Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

The above is the drawing-room form of the trick. Upon the stage, it is slightly varied. The same kind of bottle is used, but the internal provision of reels and ribbons is removed, so that the bottle remains a simple tin bottle, open at the bottom, with the funnel-shaped passage already mentioned extending through its entire length. The performer, having poured out a glass or two of wine, places the bottle on a stool or table, through the pillar of which is a hole or passage communicating with a corresponding hole in the stage. Beneath this is stationed the performer’s assistant, who is provided with a large number of various coloured ribbons, and a thin rod of three or four feet in length, with a small point or blunt pin at the top. The performer takes care always to repeat in an audible voice the name of the colour called for. This is a signal to the assistant to hitch one end of the ribbon in question on the top of the rod, and hold it in readiness beneath the stage. He does not, however, push it up through the bottle until warned by the sound of the tap of the wand on the bottle that the performer is ready to receive it. The performer, on his part, takes care, before tapping the bottle, to place his thumb upon the mouth, so as to prevent the rod passing too far. Sometimes a combination of colours is asked for, as, for instance, the tricolour, or any other national group of colours.