'Houdini Question Reality' released for Kindle

Dixie Dooley's self-published Houdini - Question Reality has been released for the Amazon Kindle.

First published in 2011 as a print-on-demand paperback from Lulu.com (where it is still available), this book is must for Dixie's story about visiting 278 in the 1980s and the hand-drawn picture he includes showing the layout of the entire house. This might be the only record of the original floor plan as it existed in Houdini's day.

The book also contains a lot of other eclectic and intriguing Houdini tales told by a true Houdini aficionado (and a bit of a character).

Get Houdini - Question Reality for the Kindle at Amazon.com.

Haunted Houdini game walkthrough

In January of this year Big Fish Games released an online Houdini game, Midnight Mysteries: Haunted Houdini Deluxe, available as a download for $2.99. It appears to be very popular.

But if you're like me and not a gamer, but would still like to experience the Houdini content inside, now you can do so by visiting Big Fish's complete game walkthrough page.

Gotta say, whoever did this game appears to have done their homework as far as Houdini is concerned.

Get WILD in any language

Today I've added a new Blogger feature: Translation. That means you can now read WILD ABOUT HARRY in almost any language by just selecting a language from the drop down menu at the bottom of the page. Cool feature (although I appreciate the pointlessness of posting this news in English).

Okay, world, it's time to get WILD!

Houdini Lives will die on June 30

This is just a heads up that my old Houdini website, Houdini Lives!, will cease to exist after June 30 when Apple turns off their MobileMe hosting service.

I considered moving the site to a paid server, but I decided I don't need the hassle and expense of serving a site that I no longer update. Over the past few years I've moved and archived all the important news stories here on WILD ABOUT HARRY, and part of the reason I created this blog was because I saw support waning for iWeb/MobileMe and feared it was a matter of time before Apple abandoned the software and service. That day has come.

What spooks me is I still see a fair amount of traffic travel from the old site to here. This is probably because I have a WILD ABOUT HARRY news feed at Houdini Lives. But after Saturday, that feed will no longer be available.

So if you are connecting to this blog via any URL that says houdini-lives.com, change those bookmarks to wildabouthoudini.com (I also might look into an automatic redirect of the old URL).

Thanks. I apologize for any inconvenience.

UPDATE: The site is now offline, but the old Houdini-Lives.com URL should be forwarding to this blog now.

Houdini and Conan Doyle rarities on display in Tacoma

An exhibit called Arthur Conan Doyle, Houdini and Spiritualism is currently on show at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Tacoma, Washington. The exhibit opened May 1 and runs through August 30, 2012.

According to the description on the official website, the exhibit contains several letters written by Houdini early in his career "pleading for a job - showing almost an obsessive attitude toward his work", a paper record of a seance, including "Mrs Doyle's cross," and the contact box used.

It's not clear from the description if this "paper record" means they have the actual Automatic Writing pages from the famous Atlantic City seance on display (which would be remarkable).

The Karpeles Manuscript Museum is located at 407 S. G St., Tacoma. Admission is free. It is one of 11 museums around the country housing the private historic manuscript collection of California real estate magnate David Karpeles. Exhibits rotate every three months or so between the museums. (Here's hoping Houdini and Conan Doyle comes to their Santa Barbara location so I can give it a looksee.)

Thanks to The News Tribune.

Genii & Houdini: October 1943

Even though it was Houdini's brother, Hardeen, who graced the cover of Genii, The Conjurors Magazine in October 1943, this "Houdini Memorial Issue" marked an important moment in the history of Genii and Houdini as it was the first October issue following the deaths of Edward Saint and Bess.

Ed Saint and Bessie were great friends of editor William Larsen and his wife Gerri, and had supported Genii from the start. Many of the articles and cover images had come from the "Houdini Archive" controlled by Ed Saint.

This issue includes an article about Bessie's final train ride written by her sister, Marie Hinson. It also looks at the surviving family, notably Hardeen and his sons, Lt. Harry Houdini Hardeen and Capt. Theodore Hardeen, Jr., both of whom were serving in the military at the time. The article notes that Houdini has one other living nephew, Col. M.S. White, "and they are all that is left of Houdini's immediate family."

The magazine also has a nice article titled, "Where Houdini Alive Today - What Would He Be Doing?" In it Fred Rickard predicted:

"He would already have made intensive investigations into television. He would have made all the proper contacts to insure him being the first magician to present a televised magic show to a really large television audience."

Editor William Larsen offered up his take on Houdini's role in War World II:

"Here would have been a chance for him to take up the cudgel and attack. Knowing the world as he knew it, and as he would have known it had his life been spared, it is certain that he would have intensely disapproved everything Nazi. What a thrill he would have had exposing the "Bund."

Having produced a Houdini cover every year expect one since its founding in 1936, this would be the last of the annual Houdini Memorial Issues of Genii. And when Houdini returned to the cover of Genii after a ten year absence, he would not quite be himself.

Stay tuned.

Coming next: June 1953

Click here for a complete list of all the Genii-Houdini cover issues.

What's this about Houdini's throwing knives?

So in my morning trolling of the Internet in search of Houdini whatnot to share, I've once again come across a story about "Houdini's throwing knives." I've encountered these a few times. First was when one of the knives was displayed at the Houdini Museum in Scranton. Next was when one knife "sold" on the Discovery Channel Show Oddites for $1,300.

But I've been reluctant to post anything about these as it all seems a little suspicious to me. First off, Houdini had throwing knives??? I've never heard of Houdini doing a knife throwing act. The only provenance I find is that they belonged to "the Hartley family, who were companions of Houdini". I've never heard of the Hartley family. Also, in 2003, a completely different set of "Houdini throwing knives" sold in a Lelands auction for a revealingly low price of $349.

The current owner of these knives appears to be a professional knife thrower named The Great Throwdini, who writes on his website:

They were once the knives of THE GREAT HARRY HOUDINI (no kidding, these WERE Harry Houdini's personal throwing knives). They measure an awesome 16.5"and have cork handles. Made by the W.S. Brown Co., Pittsburgh PA.

In the Oddites show, Throwdini appears not as the owner, but as the purchaser. Again, suspicious, but I'm learning many of these "reality" shows employ similar tactics -- like having an actor present an item and then having the owner pose as the expert. But this just makes me all the more reluctant to believe that these knives have anything to do with Houdini, and are just being used as a publicity gimmick for Throwdini's act.

However, I'm certainly willing to have my mind changed. I would love to learn that Harry and Bess did a knife throwing act in their early years.

So does anyone know anything more about these? Maybe Throwdini himself can add a comment? Let's throw some light on these knives (see what I did there?).

UPDATE: Well, it appears there is a verifiable connection between Houdini and a knife throwing act. "Mr. Know-It-All" alerts me to Houdini's first pitch book (the cover of which you can see in Ken Silverman's Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss) which contains a section called, "How to do an Impalment [sic] Act." Doesn't mean Houdini performed the act himself, but he does present himself as expert enough to teach it, so knife throwing appears to be part of his skill set. Also, cork handles appear to be in line with his suggestion: "For an effective finish saturate the handles with some inflamable [sic] stuff and ignite them and then hurl at subject."

Alex Stone on 'Fooling Houdini'

A new book called Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind has been released by Harper. Doesn't look like the book has anything to do with Houdini apart from a nice name-check in the title, but that's enough for it to get a mention here on WILD ABOUT HARRY.

You can buy Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind on Amazon.com. You can learn more about the book at the Fooling Houdini website.

Below is a clip of author Alex Stone talking about the book and the art of Magic.

UPDATE: This book is receiving a justifiably hostile reception from magicians for revealing secrets. To read about the time Houdini himself got in trouble over breaking the Magician's Code, read: Houdini, the Magician's Code, and the Talking Tea Kettle scandal.

Bessie's last address

While doing some research in the Magic Castle library, I stumbled on this item from the February 1943 issue of Genii magazine. This is the last thing written about the living Beatrice Houdini in Genii, who died on February 11 of that year.

Genii, February 1943

What I like about this is it gives Bessie's last Los Angeles address: Cedar Lodge, 2030 Griffith Park Blvd. Cedar Lodge was actually "Cedar Lodge Sanitarium." Back then, a sanitarium (or sanatorium) was a hospital for long-term illness, most typically associated with the treatment of tuberculosis. While the exact cause of Bessie's death has always been vague, Bess's niece Marie Blood told me that both she and Ed Saint died from TB.

A modern condo building stands at the site today. While the address has changed to 2018 Griffith Park Blvd., the complex still carries the name Cedar Lodge, as you can see in the Google map photo below.

Treasure...

Look at this beautiful original cabinet photo of Houdini recently won in a Martinka auction. Not by me, unfortunately, but the new owner did allow me to be the first to unwrap it deep inside the bowels of the Magic Castle library. A beauty!

Houdini was very fond of this profile shot. He used it on assorted stationary, his bookplate, and his business card (below).

Happy Father's Day

Houdini's father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss

Cover art for 'The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini'

Cover art for The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini by Bruce MacNab has been revealed. The book looks at Houdini's early years and his tour of eastern Canada, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in the summer of 1896. The cover features a very uncommon shot of the young Houdini.

The Metamorphosis: The Apprenticeship of Harry Houdini will be published by Goose Lane Editions on September 28, 2012, and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com (currently 34% off).

Houdini apparition appears in Visalia?

We've all heard tales of the Virgin Mary or Jesus manifesting on stone walls in Central America; but how about a Houdini apparition in Visalia, California? Gaze below at the evidence!

Okay, maybe this isn't an apparition. Maybe this is just someone who is Wild About Harry and has painted the side of their house with the image of the Master Mystifier (which, by the way, appears similar to artwork used by the Houdini Historical Center years ago). But it's still pretty cool!

Thanks to my great friend and Visalia resident Cheri Levin Richey for the alert and the pic.

UPDATE: This image was originally created by Chuck Romano. You can read about it on his blog. My Magic Uncle.

Spanish Houdini trading cards

Here's an interesting set of Houdini trading cards from Spain that recently sold on eBay. Released around 1958, these belong to a series that, according to the seller, "speaks of epic men's world records." Notice that the Water Torture Cell card uses a still from the 1953 movie, Houdini. That movie also seems to have inspired the cards depicting Houdini trapped under the ice.

Kevin Connolly of Houdini Himself has made a specialty of collecting Houdini cards for an upcoming catalog. Maybe we'll see these rarities included?