Hardeen: The Man Who Walked Through Walls

Let's celebrate Dash's 146th birthday today with a bit of forgotten Hardeen history.

We are all familiar with Houdini's famous Walking Through a Brick Wall illusion. It's one of the tricks that has become iconically associated with him -- "The Man Who Walked Through Walls". However, not many people realize Houdini only did the effect for a single week at Hammerstein's Victoria theater in New York in July 1914. And that was it! For Houdini, at least.

Houdini passed the effect to his brother, Hardeen, who appears to have first performed it at the Bowdoin Square Theatre in Boston in January 1915. He then continued to periodically feature it on his 1915 tour. Hardeen penetrated walls in: Hartford, Connecticut; Bridgeport, Rhode Island; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Spokane, Washington; Calgary, Alberta; and Victoria, British Columbia. The last performance I can find was in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in March 1916. This means Hardeen did Walking Through a Brick Wall many more times than Houdini!

Below is a nice ad for Hardeen's performance of the effect in Calgary. I love the headline: "BRICKS and MORTAR vs. FLESH and MUSCLE."

Morning Albertan, Sept. 22, 1915

Below is the best overall description of the effect as Hardeen performed it. It's pretty much exactly as Houdini did it, right down to the two rug coverings. Wonder if he also wore the white duster? Unfortunately, I don't know of any photo showing Hardeen and his wall.

The Spokesman Review, Oct. 1, 1915.

Here's some evidence showing how Hardeen became independently associated with the effect.

Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer, Feb. 23, 1915.

Walking Through a Brick Wall was not without controversy. Houdini had purchased the secret from magician Sidney Josolyne in England. However, P.T. Selbit claimed to have invented it and accused Joselyne and Houdini of theft. Along with the wall Hardeen inherited the controversy and continued to exchange barbs with Selbit into the 1920s. I'm not aware of Hardeen performing the effect after Houdini's death, but Sidney Radner recalls seeing the apparatus among Hardeen's belongings in the 1940s.

In 1939 Hardeen appeared as a guest on WNYC's "Voice of the Theatre" radio program (which you can listen to HERE). The interview begins with Hardeen seeming to make a mysterious appearance in the studio. Host Ezra Macintosh asks how he got in with the door being closed the whole time. Hardeen's answer: "Why I'm the man who walked through brick walls."

Indeed!

Images: Newspapers.com

Related:

• When Houdini walked through a brick wall
• Superboy does a Houdini
• Did Hardeen really discover the full view straitjacket escape?

Paramount puts Houdini movie into development

Deadline reports that a new Houdini movie is gestating at Paramount. Below are the key details:

EXCLUSIVE: Transformers duo Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing a movie about iconic escape artist and illusionist Harry Houdini for Paramount. 

Plot details are being kept under wraps on the untitled development project but we understand it will be set of its time in the early 20th Century and have a Sherlock Holmes tone, dealing as it does with a human superhero type. 

Script is being written by Neil Widener and Gavin James who are also working with the studio on Jerry Bruckheimer’s Beyblade project. 

Always great to hear about a new Houdini project. But before we get too excited (or upset), know that there have been dozens of announced Houdini movies that fail to escape from development. But I wish everyone involved in this latest project the best of luck.

UPDATE: I enjoyed this comment on the original Deadline story.

Click to enlarge.

Related:

• What's next, Hollywood?
• Ray Stark's 35 year Houdini conundrum
• Ben Affleck set to slip on Houdini's shackles?

Houdini hangs in Omaha

Recently I was excited to confirm Houdini's 1923 appearance and suspended straitjacket escape in Omaha, Nebraska. The clipping below from the Omaha Daily News isn't much, but it gets the job done!

The Omaha Daily News, Sept. 5, 1923.

I don't know of any photos or film of this escape, but according to this clipping it was performed at the intersection of 15th and Farnam streets. Today there exists a set of historic buildings at this site which are earmarked for redevelopment. Could one of these be the building?

This week Houdini was appearing at the Orpheum (formally the Creighton Theatre) located at 409 South 16th Street. The theater was demolished in 1926 and a new Orpheum was built on the site which still stands today.

The original Orpheum/Creighton Theatre.

The Omaha Morning Bee, Sept. 3, 1923.

For the record, Houdini played Omaha in 1899, 1900, 1915, and this final engagement in 1923.

Images: Newspapers.com

UPDATE: The great Bill Mullins has come through again and located images of Houdini's escape. Houdini did the escape from the Omaha World Herald building which is not one of the standing structures we see today. That building stood across the street and is long gone. Thanks Bill!

Omaha World Herald, Sept. 5, 1923

Related:

• LINK: Harry Houdini, David Abbott and Johnny Carson: Omaha has a long history with magicians
• Houdini hangs in Memphis (the first time)
• Houdini's known suspended straitjacket escapes

Four staged readings of Muriel Rukeyser's 'Houdini' in March

The Muriel Rukeyser Living Archive has organized four staged readings this month of Rukeyser’s 1973 musical play, Houdini. Elisabeth Daumer, professor of English and women's and gender studies at EMU, says she hopes this will offer a way for people to rediscover Rukeyser's work.

"I believe this is the right play for the pandemic and for what's happening in our country," Daumer says. "The question of, 'What is freedom?' is so fundamental right now."

Below is the schedule of readings. For more information visit the official website.

March 20, 2pm. Sponberg Theatre, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI. 

This event will be live streamed, preceded by a webinar, at 11am, featuring Rukeyser experts Jan Freeman and Stefania Heim and Houdini expert Matthew Solomon. Registration.

March 24, 7pm. Riverside Arts Center, Ypsilanti, MI. 

In collaboration with YpsiWrites, a writing-focused non-profit serving the Ypsilanti area, this event will be accompanied by a Poetry Wall and other activities geared toward a younger Southeast Michigan audience.

March 26, 8pm, and March 27, 3pm. Matrix Theatre, Detroit, MI. 

These events will be followed by conversations between the director, actors, and audience. Directed by EMU Theatre Professor Lee Stille, Rukeyser’s Houdini will be performed by the talented actors of EMU’s Theatre Program. 

Houdini by Muriel Rukeyser was originally published by Paris Press and is currently available from Wesleyan University Press. 

Related:

• The impossible possible
• Houdini Plays
• Harry Houdini, poetry lover

Inside History covers Houdini vs Hodgson

The UK magazine Inside History features Houdini on the cover of their latest issue (#10). Inside is a look at Houdini's torturous 1902 challenge in Blackburn.

In 1902, Harry Houdini came to entertain the town of Blackburn. As always, he set a challenge to the locals to produce locks that he could not escape from. William Hodgson took on the challenge that nearly brought down "The Handcuff King". 

You can purchase Inside History Issue 10 or read the digital version for free via their official website.

Thanks to Arthur Moses for the alert.

Related:

• Houdini vs. Hodgson in new book
• Houdini vs. Hodgson in Weird Fiction Review #3
• Blog reveals William Hope Hodgson

Something's missing

Let's cap our Weird Week with this weird one. Here is the famous photo of Houdini and Dorothy Young performing Radio of 1950 as it appeared in the Wichita Daily Times on December 5, 1926. When I first saw this I thought I had found a new image. There was something different about it. But I now realize it is the same image, just with something missing. Can you tell what that something is?

If you don't know, CLICK HERE to compare this to the familiar image.

So which photo should we believe? Was this image too sexy for Witchita and altered? Or was the more familiar photo altered to be made more sexy and what we have here is the original?

If you can tell me for sure, you'll win a Major Award.

Related:

• Dorothy Young remembers her days with Houdini
• Dorothy Young passes away at 103
• Hardeen dials in Radio of 1950

Harry Weiss, boxer and club swinger?

Here's an intriguing item that I came across in the New York Evening World for August 19, 1891. Could the Harry Weiss referenced here be our Harry Weiss?

Evening World, Aug. 19, 1891.

We know Houdini boxed in Athletic club tournaments around this time. We also know that belonged to the Allerton and the Pasttime Athletic clubs. The Harry Weiss here is with the Olympian Athletic Club.

It's sometimes stated--and I'm afraid I've stated it myself--that Houdini was in the running for the U.S. Olympic team at this time. But he missed out due to illness. However, the first modern Olympic games were held in 1896 when Houdini was well into his magic career, so this cannot be right. But could this claim have been born of a misunderstanding about Harry joining a club that was "Olympian" in name only?

If this is our Harry, you'll note that he also participated in "club-swinging". If you have no idea what club swinging is (I sure didn't), check out this YouTube video. Yeah, I could see him doing this.

 

So, Harry Weiss, "Olympian" boxer and club swinger? Just another log for the speculative fire.

Image: Newspapers.com

Related:

• Houdini the young runner
• Houdini is your new fitness coach
• Houdini and the Olympics (HHCE)

Paul Michael Glaser is Houdini again!

Paul Michael Glaser shared this image on his Facebook today. How is this not the best thing ever? Paul appears to be in Anaheim where this photo op sits outside Kip Barry's Cabaret.

In case you don't know, Paul played Houdini in the 1976 television movie The Great Houdinis (below), which still stands as one of the best Houdini biopics, IMO.

You can see more PMG as HH via the links below.

Related:

• Paul Michael Glaser – the Houdini of '76
• Superlove Starsky is Houdini
• Making the great Great Houdinis

Handiwork

Returning to our Weird Week theme, here's one for all you aspiring palm readers. This article ran in the Moline Daily Dispatch on April 13, 1932, and offers a look at Houdini's right palm (allegedly). Note the "cross of keen observation"!

This is not the first time Houdini's palm appeared in newsprint. In 1900 a Kansas City paper reported that Houdini had his "hand examined" by a local palm-reader, Professor Paul Alexander Johnston, and ran the illustration below. This shows his left hand, so that gives us both of Houdini's palms to examine.

Does this mean Houdini believed in palmistry? Before we jump to that conclusion, let's hear from the man himself. The topic came up during Houdini's 1926 testimony before Congress, and here's what he had to say:

Mr. McLeod: Is it a fact that palmistry is a science?

Mr. Houdini: No; it is not.

Mr. McLeod: What do you call it?

Mr. Houdini: It is a fraud. How can you tell anything the lines of the hand? You can tell whether a man is a bricklayer or a bank clerk.

Mr. McLeod: And that is as far as you can go?

Mr. Houdini: That is a far as anybody can go unless they deduce from reading you.

Sounds like he's using his cross of keen observation.

Images: Newspapers.com and 'Houdini His Legend and His Magic' by Doug Henning.

Related:

• Houdini's hands
• The hands of Houdini?
• A Week of Weird

Houdini makes the cover of Genii's 1000th issue

I'm already preempting my "Week of Weird" because we do have some breaking Houdini news today. After a decade's absence, Houdini once again graces the cover of Genii magazine for the March 2022 issue. This is actually Genii's 1000th issue, so how perfect to have Harry back out front. (His first appearance was on issue No. 2 in October 1936.)

The article inside is an excellent and lengthy look at the new Houdini Seance at the Magic Castle written by Jonathan Levit with Jim Steinmeyer and Benjamin Schrader. Not only does the article tell the behind the scenes story of the seance's creation, but it also includes a nice history of the famous Final Houdini Seance of 1936 (featuring Mark Willoughby's rare photos), and Jim Steinmeyer has some elegant and insightful thoughts on Houdini and his everlasting legacy. Overall this makes for a terrific Houdini issue in the Genii tradition.

Oh, and there's a pic inside from our recent Houdini Nuts preview seance in which you can see Patrick Cullition, Jessica Jane Peterson, and myself. I like to think the image captures three generations of succeeding Edward Saints. What a treat and an honor!

You can subscribe to Genii magazine and Genii Online at the official website. You can also buy Genii in magic shops. This is one to get. Let's show the new editor, Dustin Stinett, that putting Houdini's mug on the cover moves some units!

CLICK HERE to see all the Houdini-Genii covers throughout the years.

Related:

• Secrets of the new Houdini Seance by Jim Steinmeyer
• Magic Castle Houdini Seance is coming back to life
• Halloween 1936: The Final Houdini Seance

Video reveals "weird" Houdini collectible

This video from the YouTube channel Weird And The Wonderful includes a unique and surprising Houdini collectible. It comes up right at the start of the tour around the one minute mark.

I am familiar with Houdini's practice of using movie memorabilia, such as lobby cards, as backing boards and dividers for items in his theatrical collection. Our friend Eric Colleary of the Harry Ransom Center told me they've come across many examples of these, and in some cases they are more valuable than the items they were used to protect!

These cards (which I would call "title cards" rather than "lobby cards") were almost certainly used by Houdini's Film Developing Corporation on one of their non-Houdini projects. One of the cards appears to be from the 1919 film, Winning His Wife. Once photographed, these were no longer of any use, hence Houdini gave them a renewed purpose.

The idea that Houdini did this is somewhat insider information and I've never seen these outside the Harry Ransom Center. So I'm interested in how someone came to have these and also understand exactly what they were. Who was the mysterious autograph show seller, I wonder?

Enjoy some of the other videos on this channel. Cynthia's wax figure collection is amazing. It's quite the weird and wonderful home museum!

Related:

• A Week of Weird
• The saga of Houdini's Film Developing Corporation
• Treasures from the Harry Ransom Center revealed

A Week of Weird

As I looked over my posts for the coming week, I realized they are all a little "weird" in one way or another. So let's embrace that and make it this week's theme!

Below is a tentative line-up of posts. Hope you enjoy, weirdos.

• Video reveals "weird" Houdini collectible
• Handiwork
• Paul Michael Glaser is Houdini again!
• Harry Weiss, boxer and club swinger?
• Something's missing

Of course, I reserve the right to preempt Weird Week with any breaking Houdini news.

American Museum of Magic's 2019 Houdini print

This is the 2019 Houdini Commemorative Reproduction print created by the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan. Each year the museum offers a new Commemorative Reproduction as part of their membership package. These reproduction are struck from originals in the museum's collection and are printed on canvas.

The print for a 2022 memberships is a Howard Thurston poster. However, when the museum offered me a choice of print as thanks for my talk last year as part of their Speaker Series, I had to go with Houdini! I've always been wild about this poster. In fact, this was the first image of the real Houdini I ever saw.

Speaking of the American Museum Speaker Series, the first lecture of this year will be the legendary Jim Steinmeyer giving a talk on Thurston the Great and How History Fools Us. It will take place live on Zoom on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at 7 pm. All talks are free to members. Non-members can join for a $10 donation.

Visit the American Museum of Magic website for information, merchandise, and to become a member. We love our friends in Marshall!

Related:

• My first look at the real Houdini
• American Museum of Magic shares collection online
• REPORT: The Midwest Magic History Weekend 2015

Houdini part of WGY exhibition in Schenectady

The famous shot of Houdini giving a radio address over WGY is one of 50 photographs selected for an exhibition marking the station's centennial at the Museums of Innovation and Science (miSci) in Schenectady, New York. The exhibition will be on view through May 8, 2022.

WGY: Radio’s Laboratory Celebrates Its Centennial presents more than fifty rare and historical photographs, ranging in date from the early 1920s to 1980, documenting the history of WGY, a groundbreaking radio station founded in 1922 and still operating today in the New York Capital Region.

WGY is the tenth oldest commercial radio station in the United States, the creator of the first broadcast drama, and a pioneer in the use of sound effects. It was the first affiliate of the NBC national network and regularly featured top national entertainers. WGY was also one of the stations that helped to unite the country during World War II by providing important news to the entire nation.

Photographs on view include an October 1926 image of Harry Houdini appearing on WGY to promote a performance in Albany, one of his last before his death a few weeks later on Halloween; and a 1929 image of the famous aviator Amelia Earhart, who visited the WGY studio to give a talk and read letters to Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition.

One small correction to the official description above. This was a split week for the "3 Shows in One". Houdini had just come from Albany and was actually promoting his appearance at Schenectady's own Van Curler Theater when he made this broadcast on October 14, 1926.

For more information visit the miSci website.

Related:

• Three days in Schenectady
• This is Houdini on October 14, 1926
• Houdini's known radio broadcasts