Houdini in D.C. 97 Years Ago Today

Harry Houdini was in the Nation's Capital, Washington D.C. on April 19th, 1916 and he had a busy day scheduled. He was going to present what I think was his FIRST hanging straight jacket escape in Washington that day. There was an enormous crowd that had gathered to watch Houdini attempt the impossible. The Washington Times newspaper said that there were more than 15,000 spectators who came out to watch Houdini. The paper also said "Persons who saw the great throng from windows of nearby buildings said it was the biggest crowd ever assembled in Washington at one place except for the inauguration of a President."

Houdini was appearing at the Keith's Vaudeville Theatre on 15th, which was about a block from where the straight jacket escape would take place. This particular escape is not the one captured in the famous photo of Houdini hanging upside down in front of the Treasury Building. In fact, that escape took place in 1922. The first hanging straight jacket escape by Houdini in Washington D.C. took place in front of the Munsey Building. It was also known as the Times Building and today is known as the Marriott Building. It is located right next to the National Theatre at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street. I am assuming Houdini hung on the side facing Pennsylvania Avenue because he would be seen by more spectators from that side. Due to the fact it was the Times Building probably explains the front page coverage of his escape in the Washington Times Newspaper.

Houdini in a Straight Jacket (not from D.C. stunt however)*

The paper says that a derrick was erected and hung out of a 5th floor window. Ropes and pulleys were attached to this which would later raise Houdini from the ground. The straight jacket he was placed in seems to be different from the standard. The paper says "Houdini was strapped into this jacket with his arms bound to his sides with heavy leather bands and buckles. His hands were in front of him and all of the buckles were in the back where he could not possibly reach them." It sounds like a slightly different kind of jacket because of the leather bands that held Houdini's arms to his sides. But it could have just been a normal leather straight jacket and this was how the reporter perceived it.

Houdini was raised between 75-100 ft in the air and freed himself in 2.5 minutes.

Houdini gives an interview to the newspaper before the escape and has this to say, "I've about reached my limit, it seems to me. For the last thirty years, or thereabouts, I've been getting out of all sorts of things human ingenuity has devised to confine a human being. Up to date there hasn't been anything made that confined my activities to any alarming extent. But some day some chap is going to make one. And I'm going to quit with a clean record before he comes along. I've about made up my mind that this is the last stunt I'll perform. Hereafter, I intend to work entirely with my brain. See these gray hairs? They mean something. I'm not as young as I was. I've had to work hard to keep ahead of the procession. I'll still be entertaining the public for many years to come. But I intend to do it along lines not quite so spectacular. As an escapist extraordinary I feel that I'm about through."

Houdini said that in 1916 and he would have been 42 years old. But apparently, he did not retire from escapes as he continued to do them for another 10 years, until his untimely death.

*The photo is not from the 1916 D.C. Straight Jacket Escape. I did find a photo that 'might' have been from that escape because of the configuration of the jacket, but I don't know who owns it so I just skipped by it.

Also, the above link on the Munsey Building will take you to an article I wrote about Houdini's D.C. Challenges and there is a photo of the building as it looked around the time of Houdini.

The Challenge Houdini Refused

Houdini accepted many challenges throughout his life. In truth, he set up many of those very challenges. But in October of 1921 Houdini was hit with the most darling challenge of his life! I found this little story in the Oct 2, 1921 edition of the Saginaw News Courier. The headline of the article reads "HOUDINE Stopped, Wife is Reason He Can't Go Through". Yes, they spelled his name wrong in the headline.

Apparently, Houdini received a letter from a young lady in Auckland, New Zealand. In the letter she said she was 18 and alone and had an annuity of 2500 pounds per year and she was 'willing to accept a proposal of marriage from Houdini'. The letter went on to say "she knew by his motion pictures that he was an honorable man and therefore had implicit confidence in him. She suggests that if he will cable her she will come by the first convenient boat to become "personally acquainted" with him."

She goes on to say "They can keep company for three months and if after that time they find they are not mutually fit she can return home. She adds, she is not stage struck, but simply thinks that fate will be kind."

The article concludes that the only thing standing in the way from Houdini accepting the challenge is...Mrs. Houdini! (What a spoiled sport she was!)

I would like to add, for the sake of clarity, that any rich or fairly well off single ladies, with a modeling background, who are interested in testing out this theory in the 21st Century, I have no Mrs. Houdini, or Mrs. Carnegie as it were, to get in the way. And you need not come by boat! But you should send a photo first :)

Steve Baker Mr. Escape Update

I spoke with a friend of mine today, Steve Baker, known professionally as Mr. Escape. Steve is in his 70s now and not in the best health. He has had a number of serious health scares and was in a rehab/nursing home for quite a while. Though he is home now, I can tell he's not the same. As we spoke today he went on and on about how puzzled he is that no one contacts him. I mentioned the fact that maybe it had something to do with the fact that he doesn't give out his phone number, he no longer has email and no one has his address. His response, "I have email". So I followed that up with, "really, for three years you've been telling me that you needed to get your computer working again. So you've got it working now?". He replied "yes." So I sent him an email after we got off the phone and it bounced back, exactly as I expected it would. I get the impression that in his mind he thinks it's several years ago. I know for a while he was having a serious issue with short term memory, but they've amazingly got that resolved.

He is surely a controversial figure. He's probably pissed off more people in the magic world than I've even met! And yet, he can count some very big names as good friends. He's always had a combative nature to him which is unfortunate because the 'everyday Steve' is a pretty nice fellow. But I also am aware of the honory side of Steve that probably did more to get him in trouble than help him. I can't tell you how many fires I've tried to put out where he was concerned, sometimes it worked, often times it didn't. But escape artists by nature are complex people and then again, aren't we all.

Below is a video from last year of Steve while he was in the Nursing Home. An effort was made to bring back his belongings from his California storage unit. For the record, everything was brought back through the efforts of Theresa Greenwood and some friends of hers. At any rate you can see Steve as he looked then. I believe he is doing a little better now, though his memory is spotty sometimes.