Houdini: The Latest Bust

Another accidental find. This one though I believe is a piece of software or digital blueprint that you can put into a digital printer and print out a 3D version of this image. It's for sale, or the digital blueprint is. If there is anyone out there with a 3D printer and would be willing do print one of these for me, let me know. I have no ideas of cost to print, IF that is indeed what this is. Please check out the website and let me know what you think. https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/art/sculptures/houdini-bust-3d-printable

Houdini In Ukraine

I love finding things totally by accident. And the photo above I found while researching Houdini Statues. This one is located in Ukraine. It is a mini-statue, and is one of the most popular destinations in Uzhgorod. It was created by sculptor Mikhail Kolodko in 2013.

The mini-statue is located  on the Street B Khmelnitsky next to the Hotel Uzhgorod.  According to the website: Houdini was born in Budapest (true), but also has Ukranian roots. His grandmother was from the village Yovrya which is currently  Storozhnica Uzhgorod. Is that part true?  Uzhgorod is located in Western Ukraine. But at one time it was called Ungvar and the land belonged to Hungary.  The area is known to have a very large Jewish community. So it's very possible this is true.

The First Statue of Houdini, in Washington DC?

Did you know that there was a proposed Statue of Houdini that would have been put in Washington D.C.? I live here and I sure didn't know that! Where does this information come from and is it for real?

In the October 1971 issue of Genii Magazine in The Vernon Touch by Dai Vernon, he writes,

"Houdini almost managed to have a statue of himself placed in Washington D.C.. At the last minute, one of the Senators or Congressmen got up and squelched the whole deal. That would really have been something - having a statue of an escape artist in Washington. And he almost made it. It was a bitter blow to him when it failed to pass"

I've lived in the DC area most of my life. I've never heard this story. Never heard it from the older local magicians, never heard it from friends in the govt., never even came across a mention during research on Houdini in Washington D.C..

I would say that the last person to want to promote fiction about Houdini would be Dai Vernon, so I'll have to take him at his word. Although I guess technically it's a negative story about Houdini, so maybe Vernon would do that, lol.

Now, I did find the following story printed in numerous newspapers in late Jan and early Feb 1926.

"Senator Copeland told this one to Houdini, the magician, while the latter was in Washington. John F. Hylan, then mayor of New York, was crossing city hall park with a friend. Their steps led them past a statue of a man with his hands tied and his feet ironed together. I always regarded that as a very fine statue of Nathan Hale, remarked the friend. Nathan Hale? said Hylan, Who's he? I thought that was HOUDINI."

For those who don't know, Nathan Hale was a Revolutionary War Hero who famously said, "I ONLY REGRET THAT I HAVE BUT ONE LIFE TO LOSE FOR MY COUNTRY"

For the record, I've been unable to uncover any other information on a possible Houdini Statue in DC. But if I find it, you'll be the first to know! Check out the next article, I have some info on an actual Houdini statue, but not from DC.

Houdini: Cold As Ice

I'm going to explore Houdini's interest in ice. What, you might be thinking? Yes, Ice. It's not something I really thought of until recently. There are several instances in his career where ice was a factor.  For example, who can forget the scene from the Tony Curtis Houdini movie where he is in the bathtub filled with ice cubes. So iconic was this scene that a similar scene was added to the Houdini movie starring Adrian Brody. And this very activity confirmed to have actually happened by biographer, Kenneth Silverman.  Another ice scene comes from the Curtis movie as well, with Houdini trapped under the ice in Detroit. And again, a similar scene in the Brody movie version. These are based on stories that Houdini himself told about having to cut a hole in the ice for a particular escape. Historians are unclear as to whether this truly took place, though the consensus is they did not.

In the book, Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter Gibson, there is a a curious escape listed as "Escape From A Block of Ice" It reminds me of the Milk Can with a block of ice around it. It reads as a very interesting escape idea. But after reading the method, which is diabolical, I also think it wouldn't work. The weight of the ice is going to cause some issues that I'm not sure can be overcome with the method suggested. Still, if it were actually made, I'm sure they'd soon find this out and come up with an alternative method of escape, equally as diabolical.


Next we come to an interesting idea that Houdini had, being frozen in a block of ice, or having an assistant instantly frozen in a block of ice. It's something he was never able to accomplish during his lifetime. But only a year after his death, his wife Bess had the whole thing put together. It's actually Bess's presentation that I want to focus on.

I found a description of the effect as witnessed by Guy Jarrett, the brilliant illusion designer. Jarrett had a way of thinking about illusions that was really beyond what almost everyone else was doing. Just look at what Houdini created to make an elephant vanish vs. what Jarrett created. There is a lot of speculation about Houdini's exact routine, but it's a pretty universal opinion that it wasn't his strongest effect. But what about Jarrett's illusion? If only you could see Jarrett's Elephant Vanish? Well, his version was used by Siegfried and Roy and proved to be an amazing spectacle and you can.

But let's get back to Freezing a Man in Ice. This description comes directly from The Jarrett Book. The dimensions of the tank were 4ft square by 7ft tall. They sides of the tank were made of wood. A hose went into the tank to fill it with water. Then a man in a rubber suit was lowered into the tank. Finally a lid was put on the tank and it on top of the lid was mounted some sort of ice machine. This was supposed to cause all the water to freeze into ice in a short period of time. After a bit,  the lid and sides were removed leaving a person who could be seen frozen within the block of ice. According to Jarrett, at this point the illusion "was great, it was grand, it was damn good!"

Now, I'm stopping there to let this image sink in.  Guy Jarrett was the person who made fun of most other magicians and their illusions because in his opinion they didn't fool the audience. And here he really liked this first part of the Frozen In Ice Illusion. Unfortunately that was not the end of the trick. The conclusion of the illusion really ruined it for Jarrett and for the audience apparently too.  But reading the description above, it sounded like Bess Houdini, and if he had lived, Harry Houdini, would have had one truly mind boggling new illusion on his hands.

The illusion by the way was built by Rudy Schlosser, a NY magic dealer. According to The Complete Jarrett by Jim Steinmeyer, "he specialized in feather flower effects, and produced a number of pieces of apparatus for Houdini's Final Tour.  The Frozen In Ice Illusions appears to have been presented only a few times. First time for the United Booking Office, who declined to pick it up for Vaudeville. Second time was for Loew's theater in NYC, which is the location where Jarrett watched the mystery. Then after the first of the year, at the Longbranch Theatre in New Jersey.

Photo courtesy WildaboutHoudini

John Cox also covered this Frozen In Ice Illusion way back in 2011. For a more complete overview of the trick, please check out what he had written.

Houdini's Detractors

Believe it or not, NOT everyone liked Houdini. Naturally, his competitors didn't like him. Those doing a similar act didn't like him, especially if he got wind of it and went after them. Whenever I think about people who disliked Houdini, one name really comes to mind and that is Dai Vernon. I think Dai Vernon really did a lot to help push the image of Houdini as a bad magician. Although, in defense of Vernon, Houdini could be his own worse enemy when his ego was in full gear.

Here is a story that comes from Genii Magazine November 1989. This is direct from Dai Vernon's column called The Vernon Touch. According to the article, at one time Vernon had a store of sorts on Broadway where he cut sillouettes. His walls were decorated with photos of the best magicians of the day, along with photos of a lot of the local magicians. Remember, this is NYC during the Golden Age of Magic, so those local magicians were probably all names we would recognize today. In the corner, was a calling card or visiting card with Houdini's picture and the slogan, "My Brain is the Key That Sets Me Free." As Vernon's relates, "Houdini came into the store one day and saw all the photos and asked me where his photo was. I took him to the corner, showed him the small card and told him how much I loved that slogan."  Houdini was not thrilled with the small card among all the other photos so he told Vernon he'd send a photo over. The next day a huge crate shows up with Houdini's photo. About midday Houdini comes in and asks Vernon if he got the picture. He wanted Vernon to rearrange all the other photos and have Houdini's in the center. That was not the first time that Houdini rubbed Vernon the wrong way. In the end, Vernon who acknowledged that Houdini was a great showman, didn't really care much for Houdini the person. To give you an idea of the time period, Houdini first met Vernon in 1922. So this event described took place some time in the last years of Houdini's life.

Another fellow who was famous in magic circles, Guy Jarrett, simply hated Houdini. I think hate isn't too strong a word in this case. Part of the animosity came about because Jarrett lost a couple jobs to Houdini. One in particular was, at least according to Jarrett, his idea. He was pitching the idea of Vanishing An Elephant at the Hippodrome in NYC to the director, R.H. Burnside. A small model of Jarrett's Illusion was shown and totally fooled the director. But they never came to terms and the following season, Houdini was brought in to make an Elephant Vanish, which of course he did. And which Jarrett, and a lot of other historians think was not the greatest of Houdini's illusions by any stretch.

There was another reason Jarrett disliked Houdini and that was because Jarrett was married to an escape artist named Minerva. She had a run in with Houdini's people, who apparently put acid into her water filled barrel escape. Quite an underhanded thing to do, not to mention potentially life threatening. I can see where one might hold a grudge.

Dr. A.M. Wilson. He was editor of the Sphinx Magazine and for a long time very anti-Houdini. He and Houdini had very open feuds. Houdini wanted his magazine, The Conjurers Monthly to be the official organ of the SAM, while the Sphinx at the time was the official organ. Wilson, rarely mentioned Houdini in the Sphinx and when confronted, Wilson told Houdini he was welcome to take out an ad.  Maybe the worst of it happened when Wilson published the following: "Magic is an art, a science that requires brains, skill, gentlemaness and talent of high order. Brick walls, torture cells, straightjackets, handcuffs, etc., demand nothing but physical strength and endurance, nerve, gall, bluster, fakes and fake apparatus, etc., ad libitium, heralded by circus band advertising. In my opinion, magic is brought into disrepute by all such. Their place is in the side show or dime museums."

But at least that story has a happy ending. The two men eventually reconciled and became good friends until Houdini's last days. I first learned of this feud when I researching the Great Maro for a lecture I had to do in 2015. Wilson was the person to first expose the Great Maro to the world of magic. And as can happen when researching something, looking for info on Wilson led me to the various stories of his feud with Houdini. I never published the information however, as I focused on Maro at the time and planned to use it at a later date. But, I see my friend John Cox has written up in a fine article and even uncovered more than what I learned. Please check out his article about the Wilson & Houdini Feud.

And finally onto Sam Margules. In The Vernon Touch column from 1989, I mentioned earlier, the column finishes with a paragraph about Sam Margules, who according to Vernon, "he was one of the most genuine, nicest guys I've ever met". But then he also added, "Sam Margules thought the worst of Houdini." But a few years earlier, in Vernon's column, October 1971, he says this, "I knew Houdini pretty well because I was around Sam Margules, who was one of Houdini's closest friends in those days." So which was it, Sam the fan, or Sam the hater? I had to look further. And though Margules is featured in a rather interesting event in Houdini's life, I can find no evidence of dislike. In fact, it appears that Margules remained quite friendly with Bess Houdini after Houdini died. If you're wondering what the 'interesting event' is, I'll share it shortly in another article. Please don't give it away if you already know.

The folks above are just the tip of the iceberg when it came to people who disliked Houdini. There are many reasons, among them jealousy, the fact that Houdini could be ruthless, Houdini's huge ego, and I'm sure there are other reasons why he was disliked by his peers. But part of the reason was also due to Houdini's attitude of being perceived as #1. I'm reminded of something that I read in a book called Smoke and Mirrors by Rick Marcelli. He tells the story of a young David Copperfield and Orson Wells. It appears that Orson took David aside and told him" to NEVER put himself on stage with another magician. never share the stage with another magician because only one person can hold that power with an audience. If there is more than one magician on stage that has magical powers then the power dissipates. One lone magician has great power." When I read that I instantly thought of Houdini. It's very reminiscent of his mindset. And though he was friendly with other magicians (as well as not so friendly) he really wanted people to believe he was number one. And in the end it's the perception that rules more than the truth.  Today, despite the many magicians who will tell you that Houdini was not a good magician, the public perceives Houdini as the best. For me personally, I'll take Houdini warts and all. I recognize he could be a real SOB and I also recognize areas of genius. He was and continues to be an amazing figure in the history of the world, like him or not.

A Houdini Card Mystery

Earlier in the year, I participated in a project called Houdini in DC for AtlasObscura.com. It was my second year in a row working with these folks. In fact, both Ken Trombly and I returned for a second year to give presentations. Ken has a wonderful collection of Houdini posters, photos, and more. Ken spoke for about 40 minutes and then I followed.

My presentation was part talk, part show & tell, and part escape demonstration. One of the things I really enjoy doing when I give a magic history presentation is sharing the real magic of the person. When I say the 'real magic' I mean, effects they did. I had been working on an article about Houdini's Card Act for this blog, and I also wanted to learn the act for my presentation, but I didn't think I could have the act ready in time. So instead, I defaulted to other possible card tricks that Houdini might have done. And lo and behold I found a wonderful little gem packed away in a book called, Houdini's Escapes and Magic by Walter Gibson. According to the text, the trick is a variation of an older effect in which a chosen card appears in the magician's pocket. I'm not here to give away the secret, though if you have the book, you're certainly welcome to look it up yourself. I presented Half and Half for the AtlasObscura event and it went over extremely well. In fact, it was stronger than I expected, though not anything revolutionary compared to some of today's card mysteries. Still, the fact that it came from Houdini's notes was good enough for me. And so, for your entertainment pleasure, I've shot a video of my rendition of Houdini's Half and Half. Enjoy!!!

 Later this month, I'll share the trick that became known as The Trick That Fooled Houdini.

Houdini Bobblehead CONTEST

There is a good chance all my fellow Houdini fans will already have one of these. But then again, one of the purposes of a blog like this is to bring in NEW fans. So I'm having a very simple contest to win a Houdini Bobblehead, unopened in the original container. These retail for about $20 and most places are sold out. Here are the rules:

CONTEST IS NOW OVER!!!

• Only 1 entry per person
• To enter: Send me an email, with the subject heading 'Houdini Contest' to info@carnegiemagic.com    
• Please include your full name in the email. 
• You must live in the continental United States
• The 25th email I receive is the winner!

I will contact the winner via email to get your mailing address so I can send it to you. It costs nothing to enter, and I will even pay the shipping. The contest ends when I get to the 25th person, that simple. So it might take an hour. It might take a day, who knows. Usually the blog articles get a couple hundred views, so if just a portion of the readers participate, then it should go pretty quickly.

UPDATE: We have a WINNER, Jack T. of NY, was the winner of the contest. Almost 200 people viewed, but not a lot of folks entered the contest. I may have another contest before the month is up, so keep watching! And thanks to everyone who participated!!!

Houdini Month: Coming Up Next Week

What's coming up next week?

• A Houdini Month Contest! 
• An Article On A Special Type of Handcuff used by Houdini
• Houdini AT ...  (these will be Houdini appearing at Certain locations, more than one article is being prepared)
• Your Money Is Always Safe With Houdini
• Houdini's MAGIC
• And still much more to come as the month progresses! 

Over on Instagram,  https://www.instagram.com/carnegiemagic/ I'm also celebrating Houdini Month, but in a slightly different way. I'm posting photos of all my Houdini books. I have a feeling the month will run out before I get finished.

For now, I'm giving you all a rest while I get more articles finished for Houdini Month. But I thought I'd share with you a link to a site where you can pick up this cool Houdini Mouse Pad (photo above). I actually have one, it was given to me as a gift some years ago and frankly, I've worn mine out. So I had to find out who makes them and sure enough, I found them. http://www.yowzers.com/viewitem.php?productid=149

And if you click this next link, you'll go to a page with two other Magic Poster mousepads. http://www.yowzers.com/viewcategory.php?groupid=41

Houdini Month : The Steve Baker Interview

Mr.Escape & the Magic Detective Interview

 At the time of this interview, The Magic Detective Blog did not yet exist. I did have my own magic history blog that I put a lot of content on however, but this interview never appeared on there or anywhere. Steve Baker wanted me to write his life story, and I told him I didn't think I was quite qualified, as I had never done that, and didn't know near enough. So just to test the waters a bit, I began to do interviews and take notes, tons of notes. 

I had seen Steve Baker on TV when I was a kid doing his escapes. I did see him do the Water Torture Cell and hanging strait jacket escapes on TV. He was the only working escape artist I ever saw on TV for a long time and he was on TV a lot! 

Carnegie: Steve, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your career. First off, how did you get your name?

Steve: My parents gave it to me. Oh, you mean Mr. Escape. That was not my original stage name. At the time when I made my National debut, it was Feb 22, 1967 and I was going to recreate Houdini's Upside Down Strait Jacket Escape from the Tribune Tower building on Oakland CA. This was to promote a show I was doing in town, a fund raiser for a church.  I don't think anyone anticipated the event would turn out so great. The initial estimates were 10,000 people attended my escape. But later I heard it was as many as 20,000.  Houdini, had done the escape many years before and I was hoping to beat his time. Oh, you want to know the name I went by. I was using the stage name 'The Great Gerhardt'. It was a family name that I had used for a while but most of the newspapers referred to me as Steve Baker, so after this Tribune Tower Escape I went with just Steve Baker until...

Carnegie: Until you switched to all escapes?

Steve: No. It was a few years before I went all escapes. The show I had in February had comedy magic and illusions. Yes, I did illusions too. I loved the comedy magic, and I began to do Mentalism, so those became my bread and butter. I also did close-up magic. But right after Tribune Tower, I went with Steve Baker, 'The World's Most Neurotic Magician'.  In May 1967, I had a big show at the Oakland Auditorium Theatre.  I was doing a show of Mirth, Magic & Mayhem with the Master of Magic and Escape. Add to that the Most Neurotic Magician title and you can see I had not yet figured out my direction. I wanted to do everything. But then one day, I was reading the Steranko issue of Genii Magazine, the one on escapes, and he mentions the name 'Mr.Escape'. I asked if I could use it. After that it became my moniker for my Escape work. I also had another name, or maybe more of what you might call a tag-line, The Man Who Outdid Houdini.

Carnegie: WHAT???? I did not know about this. How did that come about?

Steve: After the Tribune Tower, it sort of just happened. The newspapers wrote articles about how I was going to try and beat Houdini's time with my straitjacket escape. One of the journalists even called his friends in Vegas to get their take. Folks like comedian Buddy Hackett and Shecky Greene threw in their two cents. No one thought I'd be able to do it. But after it was over, and I successfully beat Houdini's time, they all wanted to know what I was going to do next to beat Houdini. So I became The Man Who Outdid Houdini. I really was both, 'The World's Most Neurotic Magician' when I did comedy and 'The Man Who Outdid Houdini' when I was doing escapes and escape promotions.

Carnegie: Obviously, the Tribune Tower was a promotion, can you give me an idea of another escape promotion you did?

Steve: Many. A great deal of my shows, certainly bigger venue shows, I tried to tie in an escape. The May 1967 show for the Oakland Auditorium Theatre had a publicity escape. That was when I did the Cannon Escape. Houdini had done a cannon escape in England and I wanted to outdo all of his escapes, or as many as I could, so I thought the Cannon escape would work. The cannon we used weighed 3000 lbs and was loaded with 2.5 pounds of black powder. No cannon ball though. The black powder alone could blow the door off a bank safe. Wait till you hear what I did at the show!

Carnegie: Did you do the Cannon Escape again at the show?

Steve: The same man who donated the use of the Cannon, donated the use of a Howitzer, so I was strapped to that. By the way, I did the Cannon Escape numerous times in my career. After my 1967 performance, I gave it the name 'The Human Target', and tried not to mention Houdini, but his name always came up.

Carnegie: Why am I just hearing about this now? This isn't anywhere in the magic literature.

Steve: I was working for the public, not magicians. I have all of my press clippings with articles on all the escapes I did. I think the magic world would be surprised by the amount of things I've done.

Carnegie: Can you give me some examples of your Houdini Escapes? I know of The Water Torture Cell, I saw that a couple times on TV.  What other escapes did you do that were trying to beat Houdini?

Steve: The early escapes included: safes, cement chambers, handcuffs, jail cells, even an early

version of the water torture. Not every early escape tied to Houdini, but whenever I could tie it in, I did. For my first Water Torture, I actually had my legs weighted down in the tank of water so that it would be impossible to lift myself up. A few years later, when the Dick Clark people came to me about doing the Water Torture Cell, I had Johnny Gaughan build it and I changed it, so that I would be chained to the bottom of the tank hanging by my ankles. It looked more like Houdini's tank to start with, but Houdini was never chained to the bottom. That was my twist. You might not know this, but I never did the Water Torture the same way twice.

Carnegie: I don't understand. You either get out or you don't get out. What other ways are there?

Steve: I meant, on TV I never did the escape the same way twice on TV. Yes, I always freed myself, but on Dick Clark, I pulled my feet out but was still stuck underwater. On another show, I had my hands free but couldn't get my feet out. Then there was the HBO Special, where Tony Curtis was M.C. and nearly panicked while I did the Water Torture Cell.

Carnegie: Tony Curtis, wow. The first motion picture Houdini as MC of your show, that's wild.  I remember that special. It opened with the Water Torture Cell! And the ads for the show featured your Death Race Escape. I guess by the time of the HBO Special you were done outdoing Houdini?

Steve: Yes, I was well established by the HBO Special. But prior to that I was going through all the Houdini books of the time, trying to determine the best escapes he did in order to duplicate them and hopefully beat his time. I had conquered straitjackets, cannons, the Water Torture Cell, packing boxes, underwater escapes, and I even had a Milk Can made. But in 1969, I almost stumbled when I met Milbourne Christopher. He had recently published the book,
Houdini: The Untold Story and was sort of fanatical when it came to Houdini. He even presented shows where he recreated Houdini's act. He had made a pretty good name for himself on TV back in the 1950s. I met Mr. Christopher at a day long event called The Magic Extravaganza which was sponsored by the Oakland Magic Circle. We did not get along at first. In the two years since my National debut, I had not only outdone Houdini as often as I could, I also adopted his attitude and bravado. It got me in trouble more than I care to recall, but it also set me apart from rank amateurs and even bothered a lot of professional magicians. Christopher challenged me to escape from an actual pair of Houdini's handcuffs. It was then that I worried the most. If I did not get out, all I had done before would be for not. Plus, this was being presented in front of magicians and the lay public so not getting out would be the ultimate in humiliation. But thankfully, I did free myself. And Milbourne and I became fast friends afterward. He even personally autographed a copy of his book to me.

Carnegie: Steve you mentioned jail escapes. What jails did you escape from?

Steve: Oh, there were several. Meridian Jail in Idaho, there was a Jail in Australia, though they spelled it Gaol. I lived in Boise, so I found a number of old jails throughout Idaho. There were jails in Montana, Washington State and Oregon. For a long time I was very West Coast based. As my TV appearances grew, my territory grew. I eventually covered all 50 states, Canada, and into Europe, China and Australia.

Carnegie: So you did every escape of Houdinis? Like the Sea Monster Escape, Escaping from a Giant Football, Escape From a Paperbag, etc. ?

Steve: No, I just did his major escapes, the one's he was most well known for. I had hoped to get to a point where I would not be compared to Houdini anymore because I had outdone him. In truth, my outdoing him was for publicity, it gave a good hook for the newspapers to promote my escapes.  I usually tried to beat Houdini's time, or give the escape a different twist so it seemed I was making it more dangerous than Houdini. Over time, I moved beyond Houdini's escapes and created my own signature escapes like The Coffin of Death, Death Race, Trial by Fire and others. If I had to do it all over again, I might have avoided the comparison, though I guess it just comes with the territory.  You can escape like Houdini, but there is no escaping HOUDINI.


I'd like to point out that this was only a tiny portion of the many interviews I had with Steve. I might not have been the best interviewer 17 years ago, but Steve more than elaborated when I asked him questions. I have removed some content. For example, he shared the secret to his Meridian Jail escape (and no it was not the Hattie Mooser/Houdini method, lol).   All of the above covers from around 1967, to the early 1970s. By the time he was on Dick Clark LIVE Wednesday, he had already dropped the 'The Man Who Outdid Houdini' moniker, and would go on to be a true TV Celebrity of the 1970s and into the 1980s.  I love the last line of the interview, I think that sums it up perfectly, 'You Can Escape Like Houdini, but there is No Escaping HOUDINI.'

Houdini & Queen Victoria's Dress

I sure named this blog correctly when I called it, TheMagicDetective. I never know what rabbit hole I'm going to have to go down and how much searching and detective work I'll need to do. As my fellow Houdini bloggers know, the slightest thought can take you places you never expected. Today, we look at Queen Victoria, specifically, her dress.

Queen Victoria reigned over the British Empire for 64 years. She died, coincidentally enough on Bess Houdini's Birthday Jan 22, 1901. According to the Kellock biography, Houdini His Life Story, Houdini, who was in London at the time, saw a dress, designed for Queen Victoria, in a shop window. The Queen died before taking possession of the dress however.  Houdini wanted the dress for his mother, who he thought was the same size as the Queen. (really? I don't think so, she had a size 43 waist!) He went into the shop and at first the shop keeper did not want to sell the dress. According to the Kellock biography, "one did not sell her Majesty's relics." But Houdini was persistent and explained the dress would be for his mother. The shop keeper eventually agreed to sell the dress on the condition that it would never be worn by anyone in Great Britain. Kellock says the dress sold for 50 pounds, though the Christopher book, Houdini-The Untold Story has it at 30 pounds, and the newest book by Derek Tait, The Great Houdini His British Tours, also has the dress listed at 30 pounds. Christopher adds this was approx. $150 (at least in 1969).

For a long time I thought this story was simply a fable. It sounds like something Houdini might make up. But the story is true.

I believe Cecilia Weiss is wearing the dress in the photo to the left. This picture appeared on the
November 1902 issue of Mahatma Magazine on the cover. Within the text it reads "this photograph was taken in Essen Ruhr, Germany, in May 1901, during the visit of Houdini's mother, who came all the way from America to share the triumphs of her son." That makes this the precise time when Houdini would have given the dress to his mother.

(Library of Congress photo)

Pat Culliton, in his fine book, Houdini The Key, has a photo that he believes could be the dress. And it's similar to this one, at least in black and white it looks similar but it's not the same dress. The one similarity is that Cecilia is wearing the circular brooch around her neck with Houdini's picture in it, in both photos.

The only reason I don't think it's the dress is because it appears to be a little too stylish for the Queen. She was known to wear rather drab styles at this point in her life.

One of the curiosities I had about the dress was the color. I imagined a midnight blue or even deep purple perhaps. Then I found out this bit of information. When Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria went into mourning and wore black clothing. She continued to wear only black until the day she died. There were dresses that contained accents of white, so again, it makes Pat's suggestion still plausible. The photo at the top of the page was a dress for her Diamond Jubilee and it contains a great deal of white, more than is usually seen in her dresses, but this was also for a special occasion.

From the book, Houdini A Mind In Chains

Queen Victoria was a big woman, Cecilia Weiss was not. There is another photo of the dress that I think is the one, and you'll notice the amount of extra fabric. Now, I did read that Bess helped to alter the dress to fit Houdini's mother. IF you look at the photo to the left, it's the same dress that is in the photo from the cover of Mahatma. You can tell the dress has lots of extra fabric, but also fits Cecilia around the waist. I think that is Queen Victoria's dress! (ed.note: This photo comes from Houdini: A Mind In Chains, and the caption reads "Queen Victoria's Dress, Essen, Germany 1901" so that confirms it!*)

This now brings me to the whole reason I started this quest. I wanted to know, a. if the story was true, then b.  where was the dress today. If it truly was Queen Victoria's dress then it must have survived. I wondered if Bess got it. In the movie, The Great Houdini's with Paul Michael Glaser and Sally Struthers, Harry asks Bess what she wants, and she replies quite emphatically, "Queen Victoria's Dress!" But I don't think this moment actually occurred in real life due to the next bit of information.

This information came from Harry Hardeen to Jon Oliver to John Hinson, then to me. So I'd say it's pretty accurate. The location of the dress today....Cecilia Weiss was buried in Queen Victoria's dress.
And to add just one more bit of trivia, Cecilia was also buried with a pair of slippers that Houdini purchased in Bremen. When Houdini was leaving on July 8th for Europe, his mother asked him 'to bring back a pair of the warm woolen house slippers'. This according to HOUDINI His Life Story by Harold Kellock.  Houdini stopped on his return voyage to specifically pick up the slippers and be sure she was buried with them.


*Special thanks to John Cox for helping me find the final photo of the dress. Also, thanks to Joe Notoro who first posted this image on his blog, The caption, confirmed what I was thinking!!! Also thank you to John Hinson and Jon Oliver for getting me the info on the final destination of the dress!

Houdini - An Escape Revelation

Five years ago, I wrote an article about two of Houdini's friends. One of whom, may or may not been a secret girlfriend. Those friends were Hattie and Minnie Mooser. The only Houdini biography that mentions them is the Kalush biography, at least as far as I can find. There had been a couple newspaper articles on the sisters back in the 1960s. But there was also a person who met and spoke at length with Hattie and Minnie. That person was none other than my friend Steve Baker. He met them in 1967 and listened to them share story after story about their show business friends. But they spoke most often of Houdini. And in the course of the conversation, Hattie revealed something to Steve about Houdini's methods on jail escapes. She swore him to secrecy. And he kept that secret, until 2000, when he told me. But he swore me to secrecy. I was not allowed to say anything while he was alive, and I have never told a soul...until now.

Before I get to that though, I should tell you how they met. According to the sisters, they met Houdini through their brother Leon who was a theatrical agent. They claimed that it was the brother who 'discovered' Houdini. That we know is not accurate, but its possible he could have helped get Houdini booked in the early days. One thing is certain, it's clear the Moosers did know the Houdinis.  There is a 1919 photo of Minnie Mooser, that recently went up for auction. You can see it here.

Hattie claimed to worked as an assistant and filled in for Bess during the Metamorphosis. And Hattie was with Bess watching Houdini's 1923 hanging straitjacket escape from the Tribune Tower building in Oakland. This, according to the Oakland Tribune Newspaper, was when Hardeen had young boys run through the crowd of 20,000 spectators handing out pamphlets advertising HIS (Hardeen's) appearance at the Pantages Theatre, while Houdini hung upside down. A well known story and this is where it happened.

The 1923 Hanging Strait Jacket Escape by Houdini was apparently his second. He first did the escape, from the same building, the Tribune Tower on Nov 22, 1915. According to the Oakland Tribune paper, they were having trouble with the hoist and the rope twisted and Houdini, hanging upside down in the straitjacket was slammed head first into the second story cornice. He was apparently unconscious, or appeared to be. But by the time he reached the 8th floor, he began his escape. He did free himself, but on the way down, the rope got hung up and Houdini remained hanging for a very long time. His face and lips turning colors from hanging so long. Eventually, he was lowered and all was well.

NOW for the big revelation.  Hattie Mooser described a method that Houdini used to hide a key/tools for picking locks during Houdini's jail escapes. I have read other books that had 'ideas and theories', which may or may not have been accurate on how Houdini escaped from jails. Things such as a capsule containing tools he swallowed and later regurgitated, or a small bag of tools that attached discretely to the bed or chair within a cell. I have no doubt that Houdini used multiple methods depending upon the cell and various other factors. But this method described by Hattie Mooser was new to me and struck me as being very possible because it frankly made sense. She claimed he used clay and embalmers putty. The key/tool rested against his skin, then the putty was applied over that. The area, well, let's just say near a very private area, would be hidden from view because of where it was, but it would also be hidden during any sort of frisking. This was before metal detectors so I could see the potential for success. It's quite ingenious. Did he use this all the time, doubtful. But according to Hattie, it was used by Houdini for sure.

The other sister Minnie made a different claim regarding Houdini, which I thought was interesting. In her own words, "Yes, Houdini gave his wife Bess a word to use to call back his spirit, but he did it to prove it could not be done. The truth is that Houdini spent his life exposing spiritualism." Hattie added, "The whole idea of spiritualism is false. Houdini wanted to expose that fraud for what it was worth."

So, I guess all of these Houdini Seances can stop because he has no intention of coming back, LOL!

HOUDINI MONTH IS HERE!

Today is October 1st, 2017 and this begins Houdini Month. During this month, I'll have quite a few new Houdini articles for the blog. I'll also be updating some older articles as well. AND, I'll be revealing some never before known information! The first big revelation will be later this week and it will concern Houdini's Jail Escapes. I'll also be doing some magic articles, and escape articles. I have an interview I did with Steve Baker, Mr. Escape, 15 years ago that I'm going to dig out and post. The entire interview has never appeared online or in print.

Later in the month, I'll be switching over to video, and doing some special editions of my old Magic Detective Youtube Show. And, well, there will likely be some surprises along the way as well. Keep watching, keep listening, it's going to be a lot of fun!!!

Article 1: An Escape Revelation
Article 2: Houdini and Queen Victoria's Dress
Article 3: Steve Baker Interview
Article 4: A Houdini Card Mystery
Article 5: Houdini's Detractors
Article 6: Houdini In Ice
Article 7: The First Statue of Houdini
Article 8: Houdini in Ukraine
Article 9: Houdini: The Latest Bust
Article 10: The Men Who Fooled Houdini
Article 11: Houdini & Dunninger Together, Again.
Article 12: Houdini in Baltimore 1916
Article 13: Houdini in Nashville 1899
Article 14: A Poem about Houdini from 1916
CONTEST 3: Third Houdini Month Contest
Article 15: Houdini's Official Protege
Article 16: 104 Years Ago Today In the Life of Houdini 
Article 17: Houdini and His Ghost Houses