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The Hagley Vault

Selections from Hagley Museum and Library's archives and published collections on the history of American business, technology, and innovation.

November 17, 2025

The image is a vintage-style book cover titled "Cigarette Tricks" against an orange background with an illustration of a cigarette.

Impress your friends and wow your enemies with a little bit of smoke and mirrors this week (or, well, mostly smoke).

This new addition to the Hagley Digital Archives is a ca. 1933 pamphlet released by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The pamphlet promoted Camel cigarettes with 8 magic tricks, including explanations of the props and procedures involved in each illusion.

The pamphlet was written with the assistance of Paul Carlton, an actual working magician, who also authored the more substantial Magician’s Handy Book Of Cigarette Tricks as well as a series of “It’s Fun to Be Fooled” advertisements for the company that same year. The contract landed Carlton in hot water within his professional circle, as a number of the tricks revealed what were, at the time, secrets of the trade.

Click here to view the pamphlet in full now!

Archive

For posts prior to October 2020, visit the Hagley Vault on Tumblr.

Wed, 04/28/2021 - 12:00

We turn our attention to accident prevention today ...

We turn our attention to accident prevention today in observance of Workers Memorial Day, an international remembrance day for workers killed, injured, disabled, or otherwise made unwell by their work. This day of observance was established by the AFL-CIO in 1989. The organization chose this date to coincide with the date in 1970…

Tue, 04/27/2021 - 12:00

We're wishing a .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / -... .. .-. - .... -.. .- -.-- today to Samuel Finley Breese Morse ...

We're wishing a .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / -... .. .-. - .... -.. .- -.-- today to Samuel Finley Breese Morse. The American portrait painter who became an inventor in 1830s with his contributions to the development of the single-wire telegraph system, Morse code, and the commercial adoption of telegraphy was born on this date, April 27, in…

Mon, 04/26/2021 - 12:00

Yeah, it's Monday again ....

Yeah, it's Monday again. Here's hoping that "Cheer-Up" the sensational pessimistic pooch can help get us through it. This 1950 advertisement is from the Winter issue of The College Store, a trade magazine published by the National Association of College Stores. Clippings from the issue are part of a scrapbook in Hagley Library's Ken White…

Fri, 04/23/2021 - 12:00

When you work in a library, choosing a single book for World Book Day can be like trying to choose a favorite child ...

When you work in a library, choosing a single book for World Book Day can be like trying to choose a favorite child. So instead of showing you a favorite, we’re turning up with a whole truckload of them. This undated photograph shows the Delaware State Library Commission’s Traveling Library bookmobile. The vehicle was designed and customized,…

Thu, 04/22/2021 - 12:00

In honor of Earth Day, we're posting these first day of issue stamps ...

In honor of Earth Day, we're posting these first day of issue stamps with their commemorative covers. These stamps were issued in 1977 by the U.S. Post Office as a complement to President Carter's agenda to promote energy conservation and develop new energy sources. The 13-cent stamps were designed by postal service artist Terrence W. McCaffrey of…

Wed, 04/21/2021 - 12:00

Today's #WorkerWednesday post takes us to the floor of the Budd Company ...

Today's #WorkerWednesday post takes us to the floor of the Budd Company, where this May 15, 1935 photograph captured an image of a worker applying fasteners to metal door panels at one of the company's plants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Budd Company was a manufacturer of steel automobiles, passenger rail cars, and other…

Tue, 04/20/2021 - 12:00

As anyone who knows me can tell you this #TechTuesday ...

As anyone who knows me can tell you this #TechTuesday, I'm renowned for my ability to tune with ease and grace. But really, it's just my 1938 Double-X Automatic Tuning Philco radio. This August 1937 advertisement for Philco radios, featuring the company's newly patented automatic tuning system. While other inventors had begun releasing automatic…

Mon, 04/19/2021 - 12:00

We're flashing back to 1900 in celebration of Bicycle Day...

We're flashing back to 1900 in celebration of Bicycle Day, in which the nation unites as one to commemorate a particularly groovy scientific milestone. On April 19th, 1943, the Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann (1906-2008) intentionally tried out a new chemical compound of his own devising, lysergic acid diethylamide (also…

Fri, 04/16/2021 - 12:00

Some Fridays are for Freewheelin', nothing you can do about it.

Some Fridays are for made for Freewheelin', nothing you can do about it. This 1975 film, sponsored by the B.F. Goodrich Company and made by Cinecraft, documents the many splendors of the 4th Annual National Truck-In, a celebration of vans and vanning hosted by the National Street Van Association in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The film shows van…

Thu, 04/15/2021 - 12:00

This ca. 1893 photograph shows the women of Bryn Mawr College gathered ...

This ca. 1893 photograph shows the women of Bryn Mawr College gathered at the Harriton Family Cemetery. The college, founded by Quakers in 1885 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was the first instition of higher education for women to offer a PhD granting graduate program. The cemetery plot was founded in 1719 by Richard Harrison, operator of…

Wed, 04/14/2021 - 12:00

After having to drop out of high school to help financially support his family ...

After having to drop out of high school to help financially support his family, a young Thomas Lamb (1896-1988) learned anatomy as a teenager by doing medical drawings for a plastic surgeon. Many years later, this training would inform his contributions as a pioneer in the early Universal Design movement, an approach to design whose…

Tue, 04/13/2021 - 12:00

We're riding the rails this #TravelTuesday all the way to the Cleveland Union Terminal ...

We're riding the rails this #TravelTuesday all the way to Cleveland's Union Terminal station and Terminal Tower. Designed by the local architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, excavation and construction of the site began in 1924. Upon the 708-foot tower's completion in 1927, it was the tallest building in the world outside of New…

Mon, 04/12/2021 - 12:00

We're extending a hearty welcome and thank you today ...

We're extending a hearty welcome and thank you today for all of our friends who have followed the Hagley Vault over from its old home on Tumblr to its new location here on our website. The homepage of our Digital Archive will continue to feature images and links to the day’s posts, all of which will be available right here. We’…

Fri, 04/09/2021 - 12:00

Nothing fishy to see here ...

Nothing fishy to see here, just our last post on Tumblr for the foreseeable future. Beginning Monday, April 12, we will be discontinuing this Tumblr blog. But we won’t be going far. The homepage of our Digital Archive will continue to feature images and links to the day’s posts, all of which will be available at the Hagley Vault’s amazing new home…

Thu, 04/08/2021 - 12:00

Today's #ThursDIY post has us sharing this cover for a brochure...

Today's #ThursDIY post has us sharing this cover for a brochure from Rohloff & Company advertising its Kemiko brand concrete stain. The pamphlet is undated, but was probably produced between 1942 and 1964. This item is part of Hagley Library's collection of William du Pont, Jr. papers (Accession 2317.II) and is part of a folder related to…

Wed, 04/07/2021 - 12:00

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the...

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog on this #WetNoseWednesday. This 1922 photograph was taken at the Cleveland, Ohio home of Fisher Body Corporationexecutive Frederick J. Fisher (1878u20131941), during an event associated with in association with the company's 1919 integration into the General Motors…