Magicians' scaling cards are playing-type cards, usually printed with a promotional message, that a magician throws or "scales" into the audience during a performance. The cards are usually made of a heavier stock to give them added weight, and added distance when scaled. The audience, of course, is always delighted to have the chance to catch such a souvenir.

Alexander Herrmann scaling card

Alexander Herrmann was the first major magician to make card scaling a featured part of his show. He developed a technique (still copied today) which allowed him to be able to scale the cards all the way to the back of the theater, no doubt making an impression on the people in the cheaper seats!

Howard Thurston is the performer most associated with the art of card scaling. He developed his own scaling technique and made it a spectacular part of his full evening show. His precise aim allowed him to scale a card to any selected audience member, no matter where the person was seated in the theater. Always keeping an eye to profits, Thurston was the first to sell advertising space on the back of his scaling cards. He also used them to advertise his dream books, good luck tokens and horoscopes.

Thurston's successful use of scaling cards as promotional tools inspired a number of other magicians to use them also, most notably Howard Thurston's successors, his brother Harry Thurston and Will Rock.

Today, scaling cards have fallen out of favor as stage souvenirs, not only because of the cost of producing the specialty cards, but also because of the increased possibility that the magician will be sued by an audience member who claims to have been injured by the flying cards.

One notable exception to this is magician Ricky Jay, who earned his early fame as a card scaler. On numerous national television appearances, he scaled cards high into the audience as well as across the stage into a watermelon, showing his accurate and powerful control of the cards. He wrote a book on the subject, Cards As Weapons, describing his technique. The poster for the book is a colorful collectible today.

Magicians' scaling cards are a very desirable collectible. They are relatively easy to find (see the cards currently available from us), affordable, and easy to display and store. They are an interesting part of magic history.

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