Houdini and Knievel

It was inevitable that I would one day stumble on an article linking Houdini and Evel Knievel. That happened today with a Houston Post piece from September 22, 1974, headlined "Evel Knievel latest of many daredevils." The article isn't really about Houdini and Knievel per se. It's more a list of famous daredevils of the past. But for the photo, they go with the two who matter the most!

I actually think Houdini and Knievel were very different in how they approached their life and art. I think the only real parallel is how they gripped their respective eras and have maintained a timeless hold in the public's imagination. There have been many motorcycle daredevils since Knievel who have jumped further and performed stunts far more breathtaking. Even his own son Robbie Knievel had a spectacular career. Yet, ask someone to name a motorcycle daredevil, and the only name that comes up is Knievel. He pioneered his unique art and owns it to this day. 

We can say the same about Houdini. Over the years, numerous escape artists have performed Houdini's escapes faster, higher, and with greater danger. Yet when we think of an escape artist, the only name that survives is Houdini.

If only Houdini did motorcycle jumps!

Here's a kids' book from 1978 by Robert Kraske that collects tales of daredevils. (Kraske also penned the book, Harry Houdini: Master of Magic.) This book has a nice section on Houdini with some terrific illustrations by Ivan Powell. But the guy who made the cover was Knievel. Hey, he was a hero to kids at this time.

Interestingly, this cover shows Knievel jumping a tank of sharks. This was a stunt he planned to do on live television in 1977, but he cancelled the jump after a crash during a practice run. Jumping a shark would be left to another icon of the 1970s.

Wait, Fonzie also did the Milk Can escape. And Houdini once planned to battle a live shark, but canceled the stunt, just like Knievel did. This is starting to get a little too tangled! Let's move on.

Need more? You can read the full Houston Post piece as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon.

Related:

• Wild about Fonzie
• Houdini's Fort Worth street feats
• Houdini's bizarre plan to fight a shark

FLASHBACK: The shark stunt

During my summer slowdown I thought I'd offer up some relevant "flashback" posts to scratch that Houdini history itch. Here's the first.

In the summer of 1916, Houdini announced a publicity stunt like no other. He would fight a man eating shark! Did he do it? CLICK HERE to revisit my post from 2017 and find out.

My Houdini letter and a 100 year mystery

Here is one of my first and most cherished Houdini collectibles; a letter he wrote exactly 100 years ago today. I got this around 1980 and it has hung framed on my wall(s) all these years. Today seemed like the right day to share it.

But this letter has also baffled me from the day I received it. Who was Col. Flinn? What was the "shark stunt" that was "on the square." And what does "on the square" even mean? And if "all the newspapers copied the advert", why have I never been able to find any of those ads or any mention of anything to do with Houdini and a shark in 1919?

In 1916 Houdini announced plans to fight a live shark, and this was picked up by the papers. But the demonstration never happened (thankfully). Could this somehow be referencing that? Might Houdini have been sending Flinn old newspaper clippings about past stunts? One pet theory I have is Flinn was the ghostwriter of his "Nearly Dying for a Living" article that appeared in the December 1919 Hearst’s, and this letter marks the genesis of that project. A theory.

One thing I do know is the timeline around when this was written. Houdini had just returned from Hollywood after filming The Grim Game. This was written during his first week back in New York. Houdini wrote this on Friday, August 8, and would have met with Flinn on Tuesday, August 12 (unless he was "otherwise phoned"). But apart from this, my chronology for these first three weeks of August are a blank. The next notable event was a private screening of The Grim Game the Famous Players-Lasky offices on August 18. The movie then opened on Broadway on August 25.

But this may not have had anything to with The Grim Game. Houdini always had a dozen projects going at once, so this could have been anything. The key, I believe, is finding out who Col. Flinn was.

So does anyone out there that has anything else that mentions Col. Flinn? It would be fun to finally solve this 100 year old mystery.

Related:

• Houdini in 1919
• Houdini's bizarre plan to fight a shark
• “Nearly Dying for a Living” (Houdini Museum)
  

Houdini's bizarre plan to fight a shark

In the summer of 1916, Houdini announced a publicity stunt like no other; he would fight a man eating shark!

The story starts on July 14, 1916, when the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that the remains of a young boy, Lester Stillwell, had washed up in Matawan, N.J. Witnesses reported seeing a shark in the vicinity. One fisherman even took at shot at it. In a scene right out of Jaws, the news caused fear among beachgoers and a frenzy of shark hunting and false reports of the shark's capture. 

In the midst of all this, the following item appeared in Variety:

United Booking Offices was the all-powerful booking agency wing of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum vaudeville circuit, on which Houdini was a headliner. Houdini was appearing at the Brighton Theater in Brighton Beach during the week of July 24. He then moved to Keith's in Atlantic City for the week of July 31. Houdini was 42 in 1916, not an ideal age for shark fighting. Nevertheless, on August 4th, Billboard reported that Houdini had found his man-eater:

Houdini's shark stunt never happened. Maybe he could not come terms with the shark salesman. It's also possible the entire thing was cooked up for publicity. But shark fighting was still on Houdini's mind in November when he explained his shark killing technique, learned from South Sea Islanders, to the Cincinnati Star:

"The secret is this: When you dive for the shark, you hold in your left hand a stick of wood with a [sharped] point at each end and a piece of cloth tied to each to attract the shark. The big fish turns on his back to attack you and you point the stick at him. He opens his jaws to bite off your arm and you thrust the two pointed stick into his mouth. He closes his jaws and they are caught tight on the points. Then you use your right hand to rip open his body. Quite easy when you know how."

Interestingly, news of this same type of stunt appears to have again surfaced during Houdini's silent movie days. In my own collection I have a letter Houdini wrote to a Col. Flinn dated August 8, 1919, in which he states:

The shark stunt is on the square, so don't let that worry you, even if all the papers copied the advert.

Digging a little deeper, it's possible Houdini's shark fighting idea was originally sparked by the Williamson Bros Submarine Film Co., who had planned to make a film with Houdini. One of their films featured a "Death battle between a man and a man-eating shark." Coincidentally, an ad for that film appeared right beside Houdini own advertisement in the April 4, 1915 Cincinnati Enquirer Sun (below).

Click to enlarge.

Real or not, I'm happy this stunt never materialized. It seems fool-hearted and cruel and I don't think it would be a feat we'd celebrate Houdini for today. Give me vanishing elephants instead.

Below are links to a few more aborted Houdini stunts.

Related:

• Houdini and the Transatlantic Flight
• How Houdini planned to (not) go over Niagara Falls
• Houdini wanted to jump handcuffed from the Woolworth Building