Recently learned that George Goebel (Costumer, Illusionist, Houdini collector) passed away at 88 years old on January 4th.  I had the pleasure of meeting this extraordinary gentleman during my East Coast Houdini Adventure with Fred Pittella:

George and his lovely wife Carole touched our hearts from the moment we first met on November 1, 2018. This visit was as special to them as it what to us. Carole welcomed us to their charming home with champagne and orange juice as we got comfortable in the living room. And George got dressed up for the occasion and had so much he wanted us to experience.

George kept saying, I think you might find something you might like in that box, notebook, or cabinet.  It seemed to bring as much joy to George as it did to Fred and I, seeing us experience these Houdini treasures. George even had me break the seals (in fact he insisted) on some items (e.g., envelope with billets folded by Houdini), just so I could hold something that Houdini Himself did. It was all so surreal.

While I can’t share the details of everything, we got to see and experience, I can share that we got to see and read postcards from Houdini to his Sister Carry (sometimes spelled Carrie).

We then went to the dining room, where Houdini Himself greeted us.

Carole brought in a platter of delicious sandwiches to enjoy, along with a variety of cheesecakes to choose from.

George then had us continue to go thru his treasures, including rare posters (like the Wintergarten poster he purchased for $25 in the 1950’s), playbills and books (some annotated and signed by “Harry Handcuff Houdini”).

Fred also got his fix of cuffs while he was there, including a wooden pair with the “HH” stamp on it.

I was like a kid in a candy shop, although, I think George was the biggest kid of all. I will never forget the joy on his face or the time we had together; it was truly something very special we all shared.

Rest in Peace George and say hello to Houdini!

Siegfried Fischbacher, Magician of Siegfried & Roy, dies at 81 (January 13th)

I first saw Siegfried & Roy Superstars of Magic in Beyond Belief at the Frontier Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in the early 80’s.  And I last saw Siegfried at the Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden of the Mirage Hotel on March 29, 2019, where we talked about his early days at the Frontier Hotel and he made a collectable coin magically appear that said:

Look for the magic all around you!

Rest in Peace, Siegfried and say hello to Roy!

H A P P Y  N E W  Y E A R !

Black Bolded Dates [11-21] from an old link:  https://www.houdini.com/index.php/lawsuit

Red Bolded Dates from HHCE research

11. The Water Torture Cell was willed from Harry Houdini to his brother Theodore Hardeen, who acquired the cell after Harry Houdini died in 1926.
12. In June 1942, Theodore Hardeen gave the Water Torture Cell to Radner, who as then an escape artist and a friend of Hardeen.  Radner stored the Water Torture Cell in his house in Massachusetts from 1942 until 1971.

[May 8^th, 1952 Letter at Margaret Herrick Library mentions a Massachusetts cell and a New York cell for possible use in the Tony Curtis Movie.  Note: According to Jon Oliver, Marie Hinson stored a second cell in her New York basement until the fire marshall made them throw it out]

13. In 1971, Radner shipped the Water Torture Cell to the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada, where the cell was on display until 1991. 

Per Richard Sherry:

Just one tidbit is that there appears to be a bit of chicanery when the museum at Niagara moved location.

[the museum at Niagara opened in May 1968 (opening ceremony June 6 1968) and moved some time in 1972. Radner stored the Water Torture Cell he acquired from Theo Hardeen in his house in Massachusetts from 1942 until 1971 (when he shipped it to the museum in Niagara]

[June 1971 The Amazing Randi performed straitjacket on the day of the arrival of cell in Niagara Falls] Richmond Review British Columbia, Canada Jun 11, 1971

14. In 1991, the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame decided to have the water torture cell restored.  They asked John Gaughan to restore the cell to its original condition.  The cell was then shipped to Gaughan for restoration.  Gaughan restored the Water Torture Cell and he was compensated for the restoration. After Gaughan completed the restoration, the Water Torture Cell was displayed [November 1991] at the Conference on Magic History in North Hollywood, California.  This was the first time the cell was displayed in the United States since 1926. The Water Torture Cell was later returned to the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagra Falls.

Per James Criswell:

The original USD had a split in the middle upper wooden panel of the stage left side of the cell box. This split extended horizontally between the screws on that wooden panel. This can be seen in a photo of the USD in Sid Radner’s basement in 1970 before it went to the museum in Canada. The split can be seen in numerous photos taken of the USD in the museum and it can still be seen on the cover of November 1991 issue of Magic magazine after John Gaughan had restored it for Sid Radner.

[Houdini’s Collectors Weekend Appleton May 1992]

Per Pat Culliton:

Henry Muller had a duplicate cell created by a craftsman in Canada. I believe he gave it to Appleton during a collectors convention in Appleton. I wonder if this has something to do with that. I asked Henry if John Gaughan had fabricated it and Henry told me he had it done in Canada and never told John. Instead, he kept complaining to John that he needed the restored cell. Henry said, “If John knew I had a mock up to display, he’d still be restoring the real cell.”

Henry put it in the display [no photo evidence so far] after he sent the original to John Gaughan to be restored. I am positive this is the fake that Henry had built. I believe I see the work of a master craftsman, Ted Fenton. It was Ted who smuggled me in to where the pieces of the original cell were being stored after the fire. This duplicate has nothing to do with the fire, but, I am sure I saw it, on display, at the Appleton convention. I recognize it.

Per John Cox:

People say Henry presented Sid with the cell at a magic convention. (Although years ago someone told me it was John Gaughan who gave Sid the cell at the convention.) A pic of that is what I’m talking about.

A fellow Houdini enthusiast writes in tell us that he witnessed a replica cell being presented as a gift to Sidney Radner by John Gaughan during the Magic Collectors Weekend held in Appleton in May 1992. The presentation was public and witnessed by most of the major magic collectors of the day.

Seems likely this was the same replica I learned about in ’98. Presumably, it was tucked away in the museum archive after the ’92 weekend where it sat until 2003 when Sidney Radner yanked his collection and shipped it off to Las Vegas. Clearly, Sidney knew about a John Gaughan replica, so why the expression of shock at its discovery (and if it’s not the same replica, just how many replicas are there)?

Also, where is this replica today?

The mystery continues…

So here’s my own contribution to this mystery. When I visited the Houdini Museum in Appleton Wisconsin — which housed the Sidney Radner Houdini collection — in September 1998, I was told in casual conversation with the curator (whom I was friendly with) that there was a full scale replica of the Water Torture Cell in their archive. The idea had been to display the cell, but when they were moving it, the handles broke off so it was waiting repair. It never was displayed, and I never again heard anything about a replica Water Torture Cell until this 2003 article.

Note: Dr Randeall Bell has photos of the cell that he took at the May 1992 Magic Collectors Convention in Appleton.

15. In [April 30 to] May 1, 1995, the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame was ravaged by fire and the Water Torture Cell was partially destroyed.
16. Radner asked Gaughan to restore the Water Torture Cell.  Radner shipped the remnants of the Water Torture Cell to Gaughan.  Radner later also shipped to Gaughan an extra glass panel that Houdini held in reserve in the event that any of the original glass panels broke. The glass panel was shipped in the original crate in which Houdini stored the glass. The crate bore the name “HOUDINI” and the words “MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS” to avoid bringing unwanted attention to the crate.

[displayed 1997 at LA Conference Magic History]

17. Gaughan worked on restoring the Water Torture Cell. During this time period, Radner and Geno Munari (owner of Houdini’s Magic Shop, Inc.) visited Gaughan’s studio in California and noticed that Gaughan had unused scrap pieces from the Water Torture Cell in a pile on the studio floor. Radner instructed Gaughan to return the unused pieces of the Water Torture Cell to Radner, because the pieces were valuable.
18. Deleted
19. During the period in which Gaughn was working on the restoration, Gaughn represented to Radner during a brief conversation in person that Gaughn was creating a small non-working “mock-up” of the Water Torture Cell for Gaughan’s personal use.

[Cell displayed at the Center for Jewish History in New York from July 3 to August 5, 2002]

20. In or around October 2002 [?], Gaughan completed the restoration of the Water Torture Cell.  Gaughan shipped the Water Torture Cell to Houdini Magic Shops, Inc. in Las Vegas.  The Water Torture Cell was scheduled to be exhibited at the Houdini Museum at The Venetian.  Gaughan sent Radner a bill for the work and Radner paid the full amount due.  Gaughan failed to return the original crate (“Crate”) to Radner and failed to send the unused pieces of the original Water Torture Cell (“Remnants”).
21. On October 30, 2002, Radner learned that Gaughan had created a replica of the Water Torture Cell (“Replica”).  Upon information and belief, the Replica is a fully functional working replica of the original Water Torture Cell. Upon information and belief, Gaughan showed the Replica and the original Water Torture Cell to other magicians and bragged that they could not tell the difference between the original and the Replica.  Upon information and belief, Gaughan gave Remnants to other magicians

[At New York New York Hotel for Séance 10/31/2002]

[December 11, 2003 Las Vegas Weekly article on The mystery of the two Torture Cells]

[October 30, 2004 Sid Radner Houdini Auction where David Copperfiled becomes new owner]

[January 29, 2020 Learn that a Water Torture Cell has been discovered in Canada]

[June 3, 2020 Richard Sherry promises “astounding news” about the Canadian Mystery Cell]

[August 30 2020 Per Richard Sherry FB page, Learn that a 1909 British coin was wedged between the lock case and the wood of the stocks on the Canadian Cell.

[ October 31 2020]  Learn that the new book,  Growing Up With Houdini by David J. Muller, has June 1971 images (w/cell top: p86-89, w/o cell top: p74-75, 81, 89) of the Water Torture Cell for comparison. 

[February 4, 1921] Guest Blog: Chronicles of the Mysterious WTC (Part 1)

[February 6, 1921] Guest Blog: Chronicles of the Mysterious WTC (Part 2)

Per the Kralls:

Here is our theory, as crazy as it sounds. When the museum was being moved to the second location, a local farmer stored the WTC and other items from the museum as a favor. The items that had been stored were moved into the new museum location; everything except the WTC. Parts from this Cell had been removed (the two back handles, two plugs, one piece of the side hasp, etc). The Cell that was stored remained stored for decades – minus the parts mentioned. Over the years other magicians and collectors had been contacted regarding a sale but there were no buyers. A fellow performer from Nova Scotia had been approached but he was not in the position to purchase it at that time. We purchased the Cell when Dayle had been contacted by the seller and this was because they had found her as “The Houdini Girl” and thought she might be interested.

 

We are not certain, but we think that the Cell that went into the museum that Randi had measured had been left in storage when the museum moved, and a duplicate Cell was made using the parts removed from the original WTC. This duplicate was then put in place in the new museum location.

One major difference is still the hinge. If you look at David Muller’s new book, Growing Up With Houdini, you can see the large knuckle-like hinge in the pics (page 87 and 89) of the WTC arriving at the museum in June 1971. So if the Krall’s theory is true, the original knuckle-like hinge (along with other parts) also got removed from the mystery cell and used on the duplicate cell?  Below we see two sets of holes in the mystery cell; possibly one set for the large knuckle-like hinge and the other for the replacement hinge.