The Wonderful Dorothy Young's Book

In 2003, Dorothy Young self published a booklet called Touring With Houdini. The booklet is 26 pages long and is a quick read. It covers her brief time with the Houdini show. As I began to read the book my first thought was, 'this should have been made into a children's book with great illustrations'. I think kids would love it frankly.  And frankly, it still would make a GREAT children's book! A book about a Grandmother, who tells a group of kids about when she was a teenager and ran away to be part of the the great Houdini's show! Or something along those lines.

My second thought was, 'I wish there was more.' I really wanted to know more about Dorothy. The last page gives some biographical information. Not counting this book, Ms. Young wrote two books, Diary Without Dates and Dancing On A Dime. The latter was made into a movie starring George Murphy.  I didn't know anything about that and would love to have read more about this book and movie. I'd also like to have learned more about her dancing career after the Houdini show. She has a great story to tell, and maybe someone will eventually tell her story.

I realize she was trying to just stick to Houdini and her time with the show. She left the show after the Summer break of 1926. Of course, no one had any idea that the show would end abruptly only a few months later with the death of Houdini. But this woman obviously had a full life and many adventures and that would have been fun to read about.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the booklet. I just would like to have learned more about it's author. She does mention something in the booklet that I'll be digging into further, but I'm not going to say what that is right now.

I don't know how many of these booklets are left. If you have the opportunity to get one, I would. I got mine on eBay, which seems to be the only place they are being sold. Dorothy Young died March 20, 2011, only a few days before Houdini's 137th birthday. Click here to check out Dorothy's obit in the UK Daily Mail, there are lots of great photos of her in the article. If you'd like to read more about Ms. Young, I encourage you to check out an interview that John Cox posted on his blog.

There is another book by a magician's assistant that I would encourage everyone to read. This one is by Adele Friel Rhindress and is called Memoirs of an Elusive Moth. Adele worked for Harry Blackstone Sr for a short period of time. Her book runs 117 pages and is just wonderful. You can read my short review of her book, here.

Another Margery Book!

After finishing the book The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher, I wanted to read more about Margery. I quickly found another book called The Medium Who Baffled Houdini by Elaine Kuzmeskus, and ordered it! I was unaware when I ordered the book that Ms. Kuzmeskus was a medium herself, so this book was likely to have a unique bias that the other book did not.

I suppose this 'other opinion' is what made reading this book so interesting to me. We, as magicians, all take the Houdini account as gospel. Yep, Margery's fake, Houdini said so, she's fake. Yet there are a number of books that give a different account. Do I believe those different accounts? Not really, but I'm willing to hear what they have to say. And I'll add this, I now want to check out some of the other source material that the author used to write her book. She references the Bill Kalush/Larry Sloman Houdini book on occasion. That source is easy to check as I have several copies and the notes to the book. But I do not have the book Margery the Medium by J. Malcolm Bird which is mentioned a lot in the end notes of this book. Knowing what I know of Bird, I'll take what he writes with a grain of salt, still I'd like to find out what's in there.

Chapter 1 had me worried pretty quickly when she stated that Margery was the reason that Houdini and Conan Doyle were no longer friends. It's safe to say 'spiritualism' is what ended their friendship but their friendship was already on the rocks long before she got in the picture. Margery just made things worse for the two former friends.

The first several chapters do a good job of letting the reader know who Mina Crandon was prior to becoming Margery. And despite his name being in the title of the book, Houdini doesn't really show up until around Chapter 9. I'm sad to say that one of the unfortunate stories, which I don't believe to be true, finds it's way into this book as well. That would be the story of the ruler being hidden inside the Margery Box and years later Jim Collins apparently saying 'the boss told me to put it in there'. Again, I don't believe that. But this 'claim' comes from William Gresham and his book Houdini The Man Who Walked Through Walls.

One surprise I discovered in the book are the references to Anna Eva Fay and the assumption that she started her career as an actual medium, despite the fact that she admitted to Houdini that she was a fake. In addition, Houdini claimed that Fay told him all her secrets, but maybe that is not the case. Barry Wiley, the author of The Indescribable Phenomenon, the biography on Anna Eva Fay, says that is 'fantasy'.  This is an area I must research more. Fortunately, the book on Anna Eva Fay is still available and it's on my list of books to get.

I will say this, if the accounts discussed in this book are even half true, then Margery didn't really get going until after Houdini had died. She, via Walter, presented some very unusual spirit manifestations. Some of them sound like they came right out of a magic catalog, and others are almost too fantastic to believe. There was one that she did on multiple occasions where someone would bring wooden rings, of different types of wood (different colors). And Walter would link them. Some sitters claimed they could see a gap forming in the rings and then sealing up. The ring test was sent off to a researcher for verification unfortunately, the rings were damaged. Thanks Postal Service!

One of the more unusual effects is Margery's trance state in which she could be heard to snore, yet her Spirit Guide Walter, could be plainly heard and understood. Is this just someones imagination running wild or was this really the case? Oh, and the levitation of tables and other objects. Again, sounds like a magic trick, but it takes on a whole new dimension in the seance room.

One big drawback in this book are the number of grammatical errors and spelling errors. There are a lot of errors. There are also some mistakes with dates, for example Houdini's mothers death is listed as July 17, 1914, not 1913. But overall the Houdini information is good, with just a couple exceptions.

A final interesting fact about the author, Elaine Kuzmeskus, was actually hired to be the medium for one of the Official Houdini Seances held at the Goodspeed Opera House in Haddam, CT. I'm guessing there was no word from Harry, again.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is clearly pro-Spiritualism, however the author includes many examples of fakery and spirit fraud, even with Margery. I believe my next book will actually be the booklet below. I need to get Houdini's take on this whole affair and compare it with accounts in this book and The Witch of Lime Street!

HOUDINI BIRTHDAY AUCTION Announced

Haversat & Ewing Galleries, LLC announced they will be holding a Houdini Birthday Auction on March 23-24, 2016. Here is what their email says, "Handcuff Harry will celebrate his 142nd birthday this coming March 24th and in celebration, Haversat & Ewing Galleries will host a catalog auction featuring interesting items from his storied career. We have a number of great consignments from major collectors that we're sure Houdini aficionados will find inescapably interesting and desirable. In addition we have a great selection of unique photos, letters and conjuring collectibles from the greatest names in magic. The auction starts at 11:00 AM on March 23rd and ends at 5:00 p.m. March 24th. So join us as we celebrate this great magician! Preview available in March. "

Their website is http://www.haversatewing.com/ 

John Cox also mentioned another Houdini auction on via his website. 

Evanion, the Royal Conjurer and Magic Historian/Collector

I was recently going through my copy of Houdini The Untold Story when a picture jumped out at me. It's a photograph that I have seen many many times. But it occurred to me that I didn't really know anything about this individual. Unlike my previous article on Alexander the Conjurer, this fellow did not have his photo taken with Houdini. However, Houdini did meet the man and he was important in Houdini's life for a brief period of time. His name was Henry Evans-Evanion.

As I dug into his life story, I was struck by a number of things. He had a modest amount of success during his time.  He was an avid collector of anything to do with the theatre, both magic related and theatre in general.

However, the end of his life seems to have not been good. He was forced to sell off his collection in order to make ends meet. Even then, I get the impression that the funds did not really cover all the expenses. Who was Evanion? Read on...


Henry Evans was born 1832 in Kennington, South London. He became interested in magic in his youth and performed in his teens for neighborhood friends. By 1849, he presented his first full show
at the Rock Inn, Kemp Town, Brighton. He used his real name Evans as his performing name.

In 1857 he altered his performing name to Evan Ion, and then the following year, perhaps through a printing error went with Evanion. He legally changed his name to Evanion as well.

What kind of magic did Evanion perform? Well, from the illustrations used in his advertising posters I can see he did a verison of the Robert-Houdin Suspension which was copied by pretty much every working performer of that time. He presented the Inexhaustible Bottle which was another popular trick from that period. Evanion presented the production of bowls of water very likely with goldfish, a production of numerous items from a top hat, The Flags of All Nations, Production of a Firebowl, and the Growth of Flower Trees illusion. In an article by James Hagy in, The Perennial Mystics No 18 page 2.9 is states, "Evanion's performances continued to feature not only conjuring but ventiloquism, an art which gave center stage to elaborate patter and wit which was reputed to have been Evanion's pride."

I do not profess to be an authority on Ventriloquism, far from it. But I get the impression that what we think of as Ventriloquism today and what was presented in the Victorian era are two different things. That is to say, I don't think they were using Vent Dummies or puppets the kind that we are familiar with. Rather, the concept of 'throwing your voice' or making it appear your voice is off in the distance is what they likely were doing along with comedic scripts.

On the surface there doesn't appear to be anything remarkable about his show. Not to say it was a bad show, it's just very much like the programs that the other players of that time were doing. He did perform for royalty, the Prince and Princess of Wales. So that was a huge feather in his cap that he could brag about. In fact, he billed himself as The Royal Conjurer. And this royal conjurer appears to have performed right up until shortly before his death. His last recorded performance was in 1905 for a school party in the English countryside. The Annals of Conjuring does point out that his fee at this later date was a pittance compared to what he received in his heyday.

The remarkable thing about Evanion appears to be his collection of theatrical handbills and assorted ephemera. He had a huge collection of both magic and none magic theatrical papers.  He very well may have been one of the first to ever collect such things.  I've read in multiple sources that his collection may have been more because he could never throw anything away. However, in The Sphinx Magazine Vol 48 #11, it says "Evanion would miss a meal in order to purchase a programme or booklet. He was also known to buy a dozen, at least, of the same periodical in which there appeared an article on conjuring." I'd say he was a true collector.

In 1904 Houdini comes into the picture. Houdini was performing at the London Hippodrome and had come down with the grippe (the flu). He had been confined to his room by a doctor but did do a newspaper interview. The reporter mentioned the collection of handbills and clippings that Houdini had been acquiring for an upcoming book on the history of magic. The article that appeared in the paper mentioned Houdini's collection and this caught the eye of Henry Evanion. The 72 year old conjurer proceeded to contact Houdini at his hotel on the same day the article appeared in the paper. He very likely went straight to the hotel. Houdini agreed to meet him the following day.

The next day Houdini waited for the elder magician but he did not show. Later in the day Houdini decided to take a short walk. As he exited the elevator, the porter told Houdini that some old guy had been waiting in the lobby. Since early in the afternoon this man had been waiting but the hotel staff did not tell Houdini given 'the shabby appearance' of the old man. All of this comes from Houdini's book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin. Houdini says that he spoke to the old man who had a parcel of old clippings and playbills to show Houdini. And here is where it gets truly interesting, in Houdini's own words..."I remember only raising my hands before my eyes as if I had been dazzled by a sudden shower of diamonds."  This was Houdini's reaction to seeing first hand, playbills belonging to Robert-Houdin, Phillippe, Katterfelto, Pinetti, Breslaw, Anderson and others.  He completes the description with this, "I felt as if the King of England stood before me and I must do him homage."

This really speaks to Houdini's love of magic and magic history. It's a terrible shame that his book on magic history turned into an attack on Robert-Houdin because it could have been one of the greatest books ever written.  But back to the story. The next day, Houdini, against the advice of Doctors, takes a cab to Evanion's home. Remember, Houdini had a bad case of the flu, but he was so engrossed in this world of magic history that he and Evanion lost track of time. It wasn't until an angry Theo Hardeen  and Houdini's Doctor showed up at 3:30 a.m. the next morning looking for Houdini, did he (Houdini) realize the time. They practically had to drag him out of there, not because he was too ill to walk but because Houdini was having such a great time.

Over time Houdini would purchase more and more of the collection. On June 7th, 1905, Houdini went to visit Evanion one final time, this time at the Lamberth Infirmary. Evanion was suffering from cancer of the throat and could hardly talk. Ten days later, Evanion died. Houdini helped with the funeral arrangements and set up a fund to help Evanion's ailing wife. Much is made in the magic press of Houdini's ego, but not much is made of his kindness.  This is a great example of Houdini's generosity.

Houdini did not get the entire Evanion collection, though he did get quite a bit of it. Evanion himself had been periodically selling off pieces of it even before he met Houdini. And a big section of the collection dealing with Victorian Theatre went to the British Library where it still resides today. I think Houdini, by writing of his visits to Evanion, did secure a place for the old Victorian magician in the annals of magic history!

* If you head over the WildaboutHoudini.com you can see some images of Evanion's home as it looks today!

Continued Clean-up of Robert Heller's Grave

I just received a note from Tony Selletti about a young man, Ken Biddle, from Philadelaphia who, along with his wife, have begun some additional clean-up of Robert Heller's grave. This has been a long project. I first started a push a few years back to help clean-up the grave. Thankfully, the Friends of Mt. Moriah who have been periodically cleaning up this abandoned graveyard, eventually found their way to Heller's grave and uncovered it. Let's take a look back at some of these images from Heller's site.

This first image was one was what we were up against. Underneath this brush and mix of twisted vines was Heller's grave. It sure appears to be a daunting task from the looks of it.

Next we have the first image of the grave in the 21st Century. I was told it was laying down flat on the ground when they discovered it.  This image comes from Ed Snyder.

Since the initial rediscovery of the grave, someone cleaned up the gravestone itself. Then we come to the photos I received from Tony Selletti taken by Ken Biddle. And finally, Ken standing next to Heller's grave. I'm guessing this last shot was taken before they started their work on the site as the photo above shows the area more open.

In 1878 Robert Heller died unexpectedly in Philadelphia. He was buried a few days later in Machpelah Cemetary in Philadelphia. But a few years after he was buried, all the graves in that graveyard were dug up and relocated to other locations. Thus, the search was on to find the grave of one of the great 19th Century magicians. Houdini located the grave in 1910 and the photo at the top of the page is Houdini standing near the grave.

Thankfully through the hard work of volunteers like the Friends of Mount Moriah and others, the grave of Heller and the entire cemetery is getting a gradual make-over. If you would like to contribute to the cause or be part of a future clean-up, you can click the Friends of Mount Moriah link and you can find out more information on how to help.