Last week, I shared Day 1 (Official Houdini Séance Experience) of my incredible Houdini Adventure on the East Coast, made possible by my friend and tour guide, Fred Pittella. Today, I share Day 2 (11/1), where Fred had made arrangements to visit George Goebel and his lovely wife, Carole.

First off let me just say, it is not that easy finding their place, nor is it easy for them to have visitors, but they welcomed Fred, Linda and I with open arms.

For those that don’t know who George Goebel is, let me share a little bit about this extraordinary gentleman.

From Magicpedia:

George Goebel (b. 1932), was a costumier in Baltimore and semi-professional illusionist with large full-evening show starting in the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

His interest in magic began at the age of 10 when he received a Gilbert Mysto Magic Set one Christmas.

Two years after high school, Goebel enlisted in the Army Security Agency and was stationed in Japan. As owner of A.T. Jones Co. in Baltimore he has outfitted many shows and operas.

He married Carole Busby, a social worker, in 1957, who worked onstage as his assistant.

Goebel assembled the “George Goebel Magic Show” in 1968, with a cast of 30 and 60 crates of illusions, travelling aboard a 22-foot truck.

He came to national attention when his friend Milbourne Christopher invited him to appear with him on Jackie Gleason’s 1962 Christmas special. He also appeared again with Christopher on a subsequent Gleason show, on “The Garry Moore Show” and in a Houdini documentary.

George and Carole touched our hearts from the moment we first met. 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 also got to read ‘Challenged’ or ‘Houdini upside down’, a play in 1 act and 2 scenes by Harry Houdini.

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.

Although we didn’t want our time with George and Carole to end, we needed to get on the road to head back to Fred and Linda’s place (aka Fred Pittella’s Houdini & Escapes Museum) in New York.

After a nice drive and great conversation, we arrived at their place in New York.

This was to be my second visit here, where every wall, display cabinet and trunk were filled with Houdini, Hardeen, and Competitors memorabilia. Fred by far has the largest and best collection of escape king memorabilia that I have ever seen.

To read about my first visit, please click on the link below”

• Trip to New York is Extra Special

The second visit was just as special and would allow me additional time to go through Fred’s albums of rare photos, letters, playbills, and programs, but not before Fred, Linda and I went out and enjoyed an incredible Italian dinner.

After gnocchi & meatballs for appetizers, cheese raviolis as an entrée and the restaurants signature dessert, we returned to Fred Pittella’s Houdini & Escapes Museum, where Fred shared a book, he recently acquired that had handwritten notes in it that provided more evidence of Houdini possibly having an affair with Charmian London. Wow!

Well as you can imagine, it was getting quite late (lost track of time) and Fred had quite the agenda planned for the next part (Day 3) of our adventure.  To be continued…