Magic Detective Podcast Ep10 Notes on Harry Kellar in Retirement

Most people kind of fade out of the limelight when they retire. But this was not the case for Harry Kellar. Sure, he didn't spend all of his time on the road going from theatre to theatre but he still traveled a fair amount. He also visited his old friends quite a bit. And he kept up with magic.

Kellar retired in 1908 when he handed his Mantle of Magic over to Howard Thurston. But Thurston got a lot more than the Mantle. He also received Kellar's Manager, Keller's Touring Routes, Kellar's two chief assistants Frizt and Carl Bucha, as well as all the props and paraphernalia that went with the Kellar show. And to the surprise of many, Thurston only kept two of Kellar's illusions, the rest he sold.

The first thing he did after he retired was take a very long vacation in Atlantic City. Above is a photo of Kellar and Houdini in Atlantic City. According to the Ken Silverman bio on Houdini, this is where their friendship really began to take off. Over time they developed a father/son type of relationship and it's proven in the various letters they shared back and forth.

I mentioned on the podcast about a photo I had of an improved Kellar prop. His name was cast into the iron, and below is a photo of that prop. I'm only showing the part that has Kellar's name due to secrecy issues. The piece is now owned by David Haversat.

Here is a video of Kellar and Houdini. I'm not sure of the location, but I did learn that Houdini had some film footage taken of Kellar and himself while he was in Los Angeles, so that is possibly where this was taken.

One quick minor correction to the podcast also has to do with Kellar giving Psycho to Houdini in 1919. He didn't ship it to Houdini but rather gave it to him while Houdini was in California making movies. 

Finally, I wanted to give you the link to an article I wrote a few years back called 'Kellar's Last Mystery'.


I used the book, Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, The Sphinx Magazine, Ken Silverman's Bio on Houdini, AskAlexander.org and several other sources during my research for the entire three part series on Harry Kellar. I also used Geneologybank.com, Newspapers.com to research newspaper articles on Harry Kellar.

Magic Detective Podcast Ep 9 -Notes

Episode 9 is up and ready to listen to. This is part 2 of the Amazing Life of Harry Kellar. It covers his years right after the tragic shipwreck, right up to his retirement in 1908.

Along the way I mentioned a few things and I wanted to share them below. First up was the Automaton Psycho that Harry Kellar ripped off from John Nevil Maskelyne. Below is a video of Kellar's Psycho in action.

Next I mentioned the Blue Room and also The Spectre Cabinet. After reading through the book Kellar's Wonders by Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, it appears that the video below is actually The Spectre Cabinet and not the Blue Room, IF I understood this correctly. It is referred to as The Blue Room, and I'm assuming the two effects are similar in operation. At least you get an idea of how magnificent this effect really was.

This next video has a clip of The Mascot Moth, but you have to wait till the very end of the video. It's in the last few seconds.

Finally, here is an image of the beautiful Golden Butterfly Poster.

Episode 10 will conclude the series on Kellar and will cover his retirement years.

Carnegie On French Houdini Documentary

Back in May of 2018, I took part in a documentary segment about the time Houdini testified before Congress. This segment was for the French TV Channel ARTE. The segment finally aired TODAY, November 21st, 2018. It's all in French, so if you don't speak French, you won't understand a word, lol. But it's a pretty good segment and I hope you enjoy it. Below is the french version. 

By the way, during the actual event in 1926, Houdini presented the Spirit Slates to the Congressman, and then exposed it to them. He said, "My oath prevents me from exposing magic secrets, but I have no problem exposing the secrets of mediums". I did a quick demonstration of the Spirit Slates during my segment, though unlike Houdini, I did not expose it!

Episode 8 Magic Detective Podcast Additional Notes

Episode 8 of The Magic Detective Podcast is about the Life of Harry Kellar. As I was recording the episode today I quickly realized that this would be a multi-part episode. So this first part only cover 1849-1875. I've covered this period of time on this blog before, so I'm going to give you links that you can check out about the various topics.

1. The Fakir of Ava http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/01/fakir-of-ava.html

2. The Davenport Brothers & The Spirit Cabinet http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/03/spirit-cabinet-history.html

3. William Fay http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/02/who-was-william-fay.html

4. The Shipwreck http://www.themagicdetective.com/2012/06/kellars-sunken-treasure.html
Please note there is a small error on the podcast. I mentioned that following the shipwreck, Kellar wired for money from his father. In truth, Harry Kellar borrowed money, approx $1000 from Junius Spenser Morgan, a banker, and the father to J.P. Morgan. 

5. The Vanishing Birdcage http://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/02/vanishing-bird-cage-history.html

And if you'd like to listen to the podcast before you check out the above links. Here you go!!!

Houdini the Patriot

Today, Nov 11, 2018, marks the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War 1. The war which began in 1914. Coincidentally, the United States did not get into WWI until the day that Houdini celebrated as his birthday, April 6th, 1917.  And, despite the fact that the land in which Houdini was really born, Hungary, was involved on the opposing side in the war, Houdini stayed true to The United States.  He was a true blue American. Though Houdini appears to be mostly apolitical, he was certainly quite patriotic. And he was a big supporter of the War effort in WWI. Houdini actually enlisted but was too old to be considered. Instead, he got behind President Wilson and the war effort by selling Liberty Bonds and performed at military bases across the country to support the troops.

The S.S. Antilles, was a US Troop-Transport Ship that was sailing out of France on it's way to the United Stated on October 15, 1917. A German u-boat fired a torpedo at the Antilles the morning of Oct 17th sinking the ship. Sixty Seven sailors lost their lives.

Now Houdini steps into the picture. As a way to raise money for the families of the service members who died, Houdini put together a benefit show. His idea was to bring together theatrical artists and put on a huge show at the Hippodrome Theatre in NYC. The program was dubbed, 'Remember The Antilles' and was presented on November 11th, 1917. Among the artists in the 'Carnival of Wonders' portion of the show were: Charles Carter, Frederick E. Powell, Julius Zancig, Howard Thurston, Theo Hardeen, Adelaide Herrmann, Houdini, the biggest name of them all Harry Kellar.

Kellar's name was important, as he was coaxed out of retirement for the singular event. His appearance was billed as 'positively farewell performance by Harry Kellar, The Dean of Magicians.' He had retired from the stage in 1908, having handed his 'Mantle of Magic' over to Howard Thurston at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore MD. For his portion of the show he presented 'table lifting' and then his version of the Davenport Spirit Cabinet. An account in the Dec 1917 issue of The Sphinx magazine says that Kellar far outshined all the earlier performers. And they added this, "He is just as good as ever and works with the same rare skill that made him not only the dean of magicians, but one of the most finished performers we have ever known."

Houdini followed with his Metamorphosis routine and then the Water Torture Cell. I should also note, to promote the entire event he did his upside down strait jacket escape from a crane on Broadway.

When the event was over Houdini's benefits show raised $10,000.00. This would be a little over $212,000.00 in todays money. I'd say it was a huge success.  Speaking of money raised, The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman says that Houdini sold more than $1,000,000.00 in war bonds and gave away at least $7000 of his own money to soldiers during shows at military bases.

There is more to the Carnival of Magic Show at the Hippodrome, but I'd prefer to include that in an upcoming podcast. For now, I hope you enjoyed Houdini the Patriot!