"An Open Letter to Harry Houdini"

Repost from May 13, 2022, with an update.

Here's a curiosity from the September 11, 1925 Pittsburg Post. I'd love to know whether this "Open Letter" was the Aldine Theater manager's idea alone, or if he and Houdini cooked it up together as a nice bit of cross-promotion. Houdini was performing his "3 Shows in One" at the Alvin Theater in Pittsburgh this week.

The Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 11, 1925

Did Houdini take Mr. Sidney up on his offer? Afraid I don't know the answer, but I'm sure the medium-debunking theme of the movie would have met with his approval.

Despite being a work by Dracula and Freaks director Tod Browning, today, Wikipedia calls The Mystic "a little-known film with a cast of now-forgotten names."

UPDATE: The Mystic has now been released on Blu-ray as part of a special 3-film set of Tod Browning films that includes Freaks (1932) and The Unknown (1927). Below is a review from one of my favorite YouTubers. He does long and very technical reviews. The Mystic is the first of the three films he reviews.  Learning more about the plot, this certainly does seem to be a film that would have interested Houdini, and one he would have supported.

You can buy Tod Browning's Sideshow Shockers on Blu-ray and DVD at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Related:

• The Grimm Life Collective: Houdini in Pittsburgh
• Houdini helps a fellow Hungarian from beyond
• Hardeen among the celluloid spirits

Postcard fever

Every month on my Patreon, I share a different vintage postcard from my growing collection. I also share the Houdini history connected to each card. This month's card is one I just received and is a little different. It features a theater that played an important role in Houdini's early career.

You can see this and all the cards I've shared by becoming a member. Hope to see you inside.

Related:

• Gladys Weiss postcard collection turns up in Texas
• To Gladys from Bess Houdini
• To Gladys from Hardeen

Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City

Today sees the opening of Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City. The exhibition runs from February 12 to July 11, 2026, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Shelby Cullom Davis Museum, Vincent Astor Gallery. Several Houdini treasures will be on show as part of the exhibition. Below are details.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a surge of magicians began to refine their art, finding larger audiences and building communities of practice. This period has come to be known as the Golden Age of Magic. The history of magic and magicians has long been documented through text and image as a form of theater by the Billy Rose Theatre Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Now, the exhibition Mystery and Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City will display our rich and historic archival materials related to the art of magic and the fascinating lives of magicians performing in New York City during the Golden Age.

Magic performance in this period was deeply intertwined with the traditions of spiritualism, vaudeville, circus, and mainstream theater, and innovations in publishing, science, and technology were also a major influence. The exhibition explores how magic knowledge was passed down through communities and lineages of magicians within an evolving cultural and social context.

The exhibition showcases rare items from the collection of Dr. Saram Ellison, co-founder of the Society of American Magicians, as well as important books and artifacts that evoke an early 20th-century magic shop. Through a curated display of photographs, programs, correspondence, artifacts, and original posters the exhibition will also trace the lives and careers of such major magicians as Harry Kellar, Alexander and Adelaide Herrmann, Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Dell O’Dell and many others, exploring the wondrous world of the Golden Age of Magic.

This exhibition is organized by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and curated by Annemarie van Roessel, Assistant Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Our good friend Charles Greene III attended the opening yesterday and sent this image from the official program. Look what appears in their list of recommended reading. Honored.

For more information, visit the Mystery and Wonder page at the New York Public Library website.

Related:

• Houdini treasures at NYPL exhibition preview
• "America's Sensation!" on display at the NYPL
• NYPL Digital Gallery invites us into Houdini's backyard

Bess appears in 'Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply Disappeared'

On this 83rd anniversary of the death of Bess Houdini, here's a unique book that brings her to life. Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply Disappeared by Anna Hays tells the story of seven female magicians, including our Bess.

Discover the amazing illustrated stories of seven women magicians who pulled off spectacular and death-defying illusions and acts, achieved global fame, and then simply...disappeared.

During the Golden Age of Magic from 1860 to 1930, seven women magicians in America defied Victorian conventions and created a unique place in history for themselves and future performers to come. There was Anna, the mindreader; Adelaide, who could float in midair; Talma, who could magically shower the stage with gold coins...and many more!

During a time when women were typically confined to the home, these trailblazers crossed oceans on steamships and traveled the globe bringing their imaginative brand of magic to audiences around the world. They followed their hearts and pursued their dreams of performing magic in the spotlight when women had neither a vote nor a voice in America.

They made history. Yet once their career ended, so did their legacy.

For decades their stories were hidden, or overshadowed by male counterparts, but now they've come to life in this vibrant and captivating book.

You can buy Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply Disappeared at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Thanks to our magical friend Janet Davis for the alert.

Want more? You can listen to Marie Hinson's wild and very personal recollection of her sister's death as a member of my Patreon by clicking below.

Related:

• Beatrice Houdini
• Happy 150th birthday Bess
• Bess makes her final journey

David Copperfield's Shark Tank shoot

History By Mail recently returned to the television show Shark Tank, and part of that episode featured a tour of David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts. Below is a terrific behind-the-scenes clip from the History By Mail Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by History By Mail (@historybymail)

Check out History By Mail's Houdini offering HERE.

Related:

• The Dream Big Folio: Houdini’s Illusion That Inspired David Copperfield
• 100 years ago Houdini vanished an elephant
• My incredible week inside the Copperfield collection

Did John Bengtson make one last Houdini discovery?

Earlier this week, I shared the sad news of the death of John Bengtson, historian, silent movie location expert, and all-around great guy. In 2012, John helped uncover many locations from The Grim Game. At the time, I asked John if he could identify some of the locations from Terror Island, particularly the rustic streets outside Harry Harper's home at the start of the film. John admitted that the location had him stumped.

Fast-forward to seven months ago, when John posted the video below about the locations for Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother. John's video is well worth watching in full.

As you can see, much of it was shot on the Lasky Ranch in Burbank. While I knew the site of what is today Forest Lawn Cemetery was used to shoot the battle scenes for Birth of a Nation and was the original site of Universal, I never knew it was associated with Famous Players-Lasky. Of course, Famous Players-Lasky made Terror Island. So as soon as I saw this video, I wondered if the Terror Island town could have been shot at the Lasky Ranch?

Something that argues for this. There are several shots in which the street is visible through the window of Harry Harper's room. This suggests the room was an open set, which would best be built on a backlot.

I planned to email John to ask what he thought about this idea. But I delayed, and now that isn't possible. But what is possible is that the late great John Bengtson finally found the elusive Terror Island town.

Related:

• John Bengtson has passed away
• Discovering Terror Island
• Terror at the Hot Springs

POLL: Slipcase or savings?

I'm considering offering my upcoming chronology book in both slipcased and non-slipcased editions. If I do this, which one would you buy? I'm opening this Patreon poll to the public to get the best sample. Just click the image below. Thank you!

I will be selling this book through my new online store and publishing house, Wild About Harry PRESS, where I'm currently offering signed and discounted editions of Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899. If you haven't had a browse, please check it out!

Related:

• Wild About Harry PRESS is open for business
• ANNOUNCEMENT: I'M DONE WITH HOUDINI!
• YOU CAN NOW OWN HOUDINI'S FIRST DIARY

Ruth Kavanaugh on "To Tell The Truth" in 1972

Here's a fun find. On December 26, 1972, Houdini's niece Ruth Kavanaugh (daughter of Bess's sister Marie) appeared on the show To Tell The Truth. For those unfamiliar with the show, the premise was that three people would all claim to be the same person, and a panel of celebrities would attempt to guess which was the real person. On this episode (#0892), the celebrity panel was: Bill Cullen, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean, and Kitty Carlisle.

The High Point Enterprise, Dec 26, 1972.

I asked our friend John Hinson about this, and he does remember watching it. But this was before home video, so he doesn't have a copy. And before someone asks, no, she did not bring the Mirror Handcuffs (Ruth owned them at this time). Does anyone else remember seeing this?

I would sure love to see this episode. There is a YouTube channel devoted to uploading complete seasons of To Tell the Truth, but it has yet to reach the 1970s.

Related:

• Meet the man who sleeps in Houdini's bed
• Remembering Celeste Evans
• AUDIO: Marie Hinson remembers her sister Bess Houdini

John Bengtson has passed away

I'm very sad to learn that the great John Bengtson has passed away. John was a giant among film historians and THE man when it came to finding silent movie locations. He was an incredible researcher and sleuth, and a true inspiration. He shared his discoveries in several books and on his YouTube channel, Silent Locations. He was also a very nice guy who was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. In 2015, he hunted down several locations from Houdini's The Grim Game. I'll share links below. As a specialized historian, he seems irreplaceable. His work lives on through his books and videos, but he will be missed. 

Happy travels, my friend.

Hollywood Heritage

I encourage you to visit John's Silent Locations YouTube Channel, website, and pick up his books: Silent Traces, Silent Echoes, and Silent Visions.

Below are some of John's Houdini-related discoveries that I have shared here over the years:

John Bengtson uncovers Grim Game filming locations

More Grim Game locations identified by John Bengtson

John Bengtson finds Houdini's crash site

The Grim Game house

Houdini's great wall

The Grim Game jail break behind the scenes

The Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd (and Houdini!) alley

The Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd (and Houdini) Alley video

LINK: Houdini solves a Charlie Chaplin mystery!

Houdini in the Cahuenga alley

Locating Houdini's lion

Houdini's Westlake leap

Searching for Houdini at "The Old Vic"

The Old Vic near its end. Strourbridge.com

I recently found an article in the April 5, 1958, Stourbridge News about the restoration of "The Old Vic" theater (aka Victoria Music Hall, aka Victoria Cinema) in Lye. The paragraph below is what caught my eye.

Stourbridge News, April 5, 1958.

Unfortunately, I have no record of Houdini at the Victoria in Lye or anywhere in Stourbridge. I am a bit skeptical. This was a very small theater, not affiliated with any of the music hall circuits Houdini played. And as far as I can find, it opened in January 1914. This doesn't leave much time for Houdini to have been there. I have two open weeks for him in 1914: January 5-11 and March 9-15. After that, he was back in the U.S. for the duration of the war.

One possibility is that Houdini could have made a personal appearance at the theater when it was showing The Master Mystery during his 1920 return tour of the UK. But now I'm reaching.

If any research bloodhounds are able to find Houdini in Lye, please give me a bark!

Want more? On my Patreon, I recently shared a list of dates for which I don't have a record of where Houdini was performing (if at all). You can did into that by clicking below.

Related:

• Derek Tait's new book is a Houdini ESSENTIAL
• LINK: Harry, Larry and Violet: Safe Bind, Safe Find
• List of surviving Houdini theaters

LINK: Houdini and the Weed Chain Tire Company

Here's a terrific post on The Autopian about the Weed Chain Tire Company and their famous challenge to Houdini in 1908. Click the headline or the image below to read "Harry Houdini Once Escaped From Eight Tire Chains, Two Steel Car Wheels, And A Crapload Of Padlocks."

 

I'm impressed they were aware of the Weed Chain rematch. Not many people know that Houdini did this challenge twice.

Related:

• The Weed Chain Tire Grip challenge
• The Weed Chain rematch
• Houdini pitchbook with Weed Chain cover nabs $1,230

A special reward for my 100 patrons

It has finally happened! I've hit 100 paid members on my Patreon. As promised, I'm offering members a very special reward. It drops today at 1:26 PM.

Thank you all for your support. And if you're not a member, this is a fine time to join!

"I Want To Be Like Houdini!" book and launch party

Magician Kent Cummins has a new book called I Want To Be Like Houdini!, in which he shares stories of how Houdini influenced his life. Here's the cover and description.

"The Fantastic Kent Cummins" has loved magic for more than 75 years, and now he shares some amazing stories based on the greatest magician of all time, Harry Houdini! These are true stories from a professional magician that provide a fascinating peak behind the curtain.

There will be a launch party for the book on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at the Brass Peacock in Georgetown, Texas. Click the image below for more details about what sounds like a magical night.

You can purchase  I Want To Be Like Houdini! on Amazon.com. Kent will also soon be launching his own retail site Magic Words Press.

Related:

• Bess's coat among Houdini rarities on display in Austin
• David Blaine's Beautiful Struggle started with Houdini

San Francisco treats

Here are a few curiosities from the San Francisco Chronicle that I recently stumbled on. First is an ad for a television showing of Houdini (1953) in October 1969, describing him as "a cat with 9 lives." That's a new one! There's something that feels very 1969 about this.

San Francisco Chronicle, Oct 20, 1969.

Here's another one, this time from 1976. San Francisco had no shortage of adult theaters back then, and their offerings were advertised in the Chronicle. Notice the teaser copy on this ad: "The stars featured in DIRTY STORIES get into positions Houdini wouldn't dare!" Goodness.

San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 24, 1976.

Finally, there's nothing all that unusual about this 1969 clipping; I just like seeing a revival house screening of The Man From Beyond in proximity to one of my favorite James Bond films, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Just don't make the mistake of seeing Paint Your Wagon!

San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 29, 1969.

Related:

• When Houdini (1953) came to TV
• Harry and Rudy (and Mel)
• And now for something completely different