately referred to as “M.E. Hill” and “E.M. Hill.” Swing and a miss, there, Salida Mail…

Declarations of innocence Click to read

Click to read
Sadly (and more than a little puzzlingly), this is apparently the last the Mail had to say about the subject. There are no further references to the trial, nor any mention of the outcome. This does not, however, mean we are completely in the dark. We know that whatever backlash there may have been, it was fairly limited in scope. The brothers were still selling the same goods a decade later, with only a shift in marketing and the inclusion of numerous caveats peppered throughout their catalogs. It’s also clear that if there was any period of incarceration, it was negligible. This is evidenced by the fact that July 13, 1915, saw the return of M.E. Hill to its pages…to announce his purchase of a house.

Myron buys a house

Myron buys a house
So, even if the old adage “crime doesn’t pay” holds true (which is debatable), it appears that providing the tools for crime paid quite handsomely.
 
[Special thanks to Katie Rudolph for her invaluable assistance in researching this project.] 

Research NewsGamblingCard SharkCard SharpLoaded DiceMarked CardsHold-OutsHill BrothersNational Police Gazette

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