LINK: The trouble began with Harry Houdini’s beaver-skin top hat.

If you're part of the magic-collecting world, you already know about this painful scandal. This Rolling Stone article by Nina Strochlic and Michael Greshko lays out the story. Click the headline or the image below to read.

UPDATE: Looks like this is sometimes behind a paywall. But I believe it will open to first-time visitors. If it's open for you, be sure and read it all. If you click away, you may not be able to return.

 
Related:

• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there
• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites
• Alleged "Houdini stunt-used straitjacket" at auction

How to spot AI writing

This video doesn't have anything to do with Houdini, but it is worth watching as we enter an era of AI-generated Houdini content. I think it's good to know what to look for and know when you are in the hands of a human or a bot. The use of the em dash alone was eye-opening for me. Enjoy.

And, of course, AI continues to get Houdini facts wrong. You can read an example of this in today's Patreon post.

Related:

• I hate A.I. and the feeling appears to be mutual
• Houdini A.I. is inaccurate, artless, and everywhere
• When AI generates your Houdini facts

Rare Houdini book defaced with fake signature

This is distressing. This beautiful condition copy of Houdini's 1921 book, Magical Rope Ties & Escapes, has been defaced with a fake autopen Houdini signature on the cover. The same autopen is used inside the book.

This autopen signature has appeared at numerous auctions over the past few years. In some cases, it has appeared on books and photos published after Houdini's death. However, here it is on what is actually a valuable book that would sell well at auction. But this signature makes it worthless.

The auction house is Norwood Auctions in Norwood, Pennsylvania. I don't know anything about them. Roger Dreyer of Houdini Revealed has fought the good fight in trying to get these fakes taken down, but Live Auctioneers seems to do a brisk trade in selling fakes to gullible buyers. Don't be a gullible buyer!

I actually have a suspicion about who is behind these fakes, but I have no proof.

R.I.P. to this once-beautiful copy of Magical Ropes Ties & Escapes. 

On my Patreon, I have a "Fraud Pack" that collects images of fakes so people can be aware of them and become familiar with the look of this autopen signature. This is FREE for everyone to download by clicking below. 

UPDATE: I contacted Norwood Auctions. They are standing by this and tell me it was consigned to them by "a well-known elderly collector with a long history of dealing in historical items and artifacts." I remain skeptical.

Related:

• Houdini now signing books from beyond the grave
• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there
• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites

1971: Year of the Torture Cell(s)

Houdini's Water Torture Cell made its last public appearance on the night of October 11, 1926, in Albany, New York. This was the night Houdini broke his ankle. Despite plans to resume the cell in Detroit, Houdini died before that happened. After that, the famed prop remained out of sight for the next 45 years. Then, in 1971, two Water Torture Cells, both claiming to be the original, returned to public view.

In May 1971, the Water Torture Cell that Sidney Radner acquired from Hardeen in 1942 was put on permanent display at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada. Some assume the cell was in the museum from the start (the museum opened in 1968), but it was actually a later addition, as we can see below.

The Holyoke Daily Transcript and Telegram, May 29, 1971.

Later that same year, magician Abb Dickson announced that he had acquired Houdini's original Water Torture Cell and was making plans to display it. Abb claimed he found the cell in England and had even solved its secrets by having it x-rayed.

The Atlanta Journal, Sept. 6, 1971.

In October, Abb's cell was revealed alongside a collection of other alleged Houdini ratites at the Dutch Square Mall in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Columbia Record, Oct. 25, 1971.

Of course, Abb's cell was pure hokum—it was made of sheet metal with a shower drain at the bottom. One wonders if the arrival of the real cell in Canada had inspired Abb in this endeavor? Abb would tour his Houdini exhibit and cell for several years. The cell was also used in the 1976 television biopic, The Great Houdinis.

The real Water Torture Cell remained on display at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame until a fire destroyed much of the cell in 1995. Today, the restored cell is back on display at David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas.

Abb Dickson's cell also survives today in the collection of Troy Milligan. On occasion, it has been offered for sale on eBay, but I'm not sure of its current status.

Want more? I've uploaded to my Patreon a collection of photos of the original Water Torture Cell on display at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame throughout the years and what remained of it after the fire.

Related:

• The 100 year history of the Water Torture Cell
• The wild story of Abb Dickson's Water Torture Cell
• A Water Torture Cell has been discovered in Canada

Houdini A.I. is inaccurate, artless, and everywhere

Gaze above at what A.I. thinks Houdini looks like. As with almost everything A.I. generates in regards to Houdini, it's wrong and weird. And the deeper you look, the more wrong and weird it gets. Note the three legs on the man in the photo above his shoulder.

But here's the thing. This distinctive A.I. Houdini is now showing up everywhere. I can't do a Google search without seeing this face. Even the A.I.-generated "books" that flood Amazon these days are using this face on their covers.

With the hundreds of public domain images or Houdini out there, why would anyone feel the need to generate an image that is so bizarrely wrong? But I'm actually happy about this. Why? Because when you see this face, you'll know whatever it's attached to is A.I.-generated slope. It's the tell of a con man.

Okay, so A.I. doesn't yet have a handle on Houdini's image. I'm sure it will get better. But what about A.I.'s handle on Houdini information and facts?

Not long ago, a reader emailed saying he was trying to date the film of Houdini doing a suspended straitjacket escape in St. Paul. He asked ChatGPT, and it told him:

"Harry Houdini performed one of his famous suspended straitjacket escapes in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 30, 1915. The event took place in front of a crowd of thousands of spectators who gathered near the St. Paul Athletic Club."

Wow, amazing, right? Except it's wrong.

On September 30, 1915, Houdini did a suspended straitjacket escape from the Tribune Building in Minneapolis, not St. Paul. Houdini's St Paul suspended straitjacket escape happened during the week of February 12, 1923, from the Daily News building. That is the escape we see in the film. (I confess I don't yet know the exact day.)

Why did ChatGPT mention the St. Paul Athletic Club? Heck if I know. The reader suggested maybe it was close to the Daily News building. But if ChatGPT knows that, then it should have just told you the actual location! As far as "a crowd of thousands," sure, that's a given for any Houdini outdoor escape.

So, apart from getting the date wrong, the location wrong, and confusing it with another escape entirely, it did a great job!

As far as entire articles about Houdini written by A.I., even the ones that get their facts right are, to my eye, just a rambling string of sentences and paragraphs that repeat the same thing in different ways with little shape or structure. They have no point of view and no art to them. For me, they are as wrong and weird as these A.I. Houdini images.

I hope I don't sound like a stick in the mud and that I'm just resisting the inevitability of A.I. I like technology and I like new tools. I use Grammarly as my copy editor and love it. And when A.I. finally figures out what Houdini looks like (and how many limbs a person has), it could be a nice way to whip up an image of him doing, say, the cannon challenge, for which we have no known photo. But, for now, I think Houdini is in better hands when they are human.

And now a few words about A.I. from Adam Conover.

Below are examples of some more Houdini A.I., both good and bad.

Related:

• When AI generates your Houdini facts
• AI brings Houdini photos to life and it's wild!
• Houdini used to demo new AI tool LiveStory
  

Houdini now signing books from beyond the grave

Dalshire International of Carrollton, Texas, is selling via LiveAuctioneers a signed copy of Houdini's Book of Magic and Party Pastimes with an estimate of $16,800 - $18,200. The auction already has one bid.

Here's the problem. This book was published in December 1927, more than a year after Houdini's death. So while the book might be authentic, the signature is unquestionably fake.

Over the past few years, Dalshire and LiveAuctioneers have sold other Houdini items with this same fake signature. Some for a great deal of money. I really don't know if they are complicit or dupes in all this. It's not for me to judge. I also don't make it a practice of flagging each and every one of these.

However, this particular fake is instructive. No one can argue for this being authentic, and the signature is the same (autopen?) that has shown up on all these fakes. Even if this auction is taken down, save these photos and use them as a reference. If you ever see this signature on any Houdini item, don't touch it!

https://autographcertificationexperts.com/

Be careful out there!

UPDATE: It appears this auction has now been removed. But Dalshire still has two live auctions with this same signature, one on a photo reproduction from the 1960s. All this has inspired me to create a Houdini "Fraud Pack," a collection of images of irrefutable Houdini fakes. You can download it FREE via this public post on my Patreon.

Related:

• Alleged "Houdini stunt-used straitjacket" at auction
• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites
• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there

Alleged "Houdini stunt-used straitjacket" at auction

As a rule, I try not to post about auctions in progress. However, I feel compelled to chime in on this one. LiveAuctioneers is listing a "Harry Houdini stunt-used straight jacket" signed by Houdini himself. The auction currency sits at $1,300 with three bids. But there are problems here.

For starters, I don't know of any photograph of Houdini in this style straitjacket. The auction provides no provenance and according to Magic Castle assistant librarian (and straitjacket expert), Joe Fox, this is an Abbott's straitjacket. These were first produced in the 1930s and Abbott's continues to sell them today. So made after Houdini's death. Also, the signature bares similarity to the work of a well-known Houdini forger.

The same auction house, Dalshire International, also listed a sheet of signed letterhead as "A perfect compliment to his straight jacket". This was, unquestionably, the work of that forger and the auction was taken down.

So red flags everywhere. Bidder beware!

UPDATE: Looks like this sold for $34,000.

Related:

• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites
• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there
• SOLD! Houdini straitjacket captures $46,980 at Christie's

Margery pamphlet original vs. reproduction

We are all aware of that pesky Parson's Theater reproduction program from the 1970s that will sometimes appear at auction as an original. Now it looks like that has a successor. 

Yesterday a reproduction of Houdini's Margery pamphlet, which were sold by the Houdini Historical Center in 1996 for $4.50, sold in an online Invaluable auction for $649 (including premium). Unless the buyer has a thing for reproductions, I've gotta think they believed it was an original. Wittingly or unwittingly, the auction did not clarify this.

Like the Parson's program, this booklet does not identify itself as a reproduction. But it's pretty obvious when you put it side by side with an original. The yellow cover and the lack of "Price, One Dollar" are instant tells, as is the smaller dimension. So bidders beware!

Original (left) and reproduction (right).

Speaking of sketchy auction items, check out this Houdini photo on eBay "signed" two weeks after he died. So Houdini did come back! It currently has eight bids.

Related:

• That pesky Parson's Theater program
• Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites
• Who faked Houdini's signature on this photo?

'The Great Houdinis' Water Torture Cell in the wild

As long as we're on the topic of Houdini biopic props, here's an image I found of the Water Torture Cell from The Great Houdinis on display in a shopping mall in 1977. What's notable here is the cell still has the artificial front that the production added to conceal star Paul Michal Glaser's height and make the cell look a little more menacing. The cell survives today, but it has lost this front piece which made it so identifiable. This clipping is from the June 19, 1977 Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Click to enlarge.

As you can read, the cell was being passed off as Houdini's original, which of course it is not. You can read more about that little deception here. Below is the cell as seen in the movie.

Related:

• The wild story of Abb Dickson's Water Torture Cell
• Water Torture Cell used in 'The Great Houdinis' up for auction
• Making the great Great Houdinis

LINK: I was an astrologer – here's how it really works, and why I had to stop

It was 95 years ago today that Houdini resumed his testimony before a Congressional committee in Washington in support of a bill amendment to curtail fortune telling in the District of Columbia. So I thought this was a good day to share this link to an excellent article from the UK's Guardian website. It doesn't have anything to do with Houdini directly, but it's an eye-opening confession and explanation of the type of deception Houdini was battling in D.C.

Click here or on the headline and have a read at The Guardian.

Related:

• Mr. Houdini Goes to Washington
• Houdini on the Bible, Freud, spirits, and spells
• Houdini combats "fake news"

The Muller Mirror mystery key

On last Sunday's Magic Collectors' Corner ZOOM conference, Roger Dreyer gave a tour of his amazing Houdini Museum of New York at Fantasma Magic (which is now reopened for business). Among the many Houdini treasures Roger showed was a replica of the famous Mirror Handcuff made by Ian McColl. The cuff hangs in a display case with a key, and I was very surprised when Roger said he bought the key from the late Henry Muller who told him it was "the duplicate key."

I immediately remembered this post from 2013 in which I shared a photo of Mirror handcuffs on display at Henry Muller's Houdini Magical Hall of Fame with two keys. This is significant as the Mirror cuffs are supposed to have only one key. Both keys eventually vanished from the display case.

Roger has been good enough to send over a nice photo of the mystery key, which he purchased from Henry in 2016.

Now, before we get too excited and begin to speculate that this second key might have been used by Houdini to open the cuff during his famous 1904 challenge, Roger reports that David Copperfield tried this key on the original Mirror Handcuff and it did NOT work. So despite being a "reproduction not made by anyone modern", this doesn't appear to be the secret of the Mirror Handcuff escape.

But what is this key and why does it exist? I guess it's yet another Henry Muller Houdini mystery.

If you missed this latest Houdini-themed conference (#11) you can watch it on the Magic Collectors Corner Facebook Group.

Thanks Roger.

Related:

• Mirror, Mirror...
• Limited Edition Mirror Handcuff Key
• Magic Collectors' Corner goes inside the Houdini Museum of New York

Houdini and the art of faking photos

Here's a video by Dr. Joe Schwarcz using Houdini (and Abe Lincoln) to illustrate the ease and origins of fake photography. Enjoy.

Below are links to a few more Houdini inspired YouTube videos. All the third party videos I share here can also be found in the "Linked Videos" playlist at the WILD ABOUT HARRY YouTube Channel.

Related:

• Ashley Drew discovers Houdini in Memphis
• Houdini and the Mandela Effect
• The Ghost of Harry Houdini

Houdini fakes are flooding online auction sites

Fake Houdini signatures have been flooding online auction sites such as Liveauctioneers and eBay lately. These all appear to be the work of the same forger whose fakes started appearing last year.

The signatures are similar enough that it may be some kind of technology in use, such as an autopen. But when the forger attempts other "Houdini" handwriting, they fall down entirely. Also, the context in which they appear--on sheets of blank stationary for example (also fake)--is suspect as this is not something Houdini was known to have signed.

But the signatures are good enough to pass, which I think now makes any standalone Houdini signature suspect. Likewise, any clipped Houdini signature in or outside a frame should be avoided. A legitimate Houdini signature should be part of something that can help authenticate it, such as a contract, letter, or part of an inscription in a book.

All these fakes come with a "Certificate of Authenticity", which, ironically, has become a red flag in itself. There appears to be no shortage of bogus or just careless authentication services out there. But there is a discernible style to these fakes, so they are not fooling experienced Houdini collectors and auctioneers. These are being made to snare novice collectors and they have been selling, sometimes for many hundreds of dollars.  So buyer beware!

Related:

• There's a skilled Houdini forger out there
• What's wrong with this picture?
• USD presentation piece on eBay (UPDATE: Fraud confirmed)

Mystifier, Fourth Quarter 1999

Continuing my issue by issue look back at the Mystifier, the newsletter of the Houdini Historical Center that ran from 1991-2003.

The Fourth Quarter 1999 Mystifier marks the opening of a new HHC exhibition, Houdini: A Magician Among the Spirits, with a lengthy article by curator Kimberly Louagie giving an overview of Houdini's involvement with Spiritualism. It's well researched and doesn't fall into any of the familiar narrative traps (no Mama death a motivator), but as with Louagie's other Mystifier contributions, it's aimed more at the general reader than the hardcore Houdini buff.

The newsletter continues with news of new posters at the museum shop and a report on the recent Young Magicians workshop held at the HHC. New HHC members and recent donors are also listed.

In his "Backstage" column, Sid Radner describes the 1999 Official Houdini Seance held at the Magic Circle in London. Among the attendees was Mick Hanzlik and Frank Koval. Sid then reports on the legal takedown of a Houdini family impostor:

As the result of a federal court case, the imposter who claimed to be a grand-nephew of Houdini will do so no longer. The alleged "Hardeen H. Houdini" is actually Donald Ferguson. The federal court has ordered him to stop making false claims and has ordered him to cease using the Houdini and Hardeen names. His website will be removed from the Internet. Houdini would no doubt be pleased, as he too fought imposters' use of his name.

Sid concludes with news that a new Houdini documentary produced by Nancy Porter Productions for WGBH will air as part of the PBS American Experience series in January 24, 2000. (If we all survive the "Millennium Bug"!)

Mystifier

Volume 9, Number 4

Fourth Quarter, 1999

6 pages

Contents:

New Houdini Exhibit
Museum Shop News
New Members
Young Magicians' Workshop

Backstage with Sid Radner

PREVIOUS ISSUE | INDEX | NEXT ISSUE

Related:

• Houdini exposed mediums MUCH earlier than we thought
• Mama's death and the birth of a myth
• PBS Houdini doc released on DVD

That pesky Parson's Theater program

Joe Notaro at Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence is using his regular Sunday post to provide a great service. Many have seen at auction--and may even own--a program for Houdini's 3 Shows in One at the Parson's Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, during the week of December 1, 1925 (right). These are commercial reproductions created sometime in the 1970s. However, nowhere on them does it say it's a reproduction, and the age of the paper can now cause people to mistake it as the real thing and pay a price in line with that belief.

But now Joe has uncovered an original Parson's program at the McCord Museum in Montreal, and he shows how one can identify a reproduction, which actually has a notable printing error!

So click on over to HHCE and learn the secret of that pesky Parson's Theatre program and never be fooled again!

Related:

• How to spot Houdini fakes
• McCord shares Houdini collection online
• Houdini's grand finale: 3 Shows In One

There's a skilled Houdini forger out there

Last week I posted about a Houdini fake being sold by High End Memorabilia of Gardena, CA via Liveauctioneers. That auction was removed. Today High End came back with another obvious fake, this time openly showing it to be from a book published seven years after Houdini's death. The auction was also removed.

This would be comical if it wasn't for the signature. It's looks pretty darn good. It's not perfect (and I won't say how, and please don't either), but if this were on something from Houdini's time, it could pass. That's frightening.

In fact, I'm starting to wonder if this is really all about the forger showcasing their skills?

Be careful out there!

Related:

• What's wrong with this picture?
• Who faked Houdini's signature on this photo?
• Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter B. Gibson

What's wrong with this picture?

This "Harry Houdini Signed Photo Sheet" is up for auction by High End Memorabilia in Gardena, California. It is being offered on Liveauctioneers and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Stephen Rocchi GFA. Estimate is $1,000 - $1,375.

But there's something very, very wrong here. Do you know what it is?

This page is from Houdini His Life Story by Harold Kellock, first published in 1928, two years after Houdini's death! So this is an out and out fake. What troubles me is the signature looks pretty good, so that tells us there is a skillful forger out there.

I tried to notify the auction house. Here's their reply:

"Thank you for letting us know and we will look into this we do our normal steps and provide two different COA's with each of our items: one that is a third party authenticator, and the other that comes from us as a LuxeWest 100% lifetime guarantee. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to reach out again. Please remember if you do a direct buy I can take off the 25% buyers premium for you and even give you a discount code."

Bidder beware.

Thanks to Kevin Connolly.

UPDATE. Here we go again. Also a page from Life Story.

Related:

• BUYER BEWARE: USD presentation piece on eBay
• Who faked Houdini's signature on this photo?
• Dash for cash

Cottingley Fairies photos sell for $26,674 at auction

CNN reports that two photographs which famously fooled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into believing in fairies sold at a UK auction for £20,400 ($26,674), more than ten times their estimate.

The images of the "Cottingley Fairies" were taken by 16-year-old Elsie Wright and her nine-year-old cousin Frances Griffiths. The girls used hat pins and paper cutouts to stage the scenes near a stream in Elsie's garden. The photos caused a sensation in 1919 when their mother presented them to the Theosophical Society in Bradford as genuine.

A photo that shows Frances surrounded by four fairies sold for £15,000 ($19,620). The other showing Iris with a Gnome fetched £5,400 ($7,062).

Chris Albury, senior auctioneer and valuer for Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, England, said the photographs "are surprisingly rare and much sought after." He added: "These two photographs are from 1917, but were likely printed for sale in 1920, to be sold at theosophical lectures advocating a belief in spiritualism."

In 1983 the elderly Elsie and Frances confessed that the photographs had been faked.

The 1997 film FairyTale: A True Story portrayed Houdini (Harvey Keitel) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O'Toole) investigating the Cottingley Fairy phenomena. But in real life, Houdini was never involved in the investigation.

Fairy Photo: Dominic Winter Auctioneers.

Related:

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
• FairyTale now streaming on Netflix

Houdini mini biography from The History Hour

An 79-page self-published booklet called Harry Houdini: A Brilliant Showman by "The History Hour" has appeared on Amazon.

The book is an oddly written amalgam of good and bad information (it includes the full story story of Houdini doing the bullet catch for the Tsar -- yeah). It does contain an abundance of accurate dates and places, so I'm pretty sure the anonymous author made use of my New Houdini Chronology and blog, although it acknowledges no sources.

There have been several of these self-published mini bios lately. These don't really offer anything new. But if you are a completist, you can purchase Harry Houdini: A Brilliant Showman at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

UPDATE: This book now has a plethora of 5 star rave reviews on Amazon, all of which sound like they were written by a bot. Weird, and pretty funny.

Click to enlarge.

Related:

• New Houdini mini biography
• Houdini: A Life Worth Reading
• American Legends: The Life of Harry Houdini

R.D. Adams exposed

Here's a photo I recently found of the infamous "R.D. Adams" who claimed to have been Houdini's mechanic and privy to all the magician's secrets. In 1929 Adams offered up a series of wildly inaccurate "exposures" of Houdini's feats in Modern Mechanics magazine.

It interesting that this happened in the same year (1929) as the Arthur Ford seances. Houdini seems to have been a target for fraudsters this year. Adams' exposures included the Water Torture Cell, Walking Through a Brick Wall, and the Vanishing Elephant. Below is an ad for the series.

Curiously, even though today we can see that Adams' explanations are clearly bogus, both Leonard Hicks and Joseph Rinn claimed Adams did indeed reveal the correct methods. Even to this day Adams explanations still sometimes appear in print and online as legitimate.

So what is the real story of R.D. Adams? Was he simply an opportunist peddling fake secrets to a gullible publication? But if that was the case, why was he not debunked by the many vigilant Houdini friends and supporters out there, such as Dunninger, Hardeen, Bernard Ernst or even Bess herself? And why no action by the S.A.M.? Is it possible Adams was actually a front man for the Houdini estate? Could this have been a scheme to make some money for Bess in her time of need after the Ford scandal? As the methods were bogus, there was no real betrayal of Houdini's secrets, and this explains the silence and even support for Adams' explanations. Something to think about.

If one is interested in learning Houdini's real secrets (some of them, at least), two excellent books are Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Morris N. Young & Walter B. Gibson and Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton.

Related:

• How Houdini didn't vanish an elephant
• German Houdini booklet and the brick wall exposure
• Houdini's secrets brought to you by Camel cigarettes