William Pack retiring The Essential Houdini

William Pack has announced that he will be retiring his popular talk "The Essential Houdini" at the end of this year. Pack has given his talk at libraries, schools, and community centers for the past 15 years. Below is a list of the remaining dates.

William Pack's self-published lecture companion book, The Essential Houdini, is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Related:

• The Essential Houdini with William Pack, Oct 31
• William Pack presents 'Houdini His Life & Legend' in Woodstock

The Mama message has returned!

The original spirit message from Houdini's mother delivered via "automatic writing" by Lady Doyle during the famous Atlantic City seance has been unearthed in David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts. The 17-page message survives complete, along with a cover page written by Houdini. While never lost, the message has remained largely unseen, and its existence was not generally known.

As detailed in this post, the Doyles believed Houdini had been wholly convinced by the message. But Houdini was troubled by the lack of specifics and that the pages were written in English. He and his mother only communicated in German. He eventually told the Doyles that he did not believe the message had come from his mother.

Nevertheless, Houdini appears to have kept the message for the rest of his life. The first two pages were reproduced in the 1932 book Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of Strange Friendship by Bernard M.L. Ernst and Hereward Carrington. But after that, the original message seemed to vanish and only transcriptions survived.

I now think it's possible these pages passed from Bernard Ernst to magician and collector John Mulholland. David Copperfield acquired the Mulholland Collection in 1991, which seeded the magnificent museum he has today. So Mama has been home the entire time!

Thanks to Bruce Averbook for making this find and David Copperfield for allowing me to share. You can watch video of the discovery on my Patreon.

Related:

• The Mama message
• The real story of Houdini & Doyle
• Copperfield finds

'Harry and the Highwire' to soar in 2024

Green Bean Books in the UK has announced the 2024 release of Harry and the Highwire by Julie Carpenter illustrated by Laura Catalan. While the book is still a ways off, they've created a nice promo video below.

You can read more about Harry and the Highwire at the Green Bean Books website.

UPDATE: Now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Release date March 31, 2024.

Related:

• Jack Hoeffler remembers the "Prince of the Air"
• Prince of the Air: A Story of Young Houdini
• 'A Spotlight For Harry' shines with new cover

Princess program commands a royal $7,800

Every auction has its surprises, and in today's Potter & Potter auction of Vintage & Modern Magic, the Houdini surprise was this program from his 1926 run at the Princess Theatre in Chicago. The lot had a $150-$300 estimate. But when the hammer fell after 48 bids, it sold for $7,800 (including buyer's premium).

This is a beauty and a nice artifact from the longest engagement of Houdini's 3 Shows in One (eight weeks), but I have no idea why it reached such heights! Perhaps the excellent condition or the association to magician George Schulte had something to do with this. Whatever the reason, I'm sure it will be loved!

If you're wild about this Chicago engagement, check out my related links below.

Congrats to all the sellers and winners in today's auction.

Related:

• The talk of Chicago
• Houdini never ceases to surprise
• The Benninghofen confession

Houdini now signing books from beyond the grave

Dalshire International of Carrollton, Texas, is selling via LiveAuctioneers a signed copy of Houdini's Book of Magic and Party Pastimes with an estimate of $16,800 - $18,200. The auction already has one bid.

Here's the problem. This book was published in December 1927, more than a year after Houdini's death. So while the book might be authentic, the signature is unquestionably fake.

Over the past few years, Dalshire and LiveAuctioneers have sold other Houdini items with this same fake signature. Some for a great deal of money. I really don't know if they are complicit or dupes in all this. It's not for me to judge. I also don't make it a practice of flagging each and every one of these.

However, this particular fake is instructive. No one can argue for this being authentic, and the signature is the same (autopen?) that has shown up on all these fakes. Even if this auction is taken down, save these photos and use them as a reference. If you ever see this signature on any Houdini item, don't touch it!

https://autographcertificationexperts.com/

Be careful out there!

UPDATE: It appears this auction has now been removed. But Dalshire still has two live auctions with this same signature, one on a photo reproduction from the 1960s. All this has inspired me to create a Houdini "Fraud Pack," a collection of images of irrefutable Houdini fakes. You can download it FREE via this public post on my Patreon.

Related:

• Alleged "Houdini stunt-used straitjacket" at auction
• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites
• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there

A San Francisco treat

Here's another gem discovered by our friend Whitt Smith in an old issue of The Sphinx magazine. 

Click to enlarge

This occurred on Saturday, April 21, 1923, at the Golden Gate Theater in San Fransisco. Houdini and his good friend Hattie Mooser arranged the special matinee performance. The children all received the below Good Luck "Houdini Mascot."

McCord Stewart Museum

Speaking of good luck, the Golden Gate Theater still stands today! 

In Houdini's time, the Golden Gate was a Junior Orpheum that featured three shows a day and a movie on the bill. As you can see below, the movie this week was Look Your Best starring Colleen Moore. You can also see this special children's matinee advertised.

The San Francisco Examiner, April 21, 1923.

Thank you, Whitt!

Related:

• Houdini, orphans, and the egg bag
• A new and greater hero has arisen
• The search is on for someone who saw Houdini

Looking for this magic ticket

I'm wrapping up my search for photos to illustrate the diary book. I'm happy to report that many generous collectors have provided fantastic images. This book should be the most complete collection of Houdini artifacts from the 1890s yet published.

However, I've failed to locate the owner of the below. This ticket was sold on eBay back in 2018. It's a remarkable survivor from the 1890s that I would love to include in the book. What a shame for it to have survived all these years only to vanish now.

If you are the lucky owner of this magic ticket, please get in touch! 

Thank you. 🙏

UPDATE: Some trusted collectors have expressed their concerns that this might be a fake. Apparently, this sold at a time when there were similar fakes on eBay. I admit the $1000 Challenge gives me pause. That should be $100. But apart from this, it comports well with Houdini history. But if there's doubt, it's probably best to leave this out of the book. Thanks all!

Related:

• You will soon be able to read Houdini's first diary
• Michael Albright to design the Houdini diary book
• Early handwritten Houdini letter sells at auction

Joe Notaro publishes 'Houdini's Schooldays'

In 2020, Joe Notaro acquired Houdini's own bound volume of the serialized story Houdini's Schooldays from the Houdini family. Now Joe has published those stories, complete with the original illustrations and his own research. It's another groundbreaking work from Joe and a must for any Houdini collection.

Joe M. Notaro brought Houdini’s full novella, The Zanetti Mystery into print and now he tackles Houdini’s Schooldays. Houdini’s Schooldays was serialized over 30 weeks (9/18/1920 to 4/2/1921) in the Merry and Bright comics and has never been published in book form until now. Herbert Allingham was the author and Harry Houdini owned the dramatic and screen rights. 

This is a BIG story. An extremely fine production in all respects. Don’t miss this amazing yarn. 

A MAN LIKE HOUDINI could not fail to have had a wonderful early life, and this story tells of his adventures while still at school. In addition to sharing Houdini’s Schooldays with original illustrations, Joe. M. Notaro shares his research on the history of the story, along with photos of rare items (from various collections). Research includes other Allingham stories with Houdini’s name attached, Copperfield’s Merry and Bright books, Houdini and Allingham correspondence, Houdini’s education (Appleton, Milwaukee), and a look at possible illustrators for the story. 

You can purchase Houdini's Schooldays as a hardcover or paperback from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. However, if you buy directly from Joe, you can get the book signed and a limited edition bonus card. Just click over to Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence for details.

Thank you to Joe for sharing this rare treasure.

Related:

• "Houdini's School Days"
• Joe Notaro teases new book for 2023
• Get ready for 'Houdini's Schooldays'

Haldane of the Secret Service screening in Ogunquit

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini's Haldane of the Secret Service, so what better way to mark this milestone than with a screening!

The historic Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine, which is also celebrating its centennial this year, will screen Haldane of the Secret Service on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 6 PM. Live musical accompaniment will be provided by silent movie specialist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $12.

The Leavitt Theatre is located at 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine. For more info and to buy tickets visit their official website.

Related:

• Haldane turns 99
• The ship(s) from Haldane of the Secret Service
• Finding Houdini's Washington Square...in Brooklyn

Sangaw surprise

In November 1908, four Chinese men challenged Houdini to escape from a "Sangnau" (alternately spelled Sanguaw or Sangaw) at the Oxford Music Hall in London. The device was characterized as an ancient Chinese torture device and was a one-off escape. Or was it?

This challenge is covered in most Houdini biographies. Houdini went back and forth with the challengers, refusing certain aspects of the restraint, such as having his feet nailed to the floor. He also insisted on having two doctors present during the test. Houdini made his escape but vowed he'd never take on the dreaded Sangaw again.

However, magic history buff Whitt Smith recently sent me a detailed account of a special S.A.M. "Houdini Night" at the Palace Theatre from The Sphinx (January 1922) that reveals the sangaw was not a one-off escape after all. And more! The key excerpt is below: 

     Houdini then went on to say that while traveling through China in 1908, the natives challenged him to escape (privately and under their own conditions) from a Chinese sangaw--a wooden contraption similar in form to a horizontal bar on uprights, but being furnished also with a lower crosspiece. Houdini accepted their challenge, and had secretly introduced a movie man and his camera that the outcome of the challenge might be seen by the outside world. And so, on The S.A.M's. "Houdini Night," there was flashed upon the screen Houdini's escape from the sangaw of the Orient. In the picture the Chinese are seen binding Houdini securely and in the most businesses-like manner. First, securing each wrist to the central portions of the uprights, then securely binding the feet to the floor-piece, and lastly running a loop under the front part of the neck, thence around the head in such a manner that the head may not the lowered; then remainder of the rope is then securely fastened to the central part of the upper most cross-piece. At the conclusion of the picture, Houdini repeats his escape in real life before the audience, using a genuine Chinese sangaw and extracting himself with lightning-like rapidity from bonds identical to those used by the Orientals. 

Not only is it exciting to learn Houdini did the sangaw at this event, but it's even more exciting to discover there was film of the escape! The idea that it was shot secretly in China in 1908 is pure hokum. It was almost certainly something Houdini staged himself. But how I'd love to see this! No matter how many descriptions I've read of the sangaw, I still don't understand exactly how this contraption worked. Alas, this film might be long lost.

Want more? You can read the full Sphinx article, which includes a terrific description of Houdini's Water Torture Cell, as well as the 1908 newspaper accounts of the original sangaw escape as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon by clicking below.

Thank you, Whitt!

Related:

• Sailor rope tie challenge revealed at last
• Houdini's gibbet and the Hippodrome war float
• Houdini's history with the S.A.M. told in new book

Hollywood Graveyard visits the Houdinis

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Hollywood Graveyard with the enigmatic Arthur Dark. In fact, I now watch these instead of the news when I'm having dinner. Graveyards are far less depressing! The other night I was watching a video from Arthur's visit to New York when who should appear but Bess! Below is the video. Bessie shows up around 15:10.

As mentioned in the video, Houdini has also appeared on Hollywood Graveyard. He shows up around 07:10 in the below video from 2018.

While the channel is called "Hollywood Graveyard," Arthur travels the country and even the world. I have my fingers crossed that one day he might do an all-magicians episode at the cemetery in Colon, Michigan.

Related:

• Bessie's two graves
• The Houdini-Weiss exedra turns 100
• Gladys and Leopold's headstones return to Machpelah

Dark Doyle

Over the weekend our good friend Anna Thurlow, great-granddaughter of Mina "Margery" Crandon, shared with me some letters written to Dr. Le Roi Crandon during the famous Margery-Houdini seances. One letter written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on August 27, 1924, contains this surprisingly dark sentiment:

"Something will happen to that man H. You mark my words. Better to get between the metals when an express is due, than block the way of the spirit."

We tend to think of Doyle as the creator of the virtuous Sherlock Holmes, but he was also the creator of all the dastardly murderers from those stories. He could go there! It's hard not to see this as a veiled wish that harm come to Houdini, if for no other reason than to prove this existence of avenging spirits. Although the idea of Houdini being pushed in front of an express train seems more like a tactic a person would employ than a spirit.

Dark Doyle indeed.

Want more? You can read the full letter as a member of my Patreon.

Thank you, Anna!

Related:

• Conan Doyle did not believe a punch killed Houdini
• When Houdini threatened to sue Doyle
• Sir Arthur say what?

LINK: Searching for Magic

Magician and lecturer Paul Draper has written a thoughtful article about collecting magic for Anthropology News magazine. Paul includes his memories of The Great Houdini Auction in Las Vegas and talks about a particular piece of cherished Houdini history:

In my collection, I have a wooden lathe, a nail, and a brick from Houdini’s home in Harlem. The current owner has been selling pieces of the original structure to pay for remodeling and refurbishment. The lathe has a thin splatter of white paint, indicating the exact color of the bathroom where Houdini practiced his famous escapes in a bathtub filled with icy water. I steam my suits in hotel bathrooms and practice close-up effects in front of my mirror at home, so when I hold this lathe, I imagine the intimate moments, both mundane and creative, that took place in Houdini’s home.

Click the headline to read the full article at Anthropology News. The print edition includes illustrations by Charlotte Corden.

Thanks Paul!

Related:

• Sidney Radner collection to be auctioned in Las Vegas
• Own an authentic brick from Houdini's 278
• Wood lath from Houdini's 278 for sale

Heroics and hijinks in Atlantic City

I admit I always cringe when I hear someone call Houdini "the first superhero." It just feels too much like a pander to Hollywood's current obsession with superhero movies, etc. But, gosh darn-it, there are times when it appears people really did think of Houdini as a superhero! This is a case in point.

The below comes from when Houdini was playing Keith's Garden Pier Theater in Atlantic City during the week of July 26, 1915. For context, the U.S. had not yet entered the war in Europe, but there was plenty of news about German U-boats lurking in the Atlantic. So in this environment of war nerves, I'll let these two stories speak for themselves.

Atlantic City Review, July 27, 1915.

You gotta love that the frightened vacationers thought Houdini might be the only man who could get the bottom of this. And as it turns out, that's exactly what happened! Check out the follow-up story below. (Sorry this one's a little hard to read.)

Atlantic City Daily Press, July 30, 1915.

So was Houdini a dupe or part of this publicity stunt? It's hard to tell from the story. But we can imagine what would have happened had this turned out to be a real German sub!

Houdini clocked a lot of stunt time on the Garden Pier. He did an overboard box escape during this same engagement in 1915 (post on that coming soon); a suspended straitjacket escape from the pier tower in 1916; and a manacled leap in 1917. No wonder he was seen as [*cringe*] a superhero.

Related:

• Houdini and his doughboys take a dunk
• The Moosers wild memories of Houdini
• Houdini the '70s superhero

Hungry for an unseen Houdini image?

I've shared to Patreon today a photo of Houdini like you've never seen him before. Click below and gobble it up!

Related:

• Copperfield finds
• Houdini exposed
• Wild About Harry on Patreon anniversary special

Houdini hangs at MAGIC Live

If you're at MAGIC Live this week in Las Vegas be sure and stop by the Mystique Dining hospitality lounge and check out this terrific mural depicting famous magicians. There's Houdini in the position one would expect to find him!

You can follow all the MAGIC Live happenings via our friend Scott Wells at The Magic Word Podcast.

Thanks to Richard Hatch and Terry Commons for letting me crash the party.

Related:

• Circus Busch Houdini poster for sale at Magic Live
• Merlin McFly's stained glass Houdini window
• Houdini spotted in Avignon

When AI generates your Houdini facts (update)

I don't know if AI really generated the below "list of Houdini's famous underwater escapes." But I don't know how any human could get so much so bizarrely wrong. This accompanied an article published last month at poolmagazine.com. Enjoy!

Click to enlarge.

Here's the depressing part. If you Google "Houdini," this article will show up in your news feed before any post here on WILD ABOUT HARRY. In fact, none of my posts will ever show up in Google's news feed. Maybe because the algorithm knows I'm human.

Or am I?

UPDATE: The good folks at Pool Magazine reached out for some help and the article has now been updated with, if I say so myself, a darn good list of Houdini's underwater escapes. Score one for humans! Check it out here.

Related:

• Houdini used to demo new AI tool LiveStory
• AI brings Houdini photos to life and it's wild!
• More amazing AI brings Ehrich Weiss to life

Houdini and The Mummy's Hand

My bedtime reading these days is Tom Weaver's latest "Scripts from the Crypt" series about Universal's The Mummy's Hand (1940). I'm a big fan of Universal horror (an interest that pre-dates Houdini) and I love these books just as I loved Philip Riley's MagicImage Filmbooks that inspired them. But what does this have to do with Houdini, you ask?

The other night I popped in The Mummy's Hand and I was surprised to hear Houdini get a name check when the character of Steve Banning says, "This hopeless Houdini is Babe Jenson." (In the the script he says "fumbling Houdini".) 

Normally this wouldn't warrant a post as Houdini gets name checked in many movies. However, it struck me that this is the earliest mention I've yet encountered in a film made after Houdini's death (Cops would be the earliest movie overall). I also tend to think of the 1940s as a decade in which Houdini went into a bit of cultural eclipse, so that made this reference all the more surprising.

If you know of an earlier mention, please share in the comments. And if you want to pick up Tom Weaver's The Mummy's Hand, you can do so on Amazon.com.

Related:

• Houdini on King Tut's Curse
• Houdini and the first Frankenstein
• The amazing afterlife of Harry Houdini

Deconstructing Houdini '53: Mirror images

Continuing my scene-by-scene dissection of Paramount's classic 1953 biopic Houdini. Last time we experienced Harry's career Metamorphosis. Today he faces two challenges...

Chapter 12: Mirror images

Read on Patreon

Related:

• Houdini vs Scotland Yard; but did it really happen?
• The real story of Houdini at Scotland Yard?
• Guest blog: Houdini Reflected, Part I

Tickets now available for 'Bess - The Other Houdini'

Tickets are now available for the new play, Bess - The Other Houdini, written by Christine Foster, directed by James Weisz, and starring Pip Henderson. Paul Zenon is the Magic Consultant. If you'll be in the UK in October or November, you might want to grab a seat!

• The Grove Theatre in Eastbourne, September 29 to October 1 and October 18 to 20. Get tickets.
• Upstairs at The Gatehouse in North London, October 24 to November 12. Get tickets.

The play now has an official website besstheotherhoudini.com. You can also follow them on Facebook.

Related:

• 'Bess - The Other Houdini' is coming to the UK
• Beatrice Houdini
• Houdini plays

Wild About Harry on Patreon anniversary special

Today is the one year anniversary of my Patreon. To mark the occasion, I'm offering a special 7-day FREE trial for the next 10 new sign ups. That means you'll be able to view some of the great content I've posted over the past year and get this month's reward all for FREE. You'll have access to the site for 7 days, after which time you'll be billed $5 for another month unless you cancel. 

Just head on over to my membership page and click "Start 7-day free trial" under the Handcuff King level. But once we hit 10 people, the free option will vanish like Jennie the elephant!

A very big THANK YOU to my current patrons for supporting all that I do here on Wild About Harry and my upcoming Houdini projects.

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Come hang with us!

Related:

• Announcing WILD ABOUT HARRY on Patreon
• What Is Patreon, and How Does It Work?
• Patreon updates subscription billing