1928 luminous ghost of houdini - password given to wife before his death
May 16, 1928. New York Herald Tribune. "LUMINOUS GHOST OF HOUDINI. Password Given To Wife Before His Death." A significant article documenting and narrating events pertaining to Houdini and the reality of psychic phenomena. Before Harry Houdini passed away, he gave Mrs. Houdini a password. A password which he said he would communicate to her from beyond the grave if he found it possible... A very interesting Houdini artifact and an equally wonderful read. The New York Herald was a large-distribution newspaper located in New York City and operated between 1835 and 1924, when it was acquired by its rival the New York Tribune to form the New York Herald Tribune. It was widely regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed with The New York times. The paper won twelve Pulitzer Prizes during its existence.
1928 houdini's wife tells secrets of famous magician - boston sunday post
June 17, 1928. Boston Sunday Post. "Houdini's Wife Tells Secrets of Famous Magician." Bess and Houdini married in 1894 and became known as "The Houdinis". Times were extremely tough at the beginning. Even on the very day when Houdini and Bess got married, it turned out that Houdini did not have the $2 to pay for the marriage license. He borrowed it from Bess's purse. They started out touring the country with tent and carnival shows, the two of them combined only earned $25 per week. This is a very interesting read and a scarce Houdini artifact. Told by his wife Bess Houdini, and who for Houdini's performing career, worked as his stage assistant. Bess discusses Houdini's hardest task, how they quarreled, released eight prisoners and much more. An incredibly rare Houdini document with awesome illustrations written less than two years after the passing of Houdini.
1936 HOUDINI SEANCE ON TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH - NEW YORK TIMES
November 1, 1936. New York Times. "HUMAN RADIO WAITS FOR HOUDINI MESSAGE." A very old and scarce article of the famed seance event that occurred Halloween night, the ten year anniversary of Harry Houdini in Hollywood, CA. Houdini's wife, Beatrice arranged the public seance. Nearly a ton of equipment was on hand, television and radio stations, along with professional spiritualists. A terrific and entertaining piece of Houdini history.
1943 BESS HOUDINI DIES NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Original 1943 New York Times newspaper article announcing the death of Houdini's wife Bess Houdini. The article is from February 12, 1943. Bess Houdini died of a heart attack on February 11, 1943. During Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. After Houdini died on October 31, 1926, Bess opened a tea house in New York, and briefly performed a vaudeville act in which she froze a man in ice. She later moved to Manhattan and would try to contact Houdini during seances, with a code that only Harry and Bessie knew about, to be sure that the spirit medium was not a fraud. The code was: Rosabelle – answer – tell – pray – answer – look – tell – answer – answer – tell. Bess' wedding band bore the inscription "Rosabelle", the name of the song she sang in her act when they first met. The other words correspond to a secret spelling code used to pass information between a magician and his assistant during a mentalism act. Each word or word pair equals a letter. The word "answer" stood for the letter "B", for example." Answer, answer" stood for the letter "V". Thus, the Houdinis' secret phrase spelled out the word "BELIEVE". In the 1930s she moved to Hollywood, CA, and worked to promote Houdini's memory along with her manager and partner, Edward Saint. On Halloween 1936, Bess and Saint conducted a "Final Houdini Séance" on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Bess had always expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband, but instead was interred 35 miles due north. She was not allowed to be buried alongside her husband as she had requested, because she was not of Jewish descent.
1927 houdini's book of magic and party pastimes
Original copy of Houdini's Book of Magic And Party Pastimes. Bess Houdini, Stoll and Edwards Co. Inc. Publishers, New York, 1927. Bess Houdini published “Houdini’s Book of Magic and Party Pastimes” after finding a manuscript among her late husband Houdini's papers. First edition of this popular illustrated guide to magic for children, published the year after Houdini’s untimely death: It was the intention of Houdini to write a foreword for this book but the famous magician passed away before he had the opportunity to do so. The book opens with a largely fictionalized biography of Houdini, transforming the Jewish immigrant from Budapest into a Wisconsin boy inspired by the traveling circus. Featured tricks include “The Disappearing Coin,” “Ring on a String,” “The Mysterious Match,” “The Magnetized Cane,” and “The Handkerchief Trick.” Solutions to puzzles printed on the final page, which doubles as the rear pastedown.
1929 THE HOUDINI MESSAGES WITH ARTHUR FORD
A very scarce Houdini publication. The Houdini Messages, 1929. Arthur Ford was a famed American Psychic, spiritualist, clairaudient, and founder of Spiritual Frontier Fellowship. Ford’s claim to fame occurred in 1928. It was known and reported that before his death Harry Houdini said he would send a coded message to his wife, Bess, if there was life after death. Initially, Ford went into trance and received messages from a woman who said she was Houdini’s mother. During a series of ten sittings with Bess, Ford claimed to contact the deceased Houdini himself and relayed a secret message Houdini proposed to convey to Bess after his death. Bess endorsed Ford's claims as truth. This interesting publication is the in-depth happenings of those events.
1930 houdini his life story book and marketing brochure
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Original copy of Houdini His Life Story by Harold Kellock and it's matching marketing brochure. Blue Ribbon Books, 1930. Kellock wrote the recollections and documents of Beatrice Houdini. It is an accurate and full of interesting information that could have only come from Houdini's wife. This biography was written with the help of Houdini's wife of 33 years, along with diaries, clippings, autobiographical fragments, references and special articles of the famed magician. The author has been able to give glimpses into Houdini's methods, some of which were his alone. A fascinating look into the life of a gifted magician.
1939 THE HOUDINI CLUB OF WISCONSIN PROGRAM
Original 1939 The Wisconsin Houdini Club 2nd Annual Convention program. The event was held in Kenosha Wisconsin, October 14th and 15th 1939. The program is complete and is 12 pages in total. Master of Ceremonies was Werner C. Dornfield, a National President and then Dean of the Society of American Magicians and famed vaudeville performer. An awesome piece of Houdini and magic history.
1940 MASTERS OF MAGIC - THE WISCONSIN HOUDINI CLUB PROGRAM
Original 1940 Masters of Magic, The Wisconsin Houdini Club Annual Convention program. The event was held at the Roosevelt Auditorium, September 29th, 1940. The program is complete and is 18 pages in total. Act one performing that evening was Werner C. Dornfield, a National President and then Dean of the Society of American Magicians and famed vaudeville performer. Other acts included, Dave Coleman, Edward Reno, Ben Berger, Mahendra, Ray Conlin, and Winston Freer. A nice piece of Houdini and magic history.
1947 houdini lives again theatre program
Houdini Lives Again theatre program. For an appearance at the Klein Memorial Theatre in Bridgeport Conn. on November 27, 28, 29, 1947. The acts that evening were Hardeen, Jr. (son of Hardeen Houdini), Amedeo, Sherms, "Noma" The Woman of a 1000 Lives, Asrah, and Hal Haviland. The Klein Memorial Auditorium is a 1400-seat proscenium theatre located at 910 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, CT. The theatre was built in the Art Deco style and features bronze doors, a marble lobby, inlaid wood and geometric motifs. After opening its doors in 1940, and has hosted such acts as Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson, Milton Berle, Victor Borge and Bill Cosby. A rare after death Houdini artifact.
1951 HOUDINI IN MEMORIAM STAMP
Extremely rare! As a memorial of the 25th anniversary of Houdini's death, the International Brotherhood of Magicians and The Society of American Magicians jointly issued the Houdini memorial stamp. It was unveiled at the "Mid Century Convention" in New York in 1951.
