The Master of Escape Illusion
Who Was Harry Houdini?
Let Him Tell You Himself - From
Houdini On Houdini
My birth occurred April 6th, 1874, in the small town of
Appleton, in the State of Wisconsin, U.S.A. My father, the Rev. Dr. Mayer Samuel
Weiss, at that time received an annual salary of $750 (£150). Some of the
leading actors in the congregation, thinking he had grown too old to hold his
position, supplanted him for a younger man, and one morning my father awoke to
find himself thrown upon the world, his long locks of hair having silvered in
service, with seven children to feed, without a position, and without any
visible means of support.
We thereon moved to Milwaukee, Wis., where such hardships and hunger became our
lot that the less said on the subject the better.
October 28, 1883, was the date of my first appearance before an audience. I
appeared as a contortionist and trapeze performer, being advertised by the
manager, Jack Hoeffler (now proprietor and manager of a circuit of theatres in
the Middle West of the United States), as "Ehrich, The Prince of the Air."
Later in life I worked at a number of trades, such as locksmith, electrical
driller, photographer, cutter, etc., etc.: but I prefer to pass rapidly by those
hard and cruel years when I rarely had the bare necessities of life and speak of
the time when I first started to do handcuff tricks -- the tricks which
eventually brought me to the notice of the world.
One day whilst working as an apprentice in a locksmith's close by the police
station, one of the young bloods of the town was arrested for some trivial
offense. He tried to open his handcuffs with some keys he had on his person, and
in the attempt broke off one of the keys in the lock of the handcuff. He was
brought to the shop to have the cuff opened or cut off his wrist, and this
incident, trivial as it may seem, in after years changed my entire career.
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While the master locksmith was trying to open the handcuff the
whistle blew for the dinner hour. Being a loyal union man, and incidentally,
perhaps, having a sharpened appetite, he called me to his side and said, "Harry,
get a hack-saw and cut off this handcuff," and then went out with the police
officer to dine.
I tried to cut off the cuff, but the steel was too hard, and after breaking
half-a-dozen saw-blades, the thought struck me to attempt to pick the lock. I
succeeded in doing it, and the very manner in which I then picked the lock of
the handcuff contained the basic principle which I employed in opening handcuffs
all over the world. Not with a duplicate key, which seems to have been the only
way others had of duplicating my performance.
The year 1893 found me as an actor! I played the part of an old man in a play
entitled "My Uncle." During rehearsal I seemed unable to remember a single line,
in fact would have spoilt the entire rehearsal had I not been allowed to read my
part from the script. Notwithstanding this, the show opened up in a small town
near St. Louis, Mo., and strange to relate, I was the only one who knew his part
perfectly! The show as such a success that the only way possible for me to get
back to St. Louis was to deposit my trick trunk as security for railroad fares.
It was while in St. Louis that I formulated the basis of the method for
performing my packing-case escape, and it happened in this wise: The winter was
a bitterly cold one, and I had no money with which to purchase wood to start a
fire to warm my room. So seeing a discarded packing-case in front of one of the
large drygoods' shops, I thought I would take it home for firewood. I knew I
would make myself too conspicuous by carrying so large a case through the
streets, and further knew that no police officer would permit me to break it
apart in so crowded a thoroughfare, so I conceived a method of taking it
noiselessly apart, and used this same method when I presented the packing-case
mystery for the first time in Essen Rhur, Germany.
The presentation of this mystery resulted from a challenge issue to me, more in
jest than earnest, by one of the employees of a large linen factory which I
visited while in that city. It happened that during my visit, one of the men,
engaged in packing a case of linens to send to America, recognized me, and
knowing I had just escaped from the local jail, laughingly said, "If we nail you
in this packing case like we do linens you never would be able to get out."
Jokingly I replied, "Oh! that would be easy," and proceeded on my way, thinking
the incident was closed.
Next day, on reading the morning newspaper, to my astonishment I found that the
packers had publicly challenged me to escape from one of their packing cases,
into which they purposed to nail and rope me. My thoughts flew back to the year
long gone by when I secured firewood to heat my room, and I determined to accept
their challenge, meaning to escape by using as a basis the method I had employed
in securing my firewood years ago.
It was a sensation, and has been the means of putting a few solid stones in the
foundation of my reputation.
In 1895 I was engaged by the Welsh Brothers' Circus, a circus
which traveled almost exclusively through the State of Pennsylvania, and for the
services of Mrs. Houdini and myself I received the sum of £4 weekly, railroad
fares and board.
The amount was small, but I still look back with pleasure upon that season's
work as being one in which we had an abundance of clothes to wear and good food
to eat, for the Welsh Brothers certainly fed their artists extra well.
For this £4 weekly Mrs. Houdini and myself first of all had to give a free
performance in front of the side show to attract the crowds. Inside, I then
lectured upon the curiosities, gave a magic show, worked the Punch and Judy
show, and with the assistance of Mrs. Houdini finally presented a second sight
act. In the main concert Mrs. Houdini acted as a singing clown, while later on
we presented our specialty, which consisted of the trunk trick in connection
with the braid trick. With this same performance we created a big sensation at
the Alhambra Music Hall in London in July, 1900, as many of the readers will
undoubtedly recall.
I offered my handcuff act to the Welsh Brothers for L1 extra per week, and it
was rejected. Eventually I offered to clown the bars, collect lithographs, and
do my handcuff show for 12s. extra per week, and it was also refused. In fact,
several managers later on refused to allow me to do handcuffs, and it was only
after persistently presenting it every once in a while like a trick in several
museums that I eventually was allowed to do the act steadily, and only after I
had become known to the managers.
In 1897 I appeared with a medicine show in the Indian Territory with Drs. Hill
and Pratt, the former from San Francisco, and the latter from Denver, Colorado.
I had to sell medicine on the streets from the carriage, and exhibited my
prowess to the gaping public, free of charge. We received as salary £5 weekly,
board and traveling expenses, and from this engagement we managed to save our
first $100 (£20). As I dwell on thoughts of the past I can realise how important
an item the board must have been, as I always was blessed with a good appetite.
In fact, it is now no longer a puzzle to me why my parents remained in adverse
circumstances, feeding a family of six boys and one girl, who ate as much as a
small army. The only wonder still is how did we grow up at all?
In 1898 things became so bad that I contemplated quitting the
show business, and retired to private life, meaning to work by day at one of my
trades (being really proficient in several) and open a school of magic, which
with entertainments would occupy my evenings. I therefore started to play one
more tour of the Dime Museums to fulfill my expiring contracts, and it was this
trip which made Houdini, The Handcuff King, famous.
When working at a small hall in St. Paul, a party of managers, while
sight-seeing, happened to come in. They saw my performance, became impressed
with the manner in which I presented it, and one of them, Mr. Martin Beck,
perhaps more in a joke than sincerity, challenged me to escape from one of his
handcuffs. He had none with him, but next day purchased a few pairs and sent
them on the stage. I escaped! He then booked me for one week, and it was the
first chance I ever had had, and my act in a first-class theatre created a
sensation. My salary for this week's engagement was $60 (£12). In those days I
opened my performance with fifteen minutes of magic, but gradually dropped it
out until handcuffs were exclusively presented in connection with the trunk
trick. We have never looked back since, but have kept on going forward, hoping
in a few years to retire to private life and enjoy the harvests of my successes.
My largest income derived from a season's work was from the summer season in
Russia in 1903. America ranks second as the payer of salaries, and, although
strange as it may seem to the readers, in Great Britain I receive my smallest
salaries. However, having made so many friends in this country I like to be
among them. Of course, I also must have made a few enemies, but that is part of
life.
After working contracts which I have signed for Great Britain I expect to accept
no more, as two performances a night of the work I do is too trying for my
physique.
When I retire, perhaps I shall reside half the year in Great Britain and the
other half of the year in America.
Writing my latest book, "The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin," I consider my greatest
and most gratifying achievement. This is the only book in the annals of magic
which contains original research and material.
"Robert-Houdin Unmasked" is a book that will live long after we are all dead,
will stand as a monument of years of diligent research and endeavor, and will
bring me back to the minds of the public when I am long forgotten as a public
performer.
Harry Houdini By Harry Houdini appeared in The
Magician Annual, 1909-10 published in London.
Chronological Look At Houdini's Life
1878-1898: From Hungary To America, The First Stage
The future "Genius of Escape Who Will Startle and Amaze" ran away from home when
he was twelve. A postcard from "Your truant son, Ehrich Weiss," to the mother he
adored is the earliest example of Houdini's handwriting in the collections of
the Library of Congress, relic of the early evasion by the young man who had
been born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary, on March 24, 1874. When this postcard
was written, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss was father and husband to the impoverished
immigrant family struggling to become established in America while communicating
primarily in German, Hungarian, and Yiddish. Their name had been changed from
Weisz to Weiss by immigration officials upon their arrival in the United States
c. 1878. Mayer Weiss was to serve as rabbi of the German-speaking Zion Reform
Jewish Congregation in Appleton, Wisconsin. His tenure proved short, however,
and after a life of hardship he died on October 5, 1892. Having lost his father
at an early age, Houdini sustained an exceptionally strong relationship with his
mother, Cecilia Steiner Weiss, both as a child and as an adult.
Images from the early years show a determined young man adapting to a country
radically different from his parents' homeland. They depict him working to
develop the physical stamina, dexterity, showmanship and persona that would take
him from the bottom of performance venues to the top of the vaudeville stage. At
his side emerges a figure of intelligence, spirit and resolve: his wife,
Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner Houdini. Among Houdini's siblings one brother would
follow him into magic. This was Theodore Hardeen, born Ferencz Deszo Weisz on
March 4, 1876. The lives of these three young people would be devoted to the
illusion arts. Always engaged intellectually with ancestor figures, Ehrich Weiss
looked to the past for inspiration. By taking the name "Houdini," he likened
himself to Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic. Techniques and
deceptions of fraudulent spiritualism that would influence Houdini's entire life
emerge also in the images of these early years.
1899-1907: Vaudeville and Fame
The year 1899 was a watershed in Houdini's life. The great impresario Martin
Beck advised the struggling performer to shed traditional magic and to
concentrate upon escapes. Beck then booked Houdini on vaudeville's Orpheum
Circuit. The dime museum days were over; the King of Handcuffs came to the fore.
The Houdinis were on the brink of prosperity. In 1900, Houdini left for Europe,
emerging as a star and carefully promoting his persona through letterhead,
photographs, and early film. His brother Theodore Hardeen joined him abroad. A
vibrant poster from the Berlin Wintergarten documents the international context
within which a triumphant Houdini now performed.
In 1904, Houdini bought a brownstone home in the German section of Harlem, New
York. In 1905, he returned to America, flourishing his chains. His brother
Hardeen continued to perform. When, on January 7, 1906, Houdini escaped from the
Washington, D.C. jail cell of Charles Guiteau--the assassin of President
Garfield--the magician's reputation as both a jail breaker and handcuff king was
assured. Now an established performer, he could reflect in depth upon the
history of magic and undertake his own publications. The happiness of this
period is manifest in family photographs.
1908-1918: The World Stage
In 1908, Houdini published The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, a sweeping history of
the art of magic. It included references to spiritualism that he subsequently
developed in A Magician Among the Spirits. Houdini began the year in
Indianapolis. On January 27, 1908, he introduced the milk can escape in St.
Louis. Then, later in the year, he took it on tour in Europe, where he appeared,
in Germany, as the star of Circus Busch. From March 30 to April 4 of 1908,
Houdini performed at Hammerstein's Theatre in New York in the famous Weed Tire
Grip Chain Escape. Later in April he made one of his stunning manacled jumps
from Boston's Harvard Bridge.
In 1910, positioning himself as a pioneer aviator, Houdini was proclaimed the
first person to sustain flight over Australia. In 1913, he introduced his
celebrated Upside-Down Water Torture Cell, and soon undertook upside-down
straitjacket escapes. Photographs now captured the image of a hero on the world
stage who had also become a mature statesman of magic. In 1913, however, even
the magician's letterhead reflected his intense grief at his mother's death. The
Weiss gravesite gained new importance for him, as did the family that remained.
In 1914, the Houdinis met Theodore Roosevelt when they sailed aboard the
Hamburg-American Line from Europe to New York. It was another year of great
escapes. The year 1915 brought classic magic, reunions, and participation in the
community of magic, preoccupations that shaped 1916 and 1917 also. In 1918,
Houdini performed his largest stage illusion, vanishing Jenny the elephant at
New York's Hippodrome . Always ready to enhance a sensation, he claimed that she
weighed ten thousand pounds.
1919-1922: Silent Film
Beatrice and Harry Houdini celebrated their silver anniversary in 1919. One year
later, Funk and Wagnall's dictionary turned their surname into a verb. The
couple was as involved as ever in new adventures: Houdini began to star in
silent films. First there was The Master Mystery. Then, The Grim Game. In 1921,
the magician founded The Houdini Picture Corporation. Its first film was The Man
From Beyond.
1920-1926: Mediums and Magic
Houdini's formal education was slight; his self education, immense. "My mind,"
he is often quoted as having said, "is the key that sets me free." The magician
informed and developed that mind through intensive reading; as he did so, he
built a formidable library. When, in the 1920s, Houdini strode into the public
arena to confront fraudulent mediums, he proceeded from an inner fortress lined
with books and manuscripts. His attacks emanated both from shameless
self-promotion and sincere commitment to the public good. His exposures covered
a rich panoply of psychic fraud, including slate writing, spirit photographs,
"finger printing a spirit," and trumpet mediums. His greatest challenge was Mina
Crandon, the medium known as Margery. Like Houdini, Margery was brilliant at
what she did and what she did was seance magic. A woman who confounded and
fooled one established academic mind after another, she found her greatest
champion in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a staunch defender of spiritualism. The
major battle was between two master tricksters, but it also set Houdini and Sir
Arthur at each others' throats. Fallout in the press pumped extra energy into
Houdini's career and he took his show to the Hippodrome. He also left a legacy
of healthy skepticism to succeeding generations.
Houdini's love of children shines through in photographs. He was capable of
combining great empathy with exposes and showmanship. This was apparent in his
celebrated 1926 submersion in a sealed coffin. "The Genius of Escape" had become
the icon of magic and, within his culture, a seminal creative force.
1926 : Change of Venues
Houdini died on October 31, 1926. Houdini died of peritonitis resulting
from appendicitis on October 31, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Newspapers
throughout the country carried the news of his death in articles whose length
attested to the breadth of his fame.
Newspaper Account Of Houdini's Death
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