Spool and Silk Trick. Los Angeles: F.G. Thayer, 1940s. One of four spools of thread, each of a different color, is chosen and dropped into a tight-fitting metal canister. On command, the thread vanishes from the spool, which is dropped from the canister, and handed out for examination. The thread is reproduced elsewhere. The spectators are also allowed a clear view through the canister, which has a large hole in its bottom. Height of canister 3?. The first example we have encountered. Rare. The plans for this little-known Thayer effect are pictured in Appendix B of Keep the Wheels Turning (the Carl Owen book). No record of the trick can be located in Thayer?s catalogs.