The thing that made this trick catch on so intently everywhere in the world.

I think there's many reasons for it.

One of them that the magician wasn't doing this trick to an inanimate object.

He was doing it to a human being, which raised it up to a whole new level.

And you also have to put it into perspective what was happening in the world at that time?

Well, one of the big things that was happening was women's suffrage.

The women wanted the right to vote.

The women wanted equal rights.

And now, at that moment, along comes P.T. Selbit and says equal rights,

and he takes a lady and puts her in a box and cuts her into two pieces.

It just completely flew into the face of what the world was trying to achieve at that time.