Happy 140th Birthday Harry Houdini

Today, March 24th, 2014, marks the 140th Anniversary of the birth of Ehrich Weiss, better known to the world as Harry Houdini. I'm sure, as his mother was giving birth to young Ehrich in Budapest, she had no idea that her son would become world famous, and his fame would grow even larger after his death.

You'd think that everything that could be written about Houdini has already been covered. But that has proven to be false. New insights and revelations of the Master Mystifier come to light almost every week. Just look at all the Houdini sites listed to the right of this article, along with all the articles I've written on Houdini and you'll see that he is a never ending fountain of information and entertainment.

I think his most amazing feat is his longevity. Sure, the Milk Can was incredible, the Water Torture Cell was awe inspiring, the hanging Strait jacket escape was a thing of genius but all of those have been done by lesser performers (no offense intended). Houdini had something that very few acts ever get, historical timing. The other act that probably can also claim historical timing is a little band called The Beatles. Houdini came along as we moved out of the Victorian era into a Brave New World of industry and technology. The Beatles came along while the world was a fairly innocent place and as the Vietnam War dragged on and the culture changed, the Beatles were there at that same moment in time. Trust me, no one will know who Justin Bieber is in 100 years, but they'll still know Houdini and they'll still be listening to the Beatles.

Houdini has passed the point of being a celebrity and now has moved into the status of legend. His feats seem so wild and crazy that some people are not sure if he was a real person or just a creation of fiction or of Hollywood. Houdini helped to add fuel to that fire while he was alive by embellishing some of his achievements. But in retrospect, he didn't have to. He was extremely fascinating even without the pomp and circumstance.

The Magic Detective & Mandala Magazine and More

I just found out yesterday that back in 2012, Mandala Magic Magazine had an article about HOUDINI and in the article they spent a little time talking about THIS blog. They also discussed John Cox's Blog and Kevin Connolly's blog as well. It was a pleasant surprise and the article itself was posted to another website by the original author of the piece, so you can read it here.

Also, coincidentally, yesterday was my first introduction to the Mandala Magazine itself, even before I found out about the earlier article. I found out they had done an rather extensive interview with David Bull of Le Grand David and also interviewed Rick Heath and Ellen Sheehan from the show as well. It is a FANTASTIC article which shares some insights on the last few years of the show, the death of Cesareo and how it affected the cast and the reasons why the show closed and what is going on currently and what the future holds.

The issue can be found in the 'past issues Volume 4'.  If you are interested in checking it out click the link, the issue costs $5.95 and is digital, so they will send you a link to download it.

The Mandala Magazine is a product of and owned by Shawn McMaster.

Houdini And Samri Baldwin

The photo above is Samri Baldwin and Harry Houdini. Baldwin was born Samuel Baldwin in Cincinnati OH in 1848. He performed professional as The White Mahatma. Samri is credited with taking the question and answer techniques used by mediums and applying them to magic and mentalism. His techniques are still used today.

I'm not sure, but I might have stumbled upon a discovery*.  I believe it was in Jim Steinmeyer's book about Howard Thurston where I read that Samri Baldwin in 1921 had a small spot in the Thurston Show. Baldwin had brought along with him a trunk full of treasures he had collected over the course of his career and life. They were to be a gift to Howard Thurston. But there was a problem, the two did not get along. So much for that gift! I kind of assumed at that point that Baldwin probably gave or bequeathed the trunk to his daughter Blanche Baldwin, though I had no real proof either way.

Well, yesterday I'm looking through some of the scrapbooks in the Harry Ransom Houdini Collection and what should pop up? A scrapbook belonging to S.S. and Kittie Baldwin! Now this is not the trunk full of treasures that was mentioned in the Thurston book, but I bet it was part of that trunk!

As it turns out, my discovery, or what I thought was a discovery falls flat near the end. Samri Baldwin did not give the scrapbook to Houdini. His daughter gave the book to Houdini, as can be seen by the inscription in the front. Samri died March 10th, 1924 and on April 21st, the book was sent to Houdini. So the trunk of treasures remained with the family with the exception of this scrapbook. Or maybe she gave them to someone else? Where the trunk of treasures ended up is anyone's guess.

*Turns out this 'discovery' has been made before. And as is mentioned in the comments below, was also revealed in the book 'Metamorphosis' by Bruce MacNab. The only unique thing that I did was make the connection of the book to the trunk of memorabilia mentioned in the Thurston book by Jim Steinmeyer, but his is only a guess on my part.

For MORE on Samri Baldwin Listen to my podcast http://magicdetectivepodcast.com/e/samuel-spenser-baldwin-pioneer-clairvoyant/