Showing posts with label magic history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic history. Show all posts

Friday, October 19, 2012

Episode 3 Additional Information

Episode Three of The Magic Detective Show is about Houdini's Final Tour and gave some facts that happened on and prior to October 19th, 1926.

Let's begin. The final Houdini Tour started on September 7th 1926.  It was supposed to be a five month tour. Houdini was taking a route that he had taken many times before according to Kenneth Silverman. The tour opened at the Majestic Theatre in Boston Mass for a two week run. Houdini had a couple new features in his show this fall. He was presenting an illusion he purchased from Joe Dunninger, "Cutting a Woman in Eighths" or as one newspaper ad said "Slicing a Woman in Seven Parts". He also had another new feature that he restricted to venues that were two weeks long. This other feature is referred to in the Kalush Biography as "The Mystery of the Sphinx.  This was Houdini's Buried Alive Escape done on stage. According to the Kalush Bio, he debuted the escape in Worcester, however on John Cox's blog WildaboutHoudini.com there is an ad for the Majestic Theatre in Boston which clearly says he is doing this escape at that theatre and I found a similar ad which you can see below. It makes sense as the Boston gig was two weeks long. On Episode 3 I actually said he debuted it in Worcester because that's the information in all the books, but I think the ad shows that indeed Houdini was doing the buried alive escape in Boston.

In Patrick Culliton's book Houdini The Key, he gives a description of the effect along with method. I've seen many Houdini escapes duplicated, but this is one I would have love to have seen live!

After being being placed in a straight jacket, then into a canvas sack and into the coffin, the coffin was lowered into the large glass fronted box and covered with sand. Houdini would step out from behind the large box to take his bow! Houdini made his escape in two minutes.

How on earth they traveled with something of this size is beyond me. I'm going to guess that the dimensions of the larger outer box might not be quite as large as they appear in the poster. Certainly less sand would be required if this were the case. Also, the outer box had a front made of glass. It would be near impossible to travel with a thick piece of glass the size that is indicated on the poster, so again I think it makes sense that the outer box was not quite as large.

After Boston, Houdini headed west to Worcester MA. This was another two week run and it was here that he presented his third Underwater Coffin Test at YMCA Pool in Worcester. His run in Worcester was followed by a short 3 day run in Providence Rhode Island. This is where Bess Houdini contracted food poisoning after a dinner out with Harry and H.P. Lovecraft. The run in Providence ended on Oct 8th and Houdini sends Bess and crew to Albany NY, while he takes a detour to NYC. Houdini needed to meet with his lawyer to discuss the mounting lawsuits he was receiving. He also met up with Joe Dunninger, who served as taxi driver for Houdini while he was in town.

Houdini took the train back to Albany and arrived early in the morning. At this point, he was going on very few hours of sleep.  Opening night at the Capital Theatre in Albany Houdini had an accident as he prepared to do the Water Torture Cell Escape. However, I'm unclear on exactly what took place.
The Silverman Bio says "the cables twisted or swayed" and the resulting 'lurch'  cracked the footstock and he fractured his ankle. The Kalush bio says simply that "as he was hoisted in the air he gasped and his face twisted in pain." The Henning bio says "as he was lifted in the air one of his ankles snapped", the Gresham bio says basically the same thing. In Randi's biography it says "as he was lifted he felt a crack. The frame (footstock) had loosened and wrenched his left foot, injuring the bone." Here is what Houdini had to say in a letter he wrote on Oct 12th, two days after the accident, "The cover snapped as we were drawing it up, and I have some sort of fracture on the left leg. The left side of my body is somewhat weaker than the right, or perhaps it just struck a glancing blow. Anyway, it hit with enough force to smash the cover which is of heavy nickel-plated steel." This comes from a letter reprinted in Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton.  The odd thing is a Doctor was reported as saying that if the stocks had not cracked Houdini's leg would have been cut off.....I'm not quite getting that part of it. I wonder if John Gaughan saw the cracked stocks when he refurbished the WTC? All the stories are similar and whatever the actually cause, the end result was a fractured bone. 

At any rate, Houdini was hurt and unable to do the WTC. A doctor put a splint on his leg and told Houdini to go to the hospital. Of course, Houdini refused because he had a show to finish. He did his Needle Trick and then went on with the exposure of fake mediums to finish the show. The remainder of his tour he was in constant pain due to the fractured left ankle.

From Albany they ventured down the road to Schenectady NY, where despite the injury he presented three days of shows. Next stop, Montreal Canada. He opened on October 18th at the Princess Theatre in Montreal (though the Gresham book says he opened on the 17th).  By all accounts Houdini looked 'sickly' and tired and frankly old. If you figure in the lack of sleep, the pain from his leg and add to that the stress of $1 Million in lawsuits being filed by ticked-off spiritualists, Houdini sure had a right to look bad.

He accepted an invitation by the head of the psychology department at McGill University to give a talk before the students. The lecture set records for attendance and it took place in the Student Union Building. Today this building is known as the McCord Museum and a photo can be seen in Episode 3 of the Magic Detective Show. Houdini's lecture took place in the ballroom at 5p.m. on Oct 19th, 1926. His talk was on Magic & Spiritualism. A stand-out moment in the lecture was when Houdini took a needle and shoved it through his cheek to demonstrate his high tolerance for pain. This is a stunt he had done for years in his talks and lectures. He finished his lecture talking about fake spirit mediums and his encounters with Lady Doyle, the wife of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and with good ole Margery the Boston Medium.

Following the lecture he met with students and one of those he talked to was Samuel Smilovitch, known as Sam Smiley. Sam had been doing sketches of Houdini during his lecture and showed them to him. He liked the artwork and invited Sam to meet with him backstage at the Princess Theatre before one of his performances over his run in Montreal. And that is where I stopped the Episode.

What takes place next is historic and tragic and will directly lead to the end of Houdini's life. Be sure to watch the next Episode of The Magic Detective for the details!

Red Marks to Tour Route. Blue is Houdini's detour to NYC

The Magic Detective Show Ep 3


Finally! What a nightmare this has been. I tried to upload this episode last evening and the power went out. Then the power came back and during the second attempt to upload, I lost my internet connection. Needless to say, Episode 3 is finally online!

This show talks a little about the Final Houdini Tour and his last lecture at McGill University in Montreal. Watch close because you'll see the building where Houdini presented his lecture. It took me a while to find this building because today the building is a museum. But 86 years ago it was the Student Union Building.

I hope you enjoy Episode 3 and this weekend I'll post the more in-depth blog article about Houdini's Final Tour.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Episode 2 Magic Detective Show


Here is Episode 2 now online. Once you watch the episode, head over to the blog article which gives more information about Episode 2. Enjoy!

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Magic Detective Show on Youtube!

 
FINALLY!!!!!!!! After months of delays, the first episode of The Magic Detective Show is online!
There is now a MagicDetective Youtube Channel, and I'd love it if you subscribed to the channel. I think I'm going to put together a 'blooper' video after a while so you can see some of the earlier attempts of recording the show. There are things I'd like to do that I can't because of the restraints of my camera. So season 1 will keep this format and if it's popular enough and I do a second season, I'll upgrade the camera and the look of the show.

If you are a collector or historian or performer with a cool piece of magic related history who would be willing to appear on my show, please let me know that also! You can reach me at: carnegiemagic@aol.com


Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

One Day Till -The Magic Detective Show


So after months of shoots and reshoots and restarts, the first episode is in the can, as they say. Between camera problems and just simply getting the time to shoot the show, it's been a challenge. I had expected to have this done MONTHS ago (like in January) but it never happened. But now I'm glad to say that the first and actually second episodes of the show are done.

The Magic Detective Show is a 5 minute look into the amazing world of theatrical magic history. We'll cover stories like the life, death and mysteries of Houdini, the first great American Magician Harry Kellar, we'll go in search of props and artifacts that belonged to great magicians and we'll visit with magic historians and collectors and much more.

The first episode of the Magic Detective You Tube Show will debut tomorrow, Friday Oct 5th at NOON Eastern Standard Time. It features an exciting escape from the 1970s gone bad!

The address to the Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/themagicdetective



Don't forget to enter the Magic Detective History Contest going on this month!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Magic History News/February 2012


There are a number of things to mention that are history related. First is the March 2012 issue Genii Magazine with Howard Thurston on the cover. Ok, it's not exactly Howard Thurston, it's Jonathan Levit portraying Thurston at the L.A. Conference of Magic History. The article "Thurston LIVES" is by Jim Steinmeyer and David Regal and is an interview with Mr. Levit about his role as Thurston. It's excellent.

While on the topic of Genii Magazine, there is a fantastic monthly column by John Gaughan called "The Chamber of Secrets." My one complaint about this column is it always leaves me wanting MORE! And that's a good thing actually. The articles are brief glimpses into magical apparatus from yesteryear and the articles are concise enough to draw in even those who are not usually interested in history. Believe me, they are worth checking out. In the past, he has covered The Hofzinser Rose Mirror, Antonio Diavolo the acrobat automaton created by Robert-Houdin, Joseffy's Rapping Hand and many other amazing curiosities.  Please go to www.geniimagazine.com to check out more and if you aren't a subscriber, now is as good a time as any!

If we move over to the monthly periodical of the Society of American Magicians M-U-M, we find a monthly column called "The Nielsen Gallery" by Tom Ewing which covers a different magic poster from the enormous collection of Norm & Lupe Nielsen. Also, there is a new column coming called "Treasures from the Salon De Magie" by Ken Klosterman. I can't say enough great things about Ken. His collection is beyond compare and he couldn't be a nicer gentleman. I've seen his collection first hand and it was one of the highlights of my magic life! You can find out more about them by going to www.magicsam.com

Next is MAGICOL, the periodical for the Magic Collectors Association. It is pure magic history from cover to cover. Besides a fantastic magazine they also have an excellent website as well at www.magicana.com

Another fabulous periodical on magic history is the Gibeciere by the Conjuring Arts Research Center. These are the same folks behind AskAlexander.com. Thanks Joe for the heads up on this. I can't believe I forgot to include them initially.

Then there is the official magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, The LINKING RING. Editor Sammy Smith does a fantastic job covering the history of magic in his articles. Plus the official website for the IBM has a page devoted to magic history with some additional great articles there. http://www.magician.org/portal/en/news/magic_history


FINALLY, there is Stan Allen's MAGIC Magazine. Every issue has at least one and often more than one article devoted to the history of the art. Mike Caveney's column "Classic Correspondence" contains so much valuable information, I don't know how he crams it all in there! Word is he just wrapped up his second run on the column and hopefully a third series will be coming soon. Just a quick example of previous history articles in MAGIC: Nov2011 An article on Billboard Magazines one time coverage of magic news. Dec 2011 there was a cover article on Johnny Thompson who is really living history! And Feb 2012 has a great article about the life and magic of Kirk Kirkham. To subscribe to MAGIC go to www.magicmagazine.com

OTHER NEWS

If you are wondering where 'The Magic Detective YouTube Show' is, well, it's coming. The debut is getting pushed back to March. I'll be doing what a friend of mine calls 'a soft rollout'. Meaning, the show will grow in content as we move forward but in the beginning I'll be keeping it fairly short.

The first episode is going to feature a video of my friend Steve Baker almost getting killed, FOR REAL, in Venezuela. I'll also share with you some behind the scenes things that Steve told me regarding the escape both before, during and after. It's a shocking piece of video, and yet I hope you enjoy it!

INSIDE BLOG NEWS
I received a very kind email from Jonathan Pendragon regarding the article I wrote about him. Well, Jonathan was nice enough to put a link on his Facebook page and that one article shot up past all the others to take the #1 spot! I was thrilled. Well, as of this week, we have a new #1, the article on HUGO and the Real George Melies has now gone past the Pendragon article. I can say, those two will probably fight it out for some time jockeying back and forth between 1&2. They are both good reads and if you missed them, click on their links.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

History of Magic Special

I think this is a BBC special on the History of Magic. They actually covered a number of different topics including: Mentalism, Levitation, Close-Up, and Escapology. Below are the videos for the escape part of the special and below that are 3 parts to the Stage Magic portion. The person who put these up on Youtube seems to have missed part 4-6. Regardless, these are great!

Special Highlights: In the Third Part of the Stage Magic Series there is a video of Harry Blackstone Sr, presenting the Buzz Saw. What makes it unique is how young Blackstone was in the clip.
In the Appearance/Vanish section Part 1 near the end you'll see the Fantastic Blooming Orange Bush.













STAGE MAGIC







APPEARANCES AND VANISHES











Saturday, October 8, 2011

Living Magic History

One of the most influential people in my life magic wise is Denny Haney of Denny's Magic Studio in Baltimore. I'll be the first to tell you, I used to spend hours and hours there, but that was years ago. In fact, it's been several years since I've been there (the problem with being a full time magician, you're always on the go). Anyway, I received the following email from Denny as part of his email/newsletters that he sent out. Pretty much every word out of his mouth is gold and this letter really says it all. There is so much wisdom layered throughout this letter its amazing. I didn't ask his permission to post this, but I have a feeling he won't mind. Below is ALL DENNY.

DID I EVER SAY “THANK YOU?”

Actually, I do it all the time.

If may have noticed that every invoice sent along with your orders has a personal “Thank You” written across the bottom and signed by myself. Yes, I do it almost automatically BUT, I do mean it.
When I decided to leave the road twenty years ago and open a REAL magic shop, many of you have been supporters of this magic studio right from the beginning. I know who you are.

A few months ago, I was awarded the “Milbourne Christopher Foundation MASTERS Award” at the S.A.M. Convention in Pittsburgh. This was quite a thrill for me as it is NOT a competition award. When your peers make a decision that you have made a significant contribution to the art of magic and to fellow magicians and you have become a “master” of your craft, then this award is presented.

The photo shows my good friend William Rauscher presenting the award to me at the S.A.M. Banquet.
It was truly and honor and my acceptance speech was cut a bit short by my emotion that swelled up in me and caused me to break up a bit.

I love this art of magic and just go through my life entertaining and trying to help those who want to entertain. It was nice to have someone notice. You MUST love your art first. Any rewards that come your way, either financially or spiritually, come from the love of the art. The art is ALWAYS first.

It just reminded me that the true art of magic has taken a bit of a downward spiral during the past years. It's not that there is less interest in magic. I really believe that there are more people interested in magic today than ever before in history. I should rephrase that….there are more people interested in DOING TRICKS than ever before. There is a lack of interest in things like the history of magic or the theory of presenting it correctly and yet I find these two subjects the most fascinating of the art. I continue to study these even today.

With the invention of the internet, there are literally thousands of on line sites where you can order magic tricks. Most of these sites exist ONLY on the internet. They are not real shops, nor are they owned or operated by a professional performer. They are just a place to buy things. They are warehouses, drop shippers or, even worse, the bedroom or basement of someone who owns a computer. Of course, this is true in almost any business today. I can only say this…”Get to know your dealer.”

Personally, long before I opened a magic shop, I always went to the most “experienced” to buy the things I needed or wanted. I went to old hardware stores, real clothiers, sound and lights companies, etc. To me, the most important thing was to buy from the guy who KNEW his trade. I would never buy tools or hardware from a man who cannot build. I would never buy a camera from someone who was not a photographer. I would never buy a suit from someone who does not know how to make them. The list goes on and on.

Today we go to the internet and buy from people we don't even know. We know nothing about them. We only know that they sell cheap. In most cases, they know very little about the things they sell. There is no “guidance” given, no “experience” in their past, and no love of the art in their hearts. It is only a way to make extra money.

If money were the only driving force, I would be selling tires or some other thing besides magic. I chose to sell magic because of my love of the art and my lifetime of performing. It is what I KNOW.

There are so few real magic shops left. The magic shop used to be the place everyone went to hang out, talk magic, and show others what they are working on. It was where you met more experienced performers and learned just by listening. Today it is difficult to get anyone away from their computer screen so they never leave their house. Even lecture attendance has fallen off drastically. It is an interent world and although the internet is full of information, it is not full of knowledge. They are two different things. Knowledge comes from personal interaction and experience. It really is a “social” thing.

Let's get out and socialize a bit more. Stop by a REAL magic shop for a day of fun and interaction. If you have one of these shops in your area, you are very fortunate. I repeat, KNOW YOUR DEALER. Read a bit more about the history of magic. It is very colorful and exciting. There is a “way” to learn to be a good magician. Let someone guide you along that “way.”

Just some thoughts. Just a way of saying thank you.

Remember, this is a REAL magic studio.  We are open 7 days a week from 10:00AM til 9:00PM.  Human beings answer the phone and it is usually me...personally.  There are no menu buttons to push and no recorded messages to listen to.  We actually answer the phone and can help you make GOOD decisions.
Denny & Lee Magic Studio
9004 Yellow Brick Road, Suite H
Rosedale, MD 21237
PHONE 410-686-3914

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Civil War Era Magicians Part 7

Ira and William Davenport certainly have that 'Civil War Era' look. They were two brothers from upstate New York. Probably influenced by the news of the Fox Sisters and the spirit manifestations they created, the Brothers developed an act of their own. In 1854 they introduced their Spirit Cabinet to America and along with the Fox Sisters, set the world into believing that contact with the spirits of recently departed people could be easily accomplished.

They did not fight in the war, but their direct connection to the Civil War is more than eerie. April 1861 while in Chicago , the brothers were conducting a seance, when a voice was heard coming from a spirit trumpet. This spirit voice declared a military conflict was taking place off the coast of South Carolina at Fort Sumter between the North and the South. This is a time long before mass media and news traveled slow.  Yet somehow this 'spirit' seemed to know what was taking place half way across the country.  The Davenport's spirit guides revealed the start of the Civil War before the actual news of the event arrived by telegraph! Though astonishing, this bit of information did not make them famous, as they already were famous. It caused those who believed in them to become more devout and those that questioned them to stand back and wonder how they were doing this. The Davenport Brothers continued to tour the Northern States during the War but departed for England in 1864.

Samri S. Baldwin
Next we have Samuel S. Baldwin, who went by Samri Baldwin and his stage moniker was 'The White Mahatma'. He was born in Cincinnati Ohio in 1848. Baldwin is credited for taking the question and answer techniques used in seances and turning them into a mentalism feat for the stage. So clever were his techniques that many are still used today.

His interest in the mystery arts came from watching and then following the Davenport Brothers around. Eventually, Baldwin was able to duplicate the feats presented by the brothers.  During the Civil War he joined the Ohio 83rd Infantry Regiment, Company B. He was the drummerboy for the regiment. After the war was over in 1865, Samri Baldwin began his performing career. He would continue to perform until his death on March 10th, 1924.

Next we have Fred Bearns, known as 'Bearns, The Monarch of All Ventriloquists and High Priest of Magic'. Not much is known about Bearns except he joined the 14th New York State Militia during the Civil War. He was captured and held prisoner in Richmond Va. After the war he used the billing, "Returned Prisoner of War from Richmond, with his Most Charming Experiments in Magic and Ventriloquism". No photo or poster remains of Fred Bearns to my knowledge.


Harry Kellar's first boss, The Fakir of Ava, was really Isaiah Harris Hughes and was born in Essex England on December 25, 1810. He moved to America and was quite a successful performer. He did well during the Civil War, though he did not enlist or fight.

Hughes presented a 'Gift Show' similar to what Wyman the Wizard, John Henry Anderson and others were using at the time. This technique seemed to work for him as the NY Times Obituary says he died a wealthy man.


Last on my list of Civil War era magicians is someone I've written about quite extensively, William Henry Palmer, better known as Robert Heller. Mr. Heller worked as a magician and musician prior to the Civil War. In the 1850s he was forced into a sort of early retirement from magic and moved to Washington D.C. and became a Music Professor.

Around 1861, as the Civil War started, Heller began to get back into magic. By 1864 he opened on Broadway with a hit show called "Sallie Diabolpue". Please click the link on his name to read more about the incredible Robert Heller. I have a three part article on Heller and a fourth and possibly fifth part coming later in the year.


There is no doubt I will have missed a number of magicians who also had some part to play during the Civil War. I'm actually amazed that I found as many as I did and it seems like more information on others pop up daily. This however will be the final blog on the magicians of the Civil War.  I hope you have enjoyed this historical journey. For those of you who would like a little more, there will be one more Civil War related article about the MAGIC of the Civil War magicians.






Friday, August 12, 2011

Civil War Era Magician Part 6

photo from the Mark Cannon Collection
This next magician is the real deal in regards to a Civil War magician. He served in the Union Army. He had a connection to Lincoln unlike anyone else. He was, a teacher, an inventor, a carnival showman, magician, escape artist, soldier and one remarkable individual, but I'm mainly going to focus on his relation to the Civil War.

He was born Horatio Green Cooke on February 1, 1844 in the town of Norwich, Connecticut. As a youth his family moved around a bit finally settling in Iowa. In 1862 the second year of the Civil War, Horatio, who would go by the name Harry, enlisted in the Union Army.

He went from being a private in the Union Army to being selected to be one of Lincoln's Federal 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, 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 a 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. The prisoners split up on their return and three swam across the Potomac and the others made their way through the woods. Only two of the scouts made it back safely, and Cooke was one of the two.


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. In April 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 learned to escape from ropes. One thing is certain, he had an ability to escape like no one before him, and few since. Unlike the other Civil War Magicians I profiled Harry Cooke did not perform during the war, except for the rope escape demonstration before President Lincoln and his friends.  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 short time later Horatio Green Cooke passed away on June 17, 1924.

Harry Cooke later in life. He is on the left, the one with the hat.

I must admit I never had heard of Horatio Green Cooke until Mark Cannon told me about him. Sadly, Cooke, like many magicians, had fallen through the cracks of time and had been forgotten. Mark knew about him because he received Cooke's personal scrapbook from Cooke's very own daughter! He has since written several articles on Harry Cooke and given lectures on Cooke's life. About the only information I had on Cooke was a short single page article that Mark had written on Cooke in MUM Magazine. Then I began digging deeper and I found Cooke's name popping up in much older magic periodicals. The internet provided a few surprises like the a Civil War record showing that Cooke was part of the 28th Regiment, Iowa Infantry. Census records showed the various places he lived. Gradually other pieces to the puzzle began to come together through newspaper archives.

Then I got an even bigger surprise, a relative of Harry Cooke contacted ME! That really spurred me on to finish this and help her learn more about her Great Great Uncle. The above family photo is from Harry Cooke's Great Great Niece. I also discovered a second much longer and extensive article about Harry Cooke that Mark Cannon had written after I did a lot of the research. It would have been nice to have this info early on as I might have finished sooner, but it was fantastic information and far more than I found.

For the record, Mark Cannon is in the process of writing a biography of Harry Cooke. I don't think he has a date set on when it will be finished.  Mark was also gracious enough to let me use the photo of Harry Cooke with the linking rings that is at the top of the blog. Mark certainly deserves the credit for reintroducing the world to Horatio Green Cooke and I look forward to the day his book is completed!

UPDATE: I just found out that there was a film made of Harry Kellar and Harry Cooke. It was taken by Mr. Ford of the Ford Film Company and was shot in California. According to the Kellar Book by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, the footage still exists and portions can be seen on the A&E TV Special "The Story of Magic" and also the PBS special "The Art of Magic". I must admit that I don't recall seeing Harry Cooke on video before, but I have seen very brief film footage of Harry Kellar.

UPDATE 2: I believe a copy of the film was given to the SAM. However, a search of the SAM DVD Library does not show this footage.

*My art teacher in High School was related to John Singleton Mosby.

NEXT: A Few More Civil War Magicians