Zinga Lee fortune telling cards
- Bib ID:
- 8078560
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Lee, Zinga, 1861?-1945, author
- Description:
-
- Melbourne : Pub. by M.P. Adams, Magician, [between 1903 and 1921?]
- 52 cards : illustrations ; 8.9 x 6.4 cm + instruction card (8.3 x 5.9 cm)
- Summary:
-
A set of fortune telling cards with a word or catchphrase overprinted on a deck of playing cards.
- Biography/History:
-
Zinga Lee (real name Annie Cartwright, known professionally as Stevens) was a Melbourne fortune-teller first recorded in newspaper advertisements touring Launceston and Geelong in 1893. In Geelong she was described as “the only real Gipsy at the present time travelling the Australian colonies,” and was travelling with Stevens & Archibald, whose main attraction (until his unexpected death) was Jumbo, the monster alligator (an 18 ft. 6 in. [5.6 m] crocodile from Queensland). In the late 1890s Zinga Lee had a stall in Melbourne's Eastern Market (fronting Bourke and Exhibition streets). She wired herself up to give patrons a faint electric tingle when she shook their hands or read their palms, but on 10 April 1899 became even more famous after she was attacked by Professor Medor, a rival stall holder (real name Emery Gordon Medor), who attempted to shoot and club her with his pistol after she laughed at him when somebody hung a bunch of radishes on his door. She was not seriously injured, but her husband, Frank Cartwright, who came to her aid, died after he was shot in the head and virtually decapitated by Medor, who was later found insane. The Melbourne Waxworks subsequently added Zinga Lee to their attractions, where she doubled as a ticket seller (and the sculptor who modelled her is reported to have so admired her arms so that he used them again for Queen Victoria). After the conclusion of the court case, she embarked on a tour from late 1899 to late 1901, which took her to Bowral, Berrima, Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Cooma, Brisbane, Braidwood, Goulburn again, Crookwell, Yass, Bendigo and Echuca. These cards were probably developed after her return to Melbourne to capitalise on her fame.
- Notes:
-
- Title from box.
- "Copyright registered."
- Dates based on advertisements in The Clipper (Hobart, Tas.), 31 January 1903, page 7, foot of column f, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83633968, and The Brisbane Courier. 28 April 1921, page 11, column f, Shaw & Sons, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20461655, viewed 25 October 2019.
- National Library of Australia's copy has been well used. Some of the overprinting is difficult to read. The ace of spades (designated Death Misfortune) has the same back but the front (face) has a more ornate design with an Advance Australia emu and kangaroo emblem. The side of the original box is missing. The instruction card has the same patterned back but is hand-trimmed to a smaller size and not waxed, varnished or coated like the other playing cards. The Library also holds the related 38 page book of instructions: Zinga Lee fortune-telling by cards / by the original Zinga Lee.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Adams, M. P. (Marmion Percy), publisher
- Also Titled:
- Fortune telling cards
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Playing card collection.
This collection contains 1 records. - Copyright:
-
Out of Copyright
You may copy or order a copy through Copies Direct or use the online copy for research or study; for other uses Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Creator Date of Death is Before 1955
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
- Presumed date of death of creator (latest date):
- 1945
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1921
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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