Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Meet George Hardeen this Friday in Page, Arizona

Houdini's grandnephew George Hardeen will be speaking at the Canyon Club Friday Night Community Social in Page, Arizona, this Friday, June 25 at 6:00 PM. George will share knowledge of his Uncle Harry and grandfather Theo Hardeen. The event will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott at 600 Clubhouse Dr. and is free.

6 comments:

  1. Family resemble is definitely there. George's great grandmother in the photo. How many of us have photos of our great grandparents.

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  2. Dear Mr Cox, thanks very much for Your work! I've known about Harry Houdini since I was a child, but recently I've seen a new film about him on "Absolute History" YT channel and thanks to it I have known things I hadn't ever known before. I'm still reading articles on Your blog, too. But there's one thing that makes me very sad watching all those old films. It's an extreme roughness, almost brutality towards Houdini from all people putting all those things on him to tie him up. They seem to be furious about his ability to free himself from anything they could use. I've even heard about one man who caused a rupture of Houdini's kidney! It's awful!! And at last that stupid man who in fact killed him.I hope he was punished. Harry - or Erik - was so incredible, strong, fascinating person. So many people adored him and still they do. But apparently there were also people deeply annoyed with his skills and personality. And he had to die because of one of them. Very, very sad.

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    1. PS I don't want to be anonymous, but I have some techniczne problems with my phone. So - best greetings from Catherine, from Poland. Have a nice day!

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    2. Thank you Catherine. You make a keen observation about the roughness on the part of the men putting Houdini into his restraints, most notably the straitjacket. But rest assured this is all staged. Houdini dramatized this aspect of the performance in a way modern escape artists do not. They'll stand and make jokes as they are being strapped into a straitjacket. But Houdini wanted to evoke the idea of a "lunatic" being forcibly strapped into the restraint. So he sort of fights it and it takes two men to hold him in place, etc. It's great stuff, but like I said, it's largely for show. Now, there were some occasions where Houdini was indeed put through a torturous ordeal by overzealous challengers. But that was not the norm.

      As far as the punch goes, even Houdini acknowledged it was an accident and not a malicious act.

      Glad you are enjoying the site! Thanks for your kind words. :)

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    3. I’m wondering if George knows anything about his uncle
      I was adopted in the batty family
      My father told me my grandmother performed with Houdini
      I have no idea who she is
      I have red hair and freckles
      Contact me through Cae812@aol.com

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  3. A definite family resemblance! How cool!

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