Erich Weiss, the man who would later be known world wide as Harry Houdini, was born in Budapest on March 24, 1874, to Cecilia and Samuel Weiss. Houdini later claimed, however, to have been on April 7 in Appleton, Wisconsin. Perhaps he was hoping to maintain his good wholesome American background. For it was on this date his mother always celebrated it. It wasn't until the age of four, however, that Erich and his family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later claimed to be born. At the age of 12, young Erich moved from home and traveled the United States in attempt to help support his family. He met up with his father the next year in New York City. Between them, they managed to save enough money to send Cecilia, who was Erich's mother, and the rest of the children to Manhattan.
In New York, Erich learned to swim and dive in the East River, a few blocks from the Weiss flat. He also joined all clubs that admitted young Jewish boys. He was determined to keep his body in top physical condition.
When young Erich read Memoirs of
Robert-Houdin, he knew instantly that magic was going to be in
his future. Erich was enthralled at the story of the clock worker from Blois, who became France's greatest magician.
Erich added an "i" to Houdin, becoming Houdini. He also added the name Harry,
probably coming from the Yiddish Erie, as his mother often called
him. And so, after two years as a neck-tie cutter, Erich was
ready to thrill the world as Harry Houdini. Harry formed an act
with his brother, called Dash. Harry and Theo performed in Dime
Museums, or the lowest form of entertainment, all around the
town. Houdini prided himself on his skill as a card manipulator,
but perhaps his most applauded feat was an illusion called
"Metamorphosis." It was in England that John Nevil
Maskelyne had introduced the basic principle of the effect. In
the United States Herrmann the Great's assistants had performed a
similar illusion. The basic effect was a spectator bound Harry's
hands together behind his back, and was then tied in a bag and
lifted into a large wooden box. The box was then padlocked and
secured with a wooden rope. Theo pulled a framework cabinet with
cloth sides around the box. "When I clap my hands 3 times,
behold a miracle!" he announced, then stepped inside and
closed the drapes. A moment after the third clap sounded, Harry
threw open the curtains. He then opened the padlock and revealed
that inside the trunk, inside the bag, was Theo!
It was during Dash's run on Coney Island, Harry met Wilhelmina Rahner, or Bess. The 2 of them instantly fell in love and married. Bess replaced Theo in the act, and performed some of the tricks, including the metamorphosis, much faster.
When not performing, Harry
sold such items as soap, combs, toothpaste, and other necessities
to fellow performers on the circuit. He spent his free hours with
a new found hobby-handcuffs. Soon, Houdini began offering rewards
to anyone who could restrain him. He began with handcuffs, but
later in many objects including leg irons, milk cans, packing
crates, and just about anything else the audience could dream up. While touring in New Brunswick, Canada, Houdini was invited to
visit an insane asylum. Harry was shocked to see an inmate
struggling to free himself from a device made of canvas and
leather. He learned the device was a straight jacket, and one was
given to him as a gift. He practiced for a week, and finally
succeeded, and put it in the act. Harry would have volunteers
buckle him in, and he was carried inside a cabinet. The curtains
were closed, and Harry, straining every muscle, slowly began his
escape. Finally, he managed to escape, but the audience was in no
means moved, for they believed a secret assistant aided Harry in
the effort. Soon Harry realized this, and escaped in full view of
the audience, sometimes hanging upside down (see picture to the
left). It is stipulated on how Houdini actually performed his
straight jacket escape. The straightjacket is made of strong
brown canvas or sail cloth and has a deep leather collar and
leather cuffs; these cuffs are sown at the ends, making a sort of
bag into which each arm is placed.
The following is taken from Houdini's Journals, out of the book Houdini on Magic. "The first step necessary to free yourself is to place the elbow, which has the continuous band under the opposite elbow, on some solid foundation, and by sheer strength, to exert sufficient force at this elbow so as to force it gradually toward the head, and by further persistent straining, you eventually force the head under the lower arm, which results in bringing both of the encased arms over the head of the body. Once having freed your arms to such an extent to get them in front of your body, you can now undo the buckles of the straps of the cuffs with your teeth, after which you open the buckles at the back with your hands which are still encased in the canvas sleeves, and then you remove the straightjacket from your body."
Following one of Houdini's shows in St. Paul, a short plump man questioned him. Could he escape from any restraint, or only fixed ones? Houdini was quick to answer that no restraint on earth could hold him. And so, the next evening, the man returned with his own shackles, and proceeded to lock Houdini up. When Houdini justified his boast, the man introduced himself as Martin Beck, booker of the Orpheum Circuit. Beck soon booked Houdini a trial date in Omaha. With Beck's help, Houdini was able to escape from the Dime Museums and began to rise to fame. In Omaha, Houdini managed to escape from 5 pairs of police shackles and a set of regulation leg irons. For this he was paid a sum of 60 dollars, more than he had ever earned before. Soon, his salary soared to 90 dollars a week, and he began to run large ads in the local newspapers.
At the age of 26, Harry, eager to travel abroad, went to Europe without a booking in 1900. Before he could receive his first contract, he had to prove to the theater manager he could escape from Scotland Yard. Harry succeeded, and opened to acclaim at the Alhambra Theater in London. He then traveled to Dresden and later Berlin, where he set box-office records.
While Houdini did not claim to be the first to escape from restraints, he did boast to be the first and only to accept challenges from all comers, and was eagerly ready to back up his claim. In July 1901, Werner Graff, a German policeman wrote a derisive article, accusing Houdini of lying when he said he could escape from any police restraint. Houdini sued for slander, and the challenge was on. Though he did lose profitable playing time as he fought through two court of appeals, Houdini eventually won his case by escaping from some of the top European shackles, right in the courtroom.
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Houdini was not the kind of person to ignore an insult, big or small. Kleppini, an escape artist in Europe, advertised in 1902 that he had defeated the Elusive American. Houdini, upon hearing this, traveled to Dormund, Germany, to confront him. Wearing a false mustache, Houdini took a seat in the stands. He sat through the show until Kleppini told the audience that he had been the victor in a contest against Houdini. Harry, enraged with anger, ripped off his disguise and offered 5,000 marks if Kleppini could get out of Houdini's handcuffs. Kleppini, plodded by the business manager, allowed Houdini to lock him in French letter cuffs the following night. Houdini, before the night of the next show, showed the manager if the cuffs were turned to spell c-l-e-f-s, it would open. And so, Kleppini, entered in his cabinet confidentially. However, after hours of work, Kleppini was unable to escape from the cuffs. Houdini spun the cylinder until the letters f-r-a-u-d spelled into place. |
In May of 1903, during Harry's run at the Establishment Yard, Harry challenged the Russian police to restrain him in one of there escape-proof jails on wheels, which had been used to transport prisoners to exile in Siberia. Escape was nearly impossible, and to make things worse for Houdini, he was strip searched, manacled hand and foot, and finally locked inside the van. It took Harry about 20 minutes to escape, and his popularity in Europe soared.
Houdini, determined to become an even bigger star, returned to the United States. In the years to come, he would cris-cross between Europe and the United States, going wherever the biggest offers were. During one trip to the United States, he purchased a building in New York City on 113th Street, which became his residence for the rest of his life.
Imitators began popping up all over, thus, Harry was forced to
create more difficult and daring escapes. One of these was the
packing crate escape, which was used as a 
publicity stunt. He also introduced the
Milk Can Escape.
"Since his water can had been copied by performers in the United States, Europe, and Australia, Houdini introduced The Chinese Water Torture Cell during his fall tour with the Circus Busch in Germany. Committeemen examined the metal-lined mahogany tank and a "cage" that was to be lowered into the water-filled tank. After they snapped the cuffs on his wrists, they probed the heavy stocks that were closed on his ankles, and the massive frame that fitted over the stocks. Houdini was hauled up and lowered head down into the water. Assistants locked the top of the tank and pushed a canopy forward to cover it. He could be seen through the plate-glass front of the tank until the drapes closed. Two assistants stood by with axes, ready to break the glass should an emergency arise. Two suspenseful minutes later, Houdini parted the curtains to show-stopping applause." (Christopher 353-345)
In 1908, Houdini published The Unmasking of Robert Houdin, in which he furnished exhaustive evidence to prove that magical effects claimed by the famed French conjuror were actually the invention of Robert Houdin's predecessor's and rivals. This controversy still rages, but The Unmasking still provides an important milestone in the annals of magic. Contrary to later rumor, Houdini never retracted the opinions expressed in his book.
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While Houdini's claim to fame was magic, he also showed interest in several other areas. On March 16, 1910, at 5 AM, Houdini piloted the first sustained flight in Australia. Houdini also dabbled with the Hollywood scene. Houdini starred in several films, including The Grim Game, Terror Island, The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service. Though these movies never experienced great success, they captured some of Harry's famous escapes on film. Harry is also credited with several inventions, including a high performance sea diving suit patented in 1921. On August 5, 1926, just months before his death, Houdini added another record to his credit. Harry was able to stay underwater for 1 hour and 31 minutes as opposed to the existing record at that time, 19 minutes, held by the self-styled Egyptian fakir Rahman Bey. After his untimely death in Detroit, his body was shipped to New York in the same "under water" casket. |
In 1913, while in Europe, Harry received a telegram which had told of his mothers death. This was the most severe blow in his career he had ever suffered. For he had so fondly loved his mother, he did whatever he could for her throughout the course of his life. Houdini began attending séances, in hopes to communicate with his mother. However, each time he realized they were all fraudulent, and decided to use his knowledge to put a stop to it. He launched an all-out attack on psychic fraud. The publication of A Magician Among Spirits made Houdini's point crystal clear. In this book he exposed many of the prominent mediums of his time. Though he continued to perform in vaudeville, most of Houdini's offstage hours were spent tracking down and exposing "vultures who preyed on the bereaved."
| Following a performance at the Princess Theater in Montreal, Houdini was in is dressing room when a young athlete, J. Gordon Whitehead, a student at McGill University, approached him. Whitehead asked Houdini if he could actually withstand blows to the stomach, as he had heard. The student, before Harry could prepare himself, struck Houdini in the stomach several times. Houdini, although terribly hurt, continued his run in Montreal and then performed in Detroit. Following his first performance in Detroit, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. The Elusive American died, after two appendix operations, on October 31, 1926. "I'm tired of fighting", were Houdini's last words. At 52, the man who could defy all shackles could not defy his own fate. |  |
The date of Houdini's death has been celebrated as National Magic Day. Every All Saint's Eve, representatives of the Society of American Magicians gather at Harry's grave site and perform a wand-breaking ceremony in his memory, while many other conjurors perform free shows in orphanages, as Harry often did.
Today it is said that Harry's name is uttered every three seconds somewhere on the Earth. Scarcely a day passes when his legacy is not mentioned in a newspaper, magazine, on the radio or even on television.
Sources
Images courtesy of http://www.magictricks.com/houdini
Magical Past Times
Grim Game Image courtesy of Houdini374
Christopher, Milbourne. The Illustrated History Of Magic.
1996. Portsmouth, NH.
Gibson, Walter. Houdini on Magic. 1953. Dover
Publications.
