Tracking the Body of Houdini

Grace Hospital Detroit (Library of Congress photo)

With the recent controversy and chatter over the History Channels DECODED Episode regarding HOW Houdini Died, I thought I'd go in a slightly different direction and follow his body after his passing. We know Houdini died on October 31, 1926 in Detroit Michigan. What follows is a description of the events following his death right up until his burial. There are photos of the various places his body stopped along the way and the article concludes with the short 20 second recording of the Houdini Funeral.

DETROIT Oct 31, 1926

Wm. R. Hamilton Funeral Home

He died at 1:26 p.m. in Room 401 at Grace Hospital in Detroit. From there his body would have gone to the hospital morgue and then to Wm. R. Hamilton's Funeral Home on 3957 Cass St. The photo here shows the white house which was the original building for the funeral home and is where Houdini's body would have been. There is a larger brick building connected to it on the left but this was not completed until the 1930s. This is where Houdini was embalmed by John Fraser, one of the employees at the funeral home.

While this was happening the Houdini Show and all it's props and equipment were being crated and shipped back to NY. However, oddly, one piece did not make the trip. It was a bronze coffin with a glass lid which Houdini had intended to use for a buried alive stunt during the 1926-27 Tour. After the embalming at Wm.R. Hamilton's Funeral Home his body was put into this coffin and then into the crate for the coffin. Houdini's body now fully crated was taken by truck to the Michigan Central Station. An extra Pullman Car had to be added to the train for Houdini's casket and for his family to travel back home.

ARRIVAL IN NY
Newspaper accounts of the time report the body leaving Detroit on the 1st to arrive on the 2nd in the morning at Grand Central Station in NYC. In the photo (left), you can see the crate containing the casket with Houdini's body. One thing I never noticed before was the fellow standing on the far left hand side with his hat in his hand. That is Servais LeRoy, the illusionist and friend of Houdini. In fact, hundreds of people were at the station to see the casket arrive. Houdini had been the President of the Society of American Magicians as well as one of the most famous and beloved entertainers in the world, his death came as a shock to everyone.

Location of West End Funeral Home W 91st

Upon arrival at Grand Central Station, the casket was taken by Samuel Rothschild to his West End Funeral Chapel, 200 West 91st Street. The casket was to remain in state at the funeral parlor until November 4th. There had been talk of having the casket lie in state at the Hippodrome Theatre but this did not happen.
A letter Houdini had written several years before was discovered outlining the details of his funeral and they followed his instructions. Per Houdini's wishes the funeral would take place at the Elks Clubhouse Lodge No.1 in NYC. According to news reports, thousands of people came by to pay their respects at the funeral parlor.  By the way, the photo to the above/right shows the location of the West End Funeral Chapel, but today it is the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel.

NOVEMBER 4TH

On the morning of November 4th, 1926, the casket made it's second to last stop, this time the Elks Clubhouse on West 43rd near Broadway. It took three cars to move all the flowers from the funeral parlor to the Elks Clubhouse. Houdini would have been proud as the room was packed  for  his funeral. Close to two thousand people showed up for the service.

The service began at 10:30 a.m. and was officiated by Rabbi Bernard Drachman and Rabbi B.A. Tintner. Eulogies and remembrances were given by numerous fraternal groups, magicians and others in the theatrical community. The very first Broken Wand Ceremony was conducted by a member of the Society of American Magicians. This is where a magician breaks a wand to signify that the magic of the deceased individual has ended. It's a great ceremony, but I'm actually not sure how fitting it was for Houdini as his magic kinda continued on, even till today.

Kenneth Silverman's book HOUDINI!!! says that Bess held up well until the casket was sealed at which point she broke down in tears. Incidentally, the casket that Houdini's body traveled in from Detroit to NYC was actually a bronze casket liner. It was placed inside a larger casket and the entire thing hermetically sealed before it was carried out to the hearse. Houdini's male assistants acted as the pallbearers, with some very notable individuals being listed as honorary pallbearers; Martin Beck, his former manager and theatrical impresario, Bernard Gimbel, one of the originators of the Gimbels Dept. Store, William Morris, of the famed entertainment agency,  and Adolph Zucker, a film mogul who started Famous Players Film Company which eventually became Paramount Pictures. These were just a few of the high profile names listed as honorary pallbearers.

As the casket was carried to the hearse, the mourners could see for the first time that the streets were jammed with 2,000 spectators who had all come out to say their last goodbye to the master of mystery.

Houdini Funeral Procession

According to The Secret Life of Houdini, the funeral procession to Macapelah Cemetery contained twenty five vehicles.  How long it took to travel from the Elks Clubhouse to the cemetery, I do not know. Silverman's book HOUDINI!!! says that the funeral procession was scheduled to drive through the theatrical district before heading to the cemetery.

Finally at the cemetery, the two rabbis were present at the grave site as well as Houdini's family and widow Bess and one hundred+ mourners. Houdini made it clear in his final burial instructions that he was to be placed next to his mother. After the final words and prayers were given by the rabbis, the casket was lowered into the ground. According to the Silverman biography, Theo Weiss, Harry's brother tossed a flower onto the lowering casket and as if my magic a shower of flowers were tossed by the grieving graveside friends. This can be seen on the longer 1 minute plus footage of the Houdini Funeral, but I've only seen the shorter video (below).

Below is a short 20 second video of footage from the Houdini Funeral. It's obviously second or third generation because of the poor quality.

RIP Houdini

HOUDINI ARRESTED!!!!

I'm amazed at the number of newspaper articles which have used Houdini's name in the headline referring to some criminal. Usually, it refers to someone who got away from the police. In February of 1907, in the Pawtucket Times Newspaper, an article appeared that at first glance I assumed was this same sort of thing. But I went back and read it and to my surprise, it was about Houdini being arrested.

HOTEL CLERK CAUSES ARREST OF HOUDINI

Claims Handcuff King Assaulted Him After Challenge

Providence. Feb 11-Houdini, the handcuff king was arrested Saturday afternoon on a charge of assault brought by a local hotel clerk. The clerk alleges that he challenged Houdini to a test of skill and that he was assaulted by the great attraction at Keith's. Bonds were placed at $3000, which were furnished by Manager Lovenberg of the theatre.

This is a frustrating piece of news. Not because Houdini was arrested, but because I could find no newspaper report which gave a follow-up. It also looks like it happened at the end of his run in Rhode Island and on the day when Houdini was about to travel to Boston for a weeks worth of shows. There is no mention of it anywhere that I can locate. Perhaps, the charges were dropped, who knows? The arrest didn't stop Houdini from performing in Providence as he was back in 1911 at Keith's.

Anyone with details of what happened following the arrest, please let me know so I can add it to the story.

A Mysterious Houdini Girlfriend

Minnie and Hattie Mooser

Over the years, there has been speculation that Houdini might not have been so faithful to Bess as the legend tried to portray him. First revelation was Daisy White back in the 1970s. Then Kenneth Silverman revealed Charmian London, the widow of writer Jack London. John Cox wrote the definitive blog on Houdini and his 'girlfriends'. He revealed quite a few that I had not heard of. I knew of one that had not been mentioned and held onto it thinking I had a big revelation. But I have since discovered that this one was revealed in The Secret Life of Houdini by Bill Kalush. The reason I'm writing about it though is because both Mr. Kalush and I got the information from the same sources, a newspaper article and a first hand account from escape artist Steve Baker, and I have something to share at the end that wasn't covered in the Secret Life of Houdini.

Hattie Mooser was the 'mysterious girlfriend' I wish to share with you. She was born in 1878 in Nevada but grew up in Sacramento CA. For a number of years, Hattie and her sister Minnie ran a restaurant called the Aladdin Studio Tiffin Room in the Chinatown section of San Fransisco.  This was a popular hang out for folks in the theatrical business. According to Hattie, when the Houdini's were in town they made the place their headquarters.

Hattie was kind of vague about her relationship to Houdini when she spoke to the press, referring to Houdini as an adopted brother. But she revealed to Steve Baker that he was far more than a brother! More like, kissing cousins! There is an article that appeared in the Feb 17th, 1967 edition of the Oakland Tribune Newspaper. It's an interesting interview with Hattie and her sister Minnie. In the article Hattie claims to have met Houdini through her brother Leon. But I'm skeptical of the story she relates. She said that it was her brother that booked Houdini to work at the Palace Theatre in NYC. She also went on to say that Houdini didn't even own a tuxedo and her brother loaned him one of his. Further, she goes on to state that Houdini almost didn't go on stage to perform and her brother had to shove him onto the stage.

There exist photos of a very young Houdini wearing a tuxedo, so that part of the story doesn't ring true to me. And the notion that Houdini was too frightened to go out on the stage of the Palace Theatre really strikes me as untrue. No date is given when this took place, but if it happened earlier in Houdini's career, then who knows, maybe it did. One thing is for certain, Houdini knew the Moosers.

Tower of Jewels

In the article, Hattie mentions that Houdini took her to see his movie, 'The Man From Beyond'. She actually told him afterwards that she thought it was awful and was shocked someone could convince him to invest in such a thing! She also mentions in the article going with Houdini to the 1915 San Fransisco Worlds Fair. She was able to get them into the Tower of Jewels, which was a large Italianate main tower adorned with 102,000 glass gems that sparkled when swayed by the wind. Hattie said "We went to dinner afterwards and he asked when my sister and I would observe our birthdays. I asked him why and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of jewels. You know, nobody took their eyes off of him when he was in the tower and I have no idea how he got them." But don't take that to assume Houdini was a thief, as I have discovered that the Fair sold jeweled souvineers and I'll bet thats what he gave to Hattie and her sister.

Hattie also claims to have substituted for Bess in the show. She very well may have acted as one of the female assistants.  Then there is the revelation that Houdini shared with her one of the secrets to his jail escapes. This did not appear in the newspaper. She shared this information with Steve Baker during a private visit he had with the sisters. She swore Steve to secrecy and to my knowledge he has only shared that information with one individual.

Hattie and Minnie both lived a long life. Hattie lived to be 92 and her sister Minnie lived to be 98. While doing additional research on the Moosers I discovered that The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft Library University of California Berkley has a collection of scrapbooks and other documents belonging to the Moosers. There is memorabilia from the 1915 Worlds Fair, which are probably the jewels given to them by Houdini. This is the information on that collection: Collection #: WJHC 1968.012 AR1

There just might be a whole new chapter in the Houdini saga sitting in the pages of those scrapbooks. The photo of Houdini that can be seen in the background of the picture at the top of the blog is not among the collection. That 20x36 photo was auctioned off in 2004 and went for over $10,000. Houdini had signed it to Hattie, "To my good friend Hattie Mooser, 'My brain is the key that sets me free' Houdini, 3/23/23."