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Well, I can now put those doubts to rest because I've finally found the proof I've been looking for. It happened! Below is an account from the September 30, 1926 Worcester Evening Gazette which offers some terrific details.
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| Evening Gazette, Sept. 30, 1926 |
I love the detail about Houdini blinking his responses to Collins and also that he wrote on the fogged glass. I believe this would have become Houdini's new go-to outdoor stunt, forever replacing the suspended straitjacket, and it's striking how similar this is to what David Blaine would be doing 70 years later. It's also chilling to hear Houdini declaring this would be the casket in which he would be buried. Only a month later that would prove to be the case, so the people who saw Houdini on this day saw something darkly prophetic.
Now that we know this happened, I am more hopeful than ever that a photograph will one day surface. Considering this took place outside and lasted for an hour, it seems certain that photos were taken. Yes, there's the mystery casket photo that could be the Summerfield's test, but we need another photo to confirm this.
The building that housed Summerfield's still stands at 184 Main St. in Worcester and doesn't look all that different than it did in 1926.
Speaking of Worcester, our friend Jessica Jane and The Foolers will appear tomorrow at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Worcester. So if you see the show, why not swing by the location of Houdini's last outdoor stunt?
Want more? You can read all the newspaper clippings and images I've gathered about the Summerfield's test as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon.
Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that death photo is from the Summerfield's stunt. HH must have had the casket angled up so people could see him inside just like in the photo.
ReplyDeleteThen again, maybe not. :-(
DeleteI wish this article described how he was dressed. One thing that troubles me about that photo is that he's wearing what looks like a white hospital gown (and his fingers appear to be tied together). I don't know why he'd wear that for a public stunt. I would think he'd be in an athletic suit as he was for the other casket tests.
DeleteAbsolutely! I agree! The White hospital gown and fingers tied together are sobering reminders we're looking at a corpse and not a stunt. I was also looking for info on how he was dressed but nada from the articles. The articles did mention a platform that was going to be built on the left side of the building so that people could see the casket better.
DeleteAnd we do see a platform in that pic and people do appear to be looking at him. So it's perplexing. That's why we need a pic from what we know is the Summerfield's test. To see if they match.
DeleteIt is baffling. In the death photo we do see the casket propped up on some kind of platform, and people there. Is it a certainty Bess wrote it's HH's last photo on the back? Is it her handwriting for sure? After all, she was there when HH's body was transported back to NYC. Not gunna disagree with her.
DeleteThis article mentions 5000 people watching this stunt but if you look at that photo you can see a very small group of people. Certainly not a crowded street. Houdinis fingers do seem to be tied together and if this is true this would be a dead Houdini. However it is very possible we are seeing an effect of him being behind a plate of thick glass. (The photo being distorted because of the thick glass).
ReplyDeleteThe clothes he is wearing is another mystery. Certainly looks inappropriate for any outdoor stunt.
If this is a dead Houdini I cannot fathom why his body is being displayed outdoors.
It does seem disrespectful to display a dead body like that. But then again it was HH and in a glass topped casket. This could have been snapped when the casket was being loaded into a train. There was discussion in an earlier post about the bruising on the right arm. Possibly from IV needles when he was in the hospital.
DeleteThe glass topped casket was shipped within a wooden box. Just can’t imagine they would allow any opportunity or their would be any opportunity for a photo outside of a dead super celebrity like Houdini. Would there not be something within the glass top box to prevent the body from rolling about during transport?
DeleteThe casket could have been photographed soon after the embalming and right before shipment.
DeleteI fear that photo has become a distraction. I think it's now like the checkered flag photo. We can endlessly examine it and speculate, but the answer is not in the photo itself. The answer will come from somewhere else. That's what I'm after. The something else. A confirmed photo of the Summerfield's test could be it.
DeleteOh dear. Have I been too distracted by the death photo? Let me just take one more peek at it! On a more serious note, the Sommerfield article describes the casket glass top as being in two sections. This casket top in the photo is also in two glass sections. Dead, or alive, I'm sure we're looking at THE casket.
DeleteGreat catch! And a great example of how answers can be found by looking elsewhere.
DeleteThanks! It really is important to read the research articles you post here and on Patreon. They might contain precious information. I'm also guilty of skipping the text and just studying the photos. When eating chicken off the bone you have to check the discards to make sure precious meat isn't thrown away.
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