Heller, Houdini and more

Photo taken during Houdini's visit to the grave in 1910

My fascination with Robert Heller began with Houdini. Specifically, the image of Houdini next to Heller's grave. Houdini referred to Heller in his Conjurer's Monthly Magazine, as "the most versatile magician who ever lived." Had it not been for Houdini, the whereabouts of Heller's grave would be likely be lost forever because it was Houdini who had rediscovered the grave.

When I began to research Heller back in 2011, I had no idea I would become so fascinated by the man. He is certainly an interesting character. I had done a ton of research on him and thought I had uncovered about all there was to uncover, but it turns out I was very wrong. I came across a wealth of new material this weekend on Heller, including playbills and posters and some images and illustrations that I'm not sure have seen the light of day for a very long time. So I will be delving back into the life of William Henry Palmer aka Robert Heller, to see what new mysteries and insight can be uncovered. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the new photo of the Heller grave, taken in 1910, very possibly by Houdini. And enjoy the poster below, it's a beauty. All three images come from a Houdini scrapbook.

New Resource For Researching Victorian Magic History & More

This may be the coolest thing to happen to magic since the Top Hat!!!! Seriously, I am loving this new addition to AskAlexander.com. It's called "Victorian Popular Culture" and in their own words 'it is an essential resource for the study of popular entertainment in the 19th and early 20th centuries.'

Though it is not strictly magic oriented, it does represent conjuring quite well. I was looking at the list of participating libraries and they include the Harry Ransom Research Center at the University of Texas where a great deal of Houdini owned scrapbooks reside. Also, they list The Senate House at the University of London which contains items from the Harry Price Library of Magical Literature.

In addition, they cover Spiritualism, so anyone interested in that topic (NORMAN), might want to delve into it. There is a section on Music Halls, Theater and Popular Entertainment, a section on Circuses, Sideshows and Freaks, and a section on early Motion Pictures.

How in depth this is I don't really know yet. I just recently stumbled upon it. But AskAlexander is such a valuable resource that I would have to say this new addition must be great otherwise they would not have included it. I'm assuming you must be a member of AskAlexander.com to access the site. IF you are a member and have not looked into this new resource, please do! From what I have seen so far it will be a great tool when researching our unique art for historical purposes.

This is the link to get there, though if not a member the link may not work for you. http://askalexander.org:9000/Index.aspx

UPDATE: I just discovered this service 'Victorian Popular Culture' is a paid feature. So if you don't have an account/membership with The Conjuring Arts Research Library, you won't be able to view it, sorry. I did not realize that at first. I was able to view it because all Genii Subscribers were able to see it up until June 15th. Needless to say, June 16th, no go! lol. Genii Magazine used to run their online version of the magazine through AskAlexander.com. But now they have gone to their own portal, so it's no longer available for us to access. However, AskAlexander.com does offer very reasonably priced monthly subscriptions to their site so for as little as $10 a month you can view the 'Victorian Popular Culture' portal plus lots of other great research tools offered by AskAlexander.com and the Conjuring Arts Research Library.

An Inside View of Hammersteins Victoria Rooftop Theatre

A reader to my blog, posted a link to his article on Hammersteins Theatre in NYC. The photos are really fantastic and his blog article is quite interesting. As this was a favorite stop for Houdini, I thought you might enjoy checking it out.

Back in 2011, I wrote a piece on Hammerstein's as well. Here is the link to my article http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/01/hammersteins-victoria-and-rooftop.html

Here is the link to the new article at the Hatching Cat Blog http://frenchhatchingcat.com/2014/05/23/the-dutch-farm-at-hammersteins/

Remembering The Passing of the Mantle of Magic

Today marks the 106th Anniversary of the Passing of the Mantle of Magic from Harry Kellar to Howard Thurston at the Fords Theatre in Baltimore MD. May 16, 1908 in Howard Thurston's own words,

"Before the final curtain had fallen Kellar led me to the foot- lights and in a most touching speech briefly mentioned his own career of forty-five years as a public entertainer, and finished with a generous and affectionate prediction of my future. Kellar had played Ford's Opera House for many years. He handed his arm around my shoulders, while the orchestra played 'Auld Lang Syne'. As the ushers carried many floral offerings to the stage, the audience sang with the music. Finally, the musicians stood, then the entire audience was on its feet repeating the refrain. Leaning heavily on my shoulder as the curtain dropped for the last time, Kellar cried—so did I."

What was the Mantle of Magic? Essentially, it was nothing more than a business transaction between Kellar and Thurston. But that is too boring, so they put a theatrical spin to the whole affair and created this idea of passing Kellar's Mantle onto Thurston. For the 1907-08 Season, Kellar and Thurston toured the U.S. together.  All of the posters for the tour featured an image of Kellar's face in the upper corner and Thurston's face in the opposite corner. The final poster above, was the only one with a full sized image of both Thurston and Kellar, that I'm aware of.

I'm not sure how long Thurston continued using the Kellar endorsement after that iconic event. But it's clear he did continue to use "Kellar's Successor" for some time. 

Library of Congress Image

Today, all parties associated with the event are long gone. Thurston and Kellar have low since passed away. Even the Ford's Theatre in Baltimore is gone. But we have the posters, playbills and history to look back upon and fondly remember an important event in the annals of magic.

Harry Blackstone Jr Anniversary

17 Years Ago, on May 14th, I was at Dulles Airport with my friend Adam Ace. We were about to take a plane to Mexico for shows. Before the flight I stepped into one of the gift shops and saw the USA Today Newspaper. There on the cover, a photo of Harry Blackstone Jr. and the words 'Has Died'. WHAT? How could this be? Sad, but true.

I never got to meet Mr. Blackstone. I was on an elevator with him once but other 'fans' were kind of crowding him so I didn't join the pack. I also sat in front of him at a conference once, but he was deep conversation with his wife, so again, I didn't intrude.

Needless to say, his passing was somewhat of a shock to the magic world. I only added 'somewhat' because we all new he had been ill. He had what seemed like a sudden and drastic loss of weight and he didn't look well. I remember seeing him on the Miss America Pageant producing Regis Philbin from a tip-over trunk. It was the last time I'd see him on TV. He was gone a short time later.

Harry Blackstone Jr. was one of the GREATS! I'll write about him more at another time. But for now, we remember his passing 17 years ago.