Houdini's Library by Eric Colleary Featured This Week

 

Dr Eric Colleary, curator of Performing Arts at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin Texas was my guest on episode 118 of the Magic Detective Podcast. Eric spoke about his upcoming book and the exhibit of the same name, Houdini's Library which is running until Jan 24, 2027. 

It was a very informative talk. He gave us the history of Houdini's collections, where they went to, who ended up with them, how some items ended up in places that maybe they shouldn't have. There was more here than I expected. Eric even recalled some names I didn't immediately  remember, one in particular Henry Evans who went by the stage name Evanion. You can read more about Evanion here, or on Episode 33 of my podcast. Which is not to be confused with Henry Ridgely Evans, who we also spoke about but who is an entirely different individual. 

Houdini loved his library. It was massive. One thing I love about this talk was Eric said Houdini didnt just collect these books and things, but he also went through them, looked at the items, read the books. His library was extremely valuable to him and highly cherished. This is documented in various letters that Houdini wrote.

During this episode you will also hear about a mysterious Houdini Bookcase, which is different from the one that was in the Houdini home on 278 and is now in the Copperfield collection. 

You can hear the podcast episode by clicking this link.

Now, on September 17th at 6pm central, Eric Colleary will be speaking at the Harry Ransom Center on his book and doing a reading from the book as well. This is being live streamed on youtube for anyone interested in viewing it.  Click below for the link on September 17th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOl5Q_TjBY

The Magic Detective Podcast CHANGES!

 

If you've noticed, I have just done three episodes in a row on Houdini, two of them within a week of each other. I completely abandoned my original order of shows that I had planned. I will eventually do them all, but for the next two months at least, you'll be getting Houdini, Houdini, Houdini. 

First was Bess Houdini which came out earlier this year. Second was last weeks Houdini in Salem which also featured an interview with George Schwartz, curator of the Peabody Essex Museum. Today, I added an interview with magic author, historian, and collector, Charles Greene, on his book Exposing Houdini.

Charles does an amazing job of promoting his books. Anyone in the magic world should study how he promotes his books. I knew he had done several other podcast interviews, so I wanted to ask him questions that he might not normally hear. The results were fantastic. That is episode 117.

Im currently lining up other interviews, which is odd for me. The podcast has never been an interview show. But Im altering the format for the moment. I will still do the long form, highly researched episodes, but the interviews will allow me to get you MORE content.

I have a guy coming up who has a Houdini prop that hasn't been seen for at least 100 years. What is it? You'll just have to wait and see! What? See?  Yes, I will post some images of this item when I do the transcripts. And Im toying with a membership side where I will offer VIDEOS on occasion.

Suffice to say, a lot is in the works. Also, there will be some major changes to the blog, but those will come in the form of additions, nothing really changing from the regular readers perspective. But a new bonus section or two with specialized content. 

The eagle-eyed observer may have noticed that the Bess Houdini episode above is shown as Episode 120, when in reality, it already came out and was episode 115. This is because I have been switching the episodes around that I wanted to do. I always intended when I got to September to move to Houdini only as we reach the 100th Centennial Day, Oct 31, 2026. But I didn't anticipate having no episodes from mid April to late August. These things happen.

OH, and contests. Remember those??? I haven't had a Magic Detective Contest in a long long time. I think the last one was a couple years ago when I gave away a Magic Detective T-shirt. Watch for a new contest in the coming weeks!!!!

Houdini In Salem Mass

 

In April of 1906, Houdini appeared at the Salem Theater in Salem Massachusetts. While in town he also did a jail escape and between shows he also stopped by the Peabody Academy of Science. Fast forward to modern times and the Peabody Essex Museum will be hosting a small exhibit simply called Houdini In Salem. This is part of their celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Houdinis passing. Before I give you the details of the exhibit, let me share some details of Houdini's visit 120 years ago.

MARVELOUS! Salem News

It would appear, on the Monday of April 16th, Houdini attempted a Jail Escape from the local Police Station. It began around 9:00am when Houdini was stripped of his clothes, three pair of handcuffs were on his wrists and then two pair of leg irons encircled his ankles. He was then placed in a cell and his clothes were locked into a different cell. By 9:12am, the officials were finished locking Houdini up and they proceeded to wait in an upstairs room. Pretty sure they were not expecting what would take place. 

Houdini quickly escaped from the cuffs and leg irons, he then released himself from his cell, went to the nearby cell with his clothes and got dressed. But he wasn't finished. He took a pair of handcuffs and placed on side back on his wrists, and then went to the jail cell holding a prisoner named Robert McCoy. He opened McCoy's cell door, placed the other side of the cuffs on McCoy thus locking the two men together. Then Houdini proceeded to unlock the back doors and escape out back. He quickly turned around and went to the front of the Police Station and yelled up to the Police officials, who were in a second story office. They were dumbfounded, and the Salem News simply said the stunt was "Marvelous!".

SALEM THEATRE

This was the perfect set up for Houdini's short run of shows at the Salem Theatre. This was a 1,200 seat vaudeville house. Houdini had an iconic display of posters and props that sat out at the front of the theatre. That photo is at the top of the page.

Among the escapes Houdini presented during his run at the Salem Theatre was his Prison Cell & Barrel Escape. This is the Barrel he got from Jacob Hyman when he basically bought him out, so that he wouldn't perform as J.H. Houdini. Hyman/Hayman went on to medical school. The Prison Cell & Barrel Mystery essentially took the place of the Metamorphosis illusion in the show. In this particular mystery, Houdini is placed inside the barrel which is then roped and locked on the outside. A prison cell goes around this, which frankly, I'm not sure what that is. Perhaps it's a facsimile of a prison cell, set pieces painted to look like a prison cell perhaps. In only a matter of seconds, Houdini shows up in the audience, and a member of his crew is discovered inside the barrel. A transposition illusion, and one that didn't stay in the show very long.

Incidentally, I'd like to point out something from the image of the Salem Theatre display at the top of the page. In the center, you'll see a wicker basket. It turns out this was from a challenge he received the week before, when he was in Boston. Here is what the Boston Evening Transcript from April 12, 1906 had to say, "When he returned to Keith's Theatre 3200 persons were anxiously awaiting to see the outcome of the challenge of the employees of the James Barrett Company. The challenge read that Houdini escape a wicker basket, padlocked and suspended in midair, and was signed by D.J. Hurley, William Buckley, Joseph Santos and Frederick Spade. 

At 10:15 o'clock Houdini, after being searched, entered the basket, which was placed on a platform. A strong iron rod extended across the top of the basket and was securely fastened on each side with padlocks. In addition, strong rope was put around the basket. The basket was hoisted several feet above the stage. At 10:22 Houdini began to free himself. It was exactly 10:33 when he jumped from the platform and showed the basket to the audience, secured and locked as it was at first. 'It was the easiest challenge I have yet received.' he said, as he bowed to the audience. "

One of the big moments at the Salem Theatre was a challenge by the company Almy, Bigelow and Washburn. This was a big department store on Essex St. in Salem. Houdini was challenged to get out of a packing crate built on the stage by the employees in the shipping department of the store. That successful escape took place on April 17th. It's possible that the packing case in the photo at the top of the page may have been the one used during the show.

One of the nights, two local police officers brought a Straitjacket with them to challenge Houdini to escape from. And of course, he accepted their challenge and freed himself in full view of the audience. Houdini could make quite a spectacle out of the straitjacket escape, whether hanging upside down outside a building in the jacket or on stage. On a theatre stage, there would be plenty of thrashing and moving about and rolling on the ground. By all accounts it was a sensational escape and he freed himself in less time than it took to secure him in the jacket. In all Houdini performed 6 shows in three days at the Salem Theater in Salem Mass.

PEABODY ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

Houdini received one other press article in Salem after his visit to the Peabody Academy of Science. Upon visiting the museum he saw a pair of handcuffs in a display, that to him, seemed to be mis-marked. Houdini knew the handcuffs in question were not as old as the display claimed and he offered a challenge to anyone who could prove him wrong. The Salem Evening News covered this in their paper, talking to the curator of the museum to get their side of the story. (see the actual cuffs below)

And this brings me to the reason for the article. The Peabody Essex Museum is going to have a small exhibit dedicated to Houdini, celebrating his 100th Centennial and his time in Salem. They will also have the very pair of handcuffs on display that was part of this controversy. The exhibit runs from Sept 3, tHRU November 2, 2026. So if you are near Salem, you can go and check out the exhibit for yourself and learn what the verdict was. Did Houdini have to cough up the $1000 or was the Museum display correct?  Then again, you can also listen to my podcast, episode 116, and listen to the exhibits curator George Schwartz, tell the whole story about what happened. Or maybe, do both. 

On October 31, George Schwartz is going to be speaking on Houdini in Salem and then Anton James Andresen, the Official Magician of Salem, will be presenting a Houdini inspired magic show!

Click here for more information: https://www.pem.org/events/houdini-halloween-magic-show