Here we are back in Providence! In November 1925 Houdini brought his "3 Shows in One" to the Providence Opera House. It was Thanksgiving week and the ad below shows that he gave a special matinee performance on Thanksgiving Day. He also performed a one hour show for inmates at the State Prison. This was Houdini's last Thanksgiving.
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| Providence Journal, Nov. 27, 1925 |
Thanks to Lanham Bundy of the
Providence Public Library for uncovering the article about Houdini's prison performance. The Opera House advert is from a collection of clippings that sold on eBay back
in 2012.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Great post John! Harry almost made it to the next Thanksgiving. I wonder what he performed for the inmates at the State Prison. Gotta hand it Harry, he gave a lot of his time to charity performances when he didn't have to do it.
ReplyDelete$1.50 for an evening performance by the great Houdini. With inflation that's about $15 today. And how much are Penn & Teller ($100 - $123), or Copperfield ($89-$251) tickets going for nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThe inflation calculator I used shows $1.50 would have been $23.71 in 1925, which feels right.
DeleteMy error,well I used to be good at math
DeleteStarting with that window card discovery, I feel like I've been constantly pulled back to Houdini in Providence this year. Yesterday during my own Thanksgiving dinner I learned that my grandmother was born and raised in Providence. Somehow I never knew this. She was born in 1905. Houdini appeared in Providence 10 times during his career. The likelihood that she saw or at least remembers him being there would be high. How did I never ask her!!!?
ReplyDeleteYou never asked her if she remembers Houdini in Providence cuz you didn't know she was born and raised in Providence. You were also less aware of Houdini's numerous appearances in Providence. The deck was stacked against you on this one.
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