Carter Beats The Devil - Allusions/references To Actual History, Geography and Current Science

Allusions/references To Actual History, Geography and Current Science

Carter Beats The Devil draws on so much actual history it is difficult to know where history leaves off and fiction begins.

• The main character, Carter the Great, is based on Charles Joseph Carter, an actual magician whose biography was written by Mike Caveney. An article about the real Charles Joseph Carter was written by John R. Browne III and published in the winter 2001 edition of the "Frisco Cricket", a periodical produced by the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation. As of 15 November 2007 an online copy of the article was available at the foundation's website here.
• Harry Houdini, Warren G. Harding, Philo Farnsworth, Francis Marion "Borax" Smith, Max Friz, Tessie Wall, Jessie Hayman, and Joe Sullivan amongst others featured in the story were all real people.
• Carter meets The Marx Brothers while they are still performing as a sketch troupe called "Fun In Hi-Skule", which is an actual act the brothers performed as young men. They are referred in the book by their actual names Adolph, Leonard and Julius instead of Harpo, Chico and Groucho.
• The slow decline of the music hall and theatre industry in the face of cinema, radio and eventually television is portrayed in the book.
• The central plot revolves around the apparent murder of United States President Warren G. Harding. In fact President Harding did die on the date given in the book, in a San Francisco hotel, however the cause was pneumonia after a bout of food poisoning. (Before the development of penicillin based medicines pneumonia and similar common infections were often fatal, even for those with access to the best medical care.) Also referred to are a large number of political scandals that plagued President Harding's administration.
• Philo Farnsworth did invent a form of electronic television (see History of television) and many elements of his design continued to be used with Cathode Ray Tube television sets throughout their production.
• Borax Smith, real name Francis Marion Smith, was an American business magnate and real estate developer who constructed much of Oakland, California.