The interview ran the next day in the Frederick News. In it the reporter is full of praise, stating: "Quiet and unassuming, he was the essence of friendship. He immediately places one at ease and when Houdini starts to talk, all one has to do is listen." Houdini even performed his thumb racket at the table. But what really stood out for me is when Houdini reveals he had been in Frederick once before.
In case you don't know (because I didn't), Barbara Fritchie was an elderly woman who defiantly flew the American flag from her house during the Civil War. She became famous in folklore as the heroine of a 1863 poem by John Greenleaf Whittier in which she tells a Confederate general, "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag."
A 1927 reconstruction of the Barbara Fritchie house still stands in Frederick today.
At first I was skeptical of Houdini's story. It was my understanding that the Welsh Bros. Circus toured exclusively in Pennsylvania. So I thought Houdini might have whipped up this memory just for the local reporter.
However, I did some digging and discovered that the Welsh Bros. Circus did play Frederick for one day on September 14, 1898. This is indeed when The Houdinis were with the troupe! The circus set up on Burger's lot on East Patrick street. The local paper even mentions the parade:
 |
| Frederick News, Sept. 14, 1898. |
So it looks like Houdini's memory is legit, and it's a treat to have a new story from his circus days. (I later discovered the Welsh Bros. also played a single day in Cumberland, Maryland. But Houdini in Cumberland is another story.)
The reporter then turns his attention to Bess. The result is this gem:
I have a feeling Bess was probably serious about this. Just as she worried about her husband when he suspended himself in a straitjacket, I'm sure she worried about him now and for good reason. Houdini was courting real danger with his exposures and there were no shortage of frauds and fanatics who could have done him harm. But just like Barbara Fritchie, he flew his flag anyway!
Nice post! I live about 45 minutes south of Frederick. Harry also went thru Hagerstown when he worked for the Welsh Brothers, which is about 30 minutes north of Frederick. You can see that diary notation in a photo in the Henning book. Hagerstown is caught in a time warp. It still has that 1875 look.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Hagerstown is on what looks like a paste-over of some kind. I've never been able to tell how Houdini means this to be dated, but I see Frederick is there! So now I have a clue as to when he was in Hagerstown, etc. Thanks.
DeleteHoly smokes. I just looked closely at that diary page. You can see he mentions the "B. Fritchie House"!
DeleteThat diary photo in the Henning book is a treasure trove of early Houdini dates with the Welsh Brothers. It slipped under Koval's radar when he worked on his HH chronology. But it's not too late for you.
DeleteAnd get a load of this: The Francis Scott Key hotel where Harry and Bess were interviewed is still there! Fully restored and is now an apartment building. It looks the same as in that postcard photo:
Deletehttps://fskapts.com/gallery-francis-scott-key-apartments-frederick-maryland-21701/
Wow, Leo - that's very cool about the hotel! Thanks for sharing.
DeleteYou're welcome T and J! The current photo of the building is almost identical to the way it looked in Houdini's day.
DeleteLove it. Nice pics of the lobby. I wonder where the main dining room was?
DeleteThat's a good question. The dining room must have been axed when the building was transitioned into an apartment complex. Gunna hafta take a weekend drive there and ask around.
DeleteI bet it's still there, but maybe now just part of the open lobby space.
DeleteJohn, thanks for this very entertaining post! Also quite interesting. Nice to see the depiction of Barbara Fritchie; I don't think I've seen it before, but I do remember the story from grade school. Not sure if it was part of the curriculum, or if the teacher just thought it would capture our attention. It did, in any case, and it obviously captured Houdini's interest as well - like other aspects of Americana.
ReplyDeleteHH was definitely a student and collector of Americana. His collection included the signatures of all the presidents up to his time, Abraham Lincoln items, Booth family letters, and surely more stuff.
DeleteI snatched that Barbara Fritchie image off her Wikipedia. :)
DeleteYou know the Barbara Fritchie house is once again privately owned and is an Airbnb.
Thanks, John. No, I didn't realize it was an Airbnb. And Leo, your post about Houdini's collection of Presidential items made me wonder where that part of his collection ultimately went, and if those, too, ended up in the Library of Congress, or in private hands. It's so interesting (and right in character) that Harry was also interested in Booth and his family.
DeleteThe Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin archives a lot of Houdini and Bess material. They recently removed the Booth family letters from their Houdini collection and consolidated it into a large separate Booth collection. Dunno what happened to the collection of prez signatures and the other stuff like Edgar Allen Poe's writing desk. It would take a trip to the Ransom Center to find out what they acquired. They have the theatrical playbills and other paper ephemera from HH's collection.
DeleteThe Library of Congress got the books from 278 after HH's death. The librarian drove up to NYC in trucks and cherry picked the best stuff back to Washington DC.
The Harry Ransom Center is a treasure trove and they have excellent online finding aids. Links HERE.
DeleteThanks for the information, Leo! And thanks, John, for the link -- I knew about the books, etc., but didn't know the Ransom Center had the Booth letters, and it's been several years since I visited their site, so I will go back and spend some time there this weekend. The conversations here always prompt new insights and cross references and additional research, etc. - it's great and I appreciate it!
Delete