John Bengtson has passed away

I'm very sad to learn that the great John Bengtson has passed away. John was a giant among film historians and THE man when it came to finding silent movie locations. He was an incredible researcher and sleuth, and a true inspiration. He shared his discoveries in several books and on his YouTube channel, Silent Locations. He was also a very nice guy who was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. In 2015, he hunted down several locations from Houdini's The Grim Game. I'll share links below. As a specialized historian, he seems irreplaceable. His work lives on through his books and videos, but he will be missed. 

Happy travels, my friend.

Hollywood Heritage

I encourage you to visit John's Silent Locations YouTube Channel, website, and pick up his books: Silent Traces, Silent Echoes, and Silent Visions.

Below are some of John's Houdini-related discoveries that I have shared here over the years:

John Bengtson uncovers Grim Game filming locations

More Grim Game locations identified by John Bengtson

John Bengtson finds Houdini's crash site

The Grim Game house

Houdini's great wall

The Grim Game jail break behind the scenes

The Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd (and Houdini!) alley

The Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd (and Houdini) Alley video

LINK: Houdini solves a Charlie Chaplin mystery!

Houdini in the Cahuenga alley

Locating Houdini's lion

Houdini's Westlake leap

Searching for Houdini at "The Old Vic"

The Old Vic near its end. Strourbridge.com

I recently found an article in the April 5, 1958, Stourbridge News about the restoration of "The Old Vic" theater (aka Victoria Music Hall, aka Victoria Cinema) in Lye. The paragraph below is what caught my eye.

Stourbridge News, April 5, 1958.

Unfortunately, I have no record of Houdini at the Victoria in Lye or anywhere in Stourbridge. I am a bit skeptical. This was a very small theater, not affiliated with any of the music hall circuits Houdini played. And as far as I can find, it opened in January 1914. This doesn't leave much time for Houdini to have been there. I have two open weeks for him in 1914: January 5-11 and March 9-15. After that, he was back in the U.S. for the duration of the war.

One possibility is that Houdini could have made a personal appearance at the theater when it was showing The Master Mystery during his 1920 return tour of the UK. But now I'm reaching.

If any research bloodhounds are able to find Houdini in Lye, please give me a bark!

Want more? On my Patreon, I recently shared a list of dates for which I don't have a record of where Houdini was performing (if at all). You can did into that by clicking below.

Related:

• Derek Tait's new book is a Houdini ESSENTIAL
• LINK: Harry, Larry and Violet: Safe Bind, Safe Find
• List of surviving Houdini theaters

LINK: Houdini and the Weed Chain Tire Company

Here's a terrific post on The Autopian about the Weed Chain Tire Company and their famous challenge to Houdini in 1908. Click the headline or the image below to read "Harry Houdini Once Escaped From Eight Tire Chains, Two Steel Car Wheels, And A Crapload Of Padlocks."

 

I'm impressed they were aware of the Weed Chain rematch. Not many people know that Houdini did this challenge twice.

Related:

• The Weed Chain Tire Grip challenge
• The Weed Chain rematch
• Houdini pitchbook with Weed Chain cover nabs $1,230

A special reward for my 100 patrons

It has finally happened! I've hit 100 paid members on my Patreon. As promised, I'm offering members a very special reward. It drops today at 1:26 PM.

Thank you all for your support. And if you're not a member, this is a fine time to join!

"I Want To Be Like Houdini!" book and launch party

Magician Kent Cummins has a new book called I Want To Be Like Houdini!, in which he shares stories of how Houdini influenced his life. Here's the cover and description.

"The Fantastic Kent Cummins" has loved magic for more than 75 years, and now he shares some amazing stories based on the greatest magician of all time, Harry Houdini! These are true stories from a professional magician that provide a fascinating peak behind the curtain.

There will be a launch party for the book on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at the Brass Peacock in Georgetown, Texas. Click the image below for more details about what sounds like a magical night.

You can purchase  I Want To Be Like Houdini! on Amazon.com. Kent will also soon be launching his own retail site Magic Words Press.

Related:

• Bess's coat among Houdini rarities on display in Austin
• David Blaine's Beautiful Struggle started with Houdini

San Francisco treats

Here are a few curiosities from the San Francisco Chronicle that I recently stumbled on. First is an ad for a television showing of Houdini (1953) in October 1969, describing him as "a cat with 9 lives." That's a new one! There's something that feels very 1969 about this.

San Francisco Chronicle, Oct 20, 1969.

Here's another one, this time from 1976. San Francisco had no shortage of adult theaters back then, and their offerings were advertised in the Chronicle. Notice the teaser copy on this ad: "The stars featured in DIRTY STORIES get into positions Houdini wouldn't dare!" Goodness.

San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 24, 1976.

Finally, there's nothing all that unusual about this 1969 clipping; I just like seeing a revival house screening of The Man From Beyond in proximity to one of my favorite James Bond films, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Just don't make the mistake of seeing Paint Your Wagon!

San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 29, 1969.

Related:

• When Houdini (1953) came to TV
• Harry and Rudy (and Mel)
• And now for something completely different

Dive into Shark Tank, January 28

Ari Siegel of History By Mail has posted the following on his site:

On Wednesday, January 28 at 10pm ET/PT on ABC, History By Mail will be featured in a Shark Tank update segment. If you have followed our journey for any amount of time, you know this is a milestone we do not take lightly. 

This update is a look at what has happened since our original appearance. It highlights how the company has grown, where we are today, and what we are building next. It is also a moment to step back and appreciate something that is easy to forget when you are busy running the day to day. None of this happened in a vacuum. It happened because thousands of curious people chose to support an unusual idea and keep showing up for history. 

There is also a special celebrity cameo in the segment, and it is one you will not want to miss.

Who could this celebrity be? Well, if Ari isn't saying, then I won't either. But considering History By Mail's latest Houdini-themed offering, you may be able to guess.🗽

Related:

• The Dream Big Folio: Houdini’s Illusion That Inspired David Copperfield
• 100 years ago Houdini vanished an elephant

Happy 150th birthday Bess

Today marks Bess Houdini's 150th birthday. She was born Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner on January 23, 1876, in Brooklyn. Our great friend Janet Davis traveled out to Gate of Heaven Cemetery today and just sent me this lovely email and images.

I’m at Gate of Heaven right now, marking the sesquicentennial of Bess’ birth. I played “Rosabelle” and the stage patter recording (and made sure not to wear or bring anything yellow). I left this photo and her dates on the gravestone. You can see that someone else had left flowers recently; there were fresh footprints in the snow.

A peaceful, cold winter’s day for this special anniversary. Happy 150th, Bessie. You are remembered.

Janet

A beautiful tribute to Bess on this special day. Thank you, Janet!

Want more? I've marked Bess's 150th on my Patreon with a rare clip of her at a performance of the Southern California Japanese Amateur Magicians Society in Los Angeles in 1938. Just click the image below and watch Bessie get all the gifts.

Happy birthday, Bess.

Related:

• A birthday present for Bess
• The women who have played Bess
• Marking Houdini's 150th in Budapest

Houdini's Challenge Scrapbook to be published!

Last year, Dr. Bruce J. Averbook shared Houdini's first travel diary with the world. (I think I've mentioned that book here.) Well, he's back with another, and it's a big one!

David Haversat has just announced the upcoming publication of A Strenuous Career: The Personal Challenge and Advertisement Scrapbook of Harry Houdini. As the title says, this book reproduces Houdini's entire Challenge Scrapbook, which is another precious artifact from The Averbook Magic Art Museum & Library. The book will be released via David Haversat's 1878 Press Co. in May 2026.

I'm VERY excited about this. I've long known about this scrapbook, but I haven't yet had a chance to study it. Bruce did give me a quick peek at it a while back, and what I saw knocked my socks off! So I can't wait to dive into this book. (I also love the title.)

Are we spoiled yet?

Related:

• Read 'The Cancer of Superstition' TODAY
• YOU CAN NOW OWN HOUDINI'S FIRST DIARY
• The Mother Scrapbook

Help unlock Houdini's voice

Want to hear one minute of Houdini audio that has never been released to the public? You can make that happen NOW by becoming a patron. The post below is open to everybody and explains the deal.

Related:

• Want to hear unreleased Houdini voice?
• ALL the Houdini wax cylinder audio has been saved!
• Announcing WILD ABOUT HARRY on Patreon

The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI, Vol. 3 released

Joe Notaro and Arthur Moses have the honor of being the first to publish a new Houdini book in 2026. Their third volume, reprinting the Kinema Comic series The Amazing Exploits of Houdini, was released on January 15. Details below.

The British Boys weekly “The Kinema Comic” ran a serial “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” (“Written by Houdini Himself” – or so it says) from April 24, 1920 to November 27, 1926. In these yarns, which no one should miss, the Master of Mystery chronicles his most amazing exploits. Surviving copies are almost impossible to come by these days. Joe M. Notaro and Arthur Moses have been tracking down these rare issues and are making them available to you in a book series by year (and months). 

In this newest offering, they have compiled the 1922 (Jul – Dec) weekly serials (27 issues) of “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” into a single book (with original illustrations).

You can purchase Kinema Comic 1922 (Jul-Dec) The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in hardcover or paperback.

Related:

• The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI, Vol. 2 released
• Now you can read "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"
• "The Amazing Exploits of Houdini"

Wild About Harry PRESS is open for business

Today, I'm throwing open the doors of Wild About Harry PRESS. This is my new retail website (powered by Shopify) and publishing imprint. Here, I intend to sell my own books, notably The Ultimate Houdini Chronology, the first volume of which will be released later this year.

For starters, I'm offering my limited author's stock of Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899, published last year by Mike Caveney's Magic Words. I'm offering a choice of SIGNED or SEALED. The book retails for $125, but as thanks for being my first customers, I've lowered the price of the sealed editions to $95.* I'm pretty sure this is the lowest price for this book you'll find anywhere online. Supplies are limited.

I'm a one-man one-cat operation, so be patient with me as I learn the retail ropes. I'm looking forward to providing everyone with some great Houdini books!

Feel free to sign up to receive notifications when new books are added.

* UPDATE: Heads up that the cost of the Sealed edition will be going up to $110 this weekend (Jan 24). That's still a discount. Just not as much.

Related:

• Wild About Harry PRESS is coming soon
• YOU CAN NOW OWN HOUDINI'S FIRST DIARY
• ANNOUNCEMENT: I'M DONE WITH HOUDINI!

Discover Houdini's legacy in Scranton

Here's a nice news report showcasing the famous Houdini Museum and Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania, run by our friends Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz. Enjoy.

Related:

• Scranton honors Dorothy Dietrich and Houdini Museum
• "Haunted" Houdini printers block MISSING
• Ambassador's Tour

Houdini on Stage 4

Over the Christmas break, I found something that I have been on the lookout for a long time. A report in the September 24, 1952, San Antonio Express-News mentions that Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh are currently shooting the movie Houdini on Stage 4 at Paramount. Specifically, the scene mentioned is the Tony Pastors scene.

San Antonio Express-News, September 24, 1952.

While I knew Houdini (1953) was shot entirely on the Paramount lot in Hollywood, I never knew which soundstage they used. Now I do!

Of course, it's possible they used more than one stage as the movie utilized many large sets. But at least I know one.

Now, if we can just get Houdini (1953) added to the historic plaque listing the films shot on the stage.

Check out the links below for more Houdini-Paramount locations.

Related:

• Finding Houdini's 278 at Paramount
• Houdini rises at Paramount
• Bessie visits Paramount (and so do I)