Mrs. Owen knew Houdini and relates some truly unique and personal information, including that Houdini carried with him at all times a small polished wooden box containing mementos of his mother ("he would worry if it was out of his sight"), that he "swore occasionally, but not a lot," and that Harry Day did not like Bess.
Click on over and have a read, and also have a browse of some of the other De-Val articles on this excellent tribute site.
Thanks to Andy Robertson.
Numero One-O: the late David Duval was a monumental figure in the worlds of lockpicking, jailbreaking, and Houdini research. I am grateful to this day to Bill Liles for introducing me to him. David and the late Frank Koval discovered a key element in Houdini's ability to escape from jail cells.
ReplyDeleteManny Weltman spoke to Kathleen Owen, whom distinctly remembered seeing Houdini and Harry Day enjoy a brandy and a cigar after dinner.
Ms. Owen didn't start to work for seven years after the Mirror Cuff. I have suspected that the man we see cuffing Houdini--the Mirror representative--was Harry Day. He looks like Day, he is wearing a toupee, and Day was bald. Perhaps not, somebody should have spotted that.
On the site HERE is a letter to Paul Daniels in which De-Val mentions having discovered that secret to Houdini's cell escapes, but it doesn't reveal the secret. Is it in The Key, Patrick?
DeleteYes!!!
ReplyDelete