I have been searching for a long time for a photo of Chase's Vaudeville house. A fellow historian told me it was actually Keith's Theater, but he was slightly incorrect. Chase's began on Pennsylvania Avenue and later moved to 15th and G Street. Later, B.F. Keith's bought that location. But the original was on Pennsylvania Avenue, in view of the Capital Building.
In 1906 Houdini played Chase's Theater. In fact, I wrote all about it in 2014.But I never knew what it looked like until now. I recently discovered a photo that includes Chase's theater. And just by coincidence it contains a whole lot more related to magic as well. I'm going to share them all with you.
First, Chase's Polite Vaudeville Theater, it was located at 1424 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. In the photo above, Chase's is on the right had side #3. Here is a close up of the theater. Houdini was there from September 16th to September 29, 1906. He was heavy into his Challenge Act Days, and each day provided a new and exciting challenge for DC audiences to enjoy. I will have more on Houdini in DC in an upcoming future project. But for now I want you to see, the outside and possibly the inside.
The reason I say possibly the inside is, this location really doesn't look big enough for the auditorium for which I have a photo. Looks can be deceiving and the building may be much larger than the facade out front, which was not uncommon with theaters. But there are two things that make me think this like was in fact the right place. One, it says 'Chases Theater' at the bottom of the picture, though this could be the second location. But the other thing is that Chases was originally the Grand Opera House and this auditorium sure looks like it should be an Opera House!
That's not the end of the story. If you move left on the upper most photo you see a tall building marked with a red #2. This was the Post Office Pavillion. Built in 1892, it was originally Barton & Logan's Dime Museum. This was pre-vaudeville. In 1880, Imro Fox, the magician who would later be one of the Bosch's in LeRoy Talma And Bosco, worked at Bartons. He was working as a chef at a local hotel about a block away. The manager of the Dime Museum had hired a magician who was showing up drunk and then not showing up. Word reached him that there was a chef who was an amateur magician. He approached Imro Fox who at first said no. Then he offered to pay him $50 and he said yes. Fifty dollars in 1880 had to be like crazy money.
Back to the photo at the top of the page. The red #3 is the Nation's Capital, where in 1902, a 29 year old Max Malini, bit the button off the coat on Senator Mark Hanna on the steps of the Capital, and then immediately restored it. Word reached the White House and the next day, Malini was performing for President Teddy Roosevelt!
However, there is another incident. In 1926, Houdini testified before Congress, twice, about an Anti-Spiritualism bill, which was actually an Anti-Fortune Telling Bill. I covered those exploits on this
blog and also on two
episodes of my podcast, one which has yet to air.
Finally, we get down to the last red number, #1. It is obscured by the trees, but it is iconic to both the magic world and DC residents. It would be the future location of Al's Magic Shop, run by Al Cohen and his son. Originally it was a gift shop that he and his father ran. Slowly, Al started adding magic tricks to the items sold and eventually the magic took over.
In 1980, Al got word that the area was going to be redeveloped and his building would be torn down. So he moved the shop. Al would move the shop from 1205 Pennsylvania Ave NW to a couple different locations, eventually ending up on Vermont Avenue, which is only a few blocks from this location.
Al's served as the go to place in the DC areas for magicians to gather and buy tricks and meet up. I remember bumping into David Williamson there once, and the Amazing Randi, and even Patch Adams. But the most ironic part of all this to me, and I didn't realize it until today. Long after the shop had been torn down, my good friend Ralph and I went down to a festival in DC that was on Pennsylvania Avenue. We went down there busking and if I might add, made quite a bit of money. Fortunately we didn't get thrown out, at least not at that one. But the spot we set up at, was the exact spot of the old Al's Magic Shop! I didn't realize it until looking over the old photo and checking locations. Crazy.
And I'll leave you with a bonus. Houdini was at Chase's earlier in 1906 too. Again, I'll have more on all that soon. But here is a newspaper article from his January appearance! This is from The Washington Star Newspaper, January 2nd, 1906.
