Tony Pastor's Theatre - 30 Days of Houdini

Tony Pastor was a theatre owner who helped to usher in the age of Vaudeville in America. In fact, he is known as the Father of Vaudeville. His theatre, just down the street from Hubers Dime Museum was located on 14th Street. It was actually in the very building that once housed Tammany Hall. 

Houdini worked at Tony Pastors very briefly in January of 1895. They were excited about the opportunity as it was a step up from the Dime Museums. The Houdinis, Harry and Bess, worked at Tony Pastor's for a week. According to the Kenneth Silverman biography on Houdini, they received the following 'glowing' endorsement from Mr. Pastor, "The Houdinis act as performed here I found satisfactory and interesting." I guess they should be happy they didn't stink up the place, lol.

Below is a photo showing the Tammany Hall building. If you look closely you'll see a theatre sign for the Olympic Theatre. This is the spot that Tony Pastor would lease for his 14th Street Theatre. This image is actually from AFTER Pastors was in that spot, but I wanted you to see the whole building. I believe the first theatre in that spot was the Germania theatre, and then Pastors and then the Olympic. Also, take a look at the building on the left hand side. This is an important building in the history of magic as well. This was the old Academy of Music building, the third Opera House in NYC. Many an old time magician performed there prior to Vaudeville. 

Now below, you can see the same spot occupied by Tony Pastors Theatre. The Houdini's actually performed at Tony Pastors more than once. Also of note, Tony Pastors is shown in the Tony Curtis HOUDINI Movie. 

Sadly, the Father of Vaudeville fell prey to the circuits that would open, Keiths and others. It was very difficult for him to compete. I was not aware at first, but Tony Pastor sang in his theatre at every show for years. He died August 26th, 1908 and the theatre was closed at that point. 

The building was torn down in 1927. Today that space is the location of the Consolidated Edison Building.

Dime Museum Harry - Chicago

Dime Museum Harry at Kohl & Middleton's Chicago

The Houdini Brothers were fortunate enough to get booked during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. They worked the Midway for about a month and then Harry was able to book the act in a local Dime Museum,  Kohl & Middleton Dime Museum.

There were three locations for Kohl and Middletons. Harry played at the 150 North Clark Street location and also the 294 South State Street location in Chicago. They worked there for a short time before returning to New York. He would return to Kohl and Middletons again as late as 1897.

Click here to see a photo of what the Kohl & Middleton looked like in Houdini's day. None of the original buildings exist any more. However, below is a picture of the location where the Kohl and Middleton Dime Museum on Clark Street once stood. Today the location is filled by Bank of America.

Kohl & Middleton's Dime Museum Once Stood Here.

Dime Museum Harry - Huber's NYC

I think it was Kenneth Silverman who first pointed out that Houdini didn't care for his days in the Dime Museums and even hated being called 'Dime Museum Harry'. Unfortunately, we all have to start somewhere and Houdini got his start in the Dime Museums. One of the first was a place in NYC called Hubers. It was located on 106 East 14st Street and remained open until 1910, when the owner sold the location to a restaurant.

Hubers Dime Museum was a mixture of arcade, freak show, lecture hall, showplace, wax figures, and actual museum housing various curiosities and historical memorabilia. For the beginning performer, this kind of venue is gold, well not in the monetary way, but in gaining valuable performing experience. Houdini first performed there with his partner Jacob Hyman doing fairly simple magic, card tricks and their sub-trunk. They didn't just do one show per day or two, sometimes it was up to 20 shows in a day. Now, keep in mind, 'show' probably meant only a few minutes of material. But doing multiple shows back to back like that is going to make you good really fast.

Another bonus for Houdini was meeting George Dexter, who was managing Huber's and was also a magician. According to The Secret Life of Houdini, it was Dexter who taught Houdini the techniques of rope ties. There is no telling what unusual techniques he picked up from other performers that would later come in handy in his work as an escape artist.

Eventually, the Houdinis (Harry & Bess now) moved up and out of the Dime Museum's and into other venues. But there is no mistaking the value of the time spent in front of live audiences perfecting his craft that was obtained during the Dime Museum days.

Incidentally, in 1910 when Hubers was closing, Houdini attended the auction and purchased a couple items from the vast amount of curios. It was more to have a memento of the place that he first got started in show business.

The location of Hubers today. Nothing remains of the once popular Dime Museum