More "Mystery & Wonder" NYPL events in June

These events at the New York Public Library keep sneaking up on me! Below are two more events coming up in early June. These are part of the NYPL's ongoing Mystery & Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians exhibition. Click the headline links to get tickets and more information.

The Art of the Illusion: Collecting and Conserving Magic Posters at NYPL

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts -Bruno Walter Auditorium
Tuesday, June 2 • 6:30 PM - 8 PM

Magic poster experts and conservators discuss the art of the illusion.

For more than 100 years, the New York Public Library has been building an extraordinary collection of rare color lithograph posters that promote the great magicians and illusions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Forty-eight of these striking posters are currently on view in the exhibition Mystery & Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City. These posters illustrate magicians reimagining old tricks and inventing new ones, shaping each performer’s unique identity within a new visual language of magic as audiences became more international.

Esteemed magic historian and poster collector Charles Greene III will speak about the rise and importance of posters in promoting the Golden Age of Magic and the thrill of collecting these historic works of art today. NYPL paper conservators Denise Stockman and Juliana Cordero will share their stories about the fascinating process of restoring the posters included in the exhibition. Exhibition curator Annemarie van Roessel will lead a discussion and Q&A from the audience. 

The History of Society of American Magicians

Harvey Fierstein Theatre Lab
Thursday, June 4 • 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Lecture presentation about The Society of American Magicians and Harry Houdini. The Society of American Magicians today is an outgrowth of what had initially been a Saturday night social tradition inaugurated in New York City in the 1890’s. Richard Cohn, magician, historian, author, consultant and Associate of the Inner Magic Circle will speak of the origins of the club. He will also talk of the role of Dr. Saram Ellison in the founding and establishment of the S.A.M.

Thomas Ewing, S.A.M. National Historian will focus on Harry Houdini and his efforts to transform what was originally a New York group into an international organization. This metamorphosis not only brought clubs located in other cities into the fold but hobbyists and amateurs as well as professionals in other regions into the fabric of what is today an international organization.

To keep up with all the events, keep watching the "Mystery & Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians" program page.

Related:

• Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City

LINK: HHCE highlights from Magic Collector Expo

Our friend Joe Notaro has a full report on this year's Magic Collector Expo, with all the Houdini highlights. Click the headline or the image below to have a read of Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence.

Related:

• Magic Collector Expo 2024 aboard the Queen Mary
• A five star Magic Collector Expo in Cleveland
• LINK: HHCE highlights from Magic Collector Expo (2025)

The Grim Game will screen in New York, May 15

Houdini's best silent film, The Grim Game (1919), will screen this Friday, May 15 at 6:30 PM, at the New York Public Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium. The screening will include live piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura and be followed by a discussion with Dorothy Dietrich. This is part of the programming for the New York Public Library's ongoing "Mystery & Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians" exhibition.

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library

The year 2026 marks the centennial of legendary escapologist and magician Harry Houdini’s death. In recognition of his amazing life and the Library for the Performing Arts’ current exhibition Mystery & Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York, we will screen his 1919 silent film The Grim Game with live piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura. Houdini plays an intrepid young journalist framed for murder after falling in love with a winsome ingénue played by Ann Forrest. Chases, dramatic escapes, and a real mid-air plane crash are only part of the fun. Following the screening, Dorothy Dietrich, magician and co-founder of the Houdini Museum, and magician and historian Richard Cohn will discuss the making of the film, its re-discovery and restoration, and Houdini’s legacy today.

Curiously, the film is advertised as being screened on 16mm film. The only 16mm print of The Grim Game I'm aware of is the original that was owned by Larry Weeks. I doubt this could be that print. So, at some point, a 16mm print must have been struck from the digital TCM restoration, or this could be a mistake, and this is the DCP. I suspect the latter.

Either way, The Grim Game hasn't been screened in a few years, and it is really fun to watch with an audience, so this is a must-see screening!

Click here for more information and to register for tickets.

Related:

• Houdini conquers Hollywood (at last) in The Grim Game
• Houdini sells out in Sierra Madre
• Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City

LINK: Illusionist Harry Houdini reappears in Austin 100 years after his death

Here's a nice article in the Austin Statesman about all the upcoming Houdini happenings in Austin, Texas, including Katie Bender's play Instructions for a Séance,  the Harry Ransom Center's upcoming exhibition, Houdini's Library, and Eric Colleary's new book of the same name. Click the image below or on the headline to have a read.

Related:

• Houdini’s Library coming to the HRC in Fall 2026
• Houdini’s Library will also be a book!
• Instructions for a Séance with Katie Bender

Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City

Today sees the opening of Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City. The exhibition runs from February 12 to July 11, 2026, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Shelby Cullom Davis Museum, Vincent Astor Gallery. Several Houdini treasures will be on show as part of the exhibition. Below are details.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a surge of magicians began to refine their art, finding larger audiences and building communities of practice. This period has come to be known as the Golden Age of Magic. The history of magic and magicians has long been documented through text and image as a form of theater by the Billy Rose Theatre Division at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Now, the exhibition Mystery and Wonder: a Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City will display our rich and historic archival materials related to the art of magic and the fascinating lives of magicians performing in New York City during the Golden Age.

Magic performance in this period was deeply intertwined with the traditions of spiritualism, vaudeville, circus, and mainstream theater, and innovations in publishing, science, and technology were also a major influence. The exhibition explores how magic knowledge was passed down through communities and lineages of magicians within an evolving cultural and social context.

The exhibition showcases rare items from the collection of Dr. Saram Ellison, co-founder of the Society of American Magicians, as well as important books and artifacts that evoke an early 20th-century magic shop. Through a curated display of photographs, programs, correspondence, artifacts, and original posters the exhibition will also trace the lives and careers of such major magicians as Harry Kellar, Alexander and Adelaide Herrmann, Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Dell O’Dell and many others, exploring the wondrous world of the Golden Age of Magic.

This exhibition is organized by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and curated by Annemarie van Roessel, Assistant Curator of the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Our good friend Charles Greene III attended the opening yesterday and sent this image from the official program. Look what appears in their list of recommended reading. Honored.

For more information, visit the Mystery and Wonder page at the New York Public Library website.

Related:

• Houdini treasures at NYPL exhibition preview
• "America's Sensation!" on display at the NYPL
• NYPL Digital Gallery invites us into Houdini's backyard

Houdini in new Ryman Auditorium exhibit

The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville has a new exhibit, "Unexpected Company," showcasing famous names who have appeared at the historic venue. Houdini appeared at the Ryman with his spiritualism lecture on March 11, 1924, and a pair of handcuffs he is said to have used are part of the display.

 

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A post shared by Ryman Auditorium (@theryman)

“Unexpected Company” is now open as part of the Ryman’s daytime tour experience. Tickets and tour information are available at Ryman.com/Tours.

Related:

• Houdini (Himself) in Nashville
• Nashville remembers Houdini
• Houdini's Spiritualism Lectures

Houdini treasures at NYPL exhibition preview

Our good friend Charles Greene III attended an exclusive preview of an upcoming magic exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division. As you can see, there were some Houdini treasures on display.

Click here to view photos on Charles' Facebook page

"Mystery and Wonder: A Legacy of Golden Age Magicians in New York City" opens February 12, 2026, and will run until July 11, 2026.

Want more? Charles, one of our fellow patrons, provided photos of an early Houdini letter he discovered in an NYPL scrapbook. You can check that treasure out on my Patreon below.

Thank you, Charles!

Related:

• NYPL reveals unseen Houdini poster
• "America's Sensation!" on display at the NYPL
• NYPL Digital Gallery invites us into Houdini's backyard

Houdini’s Library coming to the HRC in Fall 2026

Exciting news! Our good friend Dr. Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts at the Harry Ransom Center, is organizing a major Houdini exhibition for Fall 2026. You can read the details below or at the Harry Ransom Center website.

Discover the hidden treasures of Houdini’s Library, an exhibition that delves into the life and extraordinary collection of Harry Houdini, one of history’s most famous illusionists. On stage, Houdini crafted his performances with a deep sense of history and the magicians who came before him. Off stage, he spent years building a collection of books, manuscripts, and ephemera documenting the long global history of magic and theatre. From a first edition of Reginald Scot’s 1584 classic The Discoverie of Witchcraft to the handwritten travel diary of legendary actor David Garrick, delve into how Houdini’s collection reflected his quest to preserve history—a tradition continued by the Ransom Center since it acquired his collection in 1958. Commem-orating the centenary of Houdini’s death in 1926, Houdini’s Library invites visitors to explore the intersections of magic, history, and collecting. 

This exhibition is organized by Dr. Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts.

Looks like we're all going to Austin in 2026!

Related:

• Houdini the bibliophile
• Treasures from the Harry Ransom Center revealed
• Harry Ransom Center reopens Houdini and magic collections

Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums

A new exhibition, Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums, opens tomorrow, September 14, at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Below are details.

Explore the essential role art and objects played for mediums and magicians “communicating” with the dead during the 19th- and 20th-century Spiritualism movement in the U.S. and Europe — a time when people actively debated and wondered, "can spirits return?" See paintings, posters, photographs, stage apparatuses, costumes, film, publications and other objects that will transport visitors to the age of Harry Houdini, Margery the Medium, Howard Thurston, and the Fox Sisters, among others. Whether you’re a believer, skeptic or somewhere in between, gain a new perspective on the timeless draw of mediums and magicians, séances and magic shows.

Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums will run through February 2, 2025. You can get more information and tickets at the PEM website. A companion book to the exhibition can be purchased in the museum's SHOP.

We'll forgive them for using Thurston as their key art instead of Houdini!

Related:

• Salem's "Houdini Way" mural
• Salem will rename street "Houdini Way"
• LINK: The complete account of Houdini's visit to Salem, Massachusetts

The Russian Manacle is returning to Whittier

The S.A.M. Hall of Fame collection will once again be exhibited at the Whittier Historical Society & Museum in Whittier, California. The exhibit includes an impressive Houdini display with three rare handcuff boards, one holding the original Russian Manacle! Below are details about the special launch day celebration on January 27.

The Whittier Museum is excited to welcome back the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame for a one-of-a-kind exhibition on the history of magic and famous magicians! You do not want to miss this display!

Were you lucky to have seen this exhibit ten years ago? Well, it's back and BIGGER than the last time! You'll see illusions, props, costumes, and more kinds of memorabilia from the early 1900s to the present day. Including items belonging to Harry Houdini!

This exhibit will be on display till the end of December 2024, on the second floor of the Whittier Museum. We will be hosting a grand opening ceremony and show on Saturday, January 27th, beginning at 12 PM. This is a FREE grand opening for everyone to attend! The magic show will begin at 2 PM.

Several other magicians will be present throughout the exhibit to explain and demonstrate various illusions and tricks.

Mark your calendars for January 27th and tell your friends!

I'll be attending. Hope to see you there!

Check out the S.A.M. Hall of Fame Facebook page for more information and pics.

Want more? You can see an unpublished photo of Edward Saint with these three handcuff boards as a member of my Patreon.

Related:

• Russian Manacle and other Houdini rarities in Whittier (2012)
• Barry Spector recreates Houdini's Russian Manacle
• Mrs. Houdini on making coffee

Houdini hangs with Franz

The Facebook page for Houdini Unlocked, the new traveling exhibition from Appleton's History Museum at the Castle, shared this image yesterday. It has me excited for a few reasons. First, I've not seen it before. Also this appears to be Houdini's suspended straitjacket escape in Washington D.C. on April 19, 1916. I just did a post about this escape and said I had never seen a photo. Well, I have now!

But there's another aspect to this photo that has me excited. You can clearly see Franz Kukol among the men (he's in the bowler hat and holding a camera). This is two years after Franz was supposed to have left Houdini and returned home to Austria to serve in the military. Just further evidence that he did not leave. It's also interesting to see that he's still sporting his Kaiser Wilhelm-style mustache. This is the only time I've ever spotted Franz in any photo or film of a suspended straitjacket escape.

According to the great Patrick Culliton, Franz remained with Houdini to the end using the name Frank Williamson. You can catch up on that story via the related links below. And if you want to see film of this escape, check out my Patreon.

For more information on Houdini Unlocked visit the official website.

Related:

• Franz and Frank
• Rare footage of Houdini's first D.C. street stunt
• Appleton's History Museum announces traveling Houdini exhibition

At Home with Houdini: Collectors Talk at MUZEO, Jan. 22

This is the last week to see the exhibition Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini at MUZEO in Anaheim, CA. On closing day, Sunday, January 22, there will be a special, "At Home with Houdini: Collectors Talk," with Randall Bell and special guests (spoiler: I'm one of those guests). The event will be at 2:00 PM and advance tickets can be purchased HERE. You can also buy tickets on site.

If you can't make it to the Sunday event, I would still encourage you to do all you can to see the exhibit before it's gone. It's a good one!

Muzeo is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805. Be sure and check out their parking information as that's a bit tricky. Normal hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini will be on show until January 22, 2023.

Hope to see you next Sunday!

Related:

• Houdini lives in Anaheim!
• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us
• Bess letter reveals new detail about Houdini's death

Houdini named to the Masonic Hall of Fame

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library (SRMML) have inducted Houdini into The Masonic Hall of Fame: Extraordinary Freemasons in American History, on display through October 25, 2024, at Supreme Council headquarters in Lexington, Massachusetts. The Hall of Fame exhibition honors Masons, both past and present, who have made outstanding contributions to American history. 

The year's other inductees are: Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Thurgood Marshall; the Mayo brothers, and Paul Revere. Not bad company!

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Brother Houdini joining the order.

Thanks to Delmar Proctor for the alert.

Related:

• Guest Blog: Author-Lecturer-Mystifier-Mason 
• Scottish Rite Journal reveals Houdini the Mason
• Remembering Brother Houdini

'Houdini Unchained' original art and merchandise

The Christmas shopping season is upon us, so I thought this was a good time to showcase some of the original merchandise created for Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, CA. The museum commissioned several artists to create original Houdini pieces. That artwork is on display and also available as prints in the gift shop.

I snapped these photos inside the gift shop last time I was there. Muzeo doesn't have an online store, so it appears the only way to buy these is to visit in person. Or perhaps you could try contacting the artists direct. I've linked them all below.

"The Handcuff King" by Chris Kawagiwa.

"The Handcuff King" by John Coulter.

"Close Call with the Sea Monster" by Justine Prebich.

"Halloween Seance" by Michelle Prebich.

Vanishing Elephant lenticular by Melissa Chan Stone.

"The Key to his Heart" by Olivia Faust.

"Asleep in the Deep" by Vincenzo Savastano.

"Great Escape" by John Coulter.

"Lil Houdini Magic Set" by We Are Pretend Friends.

Houdini patch by Badaboöm Studio.

Muzeo is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805. Normal hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini will be on show until January 22, 2023.

Related:

• Houdini lives in Anaheim!
• Have a "Houdini Unchained Seance" at MUZEO
• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us

Come join me at MUZEO, October 30th

Next Sunday, October 30th, I will be at the Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini exhibition at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center giving impromptu tours and answering questions from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. If you're in the Anaheim area and have not yet seen the exhibition, come on by!

Muzeo is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805. Be sure and check out their parking information as that's a bit tricky. Normal hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini will be on show until January 22, 2023.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

Related:

• Houdini lives in Anaheim!
• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us
• Bess letter reveals new detail about Houdini's death

Bess letter reveals new detail about Houdini's death

One of the most remarkable artifacts on display in Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center is a 2-page letter written by Bess Houdini during the final weeks of her life. This is when Bess, ill with tuberculosis and weighing only 72 pounds, was convalescing at the Cedar Lodge Sanatarium in Los Angeles. In the letter Bess describes her surroundings:

It is a glorious place – huge pools with gold fish – fountains – and beautiful patio with swings and sun shades – then the awful horrors – half dead men and women in wheelchairs – nurses – doctors and sick people – that's all I see all day.

Bess then goes on to deliver what I consider to be a bombshell:

I did manage to navigate to the bathroom by myself until this morning – then I fell – now I've got a nice big egg on my head – and a scolding from my nurse. Even that did not "squash" me until I saw a big huskie put an oxygen tent next to my bed – I screamed – I saw my beloved Houdini – then Ed Saint die whilst using this – and the memory was too much for me.

Some interpret this as Bess saying she saw a vision or even the ghosts of Houdini and Ed Saint, but that's not what I read. What I read is she is recalling the very real memory of the deaths of Houdini and Ed and that they both died in oxygen tents.

So Houdini died in an oxygen tent!!!

This is the only mention of this that I've ever heard and it certainly creates an entirely different vision of Houdini's final days and hours. Below is what an oxygen tent looked like in the 1920s.

You can read the full, heartbreaking, Bess letter at Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini at Muzeo until January 22, 2023. Or you can read it as a member of my Patreon by clicking below.

Speaking of Houdini Unchained, on Sunday, October 30, I will be at Muzeo giving impromptu tours and answering questions from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. So if you're in the Anaheim area and haven't yet seen the exhibition, come on by!

Related:

• Bessie's last address
• Houdini lives in Anaheim!
• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us

Have a "Houdini Unchained Seance" at MUZEO

As part of their Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini programming, MUZEO Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim is offering private "Houdini Unchained Seances" inside the exhibition hall. Details below.

𝕳𝖔𝖚𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖎 𝖀𝖓𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝕾𝖊𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 🔮

Grab 9 of your closest mystic friends for a private party and seance. Enjoy the run of the exhibition, specialty refreshments and a chance to speak to the man himself, Harry Houdini. What will you ask him? Will he respond? Who will be with him?!? This program is for entertainment purposes only and Muzeo is not responsible for anyone (or thing) that follows you home!

The evening will include a private tour of Houdini Unchained, an open dessert and cocktail bar, a medium to guide through the seance, and special surprises. Availability is limited and reservations are available from October 9th - January 22nd, 7:00PM-9:30PM.

You can book your reservation by emailing info@muzeo.org.

For more on Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini visit the MUZEO website or check out my coverage below.

Related:

• Houdini lives in Anaheim!
• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us
• Houdini exhibition coming to Anaheim, CA

Houdini lives in Anaheim!

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini at MUZEO Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, California. The exhibition showcases the never-before-displayed collection of Dr. Randall Bell. I was very excited to see this and I'm happy to report it surpassed my expectations. There are some true rarities on view and the entire exhibition is beautifully presented. Houdini never performed in Anaheim, but he's here now!

One of the first things you see on entering the first gallery--which tells the story of Houdini's origins and his magic--is Houdini's original Flower Cone Illusion. It's exciting to see any surviving piece of Houdini apparatus, and to see something this large from the final season of his 3 Shows in One is truly special. In this effect an assistant, possibly Bess, would be turned into a large bouquet of flowers. The bouquet is still inside the cone today.

The Flower Cone was used by Houdini and later Hardeen. The traveling crate also shows the name of (Milbourne) Christopher. The burnt orange color matches other illusions known to be from the 3 Shows in One, such as Slicing a Woman in Eight and Houdini's Blooming Rosebush, which is on display as well! This is one of two tables Houdini used in his show. The Flower Cone and Blooming Rosebush were both made by R.S. Schlosser of New York.

You may recall the last place we saw this flower table was in the workshop museum of master illusion builder John Gaughan. As it turns out, Dr. Bell has purchased many of John's Houdini artifacts which is big news in itself! The original traveling case for the table, bearing Houdini's name, is also on display.

The next gallery showcases escapes, and here we find a Metamorphosis trunk, a vintage-style straitjacket used in the movie The Linguini Incident, and the Water Torture Cell first made by John Gaughan for the movie The Escape Artist. This cell has appeared in many different film and television productions, including Young Harry Houdini. While much larger than Houdini's cell, it's a great representation of his most famous escape and now looks right at home in a museum.

Another big ticket item--possibly the star of the show--is an original Houdini Milk Can. This is the can that reportedly came from the basement of Houdini's New York home in 1980. It's unusual in that it has only four locks and a somewhat different overall shape from other Houdini cans. But it is gaffed in the traditional manner and coming from Houdini's home is pretty good provenance. And it looks great on display! A thrill to see.

The career of the Handcuff King is well represented with original Houdini handcuffs and manacles, including a Bean Giant handcuff with a custom lock and key and an Oregon Boot to boot! There are also authentic Houdini lock picks on display.

All aspects of Houdini's life and career are represented in an assortment of Houdini books, letters, programs, and other ephemera throughout the exhibit. This inscription in A Magician Among the Spirits is one of the best I've ever seen.

The story of Houdini's spiritualism debunking is nicely told in a seance room setting in which we hear the famous recording of Dr. Edward Saint at The Final Houdini Seance. This was popular and the room was always full, so I didn't get a good photo. But what I found most exciting here was an original Houdini prop that I'm unfamiliar with. I will let the museum's placard do the describing:

Houdini's Personal Seance Clock

This clock was used in Houdini's "debunking" seance performances of 1923 to 26 trickery in which he demonstrated how fraudulent mediums used trickery (in this case a wax hand taking the place of the medium's hand while the real hands were busy stopping in the clock!)

The seance room also has an incredible 2-page letter written by Bess in the final months of her life. In it she reveals a fresh new detail about Houdini's death. I will be devoting a standalone post to that treasure soon.

As you leave the main exhibit there is a personal message from Dr. Bell himself. I love that he came to Houdini via the Williams and Epstein book, The Great Houdini. The gateway biography.

The museum has also commissioned original Houdini artwork by artists such as Melissa Chan Stone and John Coulter. The artwork is displayed outside the main exhibition and available as merchandise in the gift shop. Here's Melissa Chan Stone with her Vanishing Elephant Lenticular.

Finally, there's a special photo-booth made just for the exhibition by John Gaughan which produces a mysterious effect as you can see below. This is going to be popular!

I've only just touched on the major displays here. There is much more to be discovered and enjoyed. Congratulations to Randall Bell and everyone at MUZEO for bringing Houdini to life in Anaheim!

Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini will be on show until January 22, 2023. MUZEO is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Be sure and check out their parking information as that's a bit tricky.

Want more? You can view 26 high res images from the exhibition as a member of my Patreon.

Related:

• Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us
• "Houdini Unchained" opening reception, October 8
• Houdini exhibition coming to Anaheim, CA

Dr. Randall Bell is about to wow us

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having lunch at the Magic Castle with Dr. Randall Bell, a life-long Houdini fan and avid collector since the 1990s. His collection will be displayed for the first time at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, California, starting October 8, 2022. Dr. Bell gave me a taste of what to expect and...holy smokes!

We already know about the Milk Can, but there will be other pieces of original Houdini apparatus that have never been exhibited before. I also got a peek at an extraordinary letter written by Bess Houdini in her final days which provides a striking new detail about Houdini's death. That letter will also be on display for all to read.

There's more, but I'm not here to spoil the surprises. I'm just giving an excited heads up that this exhibition is going to be something special and will wow Houdini buffs.

It was clear from our conversation that Dr. Bell is a true admirer of Houdini. He credits the example Houdini's life and work ethic as helping guide him in his own life and career. He feels Houdini can inspire others and that he can be a true hero for young people. This is why he's so passionate about sharing his collection and using it to help tell Houdini's inspiring story.

There will be a special opening day reception at Muzeo next Saturday, October 8, from 4PM-6PM. The event is free but you need to RSVP HERE. I'm going to be there. Hope to see some fellow Houdini nuts there as well.

Thank you for the lunch Randy!

Related:

• "Houdini Unchained" opening reception, October 8
• Houdini exhibition coming to Anaheim, CA

"Houdini Unchained" opening reception, October 8

The Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim, California, will hold a special reception for the opening of Houdini Unchained: The Legacy of Harry Houdini on October 8, 2022. There will be live music, light refreshments and specialty drinks. The event takes place from 4PM-6PM and is free. But you need to RSVP HERE.

Houdini Unchained showcases ratites from the collection of Dr. Randall Bell, including an original Milk Can. I believe this is the first time the Bell collection has been displayed publicly, so this is something special. The exhibition runs through January 22, 2023.

Muzeo is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd. Anaheim, CA 92805. You can follow them via their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hope to see you there!

Related:

• Houdini exhibition coming to Anaheim, CA
• Meet Paul Michael Glaser in Anaheim, Dec. 18