Tuesday, July 2, 2024

LINK: The Torrence Collection

Mega collector Jon Torrence is sharing rarities from his amazing Houdini collection on his website, The Torrence Collection. Somehow, I wasn't aware of Jon or his collection, but I sure am now! Some real gems here. Click the headline or the image below to dive in.


A program pictured on page 6 has me especially intrigued. This appears to reveal a 1901 engagement in Mainz, Germany, and an encounter with a rival that is entirely new to me. Or it could be hokum on Houdini's part. Either way, it's a prime example of the Germany problem.

Jon also has a YouTube channel and Facebook showcasing his collections. Thank you, Jon!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post! DC could not have been the only high roller snatching up Houdini items. There's an error on page 2 of the Houdiniana section in Jon's website. The photo of him with Bess behind a movie camera was taken at Inceville in December 1915. It's not a HPC film shoot of the early 1920s.

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    1. The Inceville photo: https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2019/02/the-houdinis-at-inceville.html?m=1

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    2. Good catch on Inceville. There are a few other mistakes on his site. That photo purported to be from Haldane of the Secret Service isn't from any movie I recognize.
      By the way, DC is NOT the high roller driving up Houdini prices at auction. People think it's him. It's not.

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    3. You mean the Haldane photo of HH standing on the roof of that Model T car? Is it him on that car? The high prices for Houdini auction items was a growing snowball the last 25 years or so.

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    4. Yeah, that's not HH on top of the car. I don't know what this is from. (There's also a Terror Island still labeled as TMFB. It happens.) But Jon's site is untypically excellent at providing historical details about each item. I really appreciate that. Not many collectors do this.

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  2. How in the heck has Jon gone unnoticed? He collects everything.
    The site is fantastic even with the mistakes, Btw
    I guess Kevin’s heard of him.

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