John Paul Jones Mystery Picture

This 1934 "Mystery Picture" of John Paul Jones is a two-inch square paper card from the Gensburg Manufacturing Company. It is also called a "Wall Optical Illusion" in Cracker Jack records. Other cards in the series have images of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt; the cards are not marked Cracker Jack. Some of the cards are not perfectly centered or perfectly cut squares; for example, one Roosevelt card is approximately 2" wide x 2 1/4" tall.

By following the instructions printed on the back of the card, the viewer "sees" a negative afterimage of the portrait. But since the image on the card is a negative to begin with, the afterimage is a positive: a negative of a negative yields a positive. Give it a try with the John Paul Jones card above. As the back of the card directs, "Look steadily at dots [nose] in center of picture until you have counted 45; then look at sky or light wall for 15 seconds and see a photographic likeness appear and reappear."

Or better yet, click on the image of Theodore Roosevelt below to experiment with a larger image. It is taken from another card in the set, but the surrounding circular border has been removed to eliminate any visual distraction. Once finished, click on that image to return to this page.

Another similar set of 6 afterimage cards was used as a Cracker Jack prize series in 1945. But the cards of the second set are smaller and rectangular, and have "Magic Picture" printed along the top. And the images are less detailed than those of the first series. One of the cards in this group features George Washington.

Apparently, the second series of magic cards was supplied by two different companies. Documents refer to the cards as "Mystic Pictures" from Strathmore Press and also as "Shadow Cards" from the Cardy Lundmark Company.

The instructions on the back are about the same as those for the first series, but vary somewhat: "Hold the card in both hands; look steadily without blinking at the small dot near the center of the picture and count slowly to 50. Then -- look up at the sky, day or night, or at a blank wall and after a moment the image will appear greatly enlarged. The image will appear and disappear several times if you keep looking at the same spot for about ten seconds."