I've seen effusive Houdini advertising before, but this ad for the independently run Columbia Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, takes the cake. This was for Houdini's two-week run in January 1908. I love how it adds "And Houdini" after every other name on the bill.
 |
| Cincinnati Post, Jan. 6, 1908 |
I would love to know what exactly was displayed in Max Joseph's cigar store window.
During his second week, Houdini featured a string of challenges: packing case (Monday), leather bag (Tuesday), iron-bound willow hamper (Wednesday), paper bag (Thursday), and a packing case built on the stage (Friday). He finished his run on Saturday with a straitjacket escape in eight minutes on a $100 wager.
Another nice detail about this engagement is that Houdini's mother joined him. Houdini recorded in his diary that, upon her arrival in Cincinnati, “Charlie the dog went wild for thirty minutes with joy.”
The Columbia Theater stood at 525 Walnut Street. It became part of the Keith circuit in 1910 and was renamed the B.F. Keith Theater in 1912. Houdini played the theater seven times. It closed in September 1965 and was demolished in July 1966. Today, it is the site of Fountain Square.
Want more? You can download research related to Houdini's 1908 engagement in Cincinnati as a Scholar member of my Patreon below. Thanks to my patrons for supporting content like this.
🎶Work work AnGelicaaaaa🎶
ReplyDelete🎶Work work Eliiiiza🎶
Houdini: AND HOUDINI!
The Schuyler Sisters?
That ad is ridiculous! You can see that HH threw his entire repertoire out there. Handcuffs first week? Miscellaneous challenges and escapes the second week. Straitjacket in there. All pre Milk Can.
ReplyDeleteHe did do some handcuffs during his first week, including an escape from a challenge pair of cuffs "in full view of the audience." You can read that in the Patreon clippings.
DeleteYes I did read that and the other clippings! Interesting stuff! HH visited a police station and broke out of their cuffs. Did the jail escape, and the full view cuff escape on stage. Not even hiding it anymore by 1908.
Delete
ReplyDeleteNice blog post. Love the vintage playbills of the era, always surprised at how few vaudevillian acts are still known today. We baby boomers may be the last generation linked to Houdini’s memory by having watched his fellow performers like Burns, Benny, and Marx live on to appear on TV. Would love to see a chronicle of the other performers who shared billing with Houdini over the years. Dave E.
So true. The more I study this time, the more I see just how huge Eva Tanguay was. There was even a biopic made about her in the '50s. But totally forgotten today.
DeleteDoes anybody remember W.C. Fields? I discovered him as a kid in the 1970s as the cartoon character in the Fritos corn chips commercials: "W.C. Fritos here." The people in advertising back in the 70s remembered him. It only takes one more generation to forget the stars of the past. Only the historians take note. It's left to them.
DeleteW.C. Fields was extremely well known when I was a kid in the '70s. That poster of him holding cards was part of pop culture, and you heard imitations of him everywhere. "My little chickadee." But his fame seemed to come from his movies. Had he never made movies, he may be as forgotten as Eva. The Magic Castle used to have his pool table. I would point it out to guests. Overtime, I could sense that people had no idea who I was talking about.
DeleteAlmost 100 years after his death his name has become an
ReplyDeleteoff-used metaphor for exceptional deeds. Imagine his reputation if we could know the other half of his career.. in Europe. As much as he accomplished in America, I’m understanding that more than 50% of his time was spent overseas. His energy/activity level was beyond amazing.
I wonder if Europe has a reverence as we do for HH and who over there has collected and English translated newspaper and journal articles. John, I hope you can hook up with someone in Germany perhaps with access to and translations of HH’s articles.
Here are two interesting links to European letterhead and a telegram he used. He was quite a collector.
https://gajs.com/houdini/
https://gajs.com/9737-2/
Dave E.
Well said, Dave!
DeleteDerek Tait is really the expert on Houdini in the UK. His book, The Great Houdini: His British Tours, is essential. So we have our champion "Over There."
Agree that we need that German Houdini expert/nut. I think there many untold stories waiting to be discovered in Germany and the Netherlands. A book on Houdini in Germany would be phenomenal.
Thanks John, I hadn’t heard of this book - Dave
ReplyDelete