Monday, December 16, 2013

Unpublished Houdini: Among Gods

Welcome to Unpublished Houdini. In this series I share a new never-before-published photo of Houdini every Monday from our generous Hinson Endowment.

Here's a photo of Houdini and Bess posing with a group of fellow travelers at "Balanced Rock" in the Garden of the Gods National Park in Colorado Springs, CO. This was most likely taken in December of 1915 as Houdini was performing in Colorado Springs at this time, and that date seems right for his appearance.*

By the way, notice the tall man in the back without a hat. Looks a lot like Adrien Brody, doesn't it? Spooky...

Why it is a fit place for the gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods."
- Surveyor Rufus Cable, 1859

Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods National Park still exists today and is a popular stop and photo op for tourists. Now besides being an amazing natural phenomena, we can add: Houdini was here!



* UPDATE: Houdini dated this visit as January 4, 1916.
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7 comments:

  1. John Hinson great nephew of Bess and Harry Houdini.December 16, 2013 at 2:17 PM

    Its so funny you see a road next to the rock, when bess and harry they had to take donkeys, to see the rock.

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    1. John CoxDecember 16, 2013 at 3:29 PM

      That's funny. I didn't think about that, but you're quite right.

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  2. CarnegieDecember 16, 2013 at 3:11 PM

    How unusual. Do my eyes deceive me, but isn't the tall gentleman in the back Adrian Brody, the actor about the play Houdini on the History Channel?????

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    1. John CoxDecember 16, 2013 at 3:28 PM

      Yes, I noted that in the paragraph right above the pic. It really does look like him!

      Delete
  3. Leo HeviaDecember 16, 2013 at 4:55 PM

    John--can you enlarge the part of the photo with the Adrian Brody lookalike?

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    1. John CoxDecember 16, 2013 at 5:12 PM

      Yes. CLICK HERE

      Delete
    2. Beth S.December 17, 2013 at 8:37 AM

      The Adrian Brody look-alike reminds of so many celebrities who look like historical people in paintings or old photographs. Ex. Rupert Grint apparently looks like painter Sir David Wilkie, Justin Timberlake looks like a mid-19th century criminal, Nic Cage looks like a civil war soldier, and most striking of all (to me), Maggie Gyllenhaal looks like Rose Wilder Lane. You can look this all up on Google. [Some of other "likenesses" are just plain silly though, but good for a giggle].

      Back to the article, though, it is pretty neat to see the comparison between Balanced Rock then and the same place today. (I think it's kind of a shame that they put the road RIGHT next to the rock. Then again, given the terrain, perhaps there was no choice). :-\

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