The Life of Paul Valadon

 

In the summer months of 1867, Adolph Waber was born. At a young age he saw a magician, and eventually went to work for him as assistant and likely apprentice. 

Paul Valadon was born Adolph Waber in Cologne Germany on June 17th 1867. 

That magician was Ernest Basch who performed out of Hamburg Germany. Basch came from a family of magicians, three of his brothers were also magicians at some point in their lives. Eventually, Adolph, who would change his name to Paul Valadon,  learned enough that he went out on his own. He started in Germany but ventured out to all of Europe. From there he toured the major cities of South Africa. 

Valadon was known for his manipulative skill and high talent. He was a master of billiard ball manipulations. He was adept at card manipulations. Some of his moves can be found in The Modern Conjurers book by C. Lang Neil. He even created a Second Sight act with his wife Catherine.

Over at Egyptian Hall, David Devant had just departed and the Maskelynes were looking for a new magician to bring on board. They heard the accolades about Valadon and offered him a job at the famed Hall. Paul Valadon would accept the position and over a five year span present over 1600 performances.

Valadon would perform his own act, as well as assist in others. He was one of the cast members for the Will, The Witch and the Watchman routine for example. He also created original routines while at Egyptian Hall.

The Drum that Can’t Be Beat was a creation of Valadon’s. He would show a cylindrical drum, missing the drum heads. Then he would place the drumheads on and suspend the drum from two chains on the stage. He then poked a hole in one of the drum heads and slowly removed large scarves, one after another, filling the stage with silk. Another of his creations was an illusion called “Well I’m”. This he built with the help of the Maskelynes. It was a table, maybe 3 feet off the ground. He would have his wife stand on top of the table. He would walk around the table and then step up on the table with her. Then he would take a large cloth and cover her. It would flow over her showing only the outline of her body. After a few magical gestures, he would dramatically yank the cloth away and his wife would vanish into thin air. 

I can attest to the beauty of both of these affects. I believe The Drum that Can’t Be Beat went on to be sold by dealers and was featured in many performers shows over the year. Mike Caveney recreated both of these effects for one of the LA Magic History Conferences and then later presented them via video at the Essential Magic Conference in Portugal. I was able to see the video version and I can say both were wonderful effects.

Now, we must introduce Harry Kellar into the picture. During the summer months when artists routinely took a break, Kellar would go to England and specifically Egyptian Hall to see the latest creations of Maskelyne. Somehow these creations would later turn up the following year in Kellar’s show. Much has been made of Kellar’s stealing these effects. I’m starting to wonder. And here is why. Kellar fell in love with the Levitation. He offered to buy it from Maskelyne but he turned down the offer. Kellar would return show after show trying to solve the mystery. There is one anecdote that said, Kellar actually climbed on stage during a performance to look under the floating girl. And just as one of Maskelyne’s assistants was going to stop him, Mr. Maskelyne himself prevented the stage hand from interfering. THAT is odd on many levels. Would Kellar be so rude as to jump onstage during a show? Why would Maskelyne not want such audacity to be prevented. OH and then add to this there are stories of both the Maskelynes and the Kellar’s having dinner together. I find all of this quite strange. Im not sure I believe the story of him getting on stage. I do tend to believe the dinner story, but then why would John Neville Maskelyne have dinner with a man who was stealing his material? Unless…

well, I’ll leave that for you to figure out. Some Maskelyne letters would probably help solve this mystery, which I don't have access to. 

One thing is for sure in 1904 Kellar went to England and stayed a very short time. But when he returned he came back having hired Paul Valadon for his fall tour. Valadon clearly loved working at Egyptian Hall. In fact, Valadon would later say one of his prized possessions was a letter of recommendation from John Neville Maskelyne. So why could he be persuaded to leave? This piece I found in the pages of the book Kellar’s Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel. Apparently, it turns out that 1904 was going to be the final year for Egyptian Hall. This was due to the fact that the building was going to be demolished that year. So now Im wondering, who approached who? Did Valadon, knowing he’d soon be out of work approach Kellar, or did Kellar, as the popular story goes, hire Valadon to get the secret to the levitation?

This is where the popular story begins. Kellar, desperately wanting the secret to the Maskylne levitation, hires Paul Valadon, partly with the promise of including him in the show and potentially turning the show over to him when he, Kellar, retires. Did they speak of the secret to the levitation at this time? It sure would seem a breach of protocol, and ethics for Valadon to do such a thing. Especially given the fact he held Maskelyne in such high regard.

Then there was the note Houdini wrote about talking to Kellar and being “awfully hurt to think that people said he had hired Valadon for the purpose of stealing the levitation secrets” That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, but it just makes the whole thing more confusing. 

The official record says that Kellar had the Maskelyne levitation in 1904. However, I have in my files a program from the Providence Opera House dated April 6th, 1903. On page 6, the program reads, “And the Great Hypnotic Scene, “The Levitation of Princess Karnac”. That’s a full year before he even meets with Valadon. Confused yet? Whether he stole it, acquired the secrets from Valadon, or had a third party help work it out, I just don’t know for sure. Certainly the third party, who shall remain nameless had much to do. Kellar’s version allowed for the illusion to move from theater to theater. Maskelyne’s levitation was built into the theater. Obviously some issues had been solved or remade in order for the illusion to be transportable.

Let’s look at what Paul Valadon did when he worked for Kellar. Thanks to what has turned out to be a rather controversial review by John Northern Hilliard, we have much information. All the secret and method info is withheld from this podcast.

The beginning of his act, Valadon remove’s his gloves, tosses them in the air where they transform into a dove. Next we have the popular Soup Plate illusion created by DeKolta. 

Next we have Aerial treasury, or Misers Dream as we know it. From here Valadon goes into Billiard Ball manipulation. Next up, some fun manipulation of raw eggs, eventually pulling eggs from a spectators mouth. 

The next feat received praise from multiple sources. IT’s a small effect but a stand out. A strip of blue paper, 30 inches long and one inch wide is torn into multiple pieces….and then restored. By all accounts it was a beautiful piece of magic. The Sphinx in a later issue mentioned Valadon removed this piece from his show and the commentator said, ’its was one of the most beautiful effects Valadon did, and he hoped it would return to the show at some point.    This effect is now followed by Card Manipulations. This is a fairly brief sequence because though Valadon was an expert, the card manipulations were a new genre.

Now we come to the Watch Trick.  A borrowed watch is made to vanish and reappear in an impossible location. And the final trick, at least in the beginning was the drum that can’t be beat which I described earlier. Eventually on the tour Valadon would present his illusion, “Well I”m” Kellar had posters made to the effect, with an image of Valadon performing the effect. The title ‘Well I’m’ is also on the poster. The top of the poster reads, “Kellar’s Mysteries” and then the lower right third says, Presented by PAUL VALADON.  Incidentally AFTER Valadon eventually leaves the Kellar show, Harry Kellar would continue to present Well Im in his show, but it would be rechristened “ His Latest and Created Wonder, “GONE”. The Maskelyen’s would also continue presenting Well I’m on their stages as well, but also claiming they were the creators.

The Kellar tours featuring Paul Valadon received great press reviews. The one exception was John Northern Hilliard who would go out of his way to bash Kellar whenever possible. In 1905, Paul Valadon suggested to Kellar they add the Maskelyne trick, The Will the Witch and the Watchman to the show. It would require adding some cast members and the first attempts were atrocious. One thing about Harry Kellar, he was a genial old man but when he lost his temper he went off like a cannon. He was furious at how the new routine was coming along. Kellar’s version would be titled. “The Witch, the Sailor and the Enchanted Monkey”. He fired the newly fired the newly hired members. Eventually the routine was worked out enough to make to playable. BTW, if you read Jim Steinmeyer’s blog, you can watch a video of the original Maskelyne version of Will the Witch and the Watchman featuring John Carney in one of the title roles.   Kellar must not have been too fond of the illusion because at some point he sold it to a magician in the midwest. 

Back to Kellar and Valadon. According to the earlier agreement, Valadon was to take over the show when Kellar retired. There was only one small problem, actually two. One of the issues was Eva Kellar, Harry’s wife. The other was alcohol, of which Eva and Paul Valadon were known to partake in to excess. Eva was a mean drunk and hated the Valadons. Mostly Paul tried to hold his tongue, but one afternoon, after hearing Mrs. Kellar badmouth them, Paul Valadon came out and ripped the wife of Harry Kellar to shreds verbally. And just like the vanish in his illusion ‘Well I’m’ Valadon was OUT as far as being a successor. He finished the tour, but after that, he was no longer part of the company.

Paul Valadon ran a small space ad in the back of The Sphinx in 1909, which read “Paul Valadon” Late of England’s Home of Mystery, the Egyptian Hall., London. Now touring in vaudeville with entire new act. All communications address care of Edward Beadle 1193 Broadway NY, NY. “  What’s interesting here, no mention of touring with Kellar. The fall out left an ever lasting rift between the two men.

After the Kellar show, Valadon went to perform in vaudeville across the United States. And by all accounts he was a big success in vaudeville. He would change his act often. But the reviews of his shows were great. In the magic press, they still expected Valadon to move up to the TOP of the showbiz ladder. 

There is an interesting anecdote that comes from the pages of The CREST Magician, March 1908. Apparently, Valadon was performing somewhere in America and needed to borrow someones tall high hat, top hat in other words. But none was forthcoming. So he instructed his assistant to fetch his brand new hat that was in his dressing room. This was in immaculate condition and a thing of pride for Valadon. He asked for a gentleman to examine the hat and gave it to someone who then handled his hat rather coarsely and then tossed it back onto the stage. Valadon was short of furious, but held his temper. He stepped over to retrieve his now mangled hat and said, “And now is there a gentleman (long pause) who could examine the hat”. And the audience of course understood the gentle rebuke of the ruffian and laughter. There’s a word we don’t hear any more ruffian, lol. 

In April 1909 tragedy struck the Valadon’s. While appearing in Chicago, Catherine Valadon, Paul’s wife got sick. She was admitted to the hospital. But she died on April 27th at Mercy Hospital. She was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. She was 40 or 41 when she died. Notice of her death appeared in all the magic periodicals of the day. One had this quote, “she was liked by all her met her.” Which wasn’t exactly true, Eve Kellar was no fan of her or her husband.

This left Paul a single father and he had a young son. Still the show must go on and the show did go on. At one point, Valadon dropped the illusions and did a smaller act along with his son, which was well received. It was a struggle at first doing the show without his wife/partner. And yet, the illusions wouldn’t stay out of the show.

In May 1910, The Sphinx says that Valadon is now featuring a beautiful levitation and disappearance of a woman. Quote, “His act is better than ever, and shows Valadon’s master hand at conjuring”

The next month in the ‘sphinx Valadon is mentioned again and it says, “showed his illusion of the vanishing lady, while suspended in the air”.    So I assume he is presenting LeRoy’s Asrah levitation. OK, Oct 1910 Sphinx spills more details. quote “Am somewhat late reporting the show of Paul Valadon, who appeared at the Majestic theater here last month. When he stepped on the stage the first night he received a big round of applause, which showed he was well and favorably remembered by Chicago theatergoers. His act was a treat from start to finish and the quick succession of surprises which he presented in his inimitable style brought forth many rounds of applause. He captured his audience with his climax which consisted  of his own conception of Servais LeRoy’s illusion, Asrah. Valadon brings the trick to a startling termination by causing the silk sheet to vanish, as well as the levitated body. His illusion is of his own ideas and is not one of the impractical copies that are being sold on the strength of the speeded reputation gained by Servais Le Roy’s invention. It might be useful to many magicians to know that the many so-called Asrah illusions now offered for sale everywhere are no anything like the original as invented and presented by Servais LeRoy.” A later article mentions Valadon called his creation “Venita”. I am wondering, if indeed this was not the LeRoy method, perhaps he used the clever method from his Well I’m illusion and added the levitation, the elements are there, the covering of the lady, the table, the vanishing of the figure. The only thing not there is the floating. 

Life on the road seemed to be ok for Paul Valadon and his son. That is until 1911 and 1912. Paul Sr’s heath begins to decline. And this is where my interest all started. In a January 15th, 1912 issue of The Sphinx Magazine, Howard Thurston asked the readers to donate money on behalf of Valadon who has been diagnosed with ‘consumption.’. His doctors say, a dryer climate is more fitting for the showman. Thurston even lists the contributions that have come in so far, he himself giving $50, Theo Bamberg $10, George White $1, other cast members, one or two dollars, for a total of $71. Then, a letter to Thurston and Dr. Wilson (editor of the sphinx) is reprinted and it says, “Dear Sirs, I I hereby give you my consent to superintend a money collection on behalf of myself and agree to allow Dr. Wilson to have absolute control of the expenditure of this money. Thank you for your kind endeavors, I remain Sincerely yours, Paul Valadon”

Enough money is raised for Paul and his son to relocate to Phoenix AZ. But a little over one year later, on April 23rd, 1913, 45 year old Paul Valadon was dead from tuberculosis. He left his son with little money. Valadon was buried in an unmarked grave in Greenwood Memory Park Cemetery. Young Paul was sent to an orphanage. In 1948, a dedication service was conducted by the magic group Mystic 13 and IBM Ring 55, for the grave marker they had placed over Valadon’s burial site……..

One final point of interest, Paul had a very elaborate scrap book from his many years on the road. I assume it stayed in the family, as Paul Jr. got married and had a child and stayed in Phoenix. Does anyone know of the whereabouts of the missing scrapbook?

(this is the feature transcript from Episode 108 of the Magic Detective Podcast)

The Great Houdini Broadcasts -Behind the Curtain of Episode 97

 

The Great Houdini Broadcasts was written by Val Andrews, and published by Micky Hades International back in 1981. It is a booklet made up of two Scripts. One takes place in 1926 immediately following the death of Houdini. The other script takes place 50 years later in 1976. I have to be honest, I have no idea why Val Andrews wrote this or what his intended purpose was. Perhaps he was writing a big of fiction, a short story, but why did he write it in script form?

Well, I can tell you it was the PERFECT thing for someone like me. I read it and thought it should be made into an old style radio show, EXACTLY how it was written. Perhaps that was Val's intention, I do not know. It also had a copyright. A standard copyright that is found in most books. I honestly was not sure if this prevented me from using the script or not. But I took the high road and contacted Micky Hades and was able to get a non commercial license through his son Brian.

If you listened to podcast episode 97, you'll hear my rendition. Seven very different voices: Radio Announcer, Lawyer Kelson (fictional), Conan Doyle, Hardeen, Horace Goldin, Harry Jansen, and Jay Palmer. Only the lawyer was a fictional character. I almost used Bernard Ernst instead, who was Houdini's real lawyer, but in the last minute I held back. ALL the dialog is fictional, though, it's about 98% historically accurate. And it's because of the truth of the history that I wanted to recreate this. 

If you listen close, Conan Doyle's voice is a combination of James Mason and John Houseman. Hardee's voice is a form of Luka Bratzy from the Godfather movie, but is close to how he really sounded. I wanted to replace Jay Palmer with Dai Vernon. I had this great segment that I wrote AS Vernon, but then I realized that my announcer voice was similar to my Vernon. My Dai Vernon is identical to Johnny Thompson's.  So I couldn't use Vernon. And then I discovered that Jay Palmer was a real magician who actually DID work for Houdini. And on top of it he was born in Nashville TN, so I gave him a Southern accent. It worked fine. 

There are no special effects, other than the static radio sound that plays during the entire story. I would like to have included some 1920s music, but I wasn't finding the stuff I wanted. As it was, one track did make it on the episode, but it's very faint and very short. I meant to pull it and forgot, lol. I hope if you haven't already done so, you'll go listen to the episode. 

My previous 'old style radio drama' was episode 72 of my podcast. That one was called "The Devil and Harry Kellar" and I wrote the entire thing, and did all the voices. That one has a totally different feel to it as it's more dramatic and theatrical. It includes sound effects as well. That story is totally fictional, however if you know anything about Harry Kellar, you'll recognize that the story is filled with TRUE events from his life. The story idea came to me from looking through his posters and it dawned on me, there was a whole story there to be told. 

I have been encouraged to do more of these. But as you might imagine, it isn't like there is a huge amount of these scripts laying around. In other words, I have to write them!!! I already have one written, and there is part of another that I started to write years ago. I suppose I could use those....in the future. For now, the podcast returns to straight magic history!

The Amazing Zancigs First Couple of Telepathy

The Zancigs were probably the first mind reading couple to make a name for themselves internationally. Granted, Robert Heller and Haidee Heller did raise a few eyebrows in their day, but they didn't have the impact of the Zancigs, nor did they tour as much. 

Their Real names were Julius Jorgensen, born in Copenhagen, Denmark March 7th, 1857

His partner was born Agnes Clausen, also in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1849.

Julius moved to the US in 1882 and a short time after he arrived, he met up with Agnes at a social gathering of Danish people who had immigrated to the US. They had known each other in Denmark and here upon meeting, they struck up a new relationship which eventually led to marriage. 

When he was living in Denmark his father had him apprenticed in the iron smelting industry. So when he came to America, this was one of his first jobs. While still employed in the iron plant,  an unusual request came to the young couple to perform at a church function. Because they didnt play any sort of instrument, they decided to try their hand at telepathy. Yeah, that makes sense. I can’t play an insturment, so I’ll read minds instead, lol. I’m going to guess that at some point Julius may have had an interest in this subject or picked up some of the expose pamphlets on how this was done. They began with the work that Robert Heller had done with his Second Site Act and expanded upon it. At any rate, they gave their crude demonstration and were surprised at how well it went over. 

According to Will Goldston’s book, Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, Zancig had an accident at the smelting plant, he badly burned his hand and was out of work for a long while. During his recovery, he decided that he would leave the iron works plant and try his fate in the world of mind reading. 

According to numerous sources, Their career began in 1899, when they start to present their telepathy act at San Souci Amusement Park in Chicago IL. This is even confirmed by a short article about them in a Mahatma Magazine in 1902.  Sensational Tales of Mystery Men, has them at Coney Island and claims that Horace Goldin discovered them there and later introduced them to Oscar Hammerstein.  I have a feeling Coney Island is incorrect, but it’s possible Goldin saw them at San Souci Park. And the Oscar Hammerstein connection is correct. He brought them to NYC to play his Roof Garden at $400 a week. The couple also performed at countless private functions for the high society of NYC. LONG before Steve Cohen took up residency at The Waldorf Astoria, The Zancigs performed there for 12 weeks.

In 1903 they met H.B. Leavitt, a theatrical producer who organized a Globe trotting tour for them.  And indeed they did travel the Globe. Arriving in London at one point they soon became a sensation. 

In 1906, The Zancigs gave a command performance before King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace. After this they toured across England as they had done before and again, the sensation continued. In the book, Illusion Show by David Bamberg, he talks about his family running into the Zancigs on a train in Norway. Agnes asked Okito if the young son, David, was going to follow in his footsteps. Because if he wasn’t she could make a ‘mind reader’ out of him. Remember that anecdote…

Here is a write-up from The Sphinx Magazine in 1906 of their act. “The Mysterious Zancigs were a strong feature of the Orpheum the week of Nov 6th. Their act is certainly a great one in every sense. They work rapidly and accurately in all their tests and are never baffled by any of the attempts made by the audience to fool them. Their exhibition may be termed telepathy, mind-reading, second sight, or by any other name. It goes just the same. Mr. & Mrs. Zancig honored the Sphinx with their presence, and during their call favored us with a private exhibition of their extraordinary powers. While this gifted couple were visiting Mammoth Cave recently, they had one pleasure of giving an entertainment in the bridal chamber of that wonderful cave”

Mammoth Cave is a National Park and Cave in Kentucky. One of the areas is called the Bridal Alter or Bridal Chamber and it was here in 1906 that the Zancigs gave an impromptu performance. 

In a 1906 issue of The Conjurers Monthly magazine, Houdini writes about the Zancigs, “Their act is about the best of it’s kind that we have ever seen, and we have seen almost all!”

In 1907 they were hired to work at the Victoria Roof Garden. They had an extended run that went into 1908 with the amazing salary of $1500 per week, the most ever paid to a mind reading act at the time.  From there they went to the Alhambra for a seven month run, then off to the Wintergarten in Germany.  Then back to America before the year was up.

IN 1910, they were requested to return to England and Buckingham Palace to perform again, this time during the coronation of King George V. They remained in England until 1913, when they finally returned to the US. 

This is just the early part of their career. On The Magic Detective podcast Ep 21, I go over the entire life story of the couple and those performers who joined the show later. Here is the link to episode 21

The Grave of Olive Dot Robinson, Wife of Chung Ling Soo

Dot Robinson being floated by Harry Kellar

When it comes to one of the greatest magician's assistants in history, surely one of the early ones was also one of the best. Olive Robinson was the wife of William E. Robinson. She was born Olive Path and had been with William Robinson since the very beginning of his career. For a time she worked as Harry Kellar's chief assistant in his show. Her husband was stage manager, illusion designer, and even performed his Black Art Act in the show. Olive, or Dot as she was known because of her small size, presented The Cocoon Illusion in Harry Kellar's show. She also was featured in an amazing levitation that was co-created by her husband and several other magicians, the effect was known as Astarte.

Later, when the Robinson's were wooed away by Alexander Herrmann, she became an assistant in his show. Astarte was performed in Herrmann's show also, but it was retitled The Maid of the Moon, and again featured Dot Robinson.

Finally, when William Robinson decided to go out on his own, he presented a show as an Asian character named Chung Ling Soo. His wife Dot was renamed, Suee Seen, and became the chief assistant in her husband's show. So Dot Robinson got to perform with three of the most iconic magicians of their era.

After the tragic death of her husband, who was shot on stage at the Wood Green Empire Theatre in 1918, Dot Robinson quietly fades into the background. The book The Glorious Deception by Jim Steinmeyer, suggests that Dot had become embarrassed by the scandal and controversy involving her husbands death. In 1921, she leaves London without informing her friends there and relocates to New York. She moves not far from many well known magicians, including Houdini. But she never let anyone in America know of her move either. She remained in seclusion throughout the rest of her life. In 1933, Dot Robinson was diagnosed with cancer. She died the following year at the age of 71. Olive 'Dot' Robinson was buried in the Bronx in Woodlawn Cemetery in an unmarked grave. But that's not the end of the story.

In 2016, magic historian, Diego Domingo, started raising money to put a stone marketer on her grave. The dedication for the stone marker was Oct 24th, 2017. Olive Robinson is buried in the Robinson Family plot not far from Williams' brother, and apparently just down the path from one of her former employers Alexander Herrmann. And today she has a proper gravestone.

Photo courtesy Diego Domingo

Notes on Episode 11 The Great Maro

Here is the cartoon that appeared in the Sphinx Magazine on Maro. I believe the reason he left the 'devilish imps' off his posters was due to his Christian faith. Maro was no evangelist, nor did he include Christian references in his show, but like many people of the time, he was being respectful of his faith by leaving off that particular imagery.

If you look closer at this particular poster, you'll see in place of the 'imps' Maro has garden gnomes. 

If you're curious about the Houdini-Maro Illusion I mentioned during the podcast, you can read about it and see the picture here. 

In regards to the Astarte Levitation. Below is the video of Doug Henning presenting Astarte on one of his specials. It was an unusual and very different illusion when I saw Doug do it, but not particularly a big mystery. The version that was presented at the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History is a much longer piece and the costuming and choreography are much better. That version you can see if you are a Genii Magazine subscriber. It's in the January 2014 issue on page 72. It's called The Maid of the Moon, which is the name that Herrmann used when he presented the illusion.

And now you can listen to the entire Episode 11 below, IF you haven't already done so. And please remember to LIKE-SHARE-and Subscribe to the podcast, PLEASE :)

Magic Detective Podcast Ep10 Notes on Harry Kellar in Retirement

Most people kind of fade out of the limelight when they retire. But this was not the case for Harry Kellar. Sure, he didn't spend all of his time on the road going from theatre to theatre but he still traveled a fair amount. He also visited his old friends quite a bit. And he kept up with magic.

Kellar retired in 1908 when he handed his Mantle of Magic over to Howard Thurston. But Thurston got a lot more than the Mantle. He also received Kellar's Manager, Keller's Touring Routes, Kellar's two chief assistants Frizt and Carl Bucha, as well as all the props and paraphernalia that went with the Kellar show. And to the surprise of many, Thurston only kept two of Kellar's illusions, the rest he sold.

The first thing he did after he retired was take a very long vacation in Atlantic City. Above is a photo of Kellar and Houdini in Atlantic City. According to the Ken Silverman bio on Houdini, this is where their friendship really began to take off. Over time they developed a father/son type of relationship and it's proven in the various letters they shared back and forth.

I mentioned on the podcast about a photo I had of an improved Kellar prop. His name was cast into the iron, and below is a photo of that prop. I'm only showing the part that has Kellar's name due to secrecy issues. The piece is now owned by David Haversat.

Here is a video of Kellar and Houdini. I'm not sure of the location, but I did learn that Houdini had some film footage taken of Kellar and himself while he was in Los Angeles, so that is possibly where this was taken.

One quick minor correction to the podcast also has to do with Kellar giving Psycho to Houdini in 1919. He didn't ship it to Houdini but rather gave it to him while Houdini was in California making movies. 

Finally, I wanted to give you the link to an article I wrote a few years back called 'Kellar's Last Mystery'.


I used the book, Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, The Sphinx Magazine, Ken Silverman's Bio on Houdini, AskAlexander.org and several other sources during my research for the entire three part series on Harry Kellar. I also used Geneologybank.com, Newspapers.com to research newspaper articles on Harry Kellar.

Magic Detective Podcast Ep 9 -Notes

Episode 9 is up and ready to listen to. This is part 2 of the Amazing Life of Harry Kellar. It covers his years right after the tragic shipwreck, right up to his retirement in 1908.

Along the way I mentioned a few things and I wanted to share them below. First up was the Automaton Psycho that Harry Kellar ripped off from John Nevil Maskelyne. Below is a video of Kellar's Psycho in action.

Next I mentioned the Blue Room and also The Spectre Cabinet. After reading through the book Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, it appears that the video below is actually The Spectre Cabinet and not the Blue Room, IF I understood this correctly. It is referred to as The Blue Room, and I'm assuming the two effects are similar in operation. At least you get an idea of how magnificent this effect really was.

This next video has a clip of The Mascot Moth, but you have to wait till the very end of the video. It's in the last few seconds.

Finally, here is an image of the beautiful Golden Butterfly Poster.

Episode 10 will conclude the series on Kellar and will cover his retirement years.

Episode 8 Magic Detective Podcast Additional Notes

Episode 8 of The Magic Detective Podcast is about the Life of Harry Kellar. As I was recording the episode today I quickly realized that this would be a multi-part episode. So this first part only cover 1849-1875. I've covered this period of time on this blog before, so I'm going to give you links that you can check out about the various topics.

1. The Fakir of Ava http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/01/fakir-of-ava.html

2. The Davenport Brothers & The Spirit Cabinet http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/03/spirit-cabinet-history.html

3. William Fay http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/02/who-was-william-fay.html

4. The Shipwreck http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/06/kellars-sunken-treasure.html
Please note there is a small error on the podcast. I mentioned that following the shipwreck, Kellar wired for money from his father. In truth, Harry Kellar borrowed money, approx $1000 from Junius Spenser Morgan, a banker, and the father to J.P. Morgan. 

5. The Vanishing Birdcage http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/02/vanishing-bird-cage-history.html

And if you'd like to listen to the podcast before you check out the above links. Here you go!!!

Houdini the Patriot

Today, Nov 11, 2018, marks the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War 1. The war which began in 1914. Coincidentally, the United States did not get into WWI until the day that Houdini celebrated as his birthday, April 6th, 1917.  And, despite the fact that the land in which Houdini was really born, Hungary, was involved on the opposing side in the war, Houdini stayed true to The United States.  He was a true blue American. Though Houdini appears to be mostly apolitical, he was certainly quite patriotic. And he was a big supporter of the War effort in WWI. Houdini actually enlisted but was too old to be considered. Instead, he got behind President Wilson and the war effort by selling Liberty Bonds and performed at military bases across the country to support the troops.

The S.S. Antilles, was a US Troop-Transport Ship that was sailing out of France on it's way to the United Stated on October 15, 1917. A German u-boat fired a torpedo at the Antilles the morning of Oct 17th sinking the ship. Sixty Seven sailors lost their lives.

Now Houdini steps into the picture. As a way to raise money for the families of the service members who died, Houdini put together a benefit show. His idea was to bring together theatrical artists and put on a huge show at the Hippodrome Theatre in NYC. The program was dubbed, 'Remember The Antilles' and was presented on November 11th, 1917. Among the artists in the 'Carnival of Wonders' portion of the show were: Charles Carter, Frederick E. Powell, Julius Zancig, Howard Thurston, Theo Hardeen, Adelaide Herrmann, Houdini, the biggest name of them all Harry Kellar.

Kellar's name was important, as he was coaxed out of retirement for the singular event. His appearance was billed as 'positively farewell performance by Harry Kellar, The Dean of Magicians.' He had retired from the stage in 1908, having handed his 'Mantle of Magic' over to Howard Thurston at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore MD. For his portion of the show he presented 'table lifting' and then his version of the Davenport Spirit Cabinet. An account in the Dec 1917 issue of The Sphinx magazine says that Kellar far outshined all the earlier performers. And they added this, "He is just as good as ever and works with the same rare skill that made him not only the dean of magicians, but one of the most finished performers we have ever known."

Houdini followed with his Metamorphosis routine and then the Water Torture Cell. I should also note, to promote the entire event he did his upside down strait jacket escape from a crane on Broadway.

When the event was over Houdini's benefits show raised $10,000.00. This would be a little over $212,000.00 in todays money. I'd say it was a huge success.  Speaking of money raised, The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman says that Houdini sold more than $1,000,000.00 in war bonds and gave away at least $7000 of his own money to soldiers during shows at military bases.

There is more to the Carnival of Magic Show at the Hippodrome, but I'd prefer to include that in an upcoming podcast. For now, I hope you enjoyed Houdini the Patriot!

The Magician Who Met Abraham Lincoln

This story has intrigued me from the first time I heard of it. In fact, I even wrote about it before. A friend sent me an article from a 1920 LA newspaper and it rekindled my interest in the story. So I'm reprinting my original article below with a couple corrections. These corrections came about by reading an article in the Los Angeles Evening Herald Feb 12th, 1920 edition. In truth, they really fill in more of the blanks than truly correct things. I hope you enjoy the updated article.

The individual in question is Horatio Green Cooke, born 1844 in Norwich Connecticut. As a youth his family moved around a bit finally settling in Iowa. In 1861, Horatio was working as a teacher.  In 1862, Horatio, who would go by the name Harry, enlisted in the Union Army. He had excellent penmanship and was also a fine marksman. Before long he was writing correspondence for various Generals in the Union Army, among them General U.S. Grant.

Due to Cooke's ability as a penman, he soon came to the notice of various people in Washington DC. His ability as a marksman, also played a part in his change in career and in rank. 




He went from being a private in the Union Army to being selected to be as a Captain of Lincoln's Federal Scouts.  He always carried with him a letter autographed by the President Lincoln informing him that he had been selected to be one of his special scouts.  In 1863, he fell under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the Siege of Vicksburg. The surrender of Vicksburg by the Confederate Army gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union Army, and basically split the Confederacy in half. This event, along with the Battle of Gettysburg, were the turning points in the war for the Union.

R. Ingersoll, Gen Hancock, E. Stanton, Gen Sherman, A. Lincoln

On May 1st, 1864, Harry Cooke was ordered to appear before Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War in Washington D.C.. When he arrived  he found that along with Stanton, was General William Tecumseh Sherman, General Hancock, Senator Robert Ingersoll and President Abraham Lincoln. They had heard of the young scouts unusual ability to free himself from restraints and were curious. So he was tied up with fifty feet of rope. After he was securely tied, Cooke asked Lincoln to walk ten feet away. Then he asked him to return and before Lincoln got back, Cooke had freed himself from the confinement! According to the Los Angeles Evening Express Newspaper, Lincoln was amazed and jubilated. Lincoln said to Cooke "Here my boy, keep this to remember Uncle Abe by" and Lincoln then handed Cooke a two dollar bill. Harry Cooke kept that two dollar bill his entire life.

John Singleton Mosby - The Grey Ghost

In the Fall of 1864, Harry was assigned to join General Sheridan in Winchester VA. On October 19th, Harry Cooke and six other scouts were captured by Mosby's Raiders under the command of  'The Grey Ghost', John Singleton Mosby*. Mosby was notorious for his stealth-like raids against Union forces. When his band of raiders captured Harry Cooke and his fellow scouts they took from them all their possessions. In Cooke's pocket was the personal letter from Lincoln appointing him to the position of Federal Scout, a cherished memento. In Mosby's eyes Cooke was a spy and was sentenced to be hanged along with his other scouts. They were to get an early morning hanging, but their final evening on earth would be spent tied to a tree. Being the escape artist that he was, Cooke quietly freed himself from the ropes, and then proceeded to free his fellow prisoners and return back to the Union side under the cover of darkness. Due to the fact that not all of his fellow scounts could swim, they had to split up. Three swam across the Potomac River and the others made their way through the woods. One of the scouts who was swimming later drowned when trying to cross Harpers Ferry Canal.  Cooke and his companion finally made it back to a Union camp. From there, he took some men back to try and find those scouts who chose to make their way through the woods because they couldn't swim. They were eventually discovered, hanged and full of bullet holes. In the end, only Cooke and his other fellow scout that he swam with made it to safety.

Fords Theatre /Library of Congress photo

Harry had always been bothered by the theft of his Lincoln Letter by Mosby's Raiders and decided to try and get a copy from the President himself. On April 14th 1865, Cooke went to the White House in Washington to see Mr. Lincoln. Upon arriving at the White House he was told that Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln had left for an evening at Fords Theatre. Harry Cooke went to Fords Theatre, where the President and First Lady were watching the play "Our American Cousin". A short time after Harry Cooke arrived a loud shot rang out, and well, the rest is history. Cooke was there, in the audience, as John Wilkes Booth shot the President and then jumped to the stage and out the back doors of Fords Theatre.

It's hard to say when Harry Cooke got his interest in magic or where he developed the ability to escape from ropes. One thing is certain, he had an ability to escape like no one before him, and few since.  After the Civil War ended Horatio Green Cooke became "Professor Harry Cooke" and worked as a professional magician and 'Celebrated King of the Spirit Exposers". Years later he would become President of the Los Angeles Society of Magicians and would obtain the new moniker 'The Oldest Living Magician'. His favorite trick throughout his life was the Linking Rings and apparently his routine was one to wonder over.

On May 1st 1924, at the young age of 80, Harry Cooke duplicated his feat of escaping from 50 feet of rope for the Los Angeles area magicians. During this exhibition, Harry Cooke wore his blue Union Army uniform, the same one he wore during the Civil War. The result was exactly as it had been 60 years earlier when he presented the stunt before President Lincoln and his cabinet, HE ESCAPED! A a little over a month later Horatio Green Cooke passed away on June 17, 1924.


I must make note of the fact that though Harry Cooke was well known during his day, and appeared often in magic periodicals of his time period, and was even one of the pallbearers at Harry Kellar's funeral, he had largely been forgotten in recent years. It was Mark Cannon, escape artist and magician who brought the wonderful stories of Harry Cooke back to life through a fantastic article he wrote for MUM Magazine in April 2006. Mark had actually been fortunate enough to meet one of Harry Cooke's daughters at one of his shows and was given Cooke's personal scrap book. And it was because of Mark's wonderful article and my interest in magic history that I first started to delve into the world of Harry Cooke. Eventually, I too got to meet one of Cooke's descendants. You gotta love magic history, you never know where it will take you or who you might encounter!