A gripping account of the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, as he waged war against the spiritualists on Capitol Hill. Here magic met politics and illusion collided with truth.In 1926, a dramatic conflict arose in the chambers of the United States Congress concerning not tariffs or taxes, but the regulation of fortune telling and the supernatural. What began as a seemingly obscure piece of legislation soon drew national attention as the famed magician and escape artist Harry Houdini stepped into the spotlight to lead a crusade against fraudulent spiritualists.
This book provides the complete transcript of the four days of hearings and offers a detailed examination of the proceedings and individuals involved. Its contents shed light on these extraordinary hearings, where belief and skepticism clashed, and Congress became an unexpected venue for one of the most unusual confrontations in American history.
Houdini vs. The Spiritualists: A Battle on Capitol Hill can be purchased at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
How did Houdini become the magical folk hero, the symbol of escape from the chains of oppression, poverty and rejection? What circumstances brought him into the final spotlight of world prominence? What was the force behind his aggressive personality? Can we really understand the mind of the driven master mystifier? In exhausting efforts to sculpture his own image, did he leave us the mystery of himself?You are invited to journey back in time, to a different way of life to grow up living as he did, searching for opportunity in an era we may have forgotten. His countless escapes and magic tricks on and off stage were but the surface of a whole world of happenings. We may never know all the hidden side of Houdini’s mind but in this book, I will attempt to reveal some workings of his inner self.
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| Ken Trombly Collection |
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| The Herald Statesman, Nov 16, 1926. |
The Official Houdini Séance was held this year at the new House of Magic in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The medium was Scott Wells, and the seance was open to the public this year. Did Houdini return? Apparently not, but a good time was had by all. Below is a collection of photos courtesy of John Costello.
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| Waiting for Harry. |
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| The Inner Circle gathers. |
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| Tom Boldt, Bill Radner, and the Séance Cuffs. |
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| Medium Scott Wells getting into the spirit. |
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| Barry Spector's creations. |
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| "We are a very determined group." - Bill Radner |
Here's looking forward to 2026 and the 100th anniversary of Houdini's death. Maybe Harry is too!
Past Official Houdini Séances:
"You're really a wonderful audience, and I do want to thank you for this heartwarming welcome you've given me on my return to the stage. I do hope I pleased you, and that you'll be coming back to see me again and again. And each time you do come back, I promise you bigger and better thrills. Good night, and thank you very much."
Sorry for the super late notice, but if you don't have any Halloween plans tonight, here's a Houdini Seance for you! This is where I'll be. Hope to see you there.
Related:
The incredible untold story of how the world's greatest magician, Harry Houdini, waged war upon Spiritualism, uncovering unknown magic, political conspiracies, and surprising secrets along the way.You won’t live forever, Houdini. You’ve got to DIE. I put a curse on you . . .
During a séance in 1924, Houdini―the greatest entertainer in the world―was cursed by a vengeful spirit, who said his days were numbered. Houdini laughed. He believed talking to the dead was impossible. By 1926, Houdini was dead.
This is the untold story of the last performance of Harry Houdini, who―inspired by his hero Abraham Lincoln―devotes himself full-time to a personal crusade against Spiritualism, the practice of speaking to the dead. In a spellbinding journey across Jazz Age America, haunted by the aftermath of the Great War and a deadly pandemic, Houdini encounters modern-day haunted houses, warlocks, and monsters, and uncovers a shocking conspiracy that stretches all the way to the American presidency―and to the House of Houdini itself.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Houdini’s 1926 dramatic courtroom testimony before Congress and the last otherworldly cases he takes on that lead him there, Lincoln's Ghost is a powerful examination of deception, love, politics, the afterlife, and the very nature of magic itself.
Purchase Lincoln's Ghost: Houdini's War on Spiritualism and the Dark Conspiracy Against the American Presidency at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (UK release date Nov 17).
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JOHN COX / WILD ABOUT HARRY NAMED NEMCA’S 2025 FOUNDERS AWARD RECIPIENT!
The New England Magic Collectors Association (NEMCA) is an organization of over 150 magicians, magic historians and magic collectors from around the world. It started in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980 with the purpose of preserving and promoting the history, artifacts and publications of the performers of magic and its allied arts.
In 2017 NEMCA created its Founders Award in honor of two of its founders, Ray Goulet and Ed Hill. The Award is used to acknowledge the contributions of people and organizations that exemplify NEMCA’s prime objectives of preserving and promoting the history and artifacts associated with magic and the allied arts. Previous recipients have included the American Museum of Magic, the Conjuring Arts Research Center (CARC), MAGICANA, and The Magic Circle.
It is our privilege to announce that the Board of Directors for NEMCA has unanimously voted to honor Wild About Harry and its founder, John Cox, as the recipient of the 2025 Founders Award.
This celebrates Cox’s many years of effort collecting and sharing information regarding Harry Houdini. Cox’s Facebook page, website (wildabouthoudini.com) in conjunction with the Patreon site, offers pictures and information available nowhere else. The publication of his book, Escaping Obscurity - The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899, is a significant accomplishment and contribution to the community. It is these, and many other considerations, that supported the presentation of this honor.
Magicians around the world will celebrate Harry Houdini in 2026 recognizing one hundred years since the death of Houdini. NEMCA’s next Yankee Gathering will take place in early November and a portion of the conference will be dedicated to scholarship and celebration of Houdini’s memory.
John Cox, through his work on Wild About Harry, has done much to preserve the very rich history of magic and its practitioners, as well as to promote magic to newer generations. The Board of the New England Magic Collectors Association can think of no more deserving organization than Wild About Harry and its founder, John Cox, to receive its 2025 Founders Award. NEMCA congratulates him for all he has done, and continues to do, on behalf of magic history.
Offered is a legendary piece of illusionist history, a deck of playing cards personally owned by the great Harry Houdini, famed escapist and stunt performer. This relic has a long history in the magic community after originally leaving the possession of Houdini in 1926. Houdini passed away in 1926, leaving this deck of playing cards to his wife, Bess Houdini. Bess gifted the deck to a fellow magician Audley S. Dunham, who after Bess' death gifted the deck to legendary "Society Magician," J. Elder Blackledge. Blackledge was well regarded amongst magicians of the time, and worked from the 1920s through the 1950s as a "society magician," performing in the White House for Franklin D. Roosevelt on several occasions. Blackledge popularized in America the famous magic act, "The Chinese Linking Rings," and performed them on occasion in Leland, Michigan. After Blackledge's passing in 1961, the deck was gifted by his widow to fellow magician and Leland resident William B.F. Hall. Hall passed in 1968, and his widow Sally Hall would pass the deck to their final owner Lawrence L. Michaels.The deck of cards consists of 46 individual pieces. There are 45 playing cards in the offered deck, including a single Joker card. The deck appears to be missing a single Ace, Queen, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4, and 3. The reverse of the cards features a detailed blue/white back design, and traditional Jugendstil design on the obverse. The deck is also accompanied by a blank card, with "THIS DECK was one of the first used by Houdini (about 1890). Mrs. Houdini gave it to Audley S. Dunham who gave it to me December 14, 1943," along with a blue ink signature seemingly of J. Elder Blackledge. The playing cards exhibit heavy general wear, small tears, and associated creases, with soiling throughout the obverse and reverse of each card. Some cards display some minor peeling from the corners, separating the front and back of the card. Some of the cards detailing on the obverse have faded, partially removing the corner symbols on some cards. Several cards display corners that have been clipped or torn.
Join us for a mesmerizing one-man show that brings the legendary escape artist to life! The Great Houdini takes center stage to recount his rise to fame, his lifelong fascination with magic and the death-defying feats that made him a legend. Don't miss out on an unforgettable evening of magic and mystery!
