Postcard signed by Houdini and T.R. sells on eBay

A postcard signed by Houdini and President Theodore Roosevelt while they were making their famous transatlantic crossing aboard the Imperator in June 1914 has sold on eBay for $1,075. The seller found it among a batch of postcards purchased at a New Jersey garage sale. The postcard reads:

"Dear Gertie, this ship is incredible and very big. Met the former President to-day and the mystic your brother saw. Got both their autographs for Tom. All my love, Walter"

Nice item!

Click here for more on Houdini and Roosevelt's encounter aboard the Imperator, including their famous photo together.

Derek Tait follows Houdini in Britain

Having now read it, I just wanted to give a fresh shout-out and a hearty recommendation for Derek Tait's, Houdini: The British Tours. I always enjoy these passion project/specialty books, and this one is an invaluable resource for us Houdini nuts. Derek has pretty much nailed down every engagement Houdini played in the UK and Scotland, and for the great majority of them he's uncovered newspaper clippings and reviews that he reproduces in full. (I'm going to sit down and use this book to fill in some of the gaps in Koval's Houdini Research Diaries.)

Reading this book one really gets a very good sense of what Houdini's day to day act consisted of -- what remained the same and what he varied. I was especially taken with the great many descriptions of how he presented his challenge packing crate escapes. It was somewhat of a revelation to me that he would encourage the challengers to insert fresh nails into the box onstage (so much for Houdini replacing the nails while the box was in his possession), and that the ropes used to encircle the crate were also nailed to the boards. I don't think I've every heard about this nailing of the ropes, yet this detail is in just about every newspaper account of these challenges. I was also interested in a review from Houdini's final tour in 1920 that says he performed the Milk Can!

I also like that Derek does not just excerpt the Houdini sections from these reviews, but reproduces the entire thing so you can see what other acts were playing alongside Harry. It gives a great sense of the time and place and who Houdini's fellow performers were (I was actually surprised by the lack of variety in some of these variety shows). And did we all know that Houdini shared the bill with Chung Ling Soo during his historic first week at the Alhambra in 1900? Because I'm not sure I knew that! But Derek reproduces the Alhambra program for that week, and there they are! Houdini and Chung Ling Soo on the same bill. Oh to be a time traveller.

The book is profusely illustrated and includes lots of challenge broadsides and newspaper clippings. There is also a terrific drawing, made by an audience member, of Houdini on stage, which gives a great idea of how he laid out his props. At 188 pages, it's also one of the longer specialty books. A few forgivable errors do creep into the text (Herman was the Weiss sibling who died at a young age, not Gladys), but Derek promises updates in the future as he uncovers more about Houdini's appearances in Great Britain.

Houdini: The British Tours is available in two covers (above). If you order direct from derektait.co.uk, you can choose which cover you want and also get the book signed. It's also available on Amazon.co.uk, but availability there has been sketchy. You can also purchase it for the Kindle via Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

UPDATE: Derek has announced a new and greatly expanded edition: The Great Houdini: His British Tours coming in 2016.

Houdini swears by Zam-Buk

The Rose & Co. blog recently posted an advertisement that Houdini did for Zam-Buk, which was some kind of a medicated soothing cream. They rightfully point out that this was a very early example of a celebrity endorsement. Here's another ad from 1910.

The Daily Telegraph, April 5, 1910.

Rose & Co now owns Zam-Buk, and you can actually still buy the product from their website. As you can see in the product description, they are still using Houdini's name to sell it!

Dean Carnegie at The Magic Detective has posted an advert for Zam-Buk featuring Hardeen.

Houdini and Valentino

At this year's annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA, magician and historian Lisa Cousins (who performed during the Magic Castle's History Week) gave a talk on the connections between Houdini and Valentino. Something I didn't know was that Houdini attended the funeral of Valentino, who also died in 1926. Unfortunately, I missed the event, but Lisa kindly sent over the transcript of her talk. I thought this was just too good not to share, and Lisa has graciously allowed me to reprint it here, so enjoy.

The Magic of Valentino

Delivered by Lisa Cousins at the 84th Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service, August 23rd, 2011

There are few people in history whose very name stands for a concept, and Valentino is one of them. To say “Valentino” is to say “Lover.” Valentino is in our language, Valentino is the universally recognized code-word for the utmost in romantic passion

Another name on that short list is Houdini – and in support of my premise that everybody knows what that name means, I’m not even going to bother to explain it. “Houdini.” We’re all clear, right?

I’m from the magic world – which is Houdini’s world – which is a world of skeptics. During the 1920’s Houdini made a specialty of debunking séance-parlor manifestations, proving them to be mere magic tricks

In the same era, Valentino was among those who were actively experimenting with spiritual phenomena. He described his interest in ghosts and the afterlife as being “that of any well-read person.” He wrote “I am not afraid of the dead, or of ghosts. I am not afraid of anything pertaining to the life beyond. And it’s not because I don’t believe in it. It’s because I do.”

Through his experiments with séances and automatic writing, particularly with his second wife Natacha Rambova, Valentino came to believe that he had three spirit guides: an ancient Egyptian named Meselope; an American Indian named Black Feather; and perhaps most significantly, “Jenny.” Jenny was Virginia Mathis, the mother of his good friend June Mathis, who had recently died. It was Jenny who Valentino continuously addressed during his final illness, and you can see her tomb – the crypt of Virginia Mathis – catty-corner from Valentino’s in the corner of the mausoleum

When Valentino died in 1926, Houdini attended the funeral in New York, and then Houdini himself died that Halloween, just a few months later. Both men immediately became popular figures with séance mediums and others who were interested in receiving a message “from the other side”

Although Houdini had never encountered any spiritual phenomena that he could not prove to be a magic trick during his lifetime, he had made a famous promise to his wife Bessie that if there was any way to return from the grave, he would be the one to do it. His long career of proving that he could escape from any restraint made this promise seem appealingly plausible

For ten years his widow conducted a séance on Halloween, the anniversary of Houdini’s death, in an attempt to contact her husband, until the dramatic final séance, which was held in 1936 on the rooftop of the Knickerbocker Hotel. On that occasion Mrs. Houdini declared that she had not received a message, and that she expected she never would. This of course did not stop others from persisting in the attempt, and to this day people gather every Halloween and try to receive a message from Houdini.

After Valentino’s death, numerous people began to report spirit contact with him, including his ex-wife Natacha Rambova, who claimed that she had received reports from her ex-husband concerning his condition on “the other side.” Many of the people who visited Valentino’s tomb in the early years after his passing said that they were drawn there due to spiritual messages from Valentino. In subsequent decades a “voice medium” named Leslie Flint claimed that Valentino spoke through him, and he conducted many sessions where he channeled the spirit of Valentino

As I said, I’m from the magic world, and I’m going to close my remarks with a magic trick. It’s a séance-parlor classic that Houdini could explain to you in a blink; however, I’m going to attempt to receive a message from my fellow believer, Valentino.

[Display pair of slates.]

It should be said that in the 1920’s these type of slates were common, everyday objects. Now when you see them, they do seem to be “for séance use only.”

[Actions with the slates follow the description below.]

The idea is that the medium – in this case, me – displays the slates as being empty on both sides. The slates are then bundled together and tied securely so that no human agency can get to them. A piece of chalk is provided for the spirit’s use, and the entire packet is isolated where no one can touch it

[Slates isolated on a chair before the podium.]

To summon the spirit of Valentino, I’m going to quote the author of “A Tribute From the Mothers of the World to Rudolph Valentino,” and join her in her praise of his “portrayal of a love so healing, helpful, and sustaining in its whole-heartedness…” that it can – perhaps – turn eternal death into a night of glorious dreams

Let us see if we have received a message from Valentino

[First slate reads LOVE – displayed to audience. Second slate reads BE.]

[Final image of my arms spread wide, displaying message BE LOVE.]

Thank you, Lisa!

Houdini makes the list of Falling Stars

Houdini has dubious honor of warranting a chapter in the new book, Falling Stars: 10 Who Tried to be a Movie Star by David W. Menefee.

The title pretty much explains what the book is about -- a look at ten famous personalities who attempted, without success, to make it in the movies.

Falling Stars: 10 Who Tried to be a Movie Star is available as a paperback or eBook from Amazon.com.

Tour 'Masters of Illusion' with Mike Caveney, Nov. 15

Magician, historian, and award-winning author Mike Caveney will give a guided walkthrough tour of Masters of Illusion: Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday, November 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Masters of Illusion, which was the companion exhibition to this summer's Houdini Art and Magic, includes a very impressive collection of Houdini artifacts from the collection of John Gaughan and others, and even a few Hardeen mementos.

This will be the last special public program scheduled for the exhibition, which will be on view until January 8, 2012. For more information and to buy tickets online CLICK HERE.

New book finds Houdini in San Diego

The new book The Way We Were in San Diego by San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Richard W. Crawford contains a chapter about Houdini's one and only (professional) visit to the city in October of 1907.

Crawford recounts how Houdini performed at The Grand Theater on Fifth Street on Oct. 7, 8, and 9. During his engagement he escaped from a packing crate constructed by Marston's Dept Store. Crawford has also uncovered a notice (reproduced in the book) saying that Houdini would dive handcuffed from the top of Spreckle's wharf into San Diego Bay. However, for reason's unknown, Houdini didn't do the escape. [See update.]

Purchase The The Way We Were in San Diego by Richard W. Crawford on Amazon.com.

Photo of Houdini and Bessie "On our way to San Diego, Calif" from Houdini His Legend and His Magic by Doug Henning.

UPDATE: Turns out Houdini did do the San Diego stunt.  Read: Proof of Houdini's daring dive in San Diego.

Rose Mackenberg manuscript and Houdini's crystal ball (?) hit eBay

Here's something intriguing. A seller has listed on eBay what they claim is Houdini's crystal ball along with memorabilia from Houdini's chief spiritualist agent, Rose Mackenberg, including a copy of her unpublished manuscript, So You Want To Attend A Séance? Here is the auction description:

HOUDINI’S CRYSTAL BALL – GENUINE! Comes with provenance

YES – this is the real thing. It has been a family treasure for many decades.

Harry Houdini – the famous magician and escape artist owned this crystal ball. [...] After his death the crystal ball belonged Houdini’s associate, the woman known as “The Ghost Detective” and “The Spook Spy” - Rose Mackenberg. The extraordinary career of Rose Mackenberg began during the 1920’s when, as a private detective in her native city of New York, she consulted the famous Houdini on the case of a fake medium. Her successful trapping of the culprit brought an invitation from the great Master of Escapism to join him in his crusade against spiritualists who were falsely leading innocent victims into bankruptcy and unhappiness. From then until his death, Harry Houdini, employed Rose Mackenberg as his detective to travel from town to town ahead of his show posing as a believer, while actually investigating what the local mediums were up to and if any of them might somehow be legitimate. Houdini had publicized a prize of $10,000 that he would give to anyone who could convincingly prove before a distinguished jury of notables that he or she was able to contact spirits from another world. The fortune was never claimed.

In all the years she worked for him, Miss Mackenberg’s efforts only produced one expose after another of charlatans feeding upon the sorrows and misfortunes of a gullible public.

Later Miss Mackenberg toured the lecture circuits speaking on “exposing the tricks of the spiritualist trade.” She also continued her detecting on behalf of Chambers of Commerce, newspapers, Better Business Bureaus and other civic institutions across the United States.

Miss Mackenberg became friends with Virginia Myers, daughter of the famous American artist Jerome Myers (whose works can be seen in over 90 museums throughout the U.S.). Virginia was famous in her own right as a dancer, both in one woman performances at Carnegie Hall and in Broadways shows. Miss Mackenberg gave a signed photo of herself – “To Virginia a swell gal & a good pal. Sincerely Rose, New Year’s Day 1951.” Viginia Myers was the mother of my husband.

Rose Mackenberg, in her will, bequeathed to Virginia Myers the Houdini Crystal Ball as well as photos, lecture programs, newspaper and magazine write-ups, etc. More importantly, she left to Virginia the only (as far as we know) original, manually typewritten final draft of her manuscript relating her experiences working for Houdini and the intimate knowledge she gained of the whole panorama – “So You Want To Attend A Séance?” Copies of all available material will be included with the Crystal Ball. (Publishing rights not included.)

Houdini’s Crystal Ball is shown on a 5” x 5” black cushion. The Ball itself is approx. 3 ½” in diameter. It has a few tiny flaws and scuff marks, all of which attest to its long, well used life. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

I'm not sure what to make of this. The seller does provide nice provenance, but there is no account of Houdini owning a crystal ball of any kind. He doesn't strike me as a crystal ball kind of guy, frankly. But this doesn't mean it didn't belong to him. Houdini owned and displayed several magic wands, but to my knowledge never used one himself (photos show he used a large baton).

I actually find the copy of Rose's manuscript, So You Want To Attend A Séance?, to be the more exciting and potentially more valuable item in this lot, especially as it is an unpublished manuscript (I've confirmed this with the seller). It could provide details of Houdini and Rose's investigations and relationship that we've never heard before.

One thing is for sure, the $25,000 price tag is a little...optimistic. Even if this crystal ball did belong to Houdini, that's a pretty steep number, considering one of his Flight of Time alarm clocks fetched only $1,600 in a recent auction.

The auction (#300617664555) runs until November 10 and can be found HERE.

Christie's London to auction Houdini straitjacket, Nov. 23

The Houdini straitjacket authenticated by magician Murray SawChuck on a recent episode of Pawn Stars will be auctioned by Christie's in London on November 23, 2011. The sale is 6214: Pop Culture: Film & Entertainment Memorabilia. The straitjacket is Lot 71 and the auction estimate is $23,000 - 30,000.

The auction also features several other Houdini items, including a curious green sack (Lot 70) that is simply described as "used by Harry Houdini for escapology tricks circa 1915." As it references the straitjacket lot for provenance, it appears this belongs to the same seller. Could this be the sack used during Metamorphosis? The sack carries an estimate of $1,600-2,300.

The straitjacket -- which I'm convinced is indeed the straitjacket Houdini used for several of his suspended escapes -- was given to the seller's grandfather, Paul J. Campbell (a salesman for Fleetwood Coffee), by Houdini's brother Theo. Hardeen "in late 1927 or early 1928." It has been in the family ever since.

The jacket first surfaced in the popular TV show Pawn Stars where star Rick Harrison made an offer of $25,000. The owner refused and instead listed it on eBay with a starting price of $149,000, where it cycled several times unsold.

Looks like the auction house has carried forward the misdating of the photo of Houdini in the jacket as 1915. According to Patrick Culliton, it's more likely 1923 (and I concur).

UPDATE: SOLD! Houdini straitjacket captures $46,980 at Christie's.

Did the Original Houdini Seance have more luck contacting Harry?

While the "Official Houdini Seance" held last night in Holyoke didn't reach Houdini, the gang over at the "Original Houdini Seance" held at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA, report that they might have had better luck. This comes from the Sevier County News:

Did Houdini return? According to Dorothy Deitrich, director of the Houdini Museum, during the seance, the candelabra that was used, suddenly began to burn brightly. After the seance ended and the attendees left the museum, a hawk was sighted sitting on the chimney outside the museum. Coincidentally. Houdini used a hawk in his show shortly before he died. Was this a sign from Houdini?

Hmmm...Houdini used a hawk in his full evening roadshow? Of all of Houdini's many pets, I've never heard of him owning nor using a "hawk" in his act. Houdini did use a pet eagle during his Everything review at the Hippodrome. Perhaps this is what they are referencing here?

And if fire was the way Harry decided to mark his return this Halloween, certainly that happened in Hollywood.

Obviously, I love this stuff. :)

Official Houdini Seance draws Houdini notables...but not Harry

Mass Live.com reports that the Official Houdini Seance was held last night at the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Among the inner circle was Teller of the magic duo Penn & Teller; Houdini biographer Kenneth Silverman; Bill Radner, son of Sidney Radner; Houdini collectors Roger Dreyer, Tom Boldt, Larry Weeks and escape artist Alexandria the Great, who performed an underwater escape after the seance.

Several officers of the Springfield chapter of the Society of American Magicians, no. 17, were also guests, including dean of the society Tom Gentile.

This year's seance was as much about honoring Sidney Radner as it was to contact Houdini. Sid, who died this year at age 91, had carried on the annual seance tradition since the 1940s.

"I was a great fan of Sid’s," said Teller. "He was a fascinating man of many talents."

The medium this year was Kandisa Calhoun from Berkeley, California.

The no-show appears to have been Houdini himself, although Roger Dreyer commented on Facebook how the inner circle got to watch Houdini's spirit enter Calhoun's body.

"Well, at least that's what she said," says Roger. "I say no more."

Related:

• Official Houdini Seance 2011 to be held in Holyoke

Houdini musical aiming for West End run in 2012

Whatsonstage.com reports that UK Phantom of the Opera star Ramin Karimloo will play the lead in a new musical about the life of Houdini "which is hoping for a West End berth at the end of 2012."

Karimloo will be an associate producer on the show and is joined on the project by Les Miserables cast-mate Hadley Fraser who has written the book for the production.

Others involved in the show include magician Jamie Allan, who conceived the musical and will act as its magic consultant, and composer Simon Wheeler.

The show is currently looking for a West End theatre for autumn next year.

Whatsonstage.com says the "show was launched in a cloud of social media buzz yesterday." A website has also been launched at: www.houdinilondon.com