Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold, Part II

E and I met some friends for dinner at Flora's Diner in Oakland on Wednesday. Nice place, good food. Before I could turn my attention fully to the menu, I noticed the only piece of art on the one available wall: a huge framed poster in the early 1900's style, that looked eerily familiar. In huge letters across the top, it read, "Carter the Great."

Wait a minute...

"Hey! That looks like the cover of a book I have!" I could tell this was going to be one of those conversations. Where everyone looks at me like I've just arrived from outer space. "It's like one of my favorite books! Carter Beats the Devil!" They were all nodding just to be polite, it was obvious. I kept staring at it-- I'm sure it wasn't the same as the book cover. But then what what the explanation?

E caught my attention. "Look, they have a drink called 'Carter Beats the Devil." Curiouser and curiouser. Of course, I ordered it-- a no-brainer. (Excellent drink: spicy, with a kick.)

When I got home, I poked around the internet. I recalled that the book took place in Oakland, and I wondered if maybe Glen David Gold had anything to do with the restaurant. I couldn't find any links between them, though. Maybe the owner of the restaurant just really loved either magicians or the book, or both. Turns out that, according to Wikipedia, magician Charles Joseph Carter was born in 1874 in San Francisco.

Due to stiff competition from the number of magic acts on the American stages at the time, Carter opted to pursue his career abroad, where he achieved his greatest fame. Among the highlights of Carter's stage performances during his career were the classic "sawing a woman in half" illusion (an elaborate surgical-themed version with "nurses" in attendance), making a live elephant disappear and "cheating the gallows", where a shrouded Carter would vanish, just as he dropped at the end of a hangman's noose.

I also found a website that sold vintage magic marquee posters, and did offer the very same poster that was on the wall of the Flora's Diner. The book, Carter Beats the Devil, is a fictionalized account of his life. Glen David Gold also lives in San Francisco.

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold