History

Ralph W. Hull was born in Crooksville, Ohio

Crooksville, Ohio

Crooksville is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States, along Moxahala Creek. The population was 2,483 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Hull pottery, one of the best known Ohio potteries.-Geography:...

 and grew up to be an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 magician (specialty card magic) and magic author who invented a number of commercial effects, including the Mirage Deck (1934), and the Mental Photography Deck / Nudist Deck (1934).

He was also involved in his family business, the well known Hull Pottery

Hull pottery

Hull Pottery began production in 1905 in Crooksville, Ohio, under the leadership of Addis Emmet Hull . The A.E. Hull Pottery Company's early lines consisted of common utilitarian stoneware, semi-porcelain dinnerware and decorative tile...

 manufacturing company out of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. He is best known for the mechanical decks he developed using his rough and smooth principle.

Ralph W. Hull was also a performer at Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

 as the Chautauqua

Chautauqua

Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...

 & Lyceum

Lyceum

The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...

headliner.

Published works

• Eye-Openers (1932)
• More Eye-Openers (1933)
• Modernism in Pasteboards (with Nelson C. Hahne) (1934)
• Smart Magic (with Nelson C. Hahne) (1935)
• Fifteen Minutes With A Rope (1937)
• The Testament of Ralph W. Hull by Trevor Hall (1945)

External links

• Discussion of the Ralph Hull's Tuned Deck