The final letter is from the widow, Beatrice and tells of her surprise at seeing Ponzi again.
Ponzi died while Hardeen was playing Hellzapoppin in the early forties. If it was the original Ponzi, he was almost 20 years of age.
No. 2:
No. 3:
To be continued!
I thought I would do a series of posts on a story and some correspondence I recently acquired on eBay about Houdini and Ponzi Gwynne.
In Part 1, we get introduced to Houdini and Jack Gwynne, a Young Magician who fooled Houdini with a Sucker Chicken Vanish.
Jack Gwynne performing the Chicken Trick
The other parts of the story will describe Ponzi Gwynne the chicken that Jack Gwynne gave to Houdini, then back to Jack, and finally to Hardeen.
Here is the story of the Vanishing Chicken as told to Jay Marshall by Jack Gwynne.
Enjoy!
No. 1:
To be continued!
Bess, Mama and Harry
But no one worshiped his mother more passionately than Harry Houdini. Ever since that day on his twelfth birthday when his father had made him swear on the Torah to take care of his mother, Houdini had more than fulfilled his pledge. As the country sang “I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl that Married Dear Old Dad,” Cecilia Weiss’s adoring son sought to be with her whenever he could, most especially on that Second Sunday in May 1912 – a day then gaining nationwide observance as Mother’s Day.
While playing in Hammerstein’s Victoria Theatre in New York in 1912, Houdini asked Willie Hammerstein for his weekly salary in gold. Hammerstein acceded to his odd request and gave Houdini a heavy canvas bag laden with one thousand dollars in gold coins. Then after having his assistants polish the “double eagles”, he entered his mother’s room at 278 and is said by Bess to have cried, “Mother, Mother, do you remember the promise I made to father years ago; that I would always look after you? Look what I bring you now! Hold out your apron! And with that he poured the glittering contents of the bag into his mother’s lap. His mother clasped her son to her bosom, and tears streamed down the cheeks of both of them.
H A P P Y M O T H E R ‘ S D A Y !
Source:
Congrats to Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz for the Houdini Museum being one of the best things to do in Scranton, PA. Check out the article below by Malerie Yole-Cohen:
Visiting the Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA is definitely on my To-Do list in the near future and it should be on your to-do list.
I was fortunate enough to not only meet Dorothy and Dick during their historic visit to Hollywood, but also to be one of their invited guests that got a reserved seat at the TCM screening of The Grim Game.
Here is an incredible 101 year old playbill that recently sold at Fraser’s Autographs auction in the U.K. for £6,500 on March 20th.
It is annotated and hand signed by Houdini, “my dear Herwin Here is one of my bills, it might interest you. Come up and see me ‘magisch’ signed (H. Houdini)”.
Note; Professor Herwin, whose real name was William Humpage, was born at Birmingham on October 31st, 1861. He gave us the metal thumb-tip and made props for Houdini.
In honor of my beautiful granddaughter, Lily, who was born today, I thought I would share a baby photo taken by Houdini.
Image courtesy of Houdini and John Hinson
Last November, I did a blog about when were some handcuff photos taken?
There was some discussion about when the following famous photo was taken that focused mainly on 1903 or 1904.
At the end of the day, we thought Houdini got it right and it was taken in March 1904 during his engagement at the London Hippodrome.
If that is the case, then how do we explain this rookie card of Harry Houdini from 1902.
So, the pictorial credits in “Notes to Houdini!! By Ken Silverman may have been correct.
They state that even though Houdini’s handwritten note on the photo above in the Morris Young collection says 1903, the identical photo in the Carrandi collection,shown on p. 2 has been dated 1900, by either Houdini or Bess.
Although the image shown on p.2 (similar left image below) is not quite the same.
So we have now ruled out 1903 and 1904, unless the 1902 date on the rookie card is wrong?
Continuation of HOUDINI THE GREAT Story Treatment by Frank O’Connor and Dore Schary, dated January 3, 1936:
That night at the show, thousands of people have crowded into the theatre to listen to the startling expose that Houdini has promised.
Houdini is back stage making preparations for his Chinese torture cell trick.
Houdini tells his assistants that he will perform the trick after his talk and expose.
Houdini goes to his dressing room to prepare himself for his appearance. When he gets to his dressing room, a figure of a man clothed in black hat and coat approaches him. He tells Houdini that he is here to convince him, that he, Houdini, must not give his message tonight.
The man takes a gun from his pocket; Houdini rushes him and the man fires and Houdini staggers under the impact of the bullet which hits him in the stomach. There is a sound of another shot and the black garbed man falls into the shadows of the curtained corner.
The door is opened by a group of excited people who want to know what has happened. Houdini doesn’t say that he has been wounded. He merely, says – I’ve seen a man kill himself – for his God.
Houdini, still not telling anyone that he has been wounded, goes out on the stage and gives his message to the audience.
He tells them that the subject of the message has been slightly altered due to something he has suddenly learned.
He tells them that there is a God, that they must believe that. He tells them that there is a hereafter and they must believe that too. And he says that they must not believe those crooked and ruthless charlatans who bleed them in the misled hope that they can establish contact with the spiritual world.
He tells them that someday they will all learn the secret but that they will not learn it from fakers who produce phony hands and spooky voices form wired chambers.
And after his speech, he prepares for his trick, a dangerous ordeal which he accomplishes successfully.
After he gets out of the cell at the conclusion of his act, he staggers and falls to the floor. The curtain is rung down as the audience applauds and cheers wildly. Bess and Powers and some others rush to Houdini. He tells them that he has been hurt – that he is dying.
Bess holds him in her arms. He tells her not to be frightened – that someday, somewhere, they will see each other again. He tells her that someday she, too, will learn the secret he is learning now but she will never learn until her time has come.
He tells them all that they must believe in God and that he is happy that he has found out the truth before he died.
THE END!
I thought I would start the New Year by sharing a couple paraphrased parts of a Story Treatment titled HOUDINI THE GREAT by Frank O’Connor and Dore Schary, dated January 3, 1936
Bess gives birth to a baby boy but it dies at the same time Houdini frees himself from the buzz saw escape.
Later on in the treatment…
Bess is taken. Houdini is told that if he will agree to cancel his proposed unmasking of the spiritualists, his wife will be returned to him safe and sound, but if he goes through with his plans, his wife will be in serious danger.
Houdini, stalling, asks for some proof that his wife is still alive and he is told that he will receive a message from her in the form of a letter which will indicate to him that she is all right.
The following morning, Houdini receives a note from Bess. It is apparently a simple, straight-forward note, telling him that she is well and that he should do whatever he thinks best. However, this note employs the use of many of the words used in the mind-reading code that Bess and Houdini had worked years ago during the vaudeville days.
Houdini gets the significance of the message which tells him very plainly where she is being held. Houdini contacts the police and Bess is liberated and the spiritualists are apprehended.
TO BE CONTINUED…
