- Mina Crandon aka "Margery"
This will be a very special week here at WILD ABOUT HARRY. Anna Thurlow, the great granddaughter of Mina Crandon aka "Margery the Medium", has graciously allowed me to share several original and unique items related to Houdini and Margery from her own private family archives -- the Libbet Crandon de Malamud Collection -- or what I'm calling, The Margery Files.
These items have only ever been seen by a select handful of people, and have certainly never been posted on the internet. Some give new insight into the complicated relationship between Houdini and Margery. Others are just amazing to see in the light of 2013! It's going to be quite a week, and I'm honored and thrilled that Anna has chosen my blog to share these treasures with the magic world.
So hold onto your ectoplasm, because what Anna and I have to share is Wild enough to raise the dead!
Monday: Photo play
Tuesday: Subtle betrayals
Wednesday: Inside man
Thursday: Have a seat
Friday: Keepsakes
Saturday: Bonus!
and
Now here's a little something to set the mood.
The Margery story that left me shaking my head can be found on page 256 of Houdini Laid Bare. It contains an excerpt of a July 1957 Linking Ring article written by Clarence T. Hubbard about an amateur Boston magician named Willard Greene. The excerpt describes a meeting between Houdini and Greene that suggests Houdini was closer to Margery than was previously believed:
ReplyDeleteThe next day, Houdini visited a store where his old friend Willard B. Greene, an amateur magician, worked. Houdini regaled Greene with the events of the night before and boasted that he had detected Margery in every trick. As he was leaving, he suddenly asked Greene if he would like to meet the mysterious medium. His friend followed him to a car parked outside. Margery was in the car, patiently waiting for Houdini, who slid in next to her. They drove off.
If Greene was telling the truth, the whole Houdini Margery rivalry could have been a collaboration between both of them to get attention from the press and the public.
Yeah, that is a strange one. Don't know what to make of that.
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