Click to enlarge.
Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of the Houdini Museum in nearby Scranton are responsible for the plaque. Dorothy and Dick did groundbreaking research into Houdini's appearances in Williamsport, first as part of the Welsh Bros. Circus and later with his anti-spiritualism lecture in the 1920s. They shared their research with city officials, who until then had been unaware of their city's Houdini history.
Dorothy and Dick will perform magic and escapes as part of the dedication celebration on Friday, July 1st at 6:30pm on Pine Street. There is also an ongoing Houdini exhibit at the Williamsport City Hall.
Pine Street United Methodist Church in Houdini's time.
You can get more information on Williamsport's 150th Birthday Bash at the official website.
Thanks to Dorothy and Dick for this news and early peek at the Houdini plaque.
Related:
Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz here
ReplyDeleteEven more amazing to the day 126 years ago Houdini appeared in Williamsport on July 1 with the Welsh Brothers circus.
There seems to be a Houdini star that follows us from the beyond or into the future.
So many things in our lives just seem to fall into place or in line.
From meeting Walter B Gibson as a teenager, HBO's Worlds Greatest Escapes and You Asked for it, asking for an escape, IBM National asking me to headline with an escape leading me to do the stunt Houdini backed away from, The Bullet Catch under strict conditions, to the Houdini cemetery and the Houdini Family asking us to maintain Houdini's grave which led to our replacing Houdini's bust there destroyed some 40 years ago, Walter B Gibson asking us to carry on the tradition of the Houdini Seances passed to him by Bess, getting the Society of American Magicians, which Houdini helped to expand, to help with the upkeep of the Houdini grave, to our making friends as kids with Larry Weeks that lasted a lifetime and led to our getting him to release the Grim Game to Turner Classic movies, our stumbling on a long article of Houdini appearing at the Pine Street United Methodist Church in Williamsport, and now a bronze plaque that will be there forever.
Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz
The Houdini Museum
Scranton, PA
The Only Building in the World Dedicated to Houdini
Oh, wow, 126 years to the day! That is wild. :)
Delete