Creative brochures featuring HOUDINI to advertise the 1976 Plymouth Volare Premier Sedan, Coupe, and Wagon.

These vintage ads draw comparisons between the legendary magician and the car.

They also include exposes (not shown) of the Dekolta chair, Sawing a woman in half,

and escaping from a locked safe.

I procured these three brochures earlier this year. Two of them I got from our friend Chuck Romano, who did an excellent post last year (October 7, 1916) on them:

• Houdini – Car Salesman

The other one, which I hadn’t seen before, I got as part of a Houdini lot on eBay.

During the Final Houdini Séance in 1936, Edward Saint shared the following:

 “He had safes and vaults in his home, and vaults in banks that his lawyers had access to; but one secret, now made public for the first time, is the fact that Houdini had one safety deposit vault in a bank or trust company in the east under some familiar name other than Houdini, and of which the secret location rested only in Houdini’s brain.  In this vault was kept highly secret papers, and into which was always placed a certain glass case of jeweled medals and a diamond question mark pin with a rare pearl drop, a gift from Harry Kellar to Houdini.  The jewel box was always on display in the Houdini home.  But prior to closing the house to go on a vaudeville tour, Houdini always placed this box in the secret vault.  Many things were left untold because of the unexpected death of Houdini in Detroit.  There is a law, a time limit.  Madame Houdini has year by year awaited word that the Federal Government had located or opened the box, long overdue.  Perhaps the vault was rented and paid years in advance.  However, this Secret Vault has never been located to this day.”

OR HAS IT?

Last week, I did a post on Bess Houdini’s infamous note (once thought by her lawyer to only exist in her imagination) found in a box that was a gift (?) to the Harry Ransom Center from a lawyer (?) that had worked on his estate so many years ago.  Did the contents of this box come from the Secret Vault?  Well, according to Saint, Houdini had multiple vaults, but the Secret Vault (revealed by Saint 10 years after Houdini died?) was under a familiar but different name and its location only known by Houdini. We know, Bess stored her infamous note that spells out exactly how Houdini would communicate from beyond the grave if he could, in a safety deposit box that was not a secret.

FWIW: A man from Providence (who claims he is the reincarnation of Houdini?), believes Houdini had entrusted the crystal box to the Eddy’s (who were employees and friends of Houdini) during his final tour, and it had been in their family since.  Jim Dyer is the caretaker of the family legacy and publisher for his grandparents through his company, Fenham Publishing.  When asked if he has the treasure box, Dyer said that Houdini trusted his grandfather and that Dyer sees his role as maintaining that trust. “My family has a lot of Houdini things, letters and assorted Houdini things, “Dyer said.” “I’m hesitant to tell anybody what the family has.”  Aware of the lengths to which Houdini and Lovecraft fans will go, he added: “We have them in a safe spot (Secret Vault?)”

[Excerpts from Taughton Daily Gazette article “Houdini’s spirit ‘led’ him to treasure box” by Donita Naylor Oct 31, 2016]

Unfortunately, we have more questions (????) than answers.  This includes where is the diamond question mark pin with a rare pearl drop, a gift from Harry Kellar to Houdini.

WRT the Secret Vault, I will leave you with this thought:

• If I were a lawyer, I would say that the Secret Vault only existed in Ed Saints imagination.

Thoughts?

According to Houdini’s Lawyer, the infamous note that spells out exactly how Houdini would communicate from beyond the grave if he could “only existed in Bessie’s imagination”.

Well, thanks to a discovery by Gregory Curtis at the Harry Ransom Center, we know there is a note that was handwritten by Houdini’s widow. The front reads as follows:

This message was written by Beatrice Houdini – the original one written in 1913 having been destroyed – the name Rosabelle was substituted – the first name chosen was Mike – both names were enduring names.  Rosabelle is the title song, the first Houdini heard me sing in 1894. Rosabelle – answer-tell-pray answer-look-tell-answer answer – answer.

Along with the note was an envelope from the Manufacturer’s Safe Deposit Company, then on 5th Avenue in New York.  Written in ink on the envelope, in an unidentified person’s handwriting, is “Box 872 Key.”  In pencil, in Beatrice’s handwriting, we find the words “In name of Beatrice Houdini.”  One must assume, therefore, the envelope contained the key to Box 872, which was rented under Beatrice’s name and the Box 872 contained Beatrice’s note.

[August 2011 Magic Magazine – Believing in Rosabelle by Gregory Curtis]

Prior to this discovery, there was no evidence that the note existed or was there?

According to Kalush:

On January 4, the day before the final Ford sitting where Houdini’s code came through in its entirety, Bernard Ernst, Houdini’s longtime lawyer and confidant, was summoned to Bess’s house…

She told him that the code was in the safe deposit box of the Houdini Estate at Manufacturers Safe Deposit Company.  When the lawyer informed her that he had inventoried what was in the box and that there was no secret code from Houdini, Bess neglected to tell him that she had placed the code in the box in November, using, it was later discovered, an envelope that had been manufactured after Houdini had died.

[Note: She held one key to the box, and Bernard Ernst held the other]

According to Houdini Unmasked:

While newspapers were hailing this phenomena, Mrs. Houdini accompanied by those who had attended the séance at her home, rode to 5th Avenue Branch of the Manufacturers’ Trust Co., and withdrew a sealed envelope that had been locked in the Houdini vault.

Before the witnesses, she broke the seal and laid the papers on a desk before them.  The words were identical with those given by Fletcher while Arthur Ford was in trance! Even the request that Mrs. Houdini remove her ring and sing “Rosabelle” had been set down as a part of the test.

According to the December 1954 Mystic Magazine:

She replied, “Of course I knew the code message but I had no idea of what combination of words Harry would use; and when he sent the ‘believe’ it was a surprise.”  Before she could check the message that came through Ford she had to go to the Manufacturers Trust Company in New York and, in the presence of reputable witnesses, obtain the envelope containing the code message, and open it.

Bottom line: the infamous note (code message) written and placed in a Safety Deposit Box by Bess after Houdini died does exist.

That said, I believe Houdini’s lawyer decided it was best if it only existed in Bess’s imagination.

Look who is playing at the Orpheum 118 years ago, today. On Tuesday July 4th, 1899,  it’s Houdini, with his wife, doing the Oregon boot routine:

H A P P Y 4 T H  O F  J U L Y ! ! !

To kick off July, thought I would share a Pharmaceutical Calendar Ad from 1977, I recently acquired about Houdini’s Straitjacket Release:

In this stunt, Houdini used the same kind of straitjacket that was commonly used in institutions for the criminally insane.  The straitjacket was constructed of heavily reinforced leather or heavy canvas, and had a deep leather collar and leather cuffs.  The outfit was laced tightly up the back, strapped and buckled.  Extra-long sleeves with closed cuffs were then folded across the chest, the ends brought around the back and tied together.

[it then goes on to explain in detail how he escaped]

As a further refinement, Houdini also performed his escape hanging upside down.  To conserver his strength, he employed ankle supports and a guy rope to keep his body from swaying.