Dr. Larrian Gillespie at the
Houdinarian Society website is continuing to do some groundbreaking research into the details of Houdini's final illness. As a trained surgeon and keen historian, Dr. Gillespie sees details in the record that have been missed, and she is making some dynamite deductions. But don't take my word for it; just click the images below and have a read for yourself!
The article regarding the photo of Houdini laying within his glass lid box to me is conclusive. I have gone back and forth whether this was a photo of the Summerfield stunt or Houdini post death for years. Perry from NJ.
ReplyDeleteI'm the idiot who first raised the possibility of it being the Summerfield test, and I wish I hadn't. I've believed for some time that this could only be a dead person, and Larrian has clinched it for me.
DeleteActually I thought it wasn't a Memento Mori myself until I did a little digging about embalming etc...so it was the discussion on this board and Patreon that got me thinking how to prove it one way or another. The faces in the top part were my final proof when I discovered the weather conditions and read about photography and how to get such an image....it had to be a cloudy day and early morning.
DeleteDoctor Gillespie is incredible! We needed her years ago. Better late than never. I suspected at the beginning that this casket photo was at a train station, either in Detroit or New York. Dr. Dretzka diagnosed appendicitis when Houdini arrived in Detroit, yet he refused to be admitted to the Detroit Receiving Hospital where he should have gone. Poor Harry, he committed the mortal sin of buying into his own legend.
ReplyDeleteThe fascinating part for me was really looking at Publications that were NOT the NY Times....as newspapers are so "yellow journalism" even today...because its all about sales. Dr Dretzka has essentially been ignored in the Houdini story as the other doctors were being manipulated as well...by yet another party.....more stories to come. My Lunch with John knows where I am going....
ReplyDeleteMore stories to come...good Lord. The Houdini fussilade from Dr. Gillespie is a roller coaster ride. Alice keeps taking us into Wonderland...And is this casket photo Houdini's last photo? Not for me. He's not alive, and there's also that funeral parlor photo of the stiff with big nose in the casket.
DeleteAre you referring to the one in the moritician's magazine that claims to be people at the funeral home? Agree..its not Houdini at all. The image from the Elks is valid and the image of the men before the flat top casket at the NY funeral home is valid....
ReplyDeleteThe West End Funeral Chapel photo. Hard to tell if it's Houdini.
Deletehttps://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2014/05/houdini-lying-in-state-at-elks-lodge-1.html?m=1