As it turns out, The Original Houdini Scrapbook by Walter Gibson had just come out on July 10. It was the first of four coffee-table-sized, picture-heavy Houdini books released within a year. A book like this was a dream come true, and I came home with a copy under my arm. I still have that copy, and I still love this book 50 years later.
By the way, Hollywood Boulevard was once a haven for bookstores. Below is a map from the May 9, 1976, Los Angeles Times. Today, only Larry Edmunds remains.
Do you remember when you first got The Original Houdini Scrapbook? Share your memories in the comments below.
I bought my copy then at The Gamblers Bookstore in Las Vegas, which also carried magic books...great year with new and reprinted HH books in the stores.
ReplyDeleteIt was grea all the book and memorabilia stores on Hollywood Blvd., including one run by a HH collector. Pasadena also a had an area with a lot of bookstores together. Anyone remember Acres of Books in Long Beach?
I remember Acres of Books. The HH collector you're thinking of was probably my good buddy Mark who ran Collector's Book Store for many years. Incredible place.
DeleteSorry mine was on eBay years later
ReplyDeleteI love this book!!! Also picked up my copy in the mid 70s. There's a LOT of Houdini in this book. You can't let yourself get hypnotized by the pages and pages of challenges and the the great photos. You have shovel your way in to the written material and facsimiles of the Houdini letters. We were so lucky to have Walter Gibson in the same planet as us.
ReplyDeleteLeo Hevia
Delete