Handkerchief

“ In shaking or otherwise manipulating the handkerchief, the performer takes care always to keep the side with the slit away from the spectators, to whom the handkerchief appears to be merely the ordinary article of everyday use. When he desires by its means to cause the disappearance of anything, he carelessly throws the handkerchief over the article, at the same time secretly passing the latter through the slit in the under side, and hands it thus covered to some one to hold. ”

“ The silk handkerchief was to be used only for effect, and every time he met any one in the avenue before whom he thought it worth while to show off, and that was nearly every passer-by, he drew the brilliant handkerchief from his pocket, raised it carefully to his face, and let it fall again. He derived the greatest satisfaction from feeling the rough surface of the silk eling to the hard skin on the inside of his hands. ”

“ The sacredness imputed to the handkerchief is no modern idea. It came to us from the East, whence sprang religion, science, and romance itself. Ages ago the handkerchief was regarded in Egypt as a kind of amulet. The fair one of later days, who interweaves a thread of her own life into the handkerchief she intends for some favored knight, hopes it may prove like the magic handkerchief given by the Egyptian charmer to Othello’s mother, endued with a power to subdue him “entirely to her love.” ”

“ A painted handkerchief is bound tightly round the brow, and secured by jewelled bodkins: the back hair is crèpé until it becomes one huge dishevelled mass, when it is traversed across the top of the head by a corner of the handkerchief: a number of slender plaits of false hair hang down the back, frequently differing very materially from the colour of the natural tresses: the front locks are cut square across the forehead, and left a couple of inches longer at the sides, where they lie quite flat, and are stuck full of roses, or gems ”

“ He reaches into a hip pocket and draws forth a handkerchief: the handkerchief is wetter than his hands. With a gesture of vexation he throws it away, and gives his attention to the girl. He looks at her quizzically; then, rather timidly, he kneels at her side, and lays his ear over her heart. ”

“ Taking out a red silk handkerchief, the corner of which had been protruding from the outside pocket of his overcoat, he held it out to me. I was reluctant to take it. One is reluctant to accept the loan of a silk handkerchief from a perfect stranger, more especially, perhaps, from the sort of stranger he appeared to be. ”

“ That it was a napkin is shown by quotations from ancient writers, and there seems no doubt also that many refinements of Roman civilization, of which the pocket handkerchief was one, were lost in the later Middle Ages. In fact, [195] the handkerchief only began to come into general use in polite society about Henry VIII’s reign, and the maniple of the ministrant at the altar must have lost its original use, or Bernard would not have twice warned him against blowing his nose on his chasuble or surplice. ”

“ The Spirit Handkerchief.—The effect of this trick, which is exceptionally good, is as follows:—Several knots having been tied in a large silk handkerchief borrowed from a member of the audience, it is thrown on the floor of the stage when it immediately begins to act as if it were a live snake, twisting and twirling about in every conceivable form. The performer passes his wand over, under, and all round the handkerchief, thus proving to the satisfaction of the most astute that there are no connections. ”

“ If you’d a dropt that handkerchief on the ground and he’d a picked it up, instead of putting it in his pocket, he’d a run after you crying, ‘Mister you’ve lost your handkerchief.’ Now there’s no work to be had by those who are fools enough to work, so he’s just starving by inches. ”

“ You ask any one for a handkerchief, and tie the ends firmly together in a double knot, allowing him to feel it, or pull the ends as tight as he pleases. You then throw the centre of the handkerchief over the knot, and ask the person to hold it tight between his finger and thumb. ”

“ A handkerchief, designed as a gift from a young girl to her betrothed, had a celestial sphere worked in one corner, to indicate the purity of their flame; a bouquet of buds and blossoms in another, to mark the pleasures and the brevity of life; and, in a third, Cupid playing with a spaniel, "as an emblem of the most passionate fidelity." Even samplers, which represented the first step in the pursuit of accomplishments, had their emblematic designs no less than their moral axioms. ”

“ It is not like YOU to purchase so extravagant and useless a THING—and then this looks like a handkerchief that once belonged to another person—a poor girl who has lost her means of extravagance by the change of the times. ”

“ It has been rather neglected, and we think unjustly so, as it combines the advantage of concealing the shirt of the wearer, and displaying the handkerchief to advantage. It may be put on in a moment, and this style can be adopted with complete success in wearing a handkerchief a second time. It should be prepared as shewn in plate A, fig. 2; placed on the front of the neck, the ends are passed round and crossed on the chest, as shewn in plate D, fig. 28.
Married men and antiquated beaux seem to be its greatest admirers ”

“ The handkerchief may be regarded as one of the great indications of civilization. Though the Celestials have not yet arrived at this climax, and still carry their small sheets of delicate paper as a substitute, but which possess no moral significance whatever, so far as we know, more refined nations have made its use universal. Even the poorest may whip out of his pocket, in these days, not that red cotton flag of abomination that used to offend the sight, but one of pure white linen, betokening a higher state of cultivation. ”

“ On his doing so, the performer, again shaking out the handkerchief, and showing both sides of it to prove it empty, spreads it over the back of the victim. Again he taps with his wand, which, striking the ring through the handkerchief, causes an unmistakeable hard sound to be heard; and then grasping the ring as before through the handkerchief, he deliberately raises it up in a horizontal position, the effect being as if the glass had again returned to the handkerchief. He then says, “I don’t think I will trouble this gentleman again; he is too much of a conjuror himself;” ”

“ Indeed, of the various expedients for extinguishing men's faith in the life to come, this is probably the most insidiously effective in use to-day; it is the silken handkerchief, drenched with chloroform and held quite gently to the victim's face—a lethal weapon in all but appearance. ”

“ Having placed the handkerchief through the loop, which should be of catgut, being semi-transparent, push it into the glass tube as described in the next trick, and place the hands one over each end. To cause the handkerchief to disappear all that is necessary is to move the elbows away from the sides while making a quick up and down motion with the glass cylinder, slightly lifting the base of the right hand from the edge of the glass to allow the silk to pass up the sleeve. ”

“ The dress of the Damascus women, when out of doors, consists of a long white sheet, and over the face a muslin handkerchief, through which they can see very well without a possibility of having their features distinguished by others. If men are not present, this handkerchief is often thrown up over the top of the head; and some, fairer than others, if desirous of practising a little coquetry, and of letting their features be seen, will suffer the gentlemen to come upon them as if unawares, and then in haste throw down the handkerchief. ”

“ With a little practice it is not difficult to withdraw the handkerchief, by a series of trifling jerks, from, the pocket of your fellow-guest to its resting place between the first and second finger of your left hand.
One word more. I am afraid that the borrowed handkerchief to which you applied the match really did get burnt, and you will probably have to offer the owner one of your own instead. That is the only weak spot in one of the most baffling tricks ever practised by the amateur prestidigitator (to use the word for the last time) . ”

“ Every one says you are a philosopherESS, Mary, and I ought to have expected some such answer. But a handkerchief I am determined to have, and it shall be the very handsomest I can find."
"And the DEAREST? Well, you will have a very lady-like wardrobe with one pocket-handkerchief in it! I wonder you do not purchase a single shoe."
"Because I have TWO feet," replied Julia with spirit, though she laughed good-naturedly—"but here is the clerk, and he must not hear our quarrels. Have the goodness, sir, to show me the handsomest pocket-handkerchief in your shop." ”

“ The Handkerchief Burned and Restored.—A clever trick is the "Handkerchief burned and restored." It was a favorite with the late Alexander Herrmann, who performed it in the most artistic and graceful manner. It is a trick of pure sleight of hand, and requires no apparatus or elaborate preparation, for which reason it is to be highly commended to those who delight in digital experiments. Says Edwin Sachs, the eminent English authority on legerdemain:—"If I wanted to test a conjurer's ability, I should give him this trick to perform." ”

“ In modern native use it may be carried in the hand by a high-born parda lady attached to her batwa or tiny silk handbag, and ornamented with all sorts of gold and silver trinkets; then it is a handkerchief in the true sense of the word. It may be carried by men, hanging on the left shoulder, and used to wipe the hands or face; then, too, it is a handkerchief. It may be as big as a towel, and thrown over both shoulders by men, the ends either hanging loose or tied in a knot in front ”

“ Don’t put on that frightful pout, my little puss, for, really, I should have to live as long a life as an ancient patriarch if I do not die before you are likely to finish the handkerchief. There are the quilt, the slippers, the watch-pocket, the chair-cushion, and the handkerchief all begun for me, but nothing finished. That little wizard—his name is Impulse, you know—which led you to drop the quilt that you might begin the slippers, and the slippers that you might begin the chair-cushion, will soon tempt you to drop the handkerchief for something else. ”

“ TRICK 22.
Having the fictitious ring in the palm of your hand, commence by requesting any lady present to oblige you by lending you a plain gold ring, and borrow also from some gentleman a colored silk handkerchief. Appear to place the borrowed ring in that handkerchief, but in reality place in it the rounded fictitious ring. Doubling the centre of the handkerchief round it, request some gentleman to hold it, so as to be sure he has got the ring in the handkerchief—while you fetch a slight cord to fasten it. ”

“ You can prevent the flame from reaching the real handkerchief by tightly pressing your fingers. Then exclaim: “Oh, where is the dime?” and while picking it up from the table, get quietly rid of the pieces of cambric with their burnt edges into a hat or some corner unseen by the audience.
Holding up the dime which you had just lifted from the table say: “But to complete my trick I must replace this dime in the centre of the restored handkerchief, whence it was cut out.” ”

“ I have before suggested that a genuine blackguard is never without a pocket-handkerchief. But it is not to this fact that I now especially advert. That it was not through want of a handkerchief for the purpose imagined by Le Commerciel, that this bandage was employed, is rendered apparent by the handkerchief left in the thicket; and that the object was not ‘to prevent screams’ appears, also, from the bandage having been employed in preference to what would so much better have answered the purpose. ”

“ A pocket-handkerchief, at the best, is but a menial appliance, and it is bad taste to make it an object of attraction. FINE, it may be, for that conveys an idea of delicacy in its owner; but ornamented beyond reason, never. Look what a tawdry and vulgar thing an embroidered slipper is on a woman's foot."
"Yes, I grant you that, but everybody cannot have hundred-dollar handkerchiefs, though they may have embroidered slippers. I shall wear my purchase at Miss Trotter's ball to-night."
To this Clara made no objection, though she still looked disapprobation of her purchase. ”

“ I believe it is in FEMALE "human nature" to admire every thing that is graceful and handsome, and especially when it takes the form of needle-work. The sweet girls praised handkerchief after handkerchief, until I was laid before them, when their pleasure extracted exclamations of delight. All was done so quietly, however, and in so lady-like a manner, that the attention of no person in the shop was drawn to them by this natural indulgence of surprise. ”

“ When the hands are brought together the false finger is quickly taken off, the handkerchief is pulled out and shown to the audience. In laying the handkerchief on the table the finger is placed there with it, or is retained in the hand and afterward pocketed.
Fastened to the performer's left arm, just below the elbow and under his coat sleeve, is a strong cord—a piece of fine fish-line is excellent—which passes up the sleeve, through the armholes of his vest, across his back, and down the right sleeve, where it ends in a loop placed over the right thumb. ”