It's worth remembering that DB cards were not known to very many magicians in 1919, and it's likely that Vernon made his own by hand. Bess Houdini was a godmother to one of Vernons kids, and knew Vernon well. I remember reading somewhere that Bess Houdini told Vernon years later that Houdini attempted many times to figure the trick out, only to get angry and frustrated when he couldn't. (although it would have been a great way to get the gaff away from the top of the deck if he wanted to flash a few of the top cards to Houdini when Vernon himself decided he would end the trick).
It seems unlikely Vernon would have placed the DB card in the middle of the deck when he knew that Houdini was going to ask him to show him again. Which is not to say that the DB card couldn't have gone into the middle of the deck for the last display, it probably could have as the DB card wasn't needed further if the display was over.īut Houdini kept pestering Vernon to keep showing him the trick so he could try to figure it out. That trick used a DB card and required that card to go into the deck in the second position. The footage of Cervon and 'the hands' may well be an AC routine, but it's not 'The Trick That Fooled Houdini' as described by Vernon himself his 'The Vernon Touch' column in Genii.
