Kenneth Silverman published photo (above) of Houdini waving a checkered flag in some auto race [???] in his Notes to Houdini! on page 179.
So where was this photograph taken?
- [A] Worcester, MA
- [B] Montreal, Canada
- [C] Detroit, MI
- [D] None of the above
Let’s explore each of the possible answers.
[A] The caption under the photo in Silverman’s Notes reads as follows:
Inscribed on the back by N.J. Weiss, Houdini’s sister-in-law: “Worcester, Mass, King, driver, last picture of Harry, 1926″.
Well, Houdini performed in Worcester September of 1926, he did the Buried Alive on stage at Worcester Opera House (the week of 9/27), Submerged casket test at YMCA pool (9/28) and Sealed casket test at Summerfield’s (9/30).
So, was there an auto race in town? So far, I haven’t found any evidence. The New England Fair was in town, but it featured horse racing from 9/28 to 9/30.
However, I did find out via an October 7, 1934 photo (above), that the first name of the driver was Bob. [Source: Dirt Track Auto Racing, 1919-1941 A pictorial history by Don Radbruch]
[B] Per an Oct 19, 1926 letter (McCord Museum) addressed to Houdini at Princess Theatre, Montreal:
Would you be interested in an automobile “stunt” for a display ad, to be run by the manufacturer of the motor? It would probably simply mean a picture in [by] the car.
Well, Houdini performed in Montreal from October 18th to October 23rd, he got punched (10/22) in dressing room of theatre and left Montreal (10/23) on the 11 pm overnight train (where is appendix burst on the way) to Detroit.
So, was there an auto race in town? No, apparently the only early racing was in 1917 and 1918 at Deslormiers Park in Montreal. [Source: Don Radbruch]
[C] Per December 2008 Genii Thread, Houdini’s Last Photograph:
The photo was given to niece Marie Blood by Bess Houdini [and] Marie was led to believe it was that final (show) date in Detroit.
Well, Houdini performed that final show, October 24, 1926 at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit. The show was supposed to start at 8:30pm, but didn’t start until about 9pm.
So, was there an auto race in town? The answer is Yes. According to the 1926 AAA Championship Car Season Schedule and results, The Detroit 100 was run on October 24th at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway. But, would Houdini squeeze an appearance at an auto race in his condition before his evening show.
Or is it [D] none of the above. The car has Shenandoah printed on it.
According to Wikipedia:
Oh Shenandoah, the song appears to have originated with Canadian and American voyagers or fur traders traveling down the Missouri River in canoes
Shenandoah is a town in Virginia [hot spot for fairground auto races], but there was also a Shenandoah in other places like New York.
Well, Houdini was in New York from October 10th to October 17th. At the time, New York was also a hot spot for fairground auto races. So…?
Conclusion:
All of this said, we still don’t have the smoking gun.
But we did learn about a possible automobile “stunt”, the first name of the driver in the car, and that there was a auto race in Detroit on October 24th.
For now, we’ll have to go with [A] Worcester, MA, but would like to see some more evidence, besides the inscription on the back of the photo, supposedly written by N.J. Weiss, Houdini’s sister-in-law. I am not aware of a sister-in-law with that name; He had a brother, named Nathaniel Josef Weiss, who married a Sadie Glanz Weiss. Sadie divorced Nathan and married Houdini’s brother Leopold. So was it Nat [brother], Sadie [sister-in-law] or someone else related to Houdini who wrote the inscription on the photo.
Thoughts?
Related:
Wow! That was a great try Joe! Almost! Hunting for an auto race in the Fall of 1926 was the way to go here. We can be pretty sure this photo was taken at that time–but who knows? What if it was the Fall of 25? Harry was in Syracuse, N.Y. that year in the Fall battling the fraudulent medium Pierre Keeler from Lily Dale.
Thanks Leo! I just assumed 1926, since the photo is identified as the last picture of Harry.
Great stuff!
I think we can rule out Detroit [C] as it’s pretty clearly documented that the train was late and Houdini and the team had to go straight to the theater to setup (where the doctor met them). Unless HH stopped off at the race between the train station and theater? But this would have been early evening, odd time for a Sunday race to be beginning.
Yep, Detroit doesn’t seem possible. Harry was in serious abdominal pain and would have been in no shape to attend an auto race. He would have begged off doing that favor.
Thanks John! Agree that we can rule out Detroit; Just read Sophie Rosenblatt’s (nurse) affidavit, and she has Houdini going to the Hotel upon leaving the train (after being seen by Dr. Leo Dretzka of Detroit). They then called Dr. Richards, the hotel doctor, who saw Houdini at about 6:30 pm who prescribed pills for Houdini to take every half hour for his pulse and respiration. Sometime after seeing the doctor, they took him to the theatre to give his evening performance.
Oh! That’s a different timeline than the one I’m familiar with. I thought the only examination HH received was by Leo Dretzka in his dressing room at the theater. Interesting!
Maybe there was no race and this photo was staged. It would explain the letter he got in Montreal asking him about posing next to a car. Somebody found out Harry posed for this car picture and wanted him in their photo for an ad. This theory would put the photo in the Fall of 26. Perhaps Shenandoah was the name of a racing car manufacturer and Harry was doing a photo ad for the company.
Another thought–Harry got the ad letter on the 19th in Montreal, and posed for the checkered flag picture before the dressing room punch on the 22nd. It would have given him two days in Montreal to take this ad photo.
In Worcester publicity stunts were the order of the day for Harry, so it could very well have been taken there.
Here comes a wild theory: Is that a boat behind Harry? Do I see rigging and a sail? What’s with that rope ladder? The St. Lawrence river cuts down thru Montreal, but no main rivers thru Worcester. If I’m right, this is Montreal.
Thank You for your theories Leo. I also thought about some of these, but wasn’t able to find a Shenandoah Motor or Racing Car connection. Not sure I see a boat. I always thought this had to be a fairground where they could run horses or race cars, but couldn’t find any similar fairground images to place the photo. The rope ladder could be where the track announcer climbs up to see the finish line results. This Checker Flag photo is definitely intriguing.
The New England Fair was in Worcester at the time and featured horse racing from 9/28 to 9/30, so perhaps they staged the photo at the track, but would want to see more evidence.
Springfield MA is 50 miles west of Worcester. The Easter States
Exposition was there from 9/24-9/26, and it included automobile races. I don’t see any mention of a driver named “Bob”, though.
The photo has to be staged, to some extent. No flagman would start a race on the track, so close to a car.
Thanks Bill for the SprIngfield MA automobile race reference. Houdini was performing at the Plymouth Theatre in Boston at the time and then he went to Worchester to perform, so he could have visited the Easter States Exposition during that time. We need to find a photo from the venue to compare with the Houdini checker flag photo.
The Bob we see in the photo was in the 1934 race. Thanks for the clarification Joe! I wondered what the rope ladder was for. If this was a horse race track it would explain the cop and the row of dudes watching in the background. There’s also chain link or chicken wire fence barrier behind Harry. Race tracks will usually fence off their grounds.
I also agree with Bill that this photo looks staged.
I think we can all agree that the photo was staged, now we just need to agree on where the photo was taken.
Turns out Joe had put his finger right on it. This is The New England Fair in Worcester on Oct. 1st, 1926.
https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2023/10/checkered-flag-photo-identified-at-last.html
The Richmond Times Dispatch for Sep 2 1926 lists the entrants for the automobile race to be held on Labor Day, the following Monday (9/6), at the state fair grounds. One of the entrants was “H. H. Campbell, Suffolk, Va., the Shenandoah Special, No. 28.” I suspect that this was the driver pictured in the photo.
Mystery solved! Fantastic work John and Bill!!