No love for The Truth

For me, the documentary The Truth About Houdini was as important as the Tony Curtis film in fueling my excitement for Houdini. It certainly helped shape my understanding of Houdini and introduced me to the major Houdini players at that time. It's still my favorite Houdini documentary. 

That's why I'm so surprised to read this review in the December 30, 1970 Northern Echo that excoriates it! But the doc did generate controversy, at least in the UK. The Magic Circle objected to what it believed were exposures. However, apart from the cross escape (which was removed at some point), there are no significant exposures.

Anyway, this is a fun read, and I can't condemn someone for defending Houdini, even though, in my opinion, it was unnecessary.

Want more? You can view the cut cross escape footage as a Scholar member of my Patreon below.

Related:

• The first great Houdini documentary
• Watch 'The Truth About Houdini' on its anniversary
• Channel 44's Houdini Halloween of 1976

Latest dynamite from the Houdinarian Society

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!

You can subscribe to the Houdinarian Society for updates and follow them on Facebook.

Related:

• LINK: The mystery serum is a mystery no more!
• Is this the doctor who first diagnosed Houdini?
• Houdini death photo keeps us guessing

Graded Houdini (1953) VHS, because I'm a nut

Some of you may be aware that there is currently a wild collectors market for sealed and graded VHS tapes. A sealed and graded Back To The Future made headlines when it sold for $75,000 at auction in 2022. I recently took a deep dive into the 1991 release of Houdini (1953) on VHS. This was inspired by my buying a still-sealed copy on eBay. I paid $9.00, less than it cost in 1991.

On a whim, I decided to have my Houdini VHS professionally graded by CGC. Here's the result:

Not a bad grade! If you're wondering why this didn't grade even higher, know that companies downgrade for stickers that obscure the cover art. Removing all stickers will get you a better grade. But, for me, the stickers are what tell this story. Houdini was part of Paramount Home Video's 1991 wave of sell-through releases at $14.95. The stickers show this copy is from that first wave. If the idea is to freeze a VHS in time, you gotta freeze the stickers as well!

Now, I am under no illusions that this is valuable or will ever become valuable. In fact, any deal I got on eBay is now out the window. But I love this movie and I thought this was a fun way to honor it and make it as important as any other tape from the VHS era. Maybe it's worthless, but the movie is priceless. And it displays well.

I highly recommend watching this video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Red Letter Media. It's all about the VHS grading and the collecting phenomena and their own very funny experiment.

By the way, their Nukie ended up selling for $80,600. Now that's wild!

Related:

• When Houdini (1953) came home
• When The Man From Beyond came home
• The Great Houdinis at home

LINK: The mystery serum is a mystery no more!

Our new friend Dr. Larrian Gillespie at the recently launched Houdinarian Society website has knocked it out of the park today with a post about the "mystery serum" Houdini was given during his final illness. Dr. Gillespie is a UCLA-trained urologic surgeon with expertise in urogynecology and holder of four pharmaceutical patents. She's also a collector and keen historian.

Click the headline above or image below for the answer to this 99 year old mystery!

You can subscribe to the Houdinarian Society for updates and follow them on Facebook.

Related:

• The mystery serum
• Discover the Houdinarian Society
• Did Smithsonian land a punch or poison the well?

Mastery Mystery Episode 10 poster sells for 31K

A one-sheet lithograph for The Master Mystery Episode 10 sold on Friday for $31,000 at Poster Store Auction. This does not include the steep 31% buyers premium. It's unclear if this was the same poster that was sold by Haversat & Ewing in 2020.

The auction listing touted this as "only copy of this fabulous poster known to have survived," but this is not the case. There are at least two others in private hands. But it's a beauty and I think this might be a new record for a Master Mystery poster at auction.

Related:

• Master Mystery episode 10 poster sells for $24,570
• Mystifier, Second Quarter 1998
• The Master Mystery posters

The Vanishing Elephant appears in Providence

The Providence Performing Arts Center will present a "Sensory Friendly Performance" of The Vanishing Elephant this Saturday, March 15 at 2pm. The play, which premiered in New York in 2023, tells the story of Houdini's vanishing elephant Jennie (or Jenny, as the play spells it).

Tickets are only $5 and can be purchased at the Providence Performing Arts Center website. And before someone asks what a "Sensory Friendly Performance" is, here's a link that explains.

Related:

• The Vanishing Elephant reappears in New York
• 100 years ago Houdini vanished an elephant
• Houdini arrives in Providence

Take a Sweet Escape at the Magic Castle

The world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood has created a specialty cocktail in honor of Houdini's birthday this month. It's called Houdini's Sweet Escape.

The souvenir Houdini mini poster is his famous "Europe's Eclipsing Sensation" lithograph. Certainly one of the most beautiful Houdini posters. Only two originals are said to exist. One is in David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas and the other is in private hands. You can buy a stunning reproduction at Nielsen Magic.

Thanks to Mark Willoughby for the tip and Lupe Nielsen for the poster info.

Related:

• Who needs a drink?
• Escape your troubles with a cold Houdini
• The Magic Castle conjures The Houdini Box

Houdini and the windmill

Ever hear the one about Houdini and the Dutch windmill? The story first appeared (as far as I can find) in an article by Walter B. Gibson called "Houdini's Last Interview Revealed His Narrow Escapes." This ran in several newspapers in December 1926. Below is an excerpt from the Wichita Falls Times.

Wichita Falls Times, Dec. 5, 1926

This windmill story appears in Harold Kellock's Houdini: His Life Story and Milbourne Christopher's Houdini: The Untold Story. I suspect Christopher got it from Kellock, and Kellock got it from Gibson. Try as I might, I've never been able to find any evidence or independent source for this story, and most current biographies omit it.

So is the windmill story fiction, or just another example of the Germany problem (which encompasses the Netherlands)? If any of you research bloodhounds want something to track down, this would be a good one! It would have happened in May or June 1902 when Houdini was with the Circus Corty-Althoff in Holland.

It's worth noting that this Gibson article also contains what appear to be the first appearances of the stories about Houdini being tied to railroad tracks in Dresden, and being tied to the back of a horse in Nova Scotia in 1896. Those are also tales of outdoor stunts gone wrong that I've never been able to confirm.

Want more? You can read the full "Houdini's Last Interview" by Walter B. Gibson as a Scholar member of my Patreon. Fact or fiction, it's good stuff!

Top image A.I. generated.

UPDATE: For those who don't like my A.I. image, here's an illustration from the March 1928 Tales of Magic and Mystery. Thanks to Joe Notaro for this one.

Related:

• The Germany problem
• Houdini in a tight(s) spot
• Walter Gibson interviewed in 1973

Houdini Lincoln cover story in Skeptical Inquirer

The March/April 2025 issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine has a cover story by Jason Emerson about how spiritualists tried to claim President Lincoln as a believer and Houdini's role in debunking that. This one is a must buy just for the awesome cover art!

You can read or listen to the article HERE, or pick up a print edition in stores. To subscribe visit the Skeptical Inquirer website.

I suspect this subject will be covered in greater detail in the upcoming book, Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency by Brad Ricca. You can pre-order that book now on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Release date is October 28.

Related:

• Houdini, Rose, and Randi in Skeptical Inquirer
• Skeptical Inquirer looks at Houdini and Lovecraft
• Skeptical Inquirer discovers Houdini's Girl Detective

Discover the Houdinarian Society

Houdini devotees Larrian Gillespie, MD and Shell Reinish (who is currently teaching a class on Houdini at UNLV) have launched the Houdinarian Society. The website is already packed with Houdini content, including videos, artifacts, links, reviews and research. They also have a dedicated Facebook page and a way to subscribe and receive alerts when new content is published.

Larrian was kind enough to give WAH a shoutout and join my Patreon as an Angel, so I'm excited to share the love. The Houdinarian Society is a terrific way to keep up with all that's happening in the world of Houdini, so get to browsing!

Related:

• Houdini Museum launches new website
• Roger Dreyer launches "Houdini Revealed"
• Houdini's early days online

Houdini will never escape Jeopardy!

Houdini was back on Jeopardy! last Friday (Feb 28). This time he appeared as the answer to the Final Jeopardy question. All three contestants got it right.

Check out the J! Archive website to see all mentions of Houdini on the show going back to 1985. Cool to see that Hardeen got a nod on 12-26-24.

Thanks to Arthur Moses for the alert.

Related: 

• Houdini Jeopardy! triple stumper
• "I'll take Houdini for $1000, Alex."
• Escape Artist: An Edna Ferber Mystery available now

Houdini inspired Henry Fonda to act

Did you know Henry Fonda was inspired to act after an encounter with Houdini? The actor told the story in an interview shortly before his death in 1982, and I think I've been able to pinpoint exactly when and where this would have happened. This is a Patreon History Exclusive that you can read by clicking below.

Not yet a member of my Patreon? If you join this weekend using the promo code FONDA you'll get 20% off your first month.  Come hang with us!

Related:

• Houdini's Omaha break
• Houdini hangs in Omaha
• Houdini wins the Oscar for Best Actor