Houdini made more than a dozen radio broadcasts from 1922-1926, debunking spiritualism and giving magic lessons. I have long believed that there must be a recording of Houdini's voice from this time. Now our friend Joe Notaro of Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence has discovered evidence of such a recording, and I'm losing my mind!
The listing below from the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) at the University of California Santa Barbara, shows that Houdini recorded a "monologue" on Spiritualism to a 10-inch record in New York on December 16, 1922. This doesn't appear to have been a radio broadcast per se, but a direct recording made for the Victor company.
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| Click to view at DAHR |
Before we get too excited (as I did when I first saw this), know this is just evidence that a recording was made, not that a recording survives. I confirmed this with the DAHR, who said, "The record was made but was never published (that we know). It's possible a test pressing exists."
This is still tremendously exciting. Perhaps a copy survives in the Victor archives. Or perhaps this 10-inch record exists unlabeled in some Houdini collection, just waiting to be played.
But what is this exactly? Here's some speculation.
This was during the first year of Houdini's radio broadcasts on Spiritualism (March is the first broadcast I'm aware of). Maybe he's making a private recording just to hear what his address sounds like? Not unlike how he recorded his Water Torture Cell patter on wax cylinders years earlier. Or maybe he's making a recording for use by radio stations. Pre-recorded material was in use at this time. This means some of the known Houdini broadcasts might have been this recording.
But here's another theory that's a little wild. 1922 was the year of the famous seance in which Lady Conan Doyle claimed to make contact with Houdini's mother. On December 19, just three days after making this recording, Houdini had a written statement notarized entitled, "The Truth Regarding Spiritualistic Seance Given to Houdini by Lady Conan Doyle."
Could this be a recording of Houdini speaking this same statement? He certainly thought it was important, and I could see him making a recording of it, if only for his own files.
Okay, audio historians, we have the date, we have the place, we have the label. Who wants to get their name into the Houdini history books by tracking down this recording?
Almost! I still can't believe I see Bess in that Spiritualism film speaking.
ReplyDeleteNow all we have to do is find “Medium Well Done” to see Hardeen speak and move! 🙃 I don’t care what they said about it when it came out! I need to see my guy Hardeen! - Abby Martin
DeleteYeah, if that survived, then somehow the record of Houdini speaking must be in some non-magic collectors' storehouse.
ReplyDeleteOr it could be in a magic collection or Houdini archive unlabeled and unplayed. For many years my friend Mark had several records in his Houdini collection that he never played. We finally played them and they contained recorded phone conversations with Edward Saint! Did a post on those here.
DeleteWe still haven't heard his natural speaking voice. This recording might get us closer. That data sheet notes: "Chicago Style." Could that be in reference to his voice?
ReplyDeleteDidn’t Houdini have an accent?
DeleteI want to hear him in radio and not just crunchy wax cylinder. 🥺❤️ - Abby Martin
"Chicago style" refers to the Citation. Notice it's in a drop down with MLA Style and APA Style. (I use MLA.)
DeleteI think what we'd hear on this recording would be very similar to the cylinders. The German cylinder contains one sentence that feels as if it's spoken in his natural voice. It's just a little faster and he still has that same cadence of hitting every syllable.
Yeah! APA formatting! I have to use that for all my essays for class! So then Chicago is referring to the font then?
DeleteOr… eh whatever
- Abby Martin
Chicago is just a different way of doing a citation. If you select between them on the dropdown, you'll see how the citation for this recording changes.
DeleteA 10-inch 78 rpm record of the era allowed about 3-1/2 minutes of playing time. Having been recorded in 1922, this would be an “acoustic” recording, meaning it was spoken into a megaphone (much like his earlier, 1914 cylinder recording.) So he is likely speaking more in a stage/orator style. Electrical recording (with a microphone) did not start until late-1924, and was done industry-wide beginning in 1925. - David Charvet
ReplyDeleteThank you, David!
Delete