Houdini's Cannon Challenge

Mutineers tied to cannons in the same manner that Houdini was tied to a cannon. They were about to be executed.

In February of 1911, Houdini was faced with an unusual challenge, one that was more dangerous than normal. The challenge reads as follows:

Chatham, Feb 14, 1911

Mr. Harry Houdini,
Dear Sir-We challenge you to stand in front of a loaded Government 8 cwt. steel gun, to which we will secure you, insert a fuse which will burn for twenty minutes, and if you fail to release yourself within that time you will be blown to Kingdom Come.

In lashing you to the muzzle of the gun we will place a rifle barrel between your arms behind your back, bringing your hands on your breast where we will securely lash them. Your feet we will tie to an iron ring which we will nail into the floor. Your body we will lash against the muzzle of the gun in such a manner that we believe it will be impossible for you to free yourself.

Test must take place in full view of the public

Signed by four petty officers of the Royal Navy.

According to the book, The Original Houdini Scrapbook, by Walter Gibson, Houdini accepted the challenge and found it to be very difficult. In Houdini's own words, "The situation required quick action. I struggled and worked at my best. I lived up to my reputation, and free myself in twelve minutes!"

There is a small wrinkle in the historical record however, according to the William Kalush biography, The Secret Life of Houdini, he says that the chief of police reluctantly allowed the demonstration to go forward and even allowed the cannon to be loaded, however, he did not allow them to light the fuse. But the story in the Walter Gibson book says that they did light the fuse. I don't have a newspaper account to refer to to find which story is correct.

HOWEVER

Fast forward to October 12, 1919, The Washington Times Newspaper reported that while Houdini was filming The Grim Game, he had accepted the challenge of four naval officers to be strapped to the mouth of a cannon in Pershing Square, Los Angeles. The Times reported, "The weapon was loaded and a fuse attached, but the police interfered before the trigger lanyard could be pulled."  The newspaper further reported "Houdini extricated himself from the ropes, which it had taken six minutes to tie, in exactly two minutes and a half."

I'm wondering if this is the cannon escape that Kalush was referencing but connected it to the Chaltham Cannon Escape. I have no problem believing that Houdini presented this escape two different times. He often repeated challenges in different cities. But the best proof would be newspaper accounts and so far I only have the one from The Washington Times. Eventually, I hope to find one from an L.A. paper.

I did some checking and discovered that Pershing Square during World Ward 1 was often the scene of militia receptions and was named after General Pershing, so it seems highly likely that there were cannons present for Houdini to actually do this escape.

The upcoming HOUDINI-Miniseries will feature Adrien Brody escaping from the mouth of a cannon. I saw a still image, and it looks like an older Houdini, so my guess it was 1919 Cannon escape.

Finally, Steve Baker, who was known as Mr. Escape during his performing career, presented a Cannon Escape as well in the early 1970s. His version was called 'The Human Target and a photo collage can be seen below. Steve's version had no cannonball, but did include gunpowder and the fuse. This was during a period of time when Steve was trying to duplicate all of Houdini's escapes.

Houdini's Life Changing Event In St. Paul That You Haven't Heard

7th St. St. Paul-The Palm Garden is down this street.

According to the history books, in March of 1899, Harry Houdini was playing at a beer hall in St. Paul Minnesota called The Palm Garden*. We know that at some point prior to March 14th, Martin Beck arrived at the beer hall with a group of other theatre owners. Beck witnessed Houdini's act of escaping handcuffs, but thought they must be faked. So Beck challenged Houdini to escape from some handcuffs that he would bring. The following night Beck brings with him three pairs of handcuffs and Houdini escapes from all three. That's the story we are all familiar with. It's the same story in Kenneth Silverman's bio on Houdini, and basically similar story to the Kalush Bio. In the William Kalush biography, The Secret Life of Houdini, he adds a story that took place before the Beck meeting which really had nothing to do with performing.

On March 14th, Houdini gets a telegram from Martin Beck in Chicago. The telegram says, "You can open Omaha, March 26th, at $60, will see act, probably make proposition for all next season." Houdini records in his journal "This wire changed my whole life's journey."

That's what we know to be the historical record of the day Houdini's life changed forever. However, there is something else, and I do not know if it happened before Beck's arrival or after. It could have even been the thing that lured Beck to the Palm Garden, that is IF it happened before. If it happened after the Beck encounter, then Houdini was making the most of this encounter by pulling out all the stops.

The St. Paul Globe Newspaper, March 7th, 1899 edition. This records an event that happened one week before Houdini got the telegram from Martin Beck. So somewhere in between is when likely when they met. Here is the story....

Houdini was performing at the Palm Garden, and part of his act was the challenge handcuff routine, where anyone can bring cuffs and he will escape from them. A member of the audience suggests he let the police try. So between acts, Houdini and the Manager of the Palm Garden head to the Central Police Station in St. Paul and ask Chief Schweitzer if they would challenge Houdini with a pair of their police cuffs. The Chief comes out with an unusual pair. According to the newspaper the Chief is quoted as saying "I'll fix him, I've got a pair that would defy Mephistopheles himself." They put the cuffs on Houdini and then add a more up to date pair of cuffs on him as well. Then Houdini is taken to another room to attempt his escape in private.

Two minutes later, Houdini came back into the room with the cuffs not only removed, but locked together. The locking together is a subtle way of showing that he didn't simply 'slip' the cuffs of his wrists, but rather had to open them in order to put lock them together. The feat made the newspaper.

To add to this, I checked the complete newspaper for a day or so before and after and the Palm Garden never ran any ads for Houdini's appearance. So this blurb on March 7th is the only recorded historical record of his St. Paul visit. As I mentioned before, if it happened before the Beck meeting, it could have been what drew Beck to the Palm Garden. If it happened after, then it was Houdini doing what he did best, getting publicity. And it's the last article that would be written on him before he went off under Martin Beck's direction.

*The Palm Garden was a type of indoor beer garden that became very popular in the 1890s. I don't know how many there were, but it appears that many major cities had one. Some of them offered entertainment, usually orchestras or smaller bands. 

Bess Houdini's Love Triangle

Well well well. What do we have here? Turns out Bess Houdini has been secretly meeting with John Cox and Tom Interval behind ole Harry's back! Shameful. What would Harry say if he found out? I'm really disappointed in....well you know......in the fact I didn't get invited to the freaking party! Oh, wait, I'm TOO BUSY! Hey Bess, don't call me, I want nothing to do with this love triangle you've created. This is just sick. This is why in the Victorian Times people looked down upon Show People! Theo was right, Bess is a bad influence!

Ok, now that I've got this out of my system, Congratulations to John Cox and Tom Interval for their connection to Bess Houdini, played by actress Kristen Connolly, and the new HOUDINI Miniseries. It's really exciting to see these guys have their talents and knowledge recognized. The following link is to an interview with Kristen where she mentions both Tom and John as sources of her research on Bess. I really couldn't be happier for you guys!!!!!

However...............if the movie sucks, now I know to who to blame! :)

Just kidding! Bravo to John and Tom, and to Kristen for seeking out two of the smartest Houdini Guys alive today!!!!

The Houdini Soundtrack is Available NOW on iTunes

Is this possibly the first Houdini Soundtrack ever available from any of the movies? Actually, one of the lesser known Houdini movies Fairy Tale-A True Story, has a sound track and a very hard to get one too. The music in that movie is fantastic...but as I said, hard to get.

Here is the link to the iTunes Houdini Soundtrack... https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/houdini-volume-1-original/id909175974


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The Houdini Tramp Chairs

In the photo above, is an unusual item from the Salon De Magie, the collection of Ken Klosterman. I'm not sure of the origins, as far as where Ken got this, but he is very thorough in his documenting items that he puts in his collection, so I have no doubt it's authentic. My guess is that it's a challenge that Houdini received. I do know it's featured in his book Salon De Magie, unfortunately, it's one of the few books I do not have. In the photo above, you'll need to excuse the leather device underneath the chair and the orange/red box sitting on the chair, as they are not part of the Tramp Chair.

I did some general research on this type of chair and they were basically made in small jails when there was no space for extra prisoners. These could sit in a hallway or outside the cells and still contain a prisoner because they would be handcuffed to the chair. I have a feeling the neck collar was added just for Houdini, and for all I know, it may have been added BY Houdini.

The was this would look in performance or in challenge performance is Houdini would have both wrists handcuffed to the chair section and his neck would be put in the neck collar and locked up. This would prevent Houdini from bending down, so he couldn't use a key in his teeth. He also would be unable to lift a hand to help undo either the neck collar or the other hand. At least this is how it would appear by the audience. Whether he did this in full view or behind a cabinet I do not know, though my guess is with this particular device he probably presented it behind some sort of curtain.

His brother Hardeen also encountered a Tramp Chair which was dubbed the Maine Tramp Chair. This is a very different device. The Maine Tramp Chair is like a portable jail cell, or a chair on wheels surrounded by a jail cell. It's a very strange relic from the 19th Century. Hardeen successfully escaped from one of these at the Bijou Theatre in Bangor Maine, in 11 minutes 54 seconds.

Houdini also claimed to have escaped from a Maine Tramp Chair in Boston, but he called his a 'Witches Chair'. For historical purposes, there was something called a 'witches chair' but it was not the same as the Maine Tramp Chair, it was a wooden chair with spikes embedded in the seat and back cushion so as to cause the sitter extreme pain. I think that Houdini's Witches Chair however, was not this, but in fact was another Maine Tramp Chair or one similar. The description of the Maine Tramp Chair can be found in Houdini's Magic & Escapes by Walter Gibson.

Maine Tramp Chair

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