While visiting the
Houdini Museum of New York last June, I saw a remarkable document on display. It consisted of two typewritten pages by Hardeen from a biography he was writing about his brother at the time of his own death. That book was to be called
The Truth About Houdini, and if anyone knew that truth, it was Dash!
Among several fascinating tidbits is the following paragraph in which Hardeen apparently spills
the secret of Houdini's escape abilities, which I share here with the permission of museum and document owner Roger Dreyer. [UPDATE: Bruce Averbook and The Averbook Magic Art Museum & Library now own these framed manuscript pages and photos.]
Hardeen first explains how Houdini ran away from home at the age of nine, then follows with this bombshell [spelling errors as written]:
While on this trip he became a jockey rode horses and mules &...any thing they put before him. He was accidentally shot in the palm of his left hand, and though at the time it seemed a misfortune--it proved to be the turning point of his life. Because the bullet remaing in the palm of the hand, caused the groth to seem the same as the other hand and apparently was the same. Houdini could contract the hand so that he was able to pull it through the smallest kind of hole. This was the secret that he carried to his grave, and not even his wife knew of it.
No one ever knew about the musclare contraction Houdini was able to perform.
The story of Houdini being shot in the hand is one Houdini himself told, although he set it later in his life. According to Harry, early in his career, he was taken at gunpoint by gamblers and forced to unlock the door of a casino after hours. But Houdini flung the door into the crooks and ducked inside. They took at shot at him through the door, and when Houdini threw up his hand to shield his face, the bullet lodged inside his hand, where it remained for his entire life.
Also displayed at the museum is an original x-ray photo showing the bullet in Houdini's hand. This photo has appeared elsewhere, but seeing the original is a revelation. That's because one can see the "bullet" has clearly been added or at least filled in with black ink. Possibly this was done to enhance the image. Or could it be a fake?
I admit I've never entirely bought the story of the gangsters. Seems like a bit of Houdini fiction. But possibly it was a way to romanticize or misdirect from what Dash claimed was a childhood accident. But I'm still not sure how an object
inside Houdini's hand could aid in his escapes. Seems to me it would actually impede his ability to slip out of cuffs, etc.
That brings me to this intriguing footnote in
Houdini's Fabulous Magic (page 19) by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young:
Many people thought that Houdini could slip cuffs that were locked about his wrists, but he found that impossible. He even tried compressing the knuckles of his hands in special clamps for hours at a time, hoping to reduce their girth, but it was no avail; so he gave it up.
I've never heard about these clamp compression experiments, but it's likely the source was Walter Gibson, who knew Houdini personally. Was this Houdini once again misdirecting from his big secret? It should be noted that Houdini
did slip handcuffs on occasion, sometimes in full view of the audience, and he can be seen slipping cuffs during the jailbreak sequence in
The Grim Game.
Finally, it's worth noting that Houdini's left hand gave him problems as he aged. He repeatedly broke his wrist, and in 1926, he told a doctor that he only had "50% strength" in his left hand. Could all this be related to the big secret?
While Dash was not above myth-making when it came to his own career (he also claimed to have been once trapped under an ice sheet), he seemed to be the most candid of all the Weisses. He also famously took umbrage to the Harold Kellock biography,
Houdini His Life Story, as being "full of lies."
Unfortunately, Hardeen never completed his Houdini biography, so all we have is this tantalizing tidbit. But what a remarkable thing to hear from the man who knew all of Houdini's secrets.
Related:
Alex Schultz, president of Sculpture Valley, a nonprofit arts advocacy group in the Fox Cities, said Appleton made a mistake by removing "Metamorphosis" from Houdini Plaza. He wishes the 2013 renovation of the plaza would have reserved a spot for the piece.
