Book: David Copperfield's History of Magic

 

(photos by Homer Liwag, used with permission)

My readers and listeners to my podcast tend to already be magic history fans. Some however are new to magic history, others are just interested in history and they enjoy the stories of magicians. Whichever category you are part of, please pay attention to the next few paragraphs.

I remember listening to the radio on my way to work. A news report came on about a strange collection of magic that was in need of a buyer. It must have been an article in a newspaper that some radio personalities picked up to talk about. At any rate, I remember them saying it was called The Mulholland collection and it was worth 2.3 million dollars or somewhere in that price range. I also remember talking so some friends of mine and trying to figure out just how to come up with 2.3 million dollars to buy this thing, LOL. Needless to say, we didn't come up with the money. Instead, another person did. Encouraged by his friend Mike Caveney, David Copperfield purchased the Mulholland Collection. That alone was pretty exciting news. The most popular magician of the day just purchased the biggest collection of magic known to exist. What exactly was IN the collection was not known to me. I imagine some folks in the magic history world had a good idea, but I was not yet in that group, neither was David, yet. 

Over time, David would purchase numerous collections. Eventually it would become 6 times the size of the original Mulholland Collection. And slowly overtime, this new curator and his crew would create the most amazing museum of magic. The official name is the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, it is located somewhere in Las Vegas and is not even open to the public. If you were part of the latest Magic History Conference that Bill Smith put together, you had the rare fortune of getting a tour of the museum. (I was not among the lucky participants)

The book, David Copperfield's History of Magic is a journey into David's World of Magic and frankly our world of magic. It's his enormous collection that is lovingly shared in breathtaking photos throughout the book. The photos taken by a magical artist in his own right Homer Liwag. Every single photo is a work of art. In fact, ALL of the photos in this article were taken by Homer and are used with permission (please do not copy them).

The book begins with what I believe are the two most perfect words for a book of this nature. Two simple words, "Magic Matters." As historians we know it. As performers we know it. As fans of magic we know it. And in this crazy world we live in, it's time we let others know and remind those of us who have forgotten, Magic Matters!

There are 28 Chapters in this book and they are basically in chronological order. The first being a chapter about the first english language magic book, Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft of 1584. I have seen one of these treasured books in person at another historian's collection. I would not even touch the book, knowing of it's age and it's fragile state, I only looked upon it with awe. This marks an ideal way to begin the history of magic. 

Next we have a chapter on Robert-Houdin the Father of Modern Magic. I think he needs a new title, as He was more the Father of 19th Century Magic. The images included in that chapter show the Pastry Chef of the Palais Royale, numerous posters, cornucopias used to produce items in the show, and numerous Houdin Mystery Clocks. The chapter covers a brief history of Robert Houdin and it wonderfully illustrates the importance of Houdin in the history of our art.

I'm not going to cover every chapter, but I do want to mention the next one, which is on Wyman the Wizard. Readers of my blog will know of my interest in this gentleman. In fact, the chapter also covers a magician who I've written about a lot, Harry Cooke. Both of these artists have ties to Abraham Lincoln which is why they appear in the same chapter. Within David Copperfield's collection are the very coins that Wyman the Wizard used to magically pass through the hand of Mr. Lincoln. That might be one of the most incredible pieces in the collection.

Chapter 9 focuses on the Queen of Magic, Adelaide Herrmann. Take a look at this stunning image of her dress. It has a beautiful yet haunting effect to it. You can almost see her standing there in that very dress. Being able to see the actual costumes from these old time performers is to me, more exciting than seeing the various posters. The costumes really bring the artist to life. Playbills, posters, and such are two dimensional records of a performers life and career. But when you have a costume on display its a three dimensional representation of that person. To me it is even better than seeing their props (though I do love that too) but a costume is something they wore, it was in essence a part of them.  

On Sept 7th, 1926, the warehouse where Adelaide Herrmann was storing her show, burned to the ground. All was lost. So the fact that there are still items of hers to view is astonishing! Before I move on, take one more look at that costume. So much more interesting than the costumes worn by magicians today. THAT is the costume of a true superstar of her art.

Chapter 10 is another personal favorite. This time David explores Martinka's Magic Shop. They have created a replica of Martinka's Stage with an ornate proscenium and a huge Herrmann poster that once was displayed in the shop. The photos, like all the photos in the book are impressive. The area is filled with antique Card Stars, and Spirit Dials built by the Martinka Brothers. Included in the display is an illustration of the little theater from way back in the early 1900s. There are even antique theater chairs. One can almost imagine Kellar and Houdini and Frederick Eugene Powell and others gathered around talking shop. 

Chapter 14-HOUDINI. I would imagine that this section of David's museum has been the most photographed. I can recall seeing images of this section many times in the past. And every few years the photos change because the display grows. Looking over the photos in the book, I see some of the hottest items in recent magic auctions. It is no wonder they went to this collection and frankly, it's great to see them all together. As David Copperfield has said in numerous interviews, "If Houdini were alive today, he would see his whole show right here."  That's pretty accurate. At least, the main pieces. Much of the Houdini show has been lost to time. Yet, there are items here that have never been in a collection until now. Houdini's bathtub, straight out of 278, and his bookshelf also from 278. The way the bookshelf has been set up allows a visiter to get a photo recreation of one that Houdini himself took oh so many years ago. 

In the midst of all the authentic Houdini items is a bust of Houdini from Spectral Motions Studio, a testament to the quality of their work. I believe every major Houdini poster is on display. This section of the museum alone is worth millions. IF you are a non-magician and you're reading this chapter on Houdini and viewing the images, there is just no way to walk away without being hugely impressed with this man.

Chapter 23 is called 'Blood on the Curtain'. Of course this is Richiardi Jr.. Here was a gentleman whose style inspired countless 20th Century magicians. I remember reading on Levent's Facebook page about bringing the Richiardi cases to the Copperfield museum and opening them for the first time. According to the chapter, these rare items, props, illusions, costumes and more had been in storage in Brazil since Richiardi died back in 1985. He died young, at only 62. The world was robbed of his artistry and his majesty. But to see it on display here and to read about the life of Aldo Richiardi is a real gift. 

I could go on and on about each chapter of the book, but I am going to stop here. Let me just say that each chapter contains several photos and a fine overview of the life of the performer being discussed. As a magic historian, I would have preferred longer chapters, but this is a book for the public and I believe those chapters are exactly the right length. Also, thankfully, this IS a book for the general public, because of that, it means we are not paying hundreds of dollars for the book. It is worth hundreds of dollars easily. 

Every category of magic is covered in this book: The Manipulators, The Close-up Performer, The Mentalist, The Stage Performer, the Comedy Performer, the Illusionist, the Escape Artist and more. If this were just a history of magic, it would be great to have these various images and stories in one place. But knowing that this is all together in one collection, that makes it all even more special. 

The final chapter of the book is on David Copperfield himself. I'll be honest and tell you that I have not read this chapter.  Is there any way to share his story and  do justice to a man who has done so much for the art of magic? Award Winning TV Specials, cutting edge illusions, brilliant magical presentations, touring shows that sold out more theaters than anyone on the planet, ISLANDS, his own museum and much more. I'm almost afraid to read that last chapter because I don't want the book to end...

And here is the little secret, it won't end. Sure the book will, but not the history of magic. David's place in the history of magic is as a living legend. And as magic continues so does the history. What was live and new today, is part of history tomorrow. In 10 years from now, I'd love to see an updated version of the book with more legendary performers from today. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the co-authors Richard Wiseman and David Britland. Richard is a reader of my blog and has been very generous to me in the past. While reading the chapter on Wyman the Wizard, I recalled the email I received from Richard sharing with me an audio track, of some of the music from Wyman's show, that he had specially made. The narrative throughout the book is wonderful and very cohesive considering there were three amazing authors. And this book would not be the same without the photographic genius of Homer Liwag. His ability to capture the beauty of magic in his photos is beyond compare.  

By the way, there is a Special Edition of the book available through Barnes and Noble which has an additional chapter on Orson Welles. There is also an autographed copy available through TalkShop.Live. I've included all the links you'll need to get your copy(s).

Let me end with this. If you have not ordered a copy of the book, please do so. Do yourself a favor and get this book. Use it to learn about the history of our cherished art. Use it for inspiration. Use it to understand that, as David Copperfield said at the beginning of the book, Magic Matters!

https://www.amazon.com/David-Copperfields-History-Magic-Copperfield/dp/1982112913/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LTMZV580CX79&dchild=1&keywords=david+copperfield+history+of+magic&qid=1634483230&sr=8-1

Exclusive Addition: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/david-copperfields-history-of-magic-david-copperfield/1013620821?ean=9781982190743

Sweepstakes: https://www.simonandschuster.com/p/history-of-magic-pre-order-sweepstakes?utm_source=instagram_ad&utm_medium=simon_and_schuster_social&utm_content=excerpt&utm_campaign=david_copperfields_history_of_magic_ad&fbclid=IwAR2P8wqMFWtAZPRnq1smutGZMqidGfmd2HLbxoXBdycu72SVs_h5KH1yMxw

Autographed Copy: https://talkshop.live/watch/jRICYBiDa25B/5235

Magic Detective Podcast Season 1 Complete

With the addition of episode 31, I've decided to wrap up season 1 of my podcast. I am NOT stopping the podcast. It will be back in October. I just realized I was coming up fast on the 1 year anniversary and with all that is going on in my life, now would be a good time to stop. One of the major things is a move to another state. So right now, my library of research material is split between two locations and it would make doing the podcast somewhat difficult.

Year In Review

When I first decided to do the podcast, I was unsure if I would even find any listeners. Though I figured if a few of my blog readers went to the podcast, I'd be ok. The blog has traditionally had a LOT of readers, though that has declined since my focus has been the podcast. As of right now, I have over 4200 downloads of the podcast. Those are not huge numbers by popular podcast standards, but for a niche topic like magic history, I'd say those are pretty good. And the best part, they continue to increase each month as more and more people find out about the show.

I took the approach to just jump in with both feet knowing I'd figure out how to do the podcast along the way. I did enough preliminary research to know what I needed to do on the backend. The most important thing was sound quality, as I noticed that was one thing that could make or break a podcast. As far as topics, I didn't really think that would be an issue. I had an early list of some 30 potential stories to cover. That list then grew to 100. And now the list stands at over 150. So there are several years of episodes planned.

My first thought was to do the show kind of like popular talk radio shows, with segments, a main topic and then shorter segments. But I don't think I was quite pulling that off the way I had wanted. Then a friend of mine contacted me and said, 'why not try one topic'. So I did, and by episode 4 (Servais LeRoy) I was onto the one topic concept and that worked out better. Another listener contacted me and asked if I could include the references of where the information was coming from, so I soon added the book/magazine references as well. I love the fact that my listeners, YOU, have helped shape the way the show has grown.  One other thing I've attempted to do is link episodes. So if there is a reference to a certain magician in one podcast, and I've covered them already, I can tell the listener to go to Episode such and such, to learn more. IF I were a listener, I would LOVE this particular service.

I think one of the biggest surprises was that it took 3 Episodes to cover Harry Kellar's life. I really covered a lot of ground in those podcasts. The only person who has taken more is Houdini because frankly, I could have just done the entire podcast on his life. In truth, I contemplated that originally, and you'll notice that Houdini's name comes up in almost every podcast. I think there might be 3 podcasts that his name is not even mentioned. But other than that he is a fixture of the podcast. And in Season 2 you can expect considerably more Houdini.

Wyman The Wizard

I love the fact that I covered so many obscure magicians like Wyman the Wizard, Brush, Minerva, and Ablini. They all had incredible stories to tell and deserve their place in the history of magic. As I researched each of them, I contemplated how they would feel, all these many years later to hear their name being spoken of. I try to give everyone a fair shake and if there is a lot of 'negative' stuff to their life, to not focus on it, or at least approach it delicately. I hope I've been successful there. The one person who comes to mind is The Great Raymond. He had a difficult life. He was a great performer, but not the kindest person offstage. Albini was another, he was an alcoholic and chose to insult his audiences during his shows. I believe this was his style, kind of like an early Don Rickles. However, some audiences 'got' him and others did not. And sometimes he was sloshed when he was performing which didn't help.

I think one of my favorite episodes was the one of T.Nelson Downs. I was amazed at the amount of information I discovered on Downs. I continued to find info even after the podcast was completed. I did an extra article on Downs here on the blog to cover something I missed. I could probably do another episode on him easily if I really dug deeper.

My least favorite podcast was Frederick Bancroft, but not for the reason you might think. I did a great deal of research and was happy with what I uncovered. Then as I was scripting out the podcast, I learned that Gary Hunt had written an article on Bancroft in Magicol Magazine, and I didn't have access to it. I just KNEW that some of the stuff I had would potentially be wrong. Sure enough, AFTER, I put up the episode, I found the article and Gary had discovered details that corrected the history. Bravo for him! But not so happy for me. I did mention the corrections in the following podcast. Oh well, win some, loose some.

Daisy White

Another favorite podcast was Daisy White. She has always been a bit of a pet-project. She is an enigmatic figure in magic. Finding details has not been easy, but I did uncover some things a few years ago and wrote about them in the blog. I was always determined to find MORE. And this time around I did. But not only did I find more, I found photos of a young Daisy White!!! I am certain these photos have not been seen in over 100 years. So it was quite fulfilling to include those on the blog at the same time as I did the podcast episode.

About half way into the season I had this idea to start doing short podcasts, which would run no longer than 15 minutes. It was a big experiment really, and it turned out to be successful and I'd received a lot of positive comments on the short episodes. Some performers of old, just don't have enough information out there to cover a 30-45 minute podcast, but I can usually get at least 10 minutes worth. So the short episodes fit the need. The short episodes include: Frederick Bancroft, Litzka Raymond, Houdini & Anna Eva Fay, Minerva, Albini, and finally Talma Queen of Coins.

Oh and the two Doug Henning episodes were personal favorites because Henning was someone I saw in person and looked up to very much.  I was also happy to start including females into the mix, and though I've only covered a few so far, there are many more to come. The episodes featuring females include: Litzka Raymond Gibson, Minerva, Anna Eva Fay, Daisy White & Mercedes Talma.

I think the biggest revelation I had doing this podcast was finding out how inaccurate the David Price book, A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre is. Don't get me wrong, its a fantastic book. And it gets so much correct. But since the book was published, many details of various magicians lives have come to the surface and they are different from what is in his book. I still use it in every episode. I just try and double check the information. I do know a lot of his information came from Mahatma and The Sphinx.

SEASON 2

As I have mentioned on the podcast, I would like to include some interviews with other magic historians and collectors during Season 2. I do not intend to do the entire season that way. But it would be nice to give the spotlight to some other folks so they can share their passion for magic history here. I am also considering having on some guest narrators.

There will be some changes coming to the blog too. About 80% of the Season 1 podcasts were scripted. So I plan to take those and put them up as blog articles, and include photos and images that I obviously cannot do on an audio podcast. It will help with SEO and will help future researchers. Because this platform is owned by Google, it tends to rank fairly high. So for those people who like to read, you can enjoy the blog. For those that like to listen, you've got the podcast. And for those who like both, hey, it's going to be awesome for you.

Some of the episodes planned for Season 2 include: Adelaide Herrmann, Anna Eva Fay, The Fox Sisters, Dr.Lynn, Signor Blitz, Dr. Walford Bodie, Henry Ridgely Evans, Frederick Eugene Powell, Richard Potter, Ching Ling Foo, and many MORE!!!! Oh, and the occasional episode on HOUDINI.

Right now I plan to have Season 2 start some time in October 2019. I am contemplating doing something special for the first couple episodes, but that I'm keeping to myself for now.  I do know I'm going to have more contests throughout the year. With any luck, I may even have some swag for fans of the podcast. I also intend to do more outreach to pick up a larger audience. So expect great things for Season 2! Until then, why not go back and re-listen to some of the podcasts, or check out the ones you missed. October will be here soon enough!

Thanks for being a listener and reader of The Magic Detective!

Episode 12 Podcast Wyman the Wizard Notes

Episode 12 of the podcast is up and already getting downloads, thanks everyone! I don't have a lot of notes on this episode because most of it was covered in previous blog articles. However. I do have an image for you of Professor Pugh, the friend who Wyman met during his retirement. He gave or sold some of his props to Prof. Pugh and here is a photo of the good professor with them.

By the #s, there is #5 Little Bobbie, you can barely make out the carved head on this thing. # 6 is hard to see but it's in the back, the Spirit Clock/Dial. #7 is the rifle, or as it's listed, Gun and Target. #8 is that odd looking thing that the rifle is leaning against, it's a Pearl Inlaid Chair Back. #9 is pretty obvious, it's a Card Sword. #11 is the Money belt, though I don't see the number in the photo, but I do see the belt. And #13 is also not marked but it's the Canister and Bird Cage. You can see the cage right behind Little Bobbie. The man in the image is Prof. Pugh, not Wyman.

This is the link for the various articles on Wyman that can be found here on the blog...
https://www.themagicdetective.com/search?q=wyman

P.T. Barnum the Magician

With the recent release of the movie, The Greatest Showman, I've once again become intrigued with Barnum. I will say that this movie has about as much to do with Barnum as the Tony Curtis movie about Houdini had to do with Houdini. But, like the Tony Curtis movie, it's an enjoyable film.

I'd like to examine the real Barnum for a moment, specifically his connection to the world of magic. If you're unaware, his connection is huge. Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel CT, July 5th 1810. Consider, Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, Robert Houdin was born 1805 and you'll begin to understand where Barnum fits in history's timeline.

In 1836, Barnum had created something he called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theatre." This was a traveling troupe of performers and had on the bill a gentleman by the name of Joe Pentland. Mr. Pentand was a magician, and at some point, Barnum acted as hidden assistant to his act. This job seems to be shortlived however, as one faithful performance, Barnum, while hiding inside a table, was bitten by a squirrel, which caused him to straighten his neck and legs and thus collapse the table which he had been hidden inside of.

In February of 1837, Barnum sold half his interest in Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theatre to a man named Henry Hawley.  Mr. Hawley was a magician who performed many standard tricks of the day, including the 'egg and bag trick'. According to Barnum's Autobiography, Barnum's Own Story, this was the trick were multiple eggs are produced from a bag, and then eventually a live chicken. This is quite different from the 'egg and bag trick' many of us are familiar with today. This was the original age old version that dated back to the time of Issac Fawkes. Hawley, remained with the show until August 1837, when Barnum dissolved their partnership.

In 1841, Barnum purchased Scudder's American Museum. Scudder's was a run down place featuring mostly taxidermy displays. When Barnum took it over, he transformed the building inside and out. He added performers, freak show entertainers and more. Among his most popular freak show entertainers was General Tom Thumb. Barnum met Tom (Charles Stratton), when the boy was only 4 years old. He brought him to his museum and soon took him on a tour of Europe.

Barnum first sets up shop in London, at a place that would one day be known for magic, Egyptian Hall. In here he shared many curiosities, automaton, and General Tom Thumb. It wasn't long before Barnum and company received an invitation to visit the Queen. The company was coached in proper etiquette, but that would go awry when young Tom Thumb would speak out of turn to Queen Victoria. She loved it. And Barnum and company were invited back a second time to the palace.

Barnum attended the World Exposition in Paris, while on tour in Europe in 1844, . This is where he happened to see Robert-Houdin and his many wonderful automaton, for the first time. Barnum was most intrigued with Houdin's latest creation, The Writing and Drawing automaton. The device was a small human like figure who was very lifelike in both appearance and physical action. By all accounts it was much more than a wind up novelty, this automaton wrote or drew according to the question asked.

During the exhibition, King Louis Phillipe attended and made a special arrangement to visit with

Robert Houdin to see his various automaton. The King was quite inquisitive and Houdin enjoyed the banter. But when the King came upon what was really the crowned jewel of the display, The Writing and Drawing Automaton, things really got interesting. Houdin explained what the device could do and then suggested to the King that he ask the automaton a question. The King asked, "How many inhabitants does Paris contain?"  The automaton began to raise it's arm, which allowed a sheet of paper to be placed on it's table. Then the little figure lowered it's arm and began to write, "Paris contains 998,964 inhabitants." The next test involved the King reciting a poem, but leaving out the final line. The King gave the first three lines of the quatrain, and then the little figure wrote out the last line to complete the poem.

The final test involved the automaton's ability as an artist. The King turned to the Comte de Paris who was in the King's entourage, and said, "choose your own subject for a drawing." The prince who was heir to the thrown, chose a crown to be drawn. The automaton began to fashion a crown on the piece of paper but in the midst of drawing the pencil lead broke, preventing the drawings completion. The King spoke up and said to the Comte de Paris, "As you have learned to draw, you can finish this for yourself." The Christian Fechner book, The Magic of Robert Houdin An Artists Life Volume 1, points out that this was a forewarning of events to come, as the Comte de Paris never took the thrown.


In the book, Struggles and Truimphs: Forty Years' Recollections of P.T. Barnum, by Barnum, he shares the story of meeting Robert Houdin. Barnum attended the Exposition specifically to find new curiostities for his museum, and right there he purchased from Houdin the Writing & Drawing Automaton, along with numerous other automatons. While in Paris, Barnum attended Robert Houdin's Soirees Fantastic, and was always introduced by Houdin to the other attendees.

Barnum sent the Writing & Drawing Automaton to London to be put on display and then later shipped it off to his museum in NYC. Sadly, the fire which destroyed the Barnum museum in 1865 destroyed the legendary Houdin automaton, along with many other irreplaceable treasures.

Let me back up slightly to 1856. At this time in history, there were three names that reigned supreme in American Magic History, Signor Blitz, Wyman the Wizard, and Jonathan Harrington. They all had similar acts which included magic, ventriloquism, and imitations. Ventriloquism back then was different from what we think of today. They used no mechanical dummies to speak through. Rather, they 'threw their voice' and made it appear that sounds, and talking, were coming from other places. In regards to the imitations, they would recreate the sounds made by animals, birds, even machinery and such.  All three gentlemen were well known by Barnum. In fact, Barnum had hired Harrington previously to perform for him at an exhibit in Boston. Blitz performed at Niblo's Garden, right near the Barnum Museum, and was on friendly terms with Barnum. Blitz in fact, may have been the most famous magician in the country at the time. It's said that there were 13 other performers working throughout the U.S. claiming the name Signor Blitz. Finally, we come to Wyman the Wizard, who was extremely popular and one of the most financially successful magicians of his time.

One evening in 1856, the three men attended the first American performance at Barnum's Museum of British ventriloquist and mimic Lionel Goldshmidt.  The theatre was sold out and the anticipation was great for this renowned performer. The only problem was, he had not shown up for the performance. As it got closer and closer to showtime, Barnum began to panic. He went to his three magic friends in the audience and asked if they could fill in. Blitz, declined because he did not have his equipment with him. Harrington similarly excused himself from performing. It came down to Wyman the Wizard who agreed to fill in. Barnum rushed him to the dressing room and quickly applied a fake mustache and beard to Wyman so that he might look more like the famed British Ventriloquist.  Wyman then went out and performed an impromptu performance of imitations and ventriloquism. He produced the sounds of many different animals and then had comedic conversations with members of the audience, thought it was Wyman's voice doing the talking from the audience and the answering. Barnum was relieved and elated. And that was not the only time Wyman worked for Barnum. According to Houdini (via MAGIC by David Price) while in NY in 1850, Wyman was under management of P.T. Barnum!

There is an interesting event that took place in 1855 when Barnum had invited Blitz to witness the

exhibition of a new invention called an annihilator, which I gather was some sort of fire extinguisher.   A building was about to be set on fire so they could demonstrate this new device, but before the fire was set, voices were heard coming from the building saying, "Don't! Please let me out! Don't burn me up!" The building was then searched, but no one was found inside. So again, they attempted to set the building on fire, but once again, voices were heard screaming out for help. After another search, they attempted to yet again set the building on fire but this time the sound of barnyard animals could be heard coming from the building. It then dawned on Barnum exactly what was going on, it was his friend Blitz creating the havoc. This story comes from the book P.T. Barnum the Legend and the Man by A.H. Saxon. The end result was the two men having a long standing feud.

 In the late 1850s Barnum was back on England on a lecture tour. He hired the famous European magician, Kratky Baschik to perform on his tour. I would surmise that Barnum was always on the hunt for talent and oddities in his travels. For example, in 1873, he featured an Italian Magician by the name of Patrizio, who performed  a feat known as, "Catching a Live Cannon Ball". It was also around this time he hired Professor Verbeck from France to tour with his show in the United States.

The Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne Christopher describes John Henry Anderson, The Great Wizard of the North, "as the Barnum of nineteenth century bafflers." The book goes on to describe how Anderson would not just put up one or two posters advertising his shows, but rather he would paper the town, covering every available inch of space on a wall. The book even claims he put posters on the Pyramids in Egypt and on the cliffs of Niagara Falls! Anderson is also credited with the grand parade that was later copied by many circuses. One wonders who came up with this first, Anderson or Barnum? But, looking at his period of time, John Henry Anderson was born in 1814 and died in 1874. And, Barnum and Anderson knew each other well. The Illustrated History of Magic shares a story of Barnum having dinner with Anderson and the later introducing people to Barnum saying, 'he is the Great Wizard of the North'. He apparently played along at first but then started giving out 'free tickets' to people who came over. Once the REAL Great Wizard of the North realized what was happening he quickly reclaimed his title and put a stop to the free tickets!

Now, we all know about Barnum's Fiji Mermaid, and his famous Siamese Twins, and even the dog faced boy. But have you ever heard of Euphonia? Probably not. I hadn't. I saw a photo of a playbill for it in David Price's book, MAGIC A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre. The book only contains a single sentence on the device, "Professor Faber's talking machine automaton was exhibited by P.T. Barnum in 1873." That's it, no other information. So I had to do some digging.

It turns out that Joseph Faber was a German inventor, scientist who in 1840 created the first talking automaton. But because of the lack of interest in the device, he destroyed it! In 1844 he built another one but discouragement soon set in due to lack of interest and he again destroyed it. In 1845 he was building another one. What was this device? It was made almost entirely of wood and rubber and had a keyboard which could produce various sounds. The device also had a bellows which created the flow of air combined with the keyboard made the sounds. A female face was mounted to the device and in 1846, Barnum found out about it and purchased or leased it, I'm not 100% certain which. He sent the inventor and the machine to London where it was exhibited at Egyptian Hall. The inventor and the device made it's way through Europe before coming back to America and being put on display at Barnum's Museum.

Somehow the Wonderful Talking Machine-Euphoria, escaped the devastation of the Barnum Museum Fire of 1865. Perhaps the device was on tour at the time.

Barnum continued to feature the device, even in his traveling circus as late as 1873. To the right is a photograph of the automaton taken by famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady.

I know there are more connections to magic by Barnum, I have not uncovered them all. In my next article, I'll be sharing a fascinating story of another artist who often gets compared to Barnum. It's quite the revelation, and one you'll want to read!

Houdini and Barnum

Who Was Alexander the Conjurer?

The photo above is of Houdini and Alexander the Conjurer. I've seen the photo before but it never occurred to me to ask, "Who was Alexander the Conjurer?". He was not Alexander The Man Who Knows. That Alexander was Claude Alexander Conlin who was a crystal gazer/mind reader during the Roaring 20s. This other Alexander, I am not familiar with, but some digging turned up some interesting details.

Alexander the Conjurer was born Dec 4, 1819* in Munster Germany. His real name was Johann Friedrich Heimberger. He was a contemporary of Robert Houdin and John Henry Anderson, the Great Wizard of the North. Houdini met Alexander on March 17th, 1903 while playing in Cologne. He records his entire visit and then some in his book The UnMasking of Robert Houdin. In fact, it appears that it may be because of Houdini that we still remember Alexander today.

From the book Annals of Conjuring I discovered that Herr Alexander got into magic in by being an

assistant to another itenerant German magician of the day F. Becker in 1839. And Becker had also started his career as an assistant to Bosco. Alexander only stayed long enough to learn all the magic and then was off on his own. Early on he presented magic combined with the exhibition of Phantasmagoria. It appears that he had a fairly short career but made quite a bit of money that allowed him to retire at and early age.

One of the reasons that Houdini records Herr Alexander is because of his claim to have invented the Suspension illusion in 1845 while on tour in America. This would be two years before Robert-Houdin if it's true. Apparently, however the only documentation is a flyer from Herr Alexander from 1850 showing the Suspension illusion. Houdini says that Alexander got the idea from reading about Indian Fakirs doing their sitting suspension which is probably the same place that Robert-Houdin got his inspiration. The The Annals of Conjuring says that Herr Alexander's version only had the person suspended upright and not at a horizontal position like Robert Houdin's version. Perhaps they both came up with a version of the same effect, but Robert-Houdin took the effect much further.

Houdini does make a small error in his chapter on Herr Alexander. He states, "I felt especially honored to stand in the presence of the only magician who, up til that date,  had ever appeared at the White House by the request of President Polk." I do know there have been others who performed at the White House, one was Wyman the Wizard who performed for Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, and thus predated the Alexander visit by several years. Still, you could count the number of magicians who performed for U.S. Presidents on one hand, so he was still in rare company.

Houdini's visit with Alexander is fascinating to read. Here was an 80+ year old gentlemen who, by

looking at the photo above and from Houdini's description, was 'bent with years'. But he came alive when talking about the history of magic. Herr Alexander knew many of the greats from his day including: Bosco, Robert-Houdin, Frikell, John Henry Anderson, Signor Blitz, Compars Herrmann, and according to Houdini, the original Bamberg of Amsterdam.

In 1904, Houdini paid a second visit to Herr Alexander and again he was greeted warmly. This time, the old magician gifted Houdini with some playbills and programs from his own collection. But this would be the final time the two would meet. At the conclusion of their meeting, Herr Alexander confided to Houdini that all preparations were made and he soon expected the Grim Reaper to come to take him. But death is often cruel and in this case, death came to take his wife rather than him. Alexander would live several more years and live to be 89. He died July 25th, 1909.

He was known professionally as Herr Alexander or as Alexander the Conjurer. In late 1843 he came to the United States to perform. The beginning of his tour left him almost penniless. Eventually, his lucked changed and the money and success began to roll in.

Some of the tricks for which he made quite a sensation included The Spirit Bell, the production of a very large bowl of water while in Chinese robes, and of course the Suspension illusion. Houdini mentions in The UnMasking of Robert Houdin, that Herr Alexander's performance of the large bowl of water production predates that of Ching Ling Foo. 

He continued to perform in the US until 1847 when he left for South America. Magicpedia states that Herr Alexander's daughter assisted him with his Second Sight routine and she died while on tour. This event is what caused him to return to his homeland of Germany. Houdini says that Herr Alexander returned to Germany in 1854, but The Annals of Conjuring puts the date at 1852. Whichever one, we know that he did not return to performing when he got home. He amassed quite a fortune in his few years performing and retired upon returning home.

He did write a book describing his early career called, Der Moderne Zauberer (The Modern Magician) which he claimed, according to Houdini, "is rated as one of the gems of German literature, as well as the best book ever written by a conjurer." However, in Annals of Conjuring it says "Der Moderne Zauberer, a book of no great interest save for its reference to the itinerant conjurers of Germany."

*In the book MAGIC-A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater author David Price lists the year of Herr Alexander's birth as 1809. He also lists the 1852 or 1854 as the year he returned to Germany, so he too discovered the discrepancy.

The Witch of Lime Street -Book Review

The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher is a book about the life of Margery the Medium. The subtitle of the book is ‘Séance, Seduction and HOUDINI in the Spirit World’. Houdini plays a part, but he is a secondary character even though his image and name appears on the cover of the book. Speaking of the cover, it might be the coolest book cover of ANY book with Houdini because this book cover GLOWS IN THE DARK! It’s very subtle, but I think the glowing in the dark cover and spine add to the already spooky subject matter.

When I heard that a first time author was writing this book, I had my doubts about the quality of the content. But having read the book AND listened to the audio version as well, I can tell you that Mr. Jaher did an outstanding job of research. The book is well written, entertaining and filled with history.

I had never been that big a fan of Margery until fairly recently. I think for me my interest began when I saw the actual Bell Box that was used in the Margery/Houdini Séances. I also got to see the so-called spirit-fingerprints that Walter, Margery’s spirit guide and brother, apparently created during a Séance. Shortly after this, I started to correspond frequently with the late escape artist and Houdini historian Norman Bigelow, about Margery. I wish Norm had lived long enough to read this book, I know he would have enjoyed it.

David Jaher does a great job of laying out the details for the reader of Margery’s character before becoming a medium and after and then during the last days of her life. It would seem that Mina Crandon was a fun loving individual. When she became Margery she developed a seductive air about her. She was overly flirtatious with many men on the  investigative committee. No doubt her suggestive behavior helped to take many of them off their game. Despite this she still had standards of behavior that can be seen when Malcolm Bird tried to bring a prostitute to Margery’s Lime Street home and he was abruptly chastised by Margery and turned away.

Margery was a complex woman. Early in the book, it’s apparent that she doesn’t believe in any of this ‘spirit nonsense’. Though skeptical, she still attends a séance with a friend and encounters a medium who shares a revelation with her that she has a future in the spirit business. Sure enough, she eventually becomes the best-known spirit medium in the country. Oddly, though she likes presenting séances she claimed she didn’t want publicity. She doesn’t even use her real name Mina; rather she uses a form of her middle name Margery. And though she doesn’t want the publicity, she is competing for the top prize in country, to be examined and proven to be genuine by a committee of investigators from The Scientific American Magazine. Yes, she was a complex woman.

Houdini is in the book because he plays a major part in the investigation of spirit mediums during the 1920s and he is an important player in the investigation of Margery. The author shares Houdini’s encounters with Conan Doyle and their early friendship as well as their eventual parting of ways. This helps to set-up Houdini  as an authority on fake mediums, for the reader. Even one of Houdini’s spirit debunking co-workers, Rose Mackenberg, gets featured in the book.

There really is no better person to spot a spirit faker than a knowledgeable magician. I preface that with ‘knowledgeable’ because if the magician doesn’t know anything about fake spirit work, they’ll likely be as taken in as anyone else. Houdini was not the first to expose mediums though he was arguably the most famous debunker. Magicians were involved with exposing mediums since the very early days of Spiritualism. John Wyman, known as Wyman the Wizard at one point helped to investigate the Fox Sisters. John Nevil Maskelyne, in England, went after the Davenport Brothers. So magicians have been at the forefront of investigating fake mediums from the start.

One thing that puzzles me is where Margery learned her tricks of the trade? It’s clear that she used deception. But she was creating manifestations that no one else was doing. And she continued to evolve over time adding more and more unique effects to her Séances. A great example would be the ectoplasmic arms and hands that would mysteriously protrude from her body yet no trace of them could be found after the Séance.

I really enjoyed The Witch of Lime Street. I’m not the only one, as the movie rights to the book have already been picked up. Will we see a Houdini/Margery movie? Time will tell. But what a fascinating movie it could be. It’s a very unique chapter in history and frankly I think we owe it all to Houdini. Without him, I don’t think there would have been as much press exposure.  I also think this unique confrontation would have likely been forgotten over time without Houdini’s participation.

The Houdini Wonder Show

With the recent rediscovery and release of The Grim Game, I became intrigued with Houdini's movie career. While reading the Silverman bio on Houdini I came across a curious passage about something called The Houdini Wonder Show. I searched through other biographies and online sources and came up pretty much empty, with one exception, Joe Notaro's great blog called Harryhoudinicircumstantialevidence.com had a short piece on an escape artist who appeared in one of the shows.  At that point I decided to take on the task of tracking down more information on this rarely covered Wonder Show.

By 1922, Houdini had already made movies for Octagon and Paramount but he decided to go out on his own and create his own movies. The Man From Beyond was apparently written by Houdini in ten days. Houdini also produced, cut and edited the movie. And because he didn't have the backing of a big studio, he had to create his own publicity for the movie.

Houdini put together a rather unique publicity campaign. Any theater showing the movie, also got Houdini's Wonder Show. The movie debuted April 1922 at the Time Square Theatre and was a huge success.

When Houdini first started the Wonder Show he presented a straight jacket escape and the Vanishing Elephant. Then 'The Man From Beyond' was shown to the audience. The entire program of show and movie made a great night of entertainment. This concept proved to be so popular Houdini created 4 different units of his Wonder Show.

Heading up Unit #1 of the Houdini Wonder Show was Frederick Eugene Powell and mentalist Virginia Carr. Powell presented very classic magic. His effects included: The DeKolta Giant Flower Production, A multitude of handkerchief tricks with borrowed kerchiefs, The production of numerous silk cloths which transformed into a giant American Flag, and he finished with the Crystal Coin Ladder.  Virginia Carr presented a mind reading act which by all accounts was a big hit.

Unit #2 of the Houdini Wonder Show featured Genesta the Escape Artist presenting his death defying Barrel Mystery. Also in the show was manipulator Ericson and Mlle. Amelia. Ericson presented a classic card manipulation act similar to Cardini.

Heading up Unit # 3 of the Houdini Wonder Show was Prof. Demont who presented magic, the Indian Box Mystery and crystal gazing. He also added an escape from a large mahogany box.

Finally, the #4 Unit of the Houdini Wonder Show was presented by Mystic Clayton who did a mind reading act.

At some point in time Frederick Melville was also added to the tour, though I find conflicting accounts of which show he was on. He may have been with Unit #2 and he presented his 'radio operated automaton/mechanical man' that he called 'Radiac'. And I have found mention of yet another performer by the name of Benton who appeared in one of the shows.

Houdini continued to make appearances at some of the showings of The Man From Beyond but he scaled back his portion of the show. No longer was he doing the mammoth Elephant Vanish and straight jacket escape. Instead he replaced the magic altogether with a talk and exposure of fake spirit phenomenon.

All of the units presented an hour of magic and mystery along with the showing of Houdini's movie The Man From Beyond.


Who was Frederick Eugene Powell? Frederick Eugene Powell was born March 1st 1856 in Philadelphia PA. His interest in magic began when he saw the great magicians of his day, Robert Heller, Signor Blitz and Wyman the Wizard. Powell was one of the true 'old timers' in magic, having lived through the late Victorian era right into the early 20th Century. He became the 2nd Dean of the Society of American Magicians, a title bestowed upon him by the then Illustrious President Houdini.
He had a very interesting career as a full time performer that was interupted at one point when he took a position as chair of mathematics at Pennsylvania Military Academy. This regular job only last a few years before he was back on the road doing magic.

In 1899, Powell joined forces with Servais LeRoy and Imro Fox to build a show called 'The Triple Alliance'. This was the precursor to Servais LeRoy's Monarchs of Magic. Fox only remained with The Triple Alliance Show for a year.

Powell was one of the first to resurrect the Second Sight Act made popular by Robert Heller. He also presented illusions including a cremation illusion and the Noah's Ark illusion. In 1915, a fire in the Powell's home in Chester PA destroyed his entire show. He rebuilt the show and in 1921 that new larger show was destroyed by a flood in San Antonio Texas. His next stint in show business would be the Houdini Wonder Show.

Frederick Eugene Powell died in a Nursing Home just a few days short of his 82nd birthday. He was born 20 years before Houdini and lived beyond Houdini's years.

Who was Virginia Carr? Virginia Carr was a crystal gazer/mentalist. She was apparently quite the sensational performer as many of the reviews made mention of her beauty and her incredible act. She was blonde and she was married to James Colerton in 1912 and had been married once prior to that and had a son by her first marriage.

In Vaudeville, she performed as Princess Zuleka the Mystic Mindreader. It would appear that her stint with the Houdini Wonder Show helped to propel her career as she went out on the road with the Virginia Carr Extravaganza Show in 1923 produced by George MacDonald. The tour was to begin June 25 at the Strand Theatre in Newark, but the show closed the following day. The initial reason for closing down the show was bad business due to very hot weather but soon the truth came out that marital infidelity was the true reason.

Earlier in the year, Carr had been performing with the W.I. Swain Show in New Orleans. There she met a young 23 year old music director by the name of Andrew Paoli. They soon became romantically involved and before long she became engaged to Paoli. Carr claimed that her husband, Mr. Colerton, had died and the two lovers married on June 6th in NY at the Little Church Around The Corner. Mr. Colerton, who was very much alive,  had lost touch with his wife and had been searching for her. At some point he heard that she remarried and was able to track down the church records that listed her as being 23 years old and widowed. Though I don't know her actual age, I'm gathering she was much older than 23 given that her son from her first marriage was 18 at the time.

Mr. Colerton tracked down his wife and confronted her. She begged forgiveness and left Paoli to return to life with James Colerton. All of this happened prior to the June 25th Strand Theatre event. Following the closing of the show, Miss Carr vanished into the night and apparently so did Mr. Paoli leaving Mr. Colerton, the jilted husband and Mr. MacDonald, the jilted producer in the dust. This time she stayed with Paoli as I was able to find an article she penned for Billboard in 1926 under the name 'Virginia Carr Paoli'. She continued to perform as a mindreader as late as 1948, but at some point she went back to using the name Princess Zuleka.

Who was Genesta? His real name was Royden Joseph Gilbert Raison de la Genesta. He was born March 29th 1878 in Ashland Kentucky. Genesta billed himself as The Wizard of Wonders and he began his career as a hypnotist performing under the name De la Genesta, but eventually settled up being an escape artist. In 1922, he was hand picked by Houdini to head up the #2 Unit of the Houdini Wonder Show. For his appearances, he presented his death-defying escape from a barrel of water. Basically, this was an effect like Houdini's Milk Can escape, a locked container filled with water in which he would escape. One benefit of having Genesta was his car. Yes, his car. Genesta traveled around in a Ford Motor Home which helped to defer hotel costs. He also carried his own scenery which was a backdrop curtain painted with diamond eyes.

According to Billboard Magazine, April 1926, Genesta had purchased a ranch and retired to in Georgia. However, Genesta continued to grace the vaudeville stages as he appears in a news report just two years later doing his act. Genesta actually took a page from the Houdini book and used his Water Barrel Escape for challenges. In 1928 Genesta was 'challenged' by the Charlotte Coca Cola Company to escape from a 60 gallon syrup barrel. No doubt, Genesta's barrel was used for the effect, though it was still filled with water, not Coca Cola. Two years later, Genesta would actually go down in magic history for a tragedy with the Milk Can.

According to Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter Gibson, Genesta was to present the Milk Can escape in Frankfort KY on Nov 8th, 1930. The stage crew apparently dropped the can while loading it into the theatre. That drop caused the can to be damaged and later during the show made it impossible for Genesta to escape. He had to be cut out of the can and was rushed to the hospital. He died the next day. One note however, the Linking Ring from Nov 1930 has his obit and it says that he was doing his Water Barrel Escape rather than the Milk Can. Genesta was known for his Barrel Escape so I have a feeling that indeed it was the Barrel that he got trapped in but it got reported as the Milk Can because the can was a better known escape overall. Both the Water Barrel Escape and Milk Can are basically the same sort of escape just with different devices. The outcome is the same regardless, Genesta died tragically.

Who was Ericson? That's a good question. I believe Ericson was from England and he was a manipulator in the style of Cardini. He was known for a very classy card manipulation act and he also became famous in his time for a cups and balls routine which ended with three small glasses of wine underneath. I'm afraid I don't know much else about Ericson and his wife Mlle. Amelia.

Who was Demont? He was an Italian named Charles Demont who lived in Brooklyn. A very versatile performer who was equally good at Punch and Judy Shows, straight magic, crystal gazing and even escapes. He was known to present Shooting Thru a Woman as well as Chinese Rings and exceptional billiard ball manipulations. He headed the #3 unit of the Houdini Wonder show. In later years, he changed his stage name to Dagmar.

Who was Mystic Clayton? He was born Henri Clayton Wilbur and by all accounts was a charismatic crystal gazer/mind reader. He wore elaborate costumes which included a silk cape and jewel encrusted turban ala Alexander. He performed from 1917 to the mid 1930s. In 1919, he collaborated on a show with The Great Leon called 'The Famous Oriental Miracle Show.' In 1922 he became Unit #4 of the Houdini Wonder Show. Following the successful run of shows and movies he hired Frederick Eugene Powell to open for him. That would end up being Powell's last full time gig as a magician.  In 1923 Mystic Clayton wrote a book 30 pg book How To Converse With The Spirit World. Henri Wilbur died in 1945.

How to Converse with the Spirit World

How to Converse with the Spirit World

Who was Frederick Melville? He was known for an illusion called 'Moto-girl'.  In 1915, he presented a lecture/talk called 'The Diplodicus' which I believe was a talk about the dinosaur of the same name. In the Houdini Wonder Show he presented some sort of radio controlled automaton. The Motogirl illusion actually was played by a female, so I'm guessing the radio controlled automaton was also what is termed a false-automaton (it looks like a mechanical device but it controlled by a hidden accomplice).

Who was Benton? There is only one brief mention of Benton in all the articles I found on the Houdini Wonder Show. I have a feeling he was a quick fill in for someone who might have been ill. But I did track down Benton who was Professor Thomas Benton. In 1922 he was already past the age of 60 with a full head of gray hair and he had been in the magic business for 40 years. He presented magic as a master magician and could also present a marionette act as well as being and accomplished ventriloquist.

Over at WildaboutHoudini.com there is a picture of an item that Houdini gave away during one of the Wonder Shows. Check it out here.

To wrap things up, in all the research to uncover the details of The Houdini Wonder Show, I came across one little article that was about the movie The Man From Beyond that I found very interesting. The article basically said that Houdini filmed a second ending to the movie in the event that one of his stunts went bad and he died during production. Now this could just be hype, or it could be real. As Houdini survived the filming of the movie, he no doubt left the extra footage on the cutting room floor (if it existed at all). It's a fun fact about the movie, well fun trivia. Whether or not it's true we will probably never know.

#Houdini

Wyman the Wizard's Final Resting Place

When last I wrote about Wyman the Wizard, I mentioned that I had discovered the cemetery but had yet to visit it. Then fellow Magic Detective Gary Hunt contacted me to confirm that the cemetery I discovered was indeed correct. Well, Gary has beaten me to the cemetery and recently sent me some fantastic photos of Wyman's grave.

He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River Mass. His gravestone is quite weathered as can be seen in the photo. In a few years it will be totally unreadable.

I first became interested in Wyman when I found out he lived in Washington D.C. for a period of time. He also performed for several US Presidents including Abraham Lincoln. But one of the most fascinating things about Wyman is that many magic historians from the early 20th Century credit Wyman for being the most financially successful magician of his time.

I found an unusual mention of Wyman in the Feb 1995 issue of MUM. It's from a column called 'Significant Events in Philadelphia Magic History'. Here is what it says, "July 1881, John Wyman walks out of the shop of Philadephia magic dealer Thomas Yost and says, 'You will not see me again. This is the last of Wyman.' Several days later on July 28th, Wyman dies."  The original quote came from an article by Frederick Eugene Powell that appeared in the August 1927 issue of The Sphinx. According to Powell, Wyman was not ill at the time, but apparently had some sort of premonition that his end was near, and it was.

Incidentally, Gary Hunt pointed out to me that John Wyman is buried with his wife Jane Wyman who appeared early on as a magician along with her husband. In fact, she received top billing as The Enchantress or Lady Magician and he performed as a Ventriloquist. Magic history never ceases to amaze me and continues to deliver incredible treasures of information!

Big Thanks go out to Gary Hunt for providing the grave photos!

 

The UnMasking of Harry Houdini Part 1

In 1908, Harry Houdini published a book called The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin., The book attempted to show that Robert-Houdin was NOT the Father of Modern Magic and in fact, he had stolen many of the ideas and concepts from other performers. It has gone down as not one of Houdini's better moments.

Personally, I find the book fascinating. Sure, Houdini's angle on Robert-Houdin was all wrong, but he does record quite a bit of history about other performers in those pages.  I'd like to take a moment or two and trace the origins of Houdini's act.  I will not be accusing him of pilfering his material from other performers. He was not the first escape artist, nor the first to do many of the effects he claimed as his own.  What he did do was what many performers do, including Robert-Houdin. He took a lot of existing material, made it his own and did it so well that everyone associated it with him. I think there is nothing wrong with that! Plus, Houdini did have some things that were uniquely his.

The Origins of the Escape Act

Escapes generally came out of the Spiritualist Movement. Folks like the Davenport Brothers were the first to be tied into a cabinet and cause odd manifestations to take place. The truth was, the brothers had discovered a special way to be tied so that they could untie themselves and then get back into their bonds. The Davenports began their act in 1854, a good 20 years before Houdini was even born. The Davenports presented their show as apparently genuine mediums, so they were not escaping, but the technique of freeing themselves was very much the same.

In the March issue of The Sphinx, John Mullholland points out that it's very possible Wyman the Wizard was the first magician to present these fake spiritualistic effects in a magic show. So there is the jump from pseudo-religious use to entertainment. In fact, John Wyman was also on a committee in Boston in 1857 to investigate the Fox Sisters, the originators of the Spiritualism Movement. Other performers soon jumped on the spirit phenomenon train, like John Henry Anderson, Robert-Heller, Samri Baldwin and a fellow named Horatio.

Houdini & Cooke

Actually, his full name was Horatio Green Cooke, known also as Harry Cooke. Young Harry, was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. On May 1st, 1864, Harry found himself standing before an audience that included Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War in Washington D.C., General William Tecumseh Sherman, General Hancock, Robert Ingersoll and President Abraham Lincoln. He had been asked to appear before the group because word had gotten out of the young mans unusual ability to free himself from restraints and they wanted a demonstration. After he was securely tied with 50 feet of rope, Cooke asked Lincoln to walk ten feet away. Then he asked him to return and before Lincoln got back, Cooke had freed himself from the confinement! According to the Los Angeles Evening Express Newspaper, Lincoln was amazed and jubilant. Lincoln said to Cooke "Here my boy, keep this to remember Uncle Abe by" and Lincoln then handed Cooke a two dollar bill. Harry Cooke kept that two dollar bill his entire life. Harry Cooke was then chosen to be one of Lincon's Federal Scouts. According to Harry Cooke's daughter, Cooke was a mentor of sorts to Houdini. 

Another close friend and mentor, was Harry Kellar. Mr. Kellar worked for the Davenport Brothers and eventually developed his own rope tie that allowed him to present the Spirit Cabinet. By the time, Houdini and Kellar became close friends, Kellar had retired. But Kellar was the most popular magician in America for a long time, and no doubt Houdini witnessed his performances and was inspired by what he saw.

Though, he never worked for the Davenports, Samri Baldwin was inspired by their performances and decided to create of his own based on the same concept. It was also Baldwin who made the claim to be the first performer to present a handcuff escape. He mentions it in a letter written in 1915 that reads "The first public handcuff escape ever given in the United States and elsewhere, was given by myself in the city of New Orleans during the first week I ever exhibited in public. This was 46 years ago, long before any so-called handcuff kings were born." The year was 1871. He no doubt escaped from genuine handcuffs. Gimmicked handcuffs were used in the world of the seance worker, in fact, that might just be where they originated and eventually found their way into the magic world.

Let's move to one of Houdini's signature tricks, The Metamorphosis. This was the creation of John Nevil Maskelyne and was known as The Indian Mail. Also known as the Maskelyne Trunk Trick, the Houdini's took it and added the element of speed and got their career going with this piece. I'm honestly not sure if anyone else presented it in the same fashion that they did, before them, but I do know that it's such a great piece that magicians still present it today. Where the trunk came from is somewhat of a mystery. I went to the best source I know, Houdini-The Key by Patrick Culliton. In there he states that 'Houdini borrowed the money to buy the trunk'. But then a page later he states that 'Walter Gibson claimed Houdini purchased the trunk from Joe Godfrey-The Man of Mystery'. However, over on WildaboutHoudini.com there is another quote from Patrick Culliton that states "Houdini had created the trunk with his own hands and with the help of Frank Allen.' Frank Allen was a propman who worked at the Kansas City Orpheum who met Houdini in the 1890s.  Not sure which story is the correct one. I'm leaning towards the latter. One thing for sure, Pat Culliton knows more about Houdini than most of us will ever hope to!

To Be Continued...

A Few More Details on Wyman the Wizard

Today, I'm once again exploring the life of John Wyman, known as Wyman the Wizard. I have written about Wyman before, but I continue to find new information that is quiet revealing. He was born in 1816 in Albany NY. His career as an entertainer began simply enough as a mimic. He could reproduce the sound of people's voices as well as animal sounds to such a degree people thought they were listening to the real thing. How this transferred to magic is not known, but before long he became a full fledged magician and mimicry was only a small part of his show.

The book, Annals of Conjuring says that Wyman was the first U.S. born magician to attain prominence. And the Illustrated History of Magic says that "he was the biggest money maker of the period." John Mullholland writing in The Sphinx, says "he was the first American-born magician to present a full evening's stage performance". 

John Mullholland actually reveals a number of surprising details about Wyman. Mullholland claims that Wyman was the first magician to include spiritualistic/mediumistic effects in his programs. He also claims that  in 1857, when the Boston Courier was investigating the Fox Sisters, Wyman was chosen as one of the people to be on the committee. And probably due to Wyman's participation on the committee, no reward was given out to the Fox Sisters.

I first became interested in Wyman when I learned he lived and performed often in my area,

Odd Fellows Hall Today

Washington D.C.. Wyman performed for Presidents Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore and performed numerous times for President Abraham Lincoln. As I mentioned in a previous article, one of the effects presented to Lincoln was the Cap & Pence, where several coins would mysteriously pass through the hand of a spectator, in this case, through Mr. Lincoln's hands. Those coins now reside in the collection/museum of David Copperfield. 

 Wyman lived on 6th St in Washington D.C. for a period of time. And his regular performance spot was a place called The Odd Fellows Hall, which was located at 419 7th St N.W Washington, almost exactly half way between the Capital Building and The White House.

One of the most fascinating things to me was Wyman's Gift Show. This was a show in which every ticket holder received some sort of gift. According to reports, these were often very nice gifts as well. I wonder how he worked this out financially to be able to provide quality gifts to every single person in the audience and still make a profit from his performances.

Wyman did make quite a huge profit in his lifetime. He was one of the few magicians in history to make a lot of money and keep it until his death. He also wrote an autobiography which was never published. The manuscript was apparently sent to George M. Cohan shortly after Wyman's death, but Cohan said he never received it. So that means the U.S. Post Office has been loosing packages for a very very LONG time!