Monday May 5, 2025

Noon-1pm Arrived at New Orleans Hotel with a suitcase of Houdini books (Zanetti, Houdini Schooldays, Houdini Movies, Jorkins&Co, Houdini Exploits), then found my way to the dealer room where I was greeted by Ionia author, Charles Greene, who graciously allowed me to share his dealer’s table.

Also in the dealer’s room were fellow Houdini collectors, Ken Trombly and Roger Dreyer, who were setting up their own dealer tables.

Roger Dreyer gave me a spoon (from a collection of Houdini Weiss Family silverware) to give to Houdini expert, John Cox, who was not attending the expo.

Roger was selling complete sets of the silverware and had the following on display near his table.

Also missing at the expo was Houdini collector, Arthur Moses, who had another commitment, but was there in spirit, as I was selling the first book (1920) of a series (1920,..,1926) of books that Arthur and I are compiling on the Kinema Comic Serial, The Amazing Exploits of Houdini.

While setting up my table, Houdini Collector, Fred Pittella, stopped by with a nice surprise, a glass and program from the 2024 Houdini Séance; these were only given to attendees and will make a nice addition to my collection of Houdini Séance Programs.

Thank You Fred!

1pm-4pm Dealer Room Opens and to my surprise, I see my fellow Houdini Nuts, Joe Fox and Brian Verkuylen from LA.

Joe Fox brought some items to sell, which included a Houdini Séance Ash-tray, which I had always wanted so I made my first purchase.

And right after that, sold my first Kinema Comic book to Rick Strange (Magic Book Collector) along with a Houdini’s Jorkins&Co book, so things were off to a great start.

Brian Verkuylen also picked up a Kinema Comic book to go with my other 4 books in his library.

Next big moment was when Soo Collector, Stephen Fenton of the UK, stopped by my table; Stephen graciously allowed use of his Kinema Comic poster in the book, which made the cover.

4pm–5pm Attended Session #1 where Bill Smith, Lance Rich, Mike Caveney, and David Sandy kicked off the 3 day expo.

• Bill did introductions
• Mike and Lance presented a special profile of the David Copperfield Museum Tour.
• David hosted a fun and exciting game of Joker’s Wild, which had some fun categories, including David Copperfield, who was in the audience.

5pm–7pm Had dinner at Fuddruckers with Brian Verkuylen, who gave me a deck of Bicycle Harry Houdini Playing Cards.

Thank You Brian!

Joe Fox joined us for dinner shortly thereafter.

7pm–9pm Attended Session #2.

• Mark Holstein shared 45 Years of Abbott’s Get Togethers from Stage Left.
• Michael Claxton shared memories of Egyptian Hall.
• Bill Schmeelk shared how he went from Apprentice to Master Builder. He worked for Tannen’s Magic, Owen Magic Supreme, John Gaughan & Associates, Johnson Products, and then his own company Wellington Enterprises.

9pm-? Hung out in the dealer room, sold some books, and stopped by Mike Caveney’s booth, where he had a proof copy of the book, Escaping Obscurity: The Travel Diary of Harry Houdini, 1897-1899.

Description from Wild About Harry:

The book runs 376 pages and contains over 200 images. Every page of Houdini’s first diary from the collection of Bruce Averbook is reproduced, along with material from several other major magic collections, including the David Copperfield collection. John Cox annotated the entire diary so you can follow the remarkable story of Houdini’s early career toiling in dime museums, circuses, medicine shows, and even séance chambers. The book contains a wealth of new information and tells the story of Houdini’s early career like no other.

The book is a thing of beauty and a must have by all.

Tuesday May 6, 2025 (David Copperfield Tour)

Rode over to the Copperfield Museum with a gentleman I had never met before. I introduced myself as a Houdini Collector and author. His name is Bill Pearson, and he who owns a couple Houdini items, including an Unmasking book signed by “Harry Handcuff Houdini”. He also mentioned, he was considering buying the set of Houdini Weiss Family silverware. I then showed him the picture of the spoon I had for John Cox. The tour bus arrives at the Copperfield Museum.

We were on tour number 9. This was my second tour of the David Copperfield Museum. Back in 2021, we entered through the Korby’s store front but this year we entered through the Copperfield’s store front.

We were escorted into a large warehouse area that had some of David’s larger props like the Death Saw. We then moved to what appeared to be a very small room, where David stood behind the original Macy’s Department Store Magic counter where he bought his first trick (which he performed).

David then turned, lights and music magically came on, and the next thing you know we were all transformed back in time to Tannen’s Magic Shop.

The tour then proceeded through the Magic Props room housing the Albo collection. There was areas devoted to Thayer, Abbots, P&L, Owen, Marshall, Okito and German manufacturers.

Next we went into the recreation of Martinka’s back showroom.

This was followed by the Hall of Masters which included contemporaries like Mr. Electric (Marvin Roy), Richiardi, Chanin Pollack, Walter Blaney and Doug Henning.

Next, Mike Caveney led the tour of The Golden Age of Magic, which included Blackstone, Carter, Chung Ling Soo, Dante, Thurston and others.

We then went upstairs to the Houdini area, where Gabe Fajuri pointed out items belonging to Houdini like the bath tub from 278, Double Fold Death Defying Mystery Chest, a Milk Can, Original Wax cylinders and Edison player, Baby shoe, Mirror Cuff, Silver Replica Cuff, Straitjacket, Iron Maiden, and Water Torture Cell (WTC).

Side Note: Four years ago, I couldn’t get close enough to get a good look at David Copperfield Mirror Cuff and the Silver Replica that were in separate display cases from each other, but this year I could and still stand by the theory that Houdini escaped from the Tatler Cuff versus the David Copperfield Mirror Cuff.

Next, Chris Kenner took us through Robert Houdin Automata Heaven, followed by David Charvet overview of magic posters, and then Lance Rich showed us the research center. After that, we made our way pass the Houdini bookcase and Houdini posters along the back wall, where we were overlooking the Golden Age of Magic below, where they allowed us to snap a couple quick photos on our way to the library, which was the end of tour.

Rode back on bus will Bill Pearson who shared that four years ago, his daughter wanted him to get a photo with David Copperfield holding her favorite stuffed animal and David did one better, he took his phone and did a short video of him holding the animal and talking to his daughter.

7pm-9pm Attended Session #3

• Richard Hatch shared the curious case of Kalanag. Was Kalanag (Helmut Schreiber, 1903-1963) a Nazi? Hitler’s favorite magician? Did he finance his post-war illusion show with Nazi plunder? Or was he simply “an opportunist of the worst order”?
• Diana Zimmerman w/Stan Allen shared some amazing and touching stories of Seigfried & Roy, Masters of the Impossible

9pm-? Hung out in the dealer room and ran into Houdini Collector, Chris Goldman. After selling Chris a book or two, exchanged stories about what we picked up at the latest Potter Auction, showed him the “Unmasking” poster that Charles Greene had for sale, and then sent him over to Caveney’s table to check out the diary book.

Walked over to Michael Claxton’s table and purchased his book: Saving Magic, David Price and the Making of Egyptian Hall. Also shared my story about the search for the Tatler Cuff (likely the original Mirror Cuff) that Bess Houdini gave to W.W. Durbin, the original owner of Egyptian Hall at the time.

Wednesday May 7, 2025

10am-11am Dealer room opens and my book on Houdini’s movies is the hot item during this session.

Michelle Ainsworth purchased two books: Houdini Adaptations plus Playwriting and Film Treatments and The Zanetti Mystery Plus candidates for ghostwriting the story.

Roger Dreyer of Fantasma Magic came over to my table, purchased my book on Houdini movies and gave me a really nice Grim Game journal notebook for my collection. Thank You Roger!

John Cannon of Aladdin Books, who had a dealer’s table next to mine, also purchased a movie book; John had some Houdini items for sale on this table and has a passion for his movies. Plan to visit his place sometime in the near future.

11am-12:30pm Attended Session #4

• Connie Boyd shared an entertaining lecture on Magical Women documenting the important roles women have played in history, which included The Queen of the Handcuffs, Minerva Vano, whose work was notable not only for her escape artistry but also her representation of women in a traditionally male-dominated field; she was a contemporary of Houdini. German escape artist, Wanda Timm was also mentioned, she was hired by Houdini to perform the Water Torture Cell under the name “Miss Trixy” using a duplicate apparatus he provided.

• Phil Schwartz explored our motivations for collecting, what psychologist say about it, and dealing with the reality that all collectors will ultimately part with their collections, one way or another.
• Don Bice with Dave Egan traced Don’s discovery of the secret side of Las Vegas magic, its use in trade shows at the Convention Center, as a sales tool for some of the biggest companies in the US. That led to a two-year tour with his own giant illusion show and an eventual partnership with Alan Wakeling in a production company that counted some of those same big companies among its clients.

12:30pm-2:30pm David Coppperfield was in the dealing room making the rounds. He stopped by our table to chat with Charles Greene about posters. While David didn’t buy one of my books that were sitting next to the Soo poster he was looking at, he does have a signed copy of my “Houdini Schooldays” book with never before published material in it from his library.

He also stopped by Roger Dreyer’s table, possibly regarding the Houdini Weiss spoons, and then Joe Fox was seen sharing something with him.

After David Copperfield left, sold one more book to John Cannon, then packed up.

2:30pm-4:30pm Attended Session #5

• Lupe Nielson presented Finding Meaning In Life, Norm Nielsen’s Thrill of the Hunt & Passion for Magic Posters. Suffice it to say, if you missed this presentation, you missed the best of the best.

• David Charvet hosted Orson Welles & Us, A Special panel. David hosted panelists: Don Bice, Mike Caveney, Bill Smith and Allen Bracken, who all worked for Orson and shared their amazing stories about their encounters with this larger-than life legend.

• Gabe Fajuri ended the session with a mini Potter & Potter Magic Auction that included a Houdini program that Fred Pittella won ($500) and a signed Unmasking book that David Sandy won ($2K).

Ran into Bill Pearson again, and he shared with me that he found David Copperfield, showed him the video of David holding his daughter’s stuffed animal from 4 years ago and then got David to do a video congratulating Bill’s son on getting elected class President. Bill may not have gotten the Houdini Weiss family spoons, but he did get something that may be of even greater value.

6:30pm-7pm Happy Hour with Brian Verkuylen, Joe Fox and Fred Pittella

7pm-9:30pm Expo Dinner and Show

• Broke bread with Brian Verkuylen, Joe Fox, Michelle Ainsworth, and Michael Tallon.
• Mac King hosted a fantastic show that included acts by himself, John Carney and Dimmare

9:30pm-10pm said my good-byes

Thank you to David Copperfield, Bill Smith, Lance Rich, David Sandy and friends for putting on an amazing Expo.

Thank you to all the people highlighted in bold above that truly made this a wonderful experience.

And a special thank you to Charles Greene for letting me share a table with him. So much fun!

I plan to attend the next Magic Collectors Expo May 12-14 in Rutherford, NJ, featuring a tour of The Billy Rose Theatre Division’s Magic collection, which is on my Houdini bucket list. Hope to see some more Houdini Nuts there.

Related:

• HHCE highlights from Magic Collectors Expo 2024
• HHCE highlights from Magic Collectors Expo 2023
• HHCE highlights from Magic Collectors Expo 2022 and Harry Ransom Center
• HHCE Attends his first Magic Collectors Expo

Photo coutesy of Christopher’s Pictorial Life page 65

HHCE will be taking a break for 3 weeks.

So will wish Houdini a Happy Birthday one day early from his actual birthday March 24^th in Budapest Hungary and 2 weeks early from his celebrated birthday April 6^th in Appleton, Wisconsin.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y  H O U D I N I  !

Today, we leave on a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands to celebrate spouse birthday and her retirement.

So did Houdini ever visit Hawaii? Is the palm tree pic above, Hawaii?

• WILD ABOUT HARRY: Houdini in Hawaii (yes, Hawaii!)

Thanks to John Cox post with Honolulu 1910 photograph, we know he did visit Hawaii (May 24/25) during his return from Australia in 1910. And it’s possible the palm tree pic could be the Houdinis in Hawaii since Bess’s hat/dress and Houdini’s hat/suit match John’s Honululu 1910 photo.

I previously shared a  couple reviews from Feb. 14, 1925 The Billoard Magazine in my collection:.

• 100 years ago, Houdini Played Zanetti at the Hippodrome Theater
• Hippodrome Review of Margery Expose and Submarine Mystery

Here is another one from the same magazine:

Last month I shared a 100 year old review [from the Feb. 14 1925 Magazine in my personal collection] of Houdini playing Zanetti at the Hippodrome Theater on February 9th, 1925.

• 100 years ago, Houdini Played Zanetti at the Hippodrome Theater

Today, thought I would share a review from February 2nd,1925 found in the same magazine:

Last week, David Haversat shared with his subscribers that the COMPLETE Cancer of Superstition by Harry Houdini & C.M. Eddy, Jr is finally coming to print:

This is exciting news that a COMPLETE manuscript in the archives of C.M. Eddy’s grandson has surfaced.

Back in 2016, Potter & Potter sold an INCOMPLETE typed manuscript:

Collection of 31 leaves, paginated 1 – 10 [11 – 13 lacking] 14 – 34, being an unpublished manuscript of a work in progress on superstition, divided into the three sections, “The Genesis of Superstition,” “The Expansion of Superstition,” and “The Fallacy of Superstition.”

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Also in 2016, an unpublished handwritten dissertation on “THE CANCER OF SUPERSTITION” was for sale (for $65,000) on Abebooks.com:

Lovecraft’s handwritten outline (published in THE DARK BROTHERHOOD) and Eddy’s handwritten and typewritten drafts of the first three chapters are extant. This 19-page handwritten manuscript, edited, revised and copiously annotated by Lovecraft, is Eddy’s draft expanded from Lovecraft’s handwritten 4 1/2 page 12-part outline (held by Brown University). It is the version from which the typescript sent to Houdini was made (that typescript, missing three leaves of text, was sold at auction by Potter & Potter 9 April 2016 for $33,600).Eddy’s manuscript is divided into three chapters. Chapter I, “The Genesis of Superstition” (leaves 1-8 of this handwritten draft), published in a slightly altered version in THE DARK BROTHERHOOD (1966), pp. 250-61. Chapter II, “The Expansion of Superstition” (leaves 9-14) and Chapter III, “The Fallacy of Superstition” (leaves 15-19), currently unpublished, comprise the remainder of the manuscript. Part of the manuscript is written on the versos of various discarded drafts, several of which are of considerable interest: (1) verso of leaf 2 is a draft of a letter from Eddy to Houdini, 15 October 1926, asking if he had received “the synopsis of the proposed article on the origin and fallacy of superstition” and if “the requested advance check for $15.00 is on the way together with whatever you wish to offer in the way of annotations & suggestions” (2) verso of leaves 3 and 4 have an earlier draft of “The Cancer of Superstition” (3) versos of leaves 5-8 have discarded pages of a crime story by Eddy (4) verso of leaf 9 is a draft “Questionnaire — Oct. 19, 1926” directed to Houdini about the scope and direction of the “proposed article which you assigned me, while in Providence, on the origin and fallacy of superstition,” and requesting his input (5) verso of leaf 10 is an expanded draft of the “Questionnaire” (6) verso of leaf 14 has a long continuation of the text from leaf 14 in Lovecraft’s hand on a discarded earlier draft of leaf 13. The verso of leaf 1 has the beginning of a letter dated 12 October 1926 to the Boston Sunday Post; the versos of leaves 11-13 and 15-19 are blank.H. P. Lovecraft met Clifford M. Eddy, Jr., a native of Providence, Rhode Island, a published writer of popular fiction and student of mythology and the occult, in 1923 (their first face-to-face meeting, after an exchange of letters, was in Providence at Eddy’s home on 9 September 1923). Lovecraft, who met Houdini in New York City in 1924, ghostwrote Houdini’s “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” (aka “Under the Pyramids”), published WEIRD TALES in 1924. In 1926 Houdini hired Lovecraft to write an article attacking astrology, for which he paid $75 (the manuscript of the article, which does not appear to have been published, was sold on eBay in April 2009 ). Then he commissioned Lovecraft and Eddy (who may have done work for him at an earlier date) to jointly ghostwrite a full-length book on superstitions. According to Eddy (handwritten statement dated 9 June 1962): “Back in the middle twenties both H. P. L. and I were doing ghostwriting for the late Harry Houdini. Shortly before Houdini’s death, he gave me an assignment to do a complete book for him on the subject of the origin, growth and fallacy of superstition. He furnished me with voluminous notes and ideas that he wanted incorporated in the book and suggested that perhaps H. P. L. whip them into some shape that I could use as a guide. I wrote the first three chapters of the proposed book. The first two were read and approved by Houdini, and the third was in the mail, addressed to him in Detroit, when he was stricken with the appendicitis attack which resulted in his death. About a month after her husband’s funeral, Mrs. Houdini advised me that she would prefer to have the work on the proposed book abandoned. Whatever became of the the three chapters that had already been completed, I never learned. Sometime later, at one of our get-togethers, Lovecraft and I were discussing the subject… Bookseller Inventory # 155672

Looks like 2025 is now the year of Eddy and The Cancer of Superstition!

Related:

• A Look Back at 2016, Part 2 – The Year of Lovecraft, Eddy and The Cancer of Superstition

Today I continue my series of posts, where I share different Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ads from my personal collection:

• Houdini Talks About Himself and the Master Mystery
• Ruth Stonehouse Writes Plays When Only Six
• Houdini’s Tame Eagle in “The Master Mystery”
• The Triumph of Science. A Mechanical Man with a Superhuman Brain
• By Request of Hoover Houdini Chaffs Miss Marsh
• Kidnapped into Pictures
• Handcuffs I Have Met
• Houdini Breaks Own Record in “The Master Mystery”
• Why “The Master Mystery” is a Sure Record=Breaking Serial
• $25 for Houdini’s Secret
• Houdini Made the Kaiser Apologise. The Great Mystic a Victim of Hun Arrogance
• About Publicity

Today I reveal that the Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ads came from the back two pages of the extremely rare “Houdini Herald” in my collection.

It was 2014, when I first learned about a 4-page “Houdini Herald” [published as a supplement in Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly] and saw the front two pages via the following WildAboutHarry post:

• WILD ABOUT HARRY: The Houdini Herald

Ten years later, I added a “Houdini Herald” to my collection and could see what was on the back pages.

HHCE Collection: Houdini Herald Back

HHCE Collection: Houdini Herald [front]

Related:

• Kinematograph & Lantern Weekly Master Mystery Supplements – FEB 6 1919

In January and February of 1925, Houdini played Zanetti at the Hippodrome Theater, New York, NY.

To celebrate, thought I would share a 100 year old review (from my personal collection) of the matinee that took place on February 9, 1925.

Related:

• Early Release – The Zanetti Mystery Plus
• The World Wide Houdini Birthday Celebration – The Zanetti Mystery

Bonus:

Below are 2 pages from the book, “The Zanetti Mystery Plus Candidates for ghostwriting the story”, that I first published in December of 2021.

The first year (Kinema Comic 1920) of  the serial, The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI, is now available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Product Description:

The British Boys weekly “The Kinema Comic” ran a serial “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” (“Written by Houdini Himself” – or so it says) from April 24, 1920 to November 27,1926.

In these yarns, which no one should miss, the Master of Mystery chronicles his most amazing exploits.

Surviving copies are almost impossible to come by these days.

Joe M. Notaro and Arthur Moses have been tracking down these rare issues and are making them available to you in a book series by year.

In this offering, they have compiled the 1920 (Apr – Dec) weekly serials (36 issues) of “The Amazing Exploits of HOUDINI” into a single book (with original illustrations).

Today I continue my series of posts, where I share different Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ads from my personal collection:

• Houdini Talks About Himself and the Master Mystery
• Ruth Stonehouse Writes Plays When Only Six
• Houdini’s Tame Eagle in “The Master Mystery”
• The Triumph of Science. A Mechanical Man with a Superhuman Brain
• By Request of Hoover Houdini Chaffs Miss Marsh
• Kidnapped into Pictures
• Handcuffs I Have Met
• Houdini Breaks Own Record in “The Master Mystery”
• Why “The Master Mystery” is a Sure Record=Breaking Serial
• $25 for Houdini’s Secret
• Houdini Made the Kaiser Apologise. The Great Mystic a Victim of Hun Arrogance
• About Publicity

I compiled my ground-breaking posts on the Tatler Handcuff into a single article:

• The Search for the Holy Grail of Houdini Handcuffs – The Tatler Cuffs

Submitted it to the Linking Ring magazine and had an edited version of it published in the April 2024 issue.  Suffice it to say, I believe the cuffs are out there and will surface one day.

• “The Search for the Holy Grail of Houdini Handcuffs” in The Linking Ring

I also published my third and fourth Houdini book:

• Houdini’s Jorkins & Co (Available Now)
  • Joe Notaro presents Houdini’s Jorkins & Co (John Cox)

• Houdini Adaptations (Available Now)
  • Houdini Movie Book now available in Hardback on the 105th Anniversary of The Grim Game Premiere (Joe M. Notaro)
  • The Houdini movie book we’ve been waiting for (John Cox)
  • Houdini Adaptations by Joe M. Notaro (John Cox)
  • Coming Soon (Houdini Adaptations, The Grim Game and Terror Island Stories (Joe M. Notaro)

Besides publishing a magazine article and two books, there were many more highlights for HHCE in 2024.

I started the year off by sharing my1953 pressbook from the Tony Curtis Houdini movie:

• Houdini 1953 Pressbook – pages 1 to 4
• Houdini 1953 Pressbook – pages 5 to 8
• Houdini 1953 Pressbook – pages 9 to 12
• Houdini 1953 Pressbook – pages 13 to 16

Throughout the year, I continued to share more Houdini 1953 related movie items:

• Houdini 1953; Posters plus

• Houdini 1953: South Africa Poster (1960ish?)

• Houdini 1953: Swedish Poster (1954)

• Houdini 1953; Mexican Lobby Cards

• Houdini 1953: American Lobby Cards

• Houdini 1953; West German Lobby Cards

• Houdini 1953; More Lobby Cards

• Houdini 1953; Japanese Program (1954)

• Houdini 1953; Another Japanese Program (1954?)

• Houdini 1953; Still 11495-14

• Happy Birthday Janet Leigh

Shared some special posts that included not widely known information:

• Houdini and Godfrey, The Man of Mystery
• Houdinis Schooldays reviewed in Ye Olde Magic Mag Vol 10 Issue 2
• Happy 150th Year Anniversary of the birth of Harry Houdini!
• The Grim Game Title Card(s) and Lobby Card Set(s)
• HHCE shares notes on 1950 Screenplay by Stephen Longstreet
• Houdini Sucessfully Monkeys With the Buzz Saw
• The Grim Game plane sequence shown as part of act
• Silver Temples presents a Grim Game short with sound
• Houdini Guards Magic in Death
• Houdinis Last Written Words to the public he loved

Shared my Houdini adventures:

• Houdini Manacle comes to light

• HHCE highlights from Magic Collectors Expo 2024

• Guess where I was the last few days?

Shared a number of other items from my personal collection:

• Portrait Postcard of Lila Lee

• Unity’s capture, The Man From Beyond, trade shown in the U.K. May 10, 1926

• Original Vintage Magic Billboard News From 1922 Houdini;The Man From Beyond”?

• The Houdini Magical Fraternity Tidings Newsletters

• Two Grim Game Posters found in Paramount 1921-22 French Campaign Book

• The Grim Game Opening Program

• Houdini Play – Houdini; at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1997

• The Official Houdini Séance 1997

• The Grim Game released in the UK

• Artist Signed Mark Spears Monsters Posters

Started sharing a series of posts, where I share different Master Mystery Exhibitors Ads from my personal colleciton:

• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – Houdini Talks About Himself and the Master Mystery
• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – Ruth Stonehouse Writes Plays When Only Six
• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – Houdini’s Tame Eagle in “The Master Mystery”
• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – The Triumph of Science. A Mechanical Man with a Superhuman Brain
• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – By Request of Hoover Houdini Chaffs Miss Marsh
• Master Mystery Exhibitors’ Ad – Kidnapped into Pictures

In 2025, I plan to continue to share research, items from my collection, and publish a series of Houdini books, where the Master of Mystery chronicles his most amazing exploits.