Houdini Book Covering his Challenge Advertisements

 

A Strenuous Career: The Personal Challenge and Advertisement Scrapbook of Harry Houdini

Bruce J. Averbook, MD, FACS, AIMC & David E. Haversat

For the first time in history, A Strenuous Career: The Personal Challenge and Advertisement Scrapbook of Harry Houdini places in your hands a breathtaking, full-color facsimile of one of the most significant artifacts from the life of the world’s greatest escape artist. This is amongst the largest and most important scrapbooks personally complied by Harry Houdini! Every page is reproduced directly from Houdini’s own working scrapbook—exactly as he assembled it—preserving the energy, ambition, and relentless drive that defined the man.

Across these pages, you will witness the challenges Houdini accepted from around the globe… the advertisements that lured crowds into theaters and public squares. The carefully preserved ephemera that reveal how Houdini crafted his legend in real time. This is not history filtered through interpretation—it is history as Houdini lived it!

• Feel the tension as authorities bind him in handcuffs and leg irons or lock him in the darkest jail cells.

• Sense the danger as he is sealed into wooden crates or water-filled containers and submerged sinking to the bottom of murky rivers.

• Live the experience of being bound in straitjackets and padded suits for the murderously insane that could not hold him.

• Experience the pulse of a career built on risk, spectacle, and absolute mastery.

And now, for the first time, it can be yours!

Meticulously reproduced from the original scrapbook—courtesy of Dr. Bruce J. Averbook’s extraordinary historic archive in The Averbook Magic Art Museum and Library—this volume features over 160 premium, large-format color pages, presented in a luxurious 9" x 12" hardbound edition with an elegant slipcase. Every detail has been preserved to immerse you fully in Houdini’s world.

Limited to only 300 copies!

This is not simply a book—it is a rare artifact, a conversation piece, a centerpiece for any serious collector of magic or history enthusiast.

Debuting May 12–14 at the 2026 Magic Collector Expo in Newark, New Jersey, with limited availability online shortly after at: www.1878press.com See also: www.AverbookMuseum.com

Carnegie ON The Magic Word Podcast with Scott Wells

 

Looks like yours truly is on an episode of the long running The Magic World Podcast by Scott Wells. Yes, I can do another podcast but I cant get my own done, lol. Scott was very gracious to ask me to appear on his podcast. Turns out we both have a similar origin story when it comes to podcasting. We were both inspired by an earlier podcast called TheMagicNewswire by Dodd Vickers. 

Scott and I talk magic, magic history, HOUDINI, painting and....oh and speaking of paintings. Can you believe that I give the INCORRECT address to my store to buy prints. Uggh. The correct place is carnegie-magic.myshopify.com.  I left off the MY part when I gave the address on the podcast. Such an amateur, lol. Hey, Im new to selling my artwork. NOT new to the magic business and I got all of those site names correct, lol. 

Here is where you can WATCH THE podcast online if you like. I will also post the address where you can just listen. And of course, if you aren't already a listener of The Magic Word Podcast, you should be. Scott has produced and hosted close to 1000 episodes. That is mind boggling to me! He does such a fine job and his is a great podcast with interviews of modern day magicians and folks working in the magic world. 

You can also visit Scott's webpage for the podcast:  https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/scottwellsmagic/959-dean-carnegie

Houdini Just Showed In the Mail

 

I received an unusual envelope in the mail with a shadow image of Houdini in the corner. I opened it and inside a very cool looking image of Houdini from what was clearly an old marketing piece once used by the master mystifier. See below...

And once I turned it over, it reveals an ad for John Cox's upcoming book, The Ultimate Houdini Chronology Volume 1, HANDCUFF KING The Conquests of Harry Houdini 1900-1909. With the words COMING IN 2026!!!

WONDERFUL GIFT!!!! VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!