Exposing Houdini - A Review

 

Exposing Houdini by Charles Greene has been out since May 2026 and I recently received a copy. I was frankly very excited about this book for many reasons. I had spoken to Charles before publication about the origin of the recently discovered glass plates. AND, I had also seen some of the images in a spiral bound notebook that Charles had shown me at NEMCA a couple years ago.  But now, to see the finished book, well it is a real treat.

The first two images of Houdini on the cover are part of a popular photoshoot. We are familiar with some of the other images from this same shoot, but these two of Houdini in his prime looking like a super hero are just spectacular. This was from a time when there weren't a lot of gyms, and working out isn't a thing like it is today. But Houdini just couldn't be more fit and trim. 

Within the pages of the book we learn a little of the history of the shots, who did them and where. I love the chapter on the Galvanized Iron Can, the Milk Can. Here we see the first, and apparently only shots of Houdini with his Milk Can. Once again, there are two common images, but there are several we are unfamiliar with. And then there is the revelation of where the shots were done.....I"m not sure I was aware of this previously.

There are some fine images of Houdini and Kellar in Atlantic City. Houdini looked upon Kellar as a father figure, he idolized the man. And Kellar, I believe looked at Houdini as a son. He also recognized his importance in the world of entertainment, and the world in general. Im so glad Kellar was part of this collection.

Where did these glass plates originate? Well clearly they belonged to Houdini. They likely were given to Joe Dunninger by Bess after Harry died. Over the years, at the Dunninger home in NJ, after Joe had died, some items found their way OUT of the house, unknown to the family. The culprit was someone I knew, well, I knew him via emails. He seemed nice enough. I dont really know much about the Dunninger stuff other than he had visited Mrs. Dunninger and according to him, he was given the items. This is disputed by Maxine, Joe Dunninger's daughter. But the man in question died suddenly in his sleep, and that was many years ago. So there is no way to find out more information or learn more of the details. Yet, there may be more information at some point.

Back to the book. ON page 36 there is a very interesting story of an outdoor stunt Houdini did in Denver in October of 1907. This was event I first uncovered here, on this blog, in Dec 2011 during the early days of the blog. To see a crystal clear image of this event was quite thrilling! By the way, the glass plate images in the book, all have a thick black border around them. There are additional photos in the book as well, but they are not part of the collection. However, they do a wonderful job to help tell the story.

Another bonus, are all the various line drawings and caricatures of Houdini in the book. These come from magazines and newspapers of the time. There is another bonus in there, a reproduction of a newspaper  article from Houdini's 1906 visit to Washington DC. If you click the previous link you can see the police building and the actual article in question. But on top of that there is another part to the story, and one that Charles does not include in the book. I honestly do not know if I was the one who asked him about it originally, or if others made the suggestion.  Anyway, Charles lives in DC and not far from the location of the DC Jail mentioned in the 1906 article. So one day he went down to the police station to check out the jail cell!!! You can read about that here!

There is much more to the book that you must check out for yourself. It is a must have. But if I had to sum it up in a single paragraph, I would say:

"Houdini lived 52 years. 100 years after his death, Charles Greene has discovered 52 Glass Plate Negatives with unseen photos of Harry Houdini. Almost like a gift from beyond to celebrate 100 years. Charles didn't stop there, he gives you a great deal of history about the plates, and the history surrounding the images. Then he adds numerous bonuses in the book to make one incredible coffee table style book that any fan of Houdini would be proud to own!" Dean Carnegie - The Magic Detective

To get a copy of this excellent book for yourself, visit ExposingHoudini.com  

Houdini in St Louis

 

This coming week, The International Brotherhood of Magicians will hold their annual convention in St. Louis. This is their 97th Convention. This one, unlike the SAM Convention, is not dedicated to Houdini. The Society of American Magicians Convention was in Appleton Wisconsin, Houdini's home town. 

But, even though, the IBM is skipping Houdini, there is a huge connection to Houdini and St Louis. In January of 1908 Houdini debuted his Galvanized Iron Can  Filled With Water, what we commonly know as The Milk Can. This would go on to be one of Houdini's signature stunts. He often used as a challenge, filling with various liquids other than water. I will bet that in the new book Strenuous Career, by David Haversat and Bruce Averbook, there is a challenge with the Milk Can. 

The performance took place at the Columbia Theater downtown. The theater is no longer there. However, the location is One City Center. An office building and retail shops now fill the location of the ole Columbia. 

By the way, this photo below is a fairly well known image of Houdini in his Milk Can. This was part of a set of photos. Two are public, but there are several that have been unseen....that is until now. Charles Greene's new book, Exposing Houdini, has a chapter with this lost images and even tells where the photo session took place!

Houdini Is Everywhere This Year

In early July, The Society of American Magicians had their annual convention in Appleton Wisconsin, Houdini's adopted home town. As much as I wanted to attend, I was unable. But our friend John Cox over at Wild About Houdini was there and did a great job covering events, taking photos and of course speaking on Houdini at the event. Please visit his blog at this link https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2026/07/houdini-lived-in-appleton-last-week.html

The book, Houdini The Man Who Died Twice by Dr. Larrian Gillespie is also out and ready to purchase. I don't have this book yet, so I can't give you a review or opinion, but by all accounts it contains some stunning new information. I'm looking forward to getting a copy at summers end. You can get a copy here: Houdini The Man Who Died Twice

Brad Ricca's book, Lincoln's Ghost, is also available on Amazon. It's a very interesting read. You can get a copy of that book here: Lincoln's Ghost

Charles Greene's book, Exposing Houdini is out. It's fantastic. This I do have a copy of and though I haven't been able to go through it completely yet, I can say, it's just first class. Charles is a great magic historian and this particular book really shines. You can get a copy at: ExposingHoudini.com I will be writing a review of this book, soon, I hope.

My friend Wayne Alan has two books in the works, actually three, but only 2 are on Houdini. He's been working on these things since the 1980s! Much like myself, work and family commitments got in his way and delayed them. But he's expecting to have them out this year and fairly soon from what I understand. Any guy who has parts of Houdini's actual hospital room in his collection, is a guy who won't stop at anything to track down information on Houdini. 

John Cox, from WildAboutHoudini.com announced recently that his new book on Houdini will be called, Houdini The Handcuff King is coming out this fall. You can get that from John's site. Also, his book, Escaping Obscurity is still available at https://wildaboutharrypress.com/     

I swear I just saw that another book on Houdini was announced just a couple days ago, but I can't find the information on it. I am out of the loop right now on all of this stuff due to my performing schedule. I've done 28 shows since the first of this month and have a lot more yet to do. And those shows are all over the map, so I'm rarely home or in front of the computer. This has delayed the latest episode(s) of my podcast. It has delayed any new articles on the blog. And frankly, delayed a couple projects I'm doing for Houdini 100. I will get caught up, I promise. I'm hoping, with any luck, to at least get a few things ready for late July or early August. You know me, I always get caught up. But work comes first!