Here is a Youtube video from THE REAL HUSTLE-The purse swindle. It is all but identical to Soapy Smith's Prize Package Soap Sell Racket (so named in 1885). Enjoy!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65rz00Fkcyk"></a>

You mean this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65rz00Fkcyk

Thank you Steve!

When I was a kid, there were a couple of guys who ran a stand at the County Fair each year. They ran this scam with cheap gold plated chains, selling them initially for $1, but putting a $5 bill in one of the boxes. This eventually went to $10, then $20, as the price of the chains went up to $2, then $5 (quite a bit, in 1960). Even though many people were on to the scam (My dad took his vacation each year so that he could work for the County Fair Organization, and warned me about it) the authorities never seemed to bother them, so I guess the fix was in.
It was a lot of fun to watch, the guys' pitch patter was glib and entertaining, and it got to be like watching a familiar play. Thanks for posting this, Soapy!
Don

Great stuff Don. It is all the same trick, with the only difference being what the public will bid on. More than likely soap would not work on today's public. It worked for Soapy, but why? Was soap that wanted of an item or was it Soapy's grand personality...able to sell a leopard his own spots.

It was Wilson Mizner, a member of the Soap Gang up in Skagway who later became involved in the workings of Hollywood that in preparation of a Soapy film went out on the street to try the Prize Package Soap Sell Racket...and failed miserably. I always felt it was Mizner's problem but perhaps it was the use of soap. Had he used candy or purses he may have succeeded.

Jeff Smith

Heck, Willy Wonka is based on this. Buy candy bars and find a golden ticket...

Lots of major corporations use this as a marketing ploy. I guess it is legal for some, depending on how big you are. Isn't this the whole idea behind the lottory too? Maybe I should scratch those tickets with a bar of soap.

The difference is that Wonka actually had tickets inside his bars. Lol.

Paul Wilson really knows his business!@