For the earliest versions of the effect as it is known today, see Marlo's “Penetration” in The Sphinx, Vol. 47 No. 4, June 1948, p. 89 (later reprinted in The Cardician, 1953, p. 46), Dr. Jacob Daley's “Jacob's Ladder” in The Sphinx, Vol. 50 No. 5, Sep. 1951, p. 159, and Bill Simon's “Elevator Cards” in Effective Card Magic, 1952, p. 43.

An early somewhat related trick is Samuel Pavloff's “What's Up?” in Hugard's Magic Monthly, Vol. 6 No. 7, Dec. 1948, p. 494. It required twelve extra Aces and a more belabored procedure of moving cards from packet to packet before the climax.

The first version that featured the last card changing color was J. K. Hartman's “One Way or the Other” in Packet Magic, 1972, p. 13. Seven months later Roy Walton contributed “Ambitious 1-2-3-4” to Pallbearers Review, Vol. 7 No. 11, Sep. 1972, p. 559, which has a similar ending.

• Category in Denis Behr's "Conjuring Archive"