One of my favourite things to do with a traditional paperfolding design is to play around with it and see if it will yield something new. You might think that the possibilities inherent in traditional designs have already been explored so thoroughly that there is nothing new to discover … but I have found that this is often not the case.
Edwin - Yes, please email the details! The video references my original Magic Hat post in the comments but I'm delighted to learn there are other modern references to the Magic Hat and, if I understand you correctly, to the Two-Way Magic Hat as well. Maybe this will help unravel the mystery of where this design has been hiding ... apparently in plain sight!
Another largely overlooked fold that's worthy of attention! I don't know whether to add this as a comment to the Magic Hat post or this one, but the basic fold appears in a number of German books from the 1950s and 1960s as a "Zaubertüte" (Magic Bag), or "Magic Cornucopia" in an English translation of one of them. It's presented as a simple magic trick where you fold to step 6 of your diagrams above and then make a coin appear or vanish using the two pockets in the triangle. I can email you the details. Also search online for "Zaubertüte". And I even found a very recent video (posted 10 days ago) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn2Cx_hPbqM.
Edwin - Yes, please email the details! The video references my original Magic Hat post in the comments but I'm delighted to learn there are other modern references to the Magic Hat and, if I understand you correctly, to the Two-Way Magic Hat as well. Maybe this will help unravel the mystery of where this design has been hiding ... apparently in plain sight!
Mike N - Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, I had fun inventing that story. Glad you like it.
Another largely overlooked fold that's worthy of attention! I don't know whether to add this as a comment to the Magic Hat post or this one, but the basic fold appears in a number of German books from the 1950s and 1960s as a "Zaubertüte" (Magic Bag), or "Magic Cornucopia" in an English translation of one of them. It's presented as a simple magic trick where you fold to step 6 of your diagrams above and then make a coin appear or vanish using the two pockets in the triangle. I can email you the details. Also search online for "Zaubertüte". And I even found a very recent video (posted 10 days ago) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn2Cx_hPbqM.
This is quite wonderful! I assume that 'The Tale of the Poisoner's Hat' is your own invention? Very nicely done. :-)