Which city did Martin Beck first meet Houdini?
- [A] Woodstock, Illinois
- [B] St Paul, Minnesota
- [C] Kansas City, Kansas
- [D] None of the above
Let’s explore each of the possible answers.
[A] At one point, the Wikipedia article on Harry Houdini included the following claim:
“Houdini’s big break came in 1899, when he met manager Martin Beck in rural Woodstock, Illinois.”
However no source was cited.
FWIW: The Postcard above sent by twelve-year old Ehrich Weiss to his parents after he ran away from his Milwaulkee home in 1886, directs his family to write in care of “Mead Bros Woodstock Ill.”
[B] The Wikipedia article on Houdini now claims:
“Houdini’s big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
And every major Houdini biographer recounts the story of Houdini and Beck meeting in St. Paul;
So what is their source? It is from an article by Harry Houdini in The Magician Annual, No. 3 (1909-10) page 17:
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 the next day purchased a few pairs and sent them on stage. I escaped! He then booked me for one week, and it was the first chance I ever had, and my act in a first-class theatre created a sensation.
[C] According to Hardeen, Martin Beck finally caught Harry’s act in a beer garden in Kansas City, became his manager and booked him to the Coast. FWIW: Houdini performed at the Orpheum Theatre, Kansas City, KA after he performed at the Palm Garden, St. Paul, MN and Creighton-Orpheum Theatre, Omaha Nebraska.
Or is it [D] none of the above. That is, Is the story of Beck challenging Houdini in a Beer Hall/Garden fiction?
John Cox, in a well-researched post on Houdini in 1899, mentions this possibility:
But on March 14, Houdini received a telegram from Beck that changed his life:
Beck’s statement that he would “see his act” in Omaha makes me wonder if the story of Beck challenging Houdini with cuffs at the Palm Garden might be mythology. It always struck him a little odd that a man like Beck would be trolling beer halls for acts. Perhaps it was a scout who saw Houdini and alerted Beck. Or maybe Beck had learned of Houdini via the “strolling magician” article a few months earlier.
According to Houdini’s account, a party of managers (which included Martin Beck) was sight-seeing and just happened to stop in the beer hall and catch his act.
My vote is none of the above, and that their first meeting was in Beck’s Omaha, NE theatre. Do you agree?
No because Beck’s Omaha, Nebraska theater was for the entertainers higher up the ladder. How could HH have been working there before meeting up with Beck? I like the idea of Beck or his assistant scouting the beer halls for the next Big Thing.
Sure, beer halls were seedy places, but Beck knew he had to get his hands a little dirty to find fresh talent. Baseball talent scouts scour minor league stadiums and other small playing venues for their next big player. When HH first met Beck, I believe he was fulfilling earlier contracts and about to throw in the towel on show business.
Fair enough. But if it was one of Beck’s assistants, he may not have met Beck until after St. Paul. We definitely know that Martin Beck changed his life; Both Houdini and Hardeen agree on that, just not on where.
HH wrote in that Magic Annual article that Beck was among the group of managers who walked into the beer hall in St.Paul. Was he lying? Maybe but I don’t get the feeling he lied about this. It reads like a matter of fact recount of his first meeting with Beck.
Silverman & Company agree with you.