A Look Back at 2020

Posted on by

Despite Covid, 2020 was still an amazing year for Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence (HHCE) for a number of reasons.

Discovered and shared the true location and date of The Man From Beyond (TMFB) Niagara Falls Rescue scene, which was shot in the rapids of some other river far from any dangerous falls.

Shared my findings on Two reels of Houdini Film “Lost and Found” at Sherman Grinberg Film Library, which included the discovery that the “hanging from a bed sheet” footage on reel 2 resembles Houdini during the making of TMFB. And that he filmed two different escapes from sheets, and the one on reel 2 was not chosen for TMFB.

Completed the task of summarizing and sharing each adventure from the McCord file compilation (April 24, 1920 v1 n1 to June 5th 1920 v1 n7) of “The Amazing Exploits of Houdini” found in The Kinema Comic:

Shared my research on the search for New York World Vanishing Elephant photos:

Shared links to new books on Harry Houdini:

Celebrated the 100 year anniversary of Terror Island movie by sharing some incredible ads, photos, and not widely known info about the movie:

Shared early Houdini Trading Cards from an extremely rare set of 25 Hoyo De Monterrey of Havanna Tobacco Cards (No. 57-81) circa 1920, depicting stills from his Terror Island movie:

Also, shared info about his other movies:

Shared Houdini’s 1920, 1921, 1922, and 1923 appearances in the Boys Cinema Magazine:

Shared the rare 1978 Stuart Pharmaceutical calendars which featured Spectacular Houdini Feats and original artwork by James Barkly:

Shared some special posts about Houdini events in 2020:

Last but not least, shared three ground-breaking posts on my latest investigation and findings on the Mirror Challenge. Which Included additional information, insight and new photographic evidence on the Mirror Challenge confirming Houdini escaped from a cuff known as the “Tatler Cuff” as opposed to the Mirror Cuff in David Copperfield’s collection:

2021 should be another amazing year for Houdini and hopefully a better year for all.

14 thoughts on “A Look Back at 2020”

  1. Great stuff Joe! Thanks for sharing the goodies, especially your findings on the Tatler Cuff. The search for that missing cuff is now akin to the search for the Holy Grail. Then there’s the missing Margery Box, and the Milk Can with the handles we see in the famous photos of HH with the cops.

    Reply ↓

  2. The new Tatler info was mind blowing. That cuff should be out there somewhere. Has anyone tried finding the descendants of the person last known to own that cuff? They may have no idea of its importance nor that it would be worth a small fortune today.

    Reply ↓

  3. I was able to find that their are numerous descendants (great grandsons/daughters) of Durbin still living in the same area in Ohio where he lived. What are the odds that one of them has an old trunk in their attic where the Tatler cuffs have been sitting for decades?

    Reply ↓

  4. David Price purchased the contents of Egyptian Hall from Durbin and after his death his son sold it to Caveney and Daily. From Magicpedia:

    “In 1953 Price purchased the contents of W.W. Durbin’s Egyptian Hall in Kenton, Ohio, which Durbin had decorated with photographs of magicians (starting in 1895). That collection became the nucleus of the Egyptian Hall Museum which was moved to Nashville, Tennessee.

    After David’s death, his son, Dave Price III, a circus enthusiast and former magician took over the museum and eventually sold the contents to Mike Caveney and George Daily. Caveney retained the rights to the Egyptian Hall Museum name.”

    Where does that leave us? According to Caveney the Tatler is not in his collection. That leaves George Daily and the possibility he might have it on his end. If not–is it possible Price’s son kept it for himself when he sold the collection to Caveney and Daily. Is Price’s son still alive?

    If those two possibilities (Daily and Price’s son) are dead ends, then it remains to look for Durbin’s descendants. There are only three possibilities here:

    1. Durbin kept the Tatler for himself when he sold Egyptian Hall to Price in 1953. Which means his descendants have it, or sold it off to a collector.

    2. Durbin sold the Tatler under the table to another magic collector before selling Egyptian Hall to Price. In that case the Tatler could be anywhere and impossible to trace.

    3. The Tatler stayed in the Egyptian Hall collection and either Price at some point sold it off to a magic collector or passed it to his son who either kept it, or at some point sold it off to a magic collector, or shipped it out to either Caveney or Daily.

    To reiterate: There is the possibility that Durbin, Price, or his son sold off the Tatler before Egyptian Hall changed hands each time. Durbin’s descents may have also sold it off by now. That’s the worst case scenario. Otherwise Durbin’s descendants, Price’s son, or George Daily has it. Capice paisan?

    Reply ↓

    • Capiche!
      The DC mirror cuff surfaced in 1935 and was used in 1936 seance by Saint, so one wonders if Tatler Cuff given to Durbin disappears again. DC Silver replica (which needs some more investigation) doesn’t show up in a photo until 1938. I’ve seen one handcuff owned by Daily at the McCord, but it’s not the Tatler. All these trails, need to be followed when time permits.

      Reply ↓

  5. What exactly is the first photograph of the silver replica? If I remember it was in a photo with Bess? I recently purchased the October 1939 issue of Genii with Bess on the cover, and I’m eager to see the photos and what they might contain. The Larsens adored her so maybe she got a nice photospread.

    All we can be sure of is Durbin had the Tatler in 1934. If Caveney and Daily don’t have it then it didn’t stay with Egyptian Hall. If I was Copperfield I would have dispatched my assistants to locate Durbin’s descendants, and Price’s son. I’m going to check around and see if he’s still alive.

    Reply ↓

    • WRT to the Silver Replica, there’s the 1938 photo with Vincent Hinson and then there is the photo with Bess and all her keepsakes on a table taken in late 1930s.

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *