Embedded Files
Introduction
A little-known aspect of the Möbius strip is that of the interest of famous French balloonist and more, Gaston Tissandier (1843–1899)*. In La Nature (1887), incidentally of which he founded, and Récréations Scientifique (1888), he discusses the Möbius strip in effect as a magic trick, with three bands to be cut (possibly based on earlier reports from Austria). Later (1902), Tissandier’s presentation was picked up by the magic community and was titled as the ‘Afghan Bands’, which propagated his presentation (i.e. three bands with different twists, with cuts), albeit generally without credit, although leading to ongoing discussion in magic circles to the present day.
The Möbius strip advancement owes a lot to Tissandier, although he is rarely mentioned in its history, and even when he is, it is largely in a lightweight manner. This essay is an attempt at establishing his understated significance. To this end, I here show a compilation of all pictures (of the engraving) I have found, and how it was dispersed, extremely quickly, after the initial publication, throughout the world.
For the investigation, I have mined various archives, including Google Books, Internet Archive, and newspaper archives (British Newspaper Archive, Chronicling America, NewspaperArchive, Trove, and Magic, with Conjuring Arts). However, French archives are a noticeable omission. I found Gallica particularly hard to use. An investigation of this nature can never be considered complete (with ongoing additions and other inaccessible foreign archives), but it is hard to imagine that anything significant that will advance the study will be found other than that given.
* It is not exactly certain to whom the article should be credited. At the end of the piece is a byline with ‘Dr Z’, with the engraving credited to (Louis) Poyet. Simply stated, it appears that Tissandier has nothing to do with this beyond overseeing! However, given that he is the editor, I reference this article by his name for the sake of simplicity and succinctness. Out of interest, Louis Poyet is well known as an illustrator. Dr Z is less so, and is effectively anonymous (neither David Mitchell, who has looked at this, nor I could find anything on him).
List 1 - At-a-Glance Chronology of References
An observation here is how skewed the distribution is; all are of historical instances, and not modern-day. Simply stated, there appears to have been a fad at the beginning of the 19th century, before quickly tailing off in the 20th Century, with the ‘latest’ instance over 100 years ago! Where the author is known, I give a name, and when not, I simply give the newspaper title.
1887
[1]. ‘Les Anneaux de Papier’. La Nature, January 1.
[2]. ‘Experiment with Paper Rings’. Scientific American. February 12.
[3] The Popular Science News and Boston Journal of Chemistry (US). March.
[4] Town and Country Journal, Sydney, NSW (Australia), 28 May.
[5] Atchison Daily Globe (US), September 6.
[6] Aurora Daily Express (US), September 9.
[7] New Brunswick Daily Times (US), September 9.
[8] Kingston Daily British Whig (Canada), September 10.
[9] Terre Haute Saturday Evening Mail (US), September 10.
[10] United Opinion (US), September 16.
[11] St. Joseph Daily Gazette (US), September 22.
[12] Cincinnati Commercial Gazette (US), October 9.
[13] Monroeville Weekly Breeze (US), November 10.
[14] Manning Times (US), December 14.
1888
[15] ‘Les Anneaux de Papier’. Les Récréations Scientifiques. 5th ed.
[16] ‘Tricks with Paper Rings’. The Gatherer. Cassell's Family Magazine.
[17] The Swiss Cross. A Monthly Magazine of Popular Science.
[18] ‘Trick with Paper Rings’. Knowledge.
1889
[19] John Harvey Kellogg (editor). Health Reformer.
[20] Henry Frith and Gaston Tissandier. Half Hours of Scientific Amusement.
1890
[21] J. D. Champlin et al. The Young Folk's Cyclopædia of Games and Sports.
1893
[22] ‘A Curious Experiment with Paper Rings’. The Picture Magazine.
1896
[23] ‘Los anillos de papel’. Repertorio Completo de Todos los Juegos.
1904
[24] Clevedon Mercury and Courier (UK), Saturday, December 17.
[25] Bridlington Free Press (UK), Friday, December 23.
[26] St. John's Wood, Kilburn, and Hampstead Advertiser (UK), Thursday, December 29.
[27] Northern Ireland Constitution (Northern Ireland), Saturday, December 31.
1905
[28] Cincinnati Commercial Tribune (US), June 4.
[29] Lamar Register (US), August 9.
[30] Sullivan Evening Times (US), August 9.
[31] Republic City News (US), August 10.
[32] Galena Tribune (US), August 16.
[33] Manti Messenger (US), August 17.
[34] Spanish Fork Press/Herald (US), August 17. (2)
[35] Cedar City Iron County Record (US), August 18. (2)
[36] Clinton Weekly Clintonian (US), August 18.
[37] Eureka Reporter (US), August 18.
[38] Mercur Miner (US), August 19. (2)
[39] Weekly Sentinel (US), August 19.
[40] Western Kansas World (US), August 19. (2)
[41] Danville Republican (US), August 24.
[42] Upland Monitor (US), September 14.
[43] Republican/Mountain Home Republican (US), September 19. (2)
[44] Sheridan Enterprise (US), October 6.
[45] Evening World/NewYork Evening World (US), November 13. (2)
[46] Wharfedale & Airedale Observer (UK), December 15.
[47] Wehman Bros’. New Book of One Hundred and Fifty Parlor Tricks and Games.
1906
[48] Decatur Daily Review (US), July 15.
[49] San Antonio Daily Light (US), July 15.
[50] Youngstown Sunday Vindicator (US), July 15.
[51] Dubuque Telegraph Herald (US), July 19.
[52] Ogden Standard (US), August 11.
[53] McHenry Plaindealer (US), September 27.
[54] Rhinelander New North (US), September 27.
[55] Tupelo Journal (US), September 28. (2)
[56] Marshall Clark County Herald (US), October 3.
[57] Oelwein Daily Register (US), October 3.
[58] Defiance Weekly Express (US), October 12.
[59] Beaver Herald (US), October 25. (2)
[60] Philadelphia Record (US), November 4.
1909
[61] Wellsville Allegany County Reporter (US), February 16.
[62] Sunday Chronicle (US), February 21.
[63] Middletown Daily News-Signal (US), February 25.
[64] Aberdeen Herald (US), March 1.
[65] Oxford Democrat (US), March 23.
[66] Astoria Morning Astorian (US), March 30. (2)
[67] Brookfield Courier (US), June 2.
[68] Washington Evening Journal (US), July 26.
1910
[69] ‘The Paper Rings.’ Magic, March.
1913
[70] Shelby Sun (US), 24 April.
[71] Ekalaka Eagle (US), April 25.
[72] Madison County Monitor (US), May 9.
1915
[73] Queenslander (Australia), Saturday, December 11.
1925
[74] Burton Observer and Chronicle (UK), Thursday, April 23.
1934
[75] Daily Record Young Folks’ Free Supplement, Saturday, January 20, 1934, p
The compilation shows a total of 14 Journals, Books and 59 newspapers. However, although there is a notable difference in frequency, the newspaper instances are not as such, all distinct, as syndication can be seen, Indeed, there is as much as * for one text!
Frequency
1887 (15)
1888 (4)
1889 (2)
1890 (1)
1893 (1)
1896 (1)
1904 (4)
1905 (20)
1906 (13)
1909 (8)
1910 (1)
1913 (3)
1915 (1)
1925 (1)
1934 (1)
Of note is the notable differences in frequency. Peak references, described as ‘intense interest’ occurred in 1887 (15), 1905 (20), 1906 (13), and 1909 (8). After that, the next year ‘minor interest’ was 1904 (4), and 1913 (3), with other years of only one occurrence, and some years has none! Quite what is the explanation for the ‘intense interest’ years is unclear. Another observation is that modern references are non existent! Save for one instance of 1934, it’s been a century since the last recording!
List 1 - Firsts by Country (Alphabetical)
Out of interest, I here list the various firsts.
Australia, newspaper 1887. Town and Country Journal, Sydney, NSW (Australia), May 28.
Canada, newspaper, 1887, Kingston Daily British Whig, September 10.
Spain, any, 1896. ‘Los anillos de papel’. Repertorio Completo de Todos los Juegos.
UK, any, 1888. ‘Tricks with Paper Rings’. The Gatherer. Cassell's Family Magazine.
UK, newspaper, 1904. The Clevedon Mercury and Courier, December 17.
US, any, 1887. ‘Experiment with Paper Rings’. Scientific American. February 12.
US, newspaper, 1887. Atchison Daily Globe (US), September 6.
US, magic, 1910. ‘The Paper Rings’. Magic, March.
Instances
For each entry, I give: (i) bibliographic information, (ii) the page from the publication, (iii) an excerpt of the text where this is long, and in full where it is short, (iv), a link, (v) the archive where sourced from, , (vi) syndication details, where applicable (newspapers). However, this is not always consistent; the reader will surely appreciate the practical difficulties involved in collating all this! Even so, any perceived shortcomings are not significant.
1887 (15)
[1] 1887. ‘Dr Z…’. ‘Les Anneaux de Papier’. Récréations Scientifiques. La Nature 709, 1st January 1887, p. 80.
Translated: The Paper Rings
The first reference. Given the significance, I show below in full the original French and an English translation. The implied presentation is of a magic trick, with three rings, albeit a ‘magic show’ is not implicit in the text. Essentially the same text (with a five-line ‘introductory’) and illustration are repeated in Tissandier’s compilation of articles in La Nature in Récréations Scientifiques. 5th ed., 1888, ‘Les anneaux de papier’, pp. 272–273.
Quoted by: David Mitchell
Gallica
French Original
Page 272
Les anneaux de papier. - Le petit jeu que nous allons faire connaître sous ce titre a le privilège d'exciter l'étonnement de ceux qui ne sont pas initiés à la manière d'opérer; il touche à des considérations géométriques très intéressantes. Nous allons donner d'abord la description du fait dont il s'agit.
Voici trois anneaux de papier 1, 2 et 3 (fig. 218); ils doivent être en réalité de très grand diamètre par rapport à leur hauteur, mais nous avons réduit sur notre figure les proportions de leur circonférence, afin de ne pas donner à la gravure une dimension exagérée.
Je vous donne d'abord l'anneau n° 1 avec une paire de ciseaux, et je vous prie de couper cet anneau suivant la ligne pointillée; on commence par faire une première entaille, et, prenant les ciseaux, on coupe tout droit devant soi en faisant tourner l'anneau au fur et à mesure qu'il est séparé, vous arrivez à faire le tour de l'anneau, et vous obtenez deux anneaux de papier qui sont représentés au-dessous en 1'. Le trait pointillé est indiqué sur la figure à titre d'indication, mais il ne se trouve pas en réalité sur les bandes de papier.
Je vous demande de procéder de la même façon avec l'anneau nº 2; vous coupez, en suivant la bandelette de papier, mais cette fois vous êtes tout surpris quand, après avoir parcouru la circonférence entière, vous vous trouvez avoir entre les mains un grand anneau 2', en un seul morceau, deux fois plus grand que le premier.
Voici maintenant le n° 3. Il va vous réserver encore une autre surprise aussi inattendue que la première. En le coupant de la même manière, vous avez encore un autre résultat et une autre surprise; vous obtenez deux anneaux passés l'un dans l'autre comme dans une chaîne, n° 3'.
Voici comment cette curieuse expérience se prépare: vous découpez des bandelettes de papier de 0",03 de largeur et de 1 mètre à 1,50 de longueur. Vous prenez la première bandelette et vous en collez les deux extrémités directement comme on le voit en 1, de manière que la même face de papier forme la
Page 273
surface extérieure de l'anneau; la seconde bandelette est collée après avoir donné au papier un mouvement de torsion sur luimême, c'est-à-dire que l'une des extrémités de la bandelette doit ètre collée avec la face opposée de l'autre extrémité; quant à la
[Engraving]
troisième bandelette, vous la collez après lui avoir donné deux torsions sur elle-mème. Vous laissez sécher la collure, et l'expérience est prête. Les torsions du papier sont d'autant moins apparentes et appréciables, que le diamètre de l'anneau est plus grand.
English Translation
Page 272
The Paper Rings. — The little trick that we are about to describe under this title has the privilege of astonishing anyone who is not familiar with the method; it touches on some very interesting geometric considerations. We shall begin by describing the phenomenon in question.
Here are three paper rings, numbered 1, 2, and 3 (fig. 218). In reality, they should have a very large diameter in proportion to their height, but in our illustration we have reduced the circumference so as not to give the engraving an exaggerated size.
I first hand you ring no. 1 along with a pair of scissors, and I ask you to cut this ring along the dotted line. You begin by making an initial notch, and then, taking the scissors, you cut straight ahead while turning the ring as it separates. You eventually make your way all around the ring, and you obtain two paper rings, shown below as 1'. The dotted line is indicated in the figure merely as a guide; it does not actually appear on the paper strips.
I now ask you to proceed in the same way with ring no. 2. You cut along the strip of paper, but this time you are quite surprised when, after going all the way around the circumference, you find yourself holding a large ring, 2', in a single piece, twice as big as the first.
Now here is no. 3. It will give you yet another surprise, just as unexpected as the first. Cutting it in the same manner produces a different result and a new surprise: you obtain two rings linked together like a chain, no. 3'.
Here is how this curious experiment is prepared: you cut strips of paper 0.03 m wide and from 1 to 1.5 metres long. You take the first strip and glue its two ends together directly, as shown in 1, so that the same side of the paper forms the
Page 273
outer surface of the ring; the second strip is glued after giving the paper a twist upon itself, that is to say, one end of the strip must be glued to the opposite face of the other end; as for the
{Engraving]
third strip, you glue it after giving it two twists upon itself. You let the glued joint dry, and the experiment is ready. The twists in the paper become all the less visible and noticeable as the diameter of the ring increases.
Publication. La Nature (English: Nature) was a French language magazine aimed at the popularisation of science established in 1873 by French scientist and adventurer Gaston Tissandier. The magazine also received an enormous amount of time, effort, and contributions from his brother, Albert Tissandier. From 1873 to 1914, each year's volume started at the beginning of December. The second six-month period began with the first issue in June. Starting in 1915, La Nature's publishing year was brought in sync with the calendar year. Wikipedia
This reference is not easily found in the full original. David Mitchell gives a link to the specific page:
https://www.origamiheaven.com/historyarticleinlanaturejanuary1887.htm
[2] ‘Experiment with Paper Rings’. Scientific American. February 12, 1887, p. 99.
The annexed engraving, from La Nature, shows the method of preparing paper rings for the performance of a curious experiment. Take three strips of paper 2 inches in width by from 2 to 3 feet in length; and with one of them form a ring, as shown in Fig. 1, by pasting the two ends together. Before pasting the ends of tho second ring give the paper a single twist Fig. 2, and before completing the third ring give the strip two twists. These twists in the completed rings (1 and 2) will be so much the less perceptible in proportion as their diameter is greater.
If we take a pair of scissors and cut through the circumference of ring No. 1 in the direction shown by the dotted lines, we shall obtain two rings, as shown in No. 1. Proceeding in the same way with ring No. 2, we shall obtain a single elongated ring, as shown in No. 2, and with No. 3, two rings which are connected like the links of a chain, as shown in No. 3. (ALL)
This is the earliest external print reference I have to the La Nature engraving. The translated text is noticeably shorter than the La Nature text and is not a like-for-like translation. The engraving is reproduced exactly (unlike some others, where the background is removed). Of note is how quickly this crossed over to the US; little over a month later! Investigating this with AI brought new insight as to this quick turnaround (More details are in the AI sandpit):
A turnaround of roughly five weeks between La Nature (1 January 1887) and Scientific American (12 February 1887) was quick, but not anomalous for the period. In fact, it sits at the efficient end of a well‑established transatlantic exchange system that had been operating for decades…
Google Books
[3] The Popular Science News and Boston Journal of Chemistry. Vol. XXI, Number 3, Boston, March 1887, p. 33.
Take three strips of paper and paste the ends together so as to form a ring. Then cut around the center, as shown by the dotted rings…
In the column ‘Familiar Science - Scientific Recreations’ with a brief discussion amid other popular science (including incidentally Hooper’s Paradox (1774) and another from Tissandier/Poyet). Tissandier is not credited in the text. Likely derived from the Scientific American piece, although it is not like-for-like. Incidentally, the same text is repeated in:
John Harvey Kellogg, (editor), James Thomas Case. Good Health, Good Health Publishing Company, London, England, New York; Oakland Cal, Battle Creek Mich, Vol XXIV, 1889, p. 145.
Publication.
(1) Popular science news, formerly Boston Journal of Chemistry. A popular illustrated monthly devoted to the progress in zoology, botany, mineralogy, archaeology, hygiene, invention, with related physical sciences and general scientific information. Internet Archive
(2) The Popular Science News and Boston Journal of Chemistry was a U.S.‑based popular‑science periodical that evolved from a specialist chemistry journal into a broad, illustrated monthly covering many scientific fields. It was published in Boston and later New York, and it served as an accessible bridge between professional science and the general reading public. AI Copilot
Google Books
[4] Town and Country Journal, Sydney, NSW (Australia), Saturday, 28 May, 1887, p. 28.
Experiments with Paper Rings
Experiments with Paper Rings
The annexed engraving, from La Nature, shows the method of preparing paper rings for the performance of a curious experiment. Take three strips of paper 2 inches in width by from 2 to 3 feet in length; and with one of them form a ring, as shown in Fig. 1, by pasting the two ends together. Before pasting the ends of tho second ring give the paper a single twist Fig. 2, and before completing the third ring give the strip two twists. These twists in the completed rings (1 and 2) will be so much the less perceptible in proportion as their diameter is greater. If we take a pair of scissors and cut through the circumference of ring No. 1 in the direction shown by the dotted lines, we shall obtain two rings, as shown in No. 1. Proceeding in the same way with ring No. 2, we shall obtain a single elongated ring, as shown in No. 2, and with No. 3, two rings which are connected like the links of a chain, as shown in No. 3. (ALL)
Of the utmost historical importance; the first known newspaper report of any country, and, amazingly, as far apart from France as possible, namely Australia! The text is exactly the same as that from the Scientific American article (February 12, 1887), including the title, text and paragraph break, and so is thus likely derived from there.
Perhaps surprisingly so, given its wide syndication in the US, this appears to be the only reference in Trove, i.e. not syndicated elsewhere in Australia. Two days were spent looking, albeit not entirely futile, in that I looked for Möbius strips in the round. Also, its noteworthy in its isolation, four months before the US papers picked up on it.
Trove (Australia)
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