Want more? I recently shared a collection of Houdini-related Rochester clippings with my Scholar-level patrons below.
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Showing posts with label 1907. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1907. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Houdini and Eva Tanguay in Rochester
Here's a terrific ad for the Cook Opera House in Rochester, New York, showing Houdini and Eva Tanguay on the same bill. (If you don't know who Tanguay was, check out this post.) This is the week Houdini did his famous jump from the Weighlock Bridge. It's wild to know that Eva was on the same bill. Did she see the jump?
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Thursday, August 14, 2025
News 10 on Houdini's Rochester bridge jump
Here's a terrific report from WHEC News 10 in Rochester about Houdini's jump from the Weighlock Bridge and the film footage that captured that leap. It's well-researched, and we get to see our friends Jeff and Debbie Blood. I love that they pinpointed the location and identified one of the still-standing buildings glimpsed in the footage. Enjoy.
I think this footage is an excellent candidate for the National Film Registry, which every year selects 25 films that showcase American film heritage and increase awareness for film preservation.
Thanks to Jeff and Debbie Blood for the alert.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Henry Marcus does the Overboard Box in 1907
Today, we have a new contender for who first did the Overboard Box.
On Aug. 6, 1907, the Cleveland Plain Dealer advertised that Henry Marcus would be nailed into a packing case and "thrown" into the lagoon at Luna Park. This is six years before Houdini's first overboard box and three years before Hanco did the stunt with a trunk in Australia. At this time, Houdini was just beginning to do bridge jumps as his main outdoor feat.
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| The Plain Dealer, Aug 6, 1907. |
Did Marcus go through with the escape? Try as I might, I couldn't find any follow-up, nor could I find confirmation of Marcus appearing at Luna Park. It appears Luna Park was in competition with White City, another summer resort, which was featuring "Sensational Free Acts" by Capt. E.C. Wilson. Luna also advertised "Free Open Air Acts." Was the Marcus stunt one of those free acts?
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| The Plain Dealer, Aug 8, 1907. |
Houdini was spending the summer months at home in New York when Marcus did this stunt. He would not play Cleveland again until March 1908. So if this was a one-off stunt, Houdini may have never learned of it. But he was aware of Marcus himself. In the April 15, 1907 issue of the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine, we read:
Marcus, "The man in the box," is featuring Houdini's packing case trick and is industriously seeking engagements. When last heard he was in Coxsackie, N.Y.
If someone wants to take up the challenge and try to find Marcus doing his overboard box anywhere else, I'd love to hear what you find. For the moment, we can add this to the mysterious origins of the Houdini Blackstone Hanco Marcus overboard box.
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Friday, August 16, 2024
Houdini's gold lock (update)
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| Times-Picayune, Nov. 11, 1907. |
Houdini played two weeks at what was commonly known as the St. Charles Orpheum in New Orleans. (Not to be confused with the Orpheum that still stands today, although Houdini did play that theater in 1923.) During this engagement, he was also challenged by the B. Cohn Company Ltd. to escape a packing case while shackled in "old-fashioned slave chains,” and he dove manacled into the Mississippi river. The St. Charles Orpheum was razed in 1965.
UPDATE: The gold lock may have been found in Roger Dreyer's Houdini Revealed museum! I've shared the discovery with my patrons below.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Houdini, Ragtime, and the Valentine
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| Toledo Blade, March 11, 1907. |
But it gets better! The Valentine has a stunning mural by Paul Geiger in its lobby featuring famous performers who have graced the Valentine stage. Houdini is beautifully represented, as you can see in the top image above. So that's a must-see as well.
You can get more information and buy tickets to Ragtime via the Toledo Opera website. For more information about the Valentine and details about its mural, check out their website valentinetheatre.com.
Coincidently, I recently shared on my Patreon a post about a packing case challenge at the Valentine with a photo of Houdini in front of the theater that I've never seen before. You can see that by clicking below.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
"That's an awful river."
I've shared on my Patreon a vivid account of Houdini's handcuffed leap into the Mississippi River on November 17, 1907. There are details here that I've not read before. Dive in by clicking below.
I recently updated my Bridge jumps page to list all of Houdini's known jumps. Thanks to my patrons for supporting this work.
Monday, December 4, 2023
Houdini's Denver dives
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| The Denver Post, Oct. 14, 1907 |
The photos taken that day by Daily News staff photographer Ralph Baird were enlarged and displayed in the lobby of the Denver Orpheum. (Including the image at the top of this post, which I'm excited to confirm is Denver.) But The News felt the public would like to see Houdini perform the feat for themselves, so they arranged for him to repeat the stunt on Sunday, Oct. 20. It was unusual for Houdini to repeat an outdoor stunt during the same engagement, but he agreed to do so.
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| The Daily News, Oct. 17, 1907 |
It's interesting to see that Houdini wanted a ladder placed atop the pavilion this time so he could make a higher jump. During the first jump, he had hit the bottom of the lake. However, at the last moment, Denver Mayor Robert W. Speer objected to the stunt.
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| The Daily News, Oct. 20, 1907 |
Houdini stayed out of the controversy, but The News took the mayor to task for what it saw as his hypocrisy. In an Oct. 31st editorial called "Awake at Last," the paper sarcastically congratulated the mayor for suddenly waking up to the city's blue laws and how he would now, no doubt, close down the saloons and gambling halls that line his pockets. They conclude:
And there are any number of other things for the mayor to do, now that he has taken this high moral resolve. And it thrills us with joy to know that we were the unwilling instruments bringing this great good to the city. [...] Why, oh, why didn't we think of the Houdini jump sooner, and get the mayor's conscience waked up two years ago, in time to keep him from helping steal the franchises? But it's awake now; that's one comfort. There should be notable doings in the city pretty quick.
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| Mayor Spreer |
Mayor Spreer survived the scandal and became the only Denver mayor elected to three terms. However, he didn't survive the 1918 flu pandemic and passed away during his third term.
The site of Houdini's Denver leap still exists today. While the pavilion has been rebuilt, it is, presumably, still in the same spot. A terrific Denver Houdini location. Maybe the current mayor, Mike Johnson, can put a historical plaque in the pavilion commemorating Houdini's October 13, 1907 leap and make up for his predecessor denying the citizens of Denver that second jump? Just an idea!
Want more? You can view or download an assortment of newspaper clippings from Houdini's 1907 Denver appearance as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon below. Thanks to my patrons for supporting content like this.
Photo at the top of this post from the McCord-Stewart Museum.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Barbara's Vaudeville Scrapbook
I recently stumbled upon a remarkable Facebook page called Barbara's Vaudeville Scrapbook where the relatives of George Channing Eggleston, an electrical engineer and stage lighting man from the vaudeville era, share photos from a scrapbook they inherited.
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In 1907, Eggleston traveled with the O Hana San & Co. and shared the bill with Houdini in San Francisco and Los Angeles. While there are no photos of Houdini himself, there are many photos of Franz Kukol and the Houdinis dog, Charlie (with a fresh haircut). I've never seen any of these images! Below is a sample shot of Franz and Charlie.
You can see more photos on the page itself. Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated since 2021. I reached out to page owners but haven't heard back. I've also shared all the Houdini-related images on my Patreon.
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Saturday, November 25, 2023
Attention Holiday shoppers
Here's one for you Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers. While I've seen Houdini tie-in advertisements before, I've never seen one on this scale. This ad for O'Gorman Co. "The Big Store" in Providence, Rhode Island, takes up nearly an entire page and is designed around Houdini. Not that I'm complaining!
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| The Evening Bulletin, Jan. 28, 1907. |
Houdini was playing Keith's Theater in Providence this week. The O'Gorman Co. challenged him to escape from a packing case made by their shipping department on the night of February 5, 1907. Houdini got free in 38 mins. But he could never escape the great deals at O'Gorman's!
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| The Evening Bulletin, Feb. 5, 1907. |
Happy shopping.
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Thursday, October 5, 2023
Jessica Jane finds Houdini in Kansas City
Our friend and fellow Houdini nut Jessica Jane was in Kansas City yesterday with The Foolers. Jessica owns a fantastic original photo of Houdini, his dog Charlie, and a fellow performer taken in Kansas City in 1907. So she went in search of the photo's location and posted her adventure on Instagram. Enjoy!
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Houdini spotted in Avignon
A user on the r/Magic Reddit shared this image of a Houdini painting in a pub in Avignon, France. You just never know where you'll run into old Harry!
This, of course, is not a real Houdini poster or even a reproduction of one. It's just a fantasy piece. If you're curious, Houdini was at Keith and Proctor's 58th Street Theater in New York on May 1, 1907.
Au revoir.
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Before Beyond
This led me to do a little investigation into Jane's career before she went Beyond. Here's what I found.
After Jane's death, Erwin continued to appear in films, including an uncredited appearance as The Zouave in Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik (1926). He died from injuries suffered in a car accident in 1931.
Jane and Erwin Connelly appear to have started their vaudeville careers around 1907. Their act was a presentation of the popular english sketch, "Sweethearts," written by W.S. Gilbert. Here's a review from the January 26, 1907 Birmingham News:
"Sweethearts," as presented by Mr. and Mrs. Connelly, seems really more than a vaudeville turn, for the audience feels, as the curtain slowly descends upon the reunion of sweethearts of long ago, true to each other for forty years, as though a drama of several acts was just closing. It is called a "dramatic contrast," for it shows not only the bashful lover filled with the vigor of youth pleading his cause with a maiden, for after forty years waiting they are united, showing a pretty picture, old as love itself. The sketch was written by W.S. Gilbert famous for his composition of "H.M.S. Pinafore."
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| The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Dec. 15, 1912. |
Unlike Houdini, most vaudevillians did not change their act. That was certainly the case with the Connellys who toured with "Sweethearts" for over 10 years. The first time I find them sharing the bill with Houdini is at Shea's Theater in Buffalo in October 1911. They appeared together again at the Maryland in Baltimore in 1912 and at Keith's Theater in Rhode Island in 1915.
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| The Connellys on the bill with Houdini.... |
But it wasn't just Houdini who shared the bill with the Connellys. Check out this appearance by Hardeen at the Columbia Theater in Davenport in April 1916.
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| ...and Hardeen... |
You'll notice the act is now billed as Jane Connelly & Co. Ewrin was still part of the act, but Jane was now featured more prominently in advertising. (I can't help but be reminded here of Bess Houdini's belief that billing an act as husband and wife was a bad idea.) The photo at the top of this post is from San Fransisco in 1915 and is a good example of this. Interestingly, that engagement saw the Connellys on the same bill as the Marx Brothers.
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| ...and the Marx Brothers! |
Despite a story in The Man From Beyond press book that says Houdini cast Connelly because she perfectly matched a composite photo of famous "psychic types" (you can read about that here), I think it's pretty clear Houdini knew the Connellys from vaudeville and felt comfortable casting the experienced actors in these important supporting roles. It's even possible the Connellys would have been familiar to audiences of the time and that offered some additional appeal. This was their first appearance in a film, and the movie does provide them with a nice scene together.
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| Erwin and Jane in The Man From Beyond. |
The Connellys continued to perform in vaudeville into the 1920s, broadening their repertoire with new comedic sketches written by Erwin such as "A Tale of a Shirt" and "A Strong Cup of Tea". The only other film Jane would appear in was Buster Keaton's classic Sherlock Jr. (1924), again with Erwin.
In 1925 Jane died at her home in Los Angeles. She was only 42. The below is from Variety. I'm not sure what to make of the cause of death being "a nervous breakdown."
After Jane's death, Erwin continued to appear in films, including an uncredited appearance as The Zouave in Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik (1926). He died from injuries suffered in a car accident in 1931.
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| Chicago Tribune, Feb. 12, 1931. |
Clippings: Newspapers.com
Friday, June 3, 2022
Cabinet photo fever
The auction listing dates this as 1901 as that is written on the back. However, to my eye, this looks like it was taken at the same time as the famous "my two sweethearts" photo at the Frederick Gutekunst studio in Philadelphia on January 3, 1907. (The Houdinis weren't even in the U.S. in 1901.)
Congrats to the winner of this beauty.
Monday, May 9, 2022
Did Houdini do a "bag jump" in Providence?
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| Evening Star, Nov. 29, 1950. |
A jump from the Crawford Street Bridge in Providence isn't something I have in my chronology, nor do I have a record of any bridge jump in which Houdini was put inside a bag. But I have seen it mentioned. In Rochester Houdini announced that he would be "sewn into a sack like Monte Cristo" and thrown from the Weighlock Bridge. But when Houdini did the actual escape on May 7, 1907, the bag was left behind.
I do trust Clark's recollections so I'm assuming that this happened. But when? My guess it would be early in Houdini's bridge jump career, so probably around the time of the Rochester leap. Candidates would be the two weeks he played Providence in 1907 (Jan. 28 to Feb. 10) or the week of April 13-19, 1908. In 1911 Houdini jumped handcuffed from the upper deck of the steamer Warwick into the Providence river, but no bag involved.
Here's a photo of the Crawford Street Bridge as it appeared in 1906. Looks like a perfect spot for a "bag jump" to me!
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Wednesday, January 5, 2022
LINK: Mississippi Magic
Click the headline for a nice article by Keith Norrington in The Waterways Journal about Houdini's performances in New Orleans, particularly his 1907 escape from shackles in the Mississippi river.
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“That’s an awful river, the worst I have ever been in. Ugh!"
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Thursday, October 21, 2021
Houdini buys a Ford
The saga of Houdini and his cars continues. While later in his life Houdini preferred to be driven (and even developed a slight phobia about driving himself), during the years of his early success he appears to have been a car guy! You might recall this post that showed he purchased a Humber automobile in 1904 and even claimed to have raced it. Now we have evidence of a second Houdini car.
The below ad is from the Providence Journal when Houdini was playing the Keith's Theater on Westminster Street in February 1907. Looks like a test drive is all it took to turn him into a Ford man.
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The car Houdini purchased was a Ford Model K 6-cylinder touring car. It sold for a whopping $2800 ($81,488.04 today). By contrast, the 4-cylinder only cost $550. Let's hope he got a price break for doing the ad!
I ran all this past David Charvet, who knows classic cars as well as magic, and it turns out the Model K occupies an interesting place in Ford history. Henry Ford himself did not like the idea of a high end luxury model like the K. His goal was to make an affordable car that everyone could own. So one year later in 1908 he introduced his Model T, and the rest is automotive history. David says 1907 Model Ks are quite rare today and sends over this photo.
Below is a photo of Houdini behind the wheel of a car that does not appear to be the Ford Model K. So I guess the search is now on for car #3!
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Friday, June 25, 2021
Large '3 Shows in One' poster sells at Potter auction
A large banner poster for Houdini's "3 Shows in One" sold in Potter & Potter's latest magic auction over the weekend for $3,360.00 (including premium). The poster measures 42 ¼ x 108 ¾ and dates to 1925. This is a poster I have seen before. But I'm unsure if this is that same one or a second example. Hey, if you have the space!
The auction had many Houdini ratites all of which sold for high prices. Despite being heavily restored, this untypical playbill for Houdini in Harrisburg beat the $500-$1000 estimate and sold for $5,040.00. I was a surprised to see this fetch more than the 3 Shows in One poster!
Two standouts for me were a 1907 Hardeen Christmas card ($450) and a Houdini luggage label ($1,440), both of which I've not seen before. The auction dated the label as 1920, but the reference to locks makes me wonder if it could be earlier.
As always, congrats to the winners!
Below you can see a few more examples of "3 Shows in One" posters.
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Houdini certifiable?
This is one of Houdini's standard press kit stories that is likely more entertaining than true. But I still wanted to share as I've never seen this image of Houdini struggling in a straitjacket (which I believe is a photo heavily retouched). And the story is kinda fun. Enjoy.
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| Los Angeles Record, September 25, 1907 |
Below are links to a few more uncommon shots of Houdini in straitjackets.
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Thursday, March 4, 2021
"Don't do anything without declaring me in."
Here are a few treats to celebrate Hardeen's birthday today. Dash was born Ferenc Dezso Weisz on March 4, 1876 in Budapest, Hungary. But like his famous brother, he always claimed Appleton as his birthplace and adopted February 29 as his birthday (showing he had a sense of humor about all this).
Let's start with one of my
all time favorite posters for either brother. If Houdini ever created a poster
depicting a bridge jump, I've not see it. But it would be tough to do better
than this one. This appeared on the back of the July 1945
Conjurers Magazine "Hardeen Memorial Issue". How I would love to see
this in its original color.
Next is a terrific trade ad from the July 7, 1907 issue
of Variety announcing Hardeen's return to America. There's
a lot to love here, including a nice mention of trailblazing agent Jenie
Jacobs. But I especially enjoy those lines at the bottom.
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| Click to enlarge. |
Finally, I couldn't resist running Hardeen through the MyHeritage AI app which is all the rage at the moment. What little film of
Hardeen that exists comes from much later in his life, so here we see him
come to life in his early Handcuff Kings days.
Happy birthday Dash!
Monday, November 30, 2020
Hardeen will not be outdone
Recently several original Houdini photos have sold on eBay for high prices, as one might expect. But now Hardeen is getting in on the act. This dynamite image of Dash sold yesterday on eBay for $860. That beat the prices of the Houdini pics! How 'bout that?
The back of this photo is stamped Brown Brothers and reads: "Hardeen, The Handcuff Mystery - New York Theater - week of Dec. 23." This was Hardeen's New York debut in 1907, which you can read more about HERE. A great photo and nice piece of Hardeen history. Congrats to the winner.
Thanks to Kevin Connolly for the alert.
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