Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Houdini in 1902


The year 1902 can be characterized as one of the most combative of Houdini's career. Having  proclaimed himself the "Undisputed King of Handcuffs and World's Champion Jail Breaker," the year would find him defending his title in a variety of arenas. Even in court.

This post is now retired. 

But you will still be able to enjoy the story of Houdini in 1902 with the publication of my upcoming book.


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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 11:38 AM

    Did Hodgson ever write about that night he trussed up Houdini? I would think at some point he would have told his side of the story. Perry from NJ.

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    1. John CoxAugust 1, 2017 at 11:44 AM

      I'm not sure. If you have Pat Culliton's Houdini The Key, there is a long section on the Hodgson challenge. Pat is the real expert on Hodgson. He can even demonstrate exactly how Hodgson thrust Harry up.

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    2. Jim KeeganAugust 10, 2017 at 10:32 PM

      I don’t believe Hodgson ever wrote about the encounter, but his biographer, Sam Moskowitz, covered the events from a Hodgson perspective in the book, Out of the Storm (Grant, 1975). If you’re interested, I’ve scanned the relevant pages (4) and posted a jpg at:

      http://www.jimruth.com/hodgson.jpg

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    3. John CoxAugust 11, 2017 at 7:02 AM

      Thank you for these pages, Jim. Very interesting. Worth noting that the author argues Hodgson's reported flight to the police station after the challenge might have simply been him returning their shackles.

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  2. AnonymousAugust 1, 2017 at 8:09 PM

    Another fine entry to your Years in the life of HH series. Love it!
    Agreed about Culliton's writing of the Hodgson challenge. The Key is a must have!
    Jack

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    1. John CoxAugust 2, 2017 at 11:34 AM

      Thanks. This one didn't give me any great new perspective in the way some of the others did, except in how this seemed to be a year of testing for Houdini. He seems to have fought his way through this year.

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  3. Leo HeviaAugust 2, 2017 at 6:32 PM

    (In his publicity, Houdini never mentioned the bribery charge, and it remained a generally unknown aspect of the Graff trial until 1996.)

    If HH did attempt to bribe Graff at the very beginning, wasn't this act that started the fight between them?

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