Houdini loved Christmas. A simple google search for Houdini and Christmas will unveil a multitude of different Christmas Cards and Christmas Greetings from Houdini and Bess. One of my favorite things that I discovered about Houdini was he also loved to work during the Christmas holidays. To set the stage, this was a time of year when a lot of Vaudeville acts went home to celebrate. And traditionally, the Vaudeville houses saw a decrease in attendance during this time too. But Houdini, never turned down Christmas work. In fact, the Vaudeville theaters loved Houdini because he was such a draw and his appearances over the holidays was just the edge they needed to bring people in.
It's true Houdini was Jewish. But I know a lot of Jewish people who enjoy Christmas. As a dear friend once said to me, "my family and I LOVE to get gifts, so yes we celebrate, and we have a Christmas tree and everything!". I'm told that there is a photo of Houdini and family with a Christmas tree in 278, his home in Harlem. But for some reason I can't seem to locate it at the moment. At any rate, Houdini certainly celebrated and enjoyed Christmas.
I think my favorite of the Houdini cards is the one below. It's a classic and I've loved it since the first time I saw it years ago.
The Christmas tree pic is in Kalush page 327. From collection of Dr. Bruce Averbook.
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