a photograph shows Ehrich Weiss at the age of 13 when he was a messenger boy for a deparment store in New York. He is a good-looking boy with a ready smile. At this age, he already seems to know how to get people's attention. Ehrich was then living with his family on East 69th Street. When he was 16, his father became ill and unable to work. Ehrich and his brothers worked long hours at any job they could find. From the department store, Ehrich moved to a necktie factory.
that the factory, Ehrich worked nine or ten hours a day. That did not leave him much free time, but he made good use of every minute. He joined the Pastime Athletic Club and competed in swimming and running. Another photograph from this period shows him with athletic medals pinned to his running shirt. He is clearly very pround, a young man who would not accept anything but first place.
most of his free time, however, was spent practicing magic tricks. one of his brothers, Theo, had learned how to do a few magic tricks and taught them to Ehrich. At the factory,he made friends with Jacob Hyman, who was also interested in magic. they learned more tricks and practiced together whenever they could. Ehrich also found out about magic tricks through books. he often stopped to look through the used books that were sold on the street in those days. in fact, throughout his life, he loved books and reading. At the time of his death, he had an enormous collection of books on magic.