Friday, March 3, 2017

Houdini in 1901


When England's Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, the 26-year-old Houdini was performing his second record breaking engagement at the Alhambra Theater in London. The Queen's death brought an end to the 64 year "Victorian Era" that had transformed England into a great empire. If Houdini had any reaction to this historic moment, it has gone unrecorded by biographers. But he did buy a dress said to have been designed for the Queen before her death. He thought it would look good on his mother.

This post is now retired. 

But you will still be able to enjoy the story of Houdini in 1901 with the publication of my upcoming book.


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      9 comments:

      1. Another great year in the life of Harry and Bess. Thanks John, bravo!

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      2. Wow, this is great. What a year. I love the “seven bald men” bit. That has to be put in a future biopic: Houdini examines the man’s bald head from all angles, then tells his baffled assistant, “Perfect, now get me six more.”

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        1. Ha! I like that idea. They did show the bald men briefly in the TNT biopic. You can watch it HERE.

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      3. Son of a gun, I never saw that movie. We gotta watch it next time at the King’s house.

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      4. John when you're finished with these year posts, you have to publish it into a book. A real book with photos and paper.

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        1. Yeah, that's a good idea. But I probably won't be finished until 2026. But at some point I'll do some kind of book version of this blog.

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      5. Excellent. Thank you.
        "trains difficult and unreliable"...still the same... :-)

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        1. I didn't go back and review the full quote, but he had very specific complaints about train travel in the UK, how you had to continually switch trains, etc. For an entertainer who has to travel with a large amount of props, you can see how this would be frustrating.

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