1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. One of our upcoming episodes this week is 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: Harry Houdini Adjacent So Today's Saturday Classic is an episode 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: on Houdini from way back in the show's earliest years. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: It came out on December seventh, two thousand and nine, 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: from previous hosts Katie and Sarah, and toward the end 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: of the episode, uh Sarah and Katie talk about a 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight request to exhume Houdini's remains that 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: exhamation never happened. They also talked about ongoing issues with 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: vandalism at Houdini's grave. In the last few years, the 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: Society of American Magicians has been working to restore the 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: Houdini family grave site and to fund it's ongoing upkeep. 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: Most recently, replica gravestones were installed for Houdini's brother and sister, 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: Leopold and Gladys, with funding from the Houdini Museum and 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: magicians Dick Brooks and Dorothy Dietrich. So enjoy Welcome to 15 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History ass a production of My 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and Welcome to the Amazing, the marvelous, 17 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: the stupendous Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast I 18 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: am Katie the Clairvoyant Lambert and I am the spectacular 19 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowdy. And we are injecting a little extra magic 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: into our podcast today because we're talking about the master mystifier, 21 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: Harry JUDINERI Hudini. If someone asked you to name a 22 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: famous magician, Judini is probably the very first person who 23 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: comes to mind, at least before David Blaine, one would hope, 24 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: or Joe Bluth. Maybe, well, he does illusions. He's a 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: pretend famous magician. All right. So Judini wasn't born Harry Judini, though, 26 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: of course he was born Eric Weiss on March seventy 27 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: four to Cecilia Weiss and Mayor Samuel Weiss in the 28 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: newly consolidated Budapest, which is interesting because in a lot 29 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: of his later interviews he claims he was born in Wisconsin, 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: but he was actually Hungarian. Yeah. He moved to Appleton, 31 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: Wisconsin when he was a toddler or young boy because 32 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: his father was called to serve as a rabbi for 33 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: the German speaking zion Reform Jewish congregation. But unfortunately for 34 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: the family, his father's tenure there was not very long 35 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: because the congregation thought he was so old fashioned right, 36 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: and they dismissed him abruptly, and the family never quite 37 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: recovered financially from this. They've got seven kids, and it's 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: tough to keep a family with seven kids afloat regardless. 39 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: But when you're hopping from job to job and campus 40 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: the study of my English and now it's they have 41 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: a tough, a tough life early on. Um. So they 42 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: end up moving from Appleton to Milwaukee, and the young 43 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: Eric shines shoes and sells newspapers and does little odds 44 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: and end type jobs to help keep his family afloat. 45 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: And around this time it's also when he sees his 46 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: first circus, and after that he teaches himself to walk 47 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: a tight rope in his backyard. And he'd also seen 48 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: the tight rope walker hang by his teeth from the 49 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: tight rope, so, you know, little Eric is very excited 50 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: about this, and he tries it himself and knocks out 51 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: all of his teeth because he hadn't realized you use 52 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 1: a mouthpiece and that sort of thing, and your human 53 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: body doesn't really dangle well from you know, little seven 54 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: year old teeth well. And he's also really into locks 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: at this point, and he starts messing around with him 56 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 1: at home and shops. He supposedly learns how to pick 57 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: locks in the kitchen trying to steal baked goods from 58 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,839 Speaker 1: from his mom while his mom wasn't looking as good 59 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: as start as any to magic. And he also makes 60 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: a solemn promise at the age of twelve to his 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: dad that he will always always provide for his mother, 62 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: especially if something happens to his father, and he keeps 63 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: to his word for the rest of his life. Really 64 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: attached to his mother, but he does leave home at 65 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: twelve and trying to make his fortune, trying to help 66 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: out yea strike out on his own, he goes to Delavan, Wisconsin, 67 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: and um he meets a new mother figure there, woman 68 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: who feels sorry for this little ragmuffin boy and takes 69 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: him in, gives him a bath and a bed and food, 70 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: and when he has a job when he's older, he 71 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: sends her a shirt with dollar bills in it and 72 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: continues to send her presence from all over the world 73 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: for for the rest of her life. So this gives 74 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: you an idea of Houdini's character and the kind of 75 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: guy that he was. The family ends up in New 76 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: York and again, Harry's got all kinds of odd jobs, 77 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: trying to help the family. He's a messenger boy for 78 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: a while and just trying to ustry for a little 79 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: bit of money. And uh. He starts performing in vaudeville shows, 80 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: but he's not terribly successful. For someone like Hoodina, you 81 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: imagine him being successful as soon as he gets on stage, 82 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: but it takes a long time. It is a long, 83 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: hard climb to the top. It does. And but while 84 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: he's working in a necktie cutting factory in New York, 85 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: he at least makes one change that sends him on 86 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: the road to fame. He reads an autobiography of Robert 87 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: d who's the father of modern magic, and um, he 88 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: likes the name so much that he decides to take 89 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: it on himself for his stage name. Right. A friend 90 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: of his had told him that if you add the 91 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: letter I to someone's name in French, it means that 92 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: you're like them. So he thought, okay, no Uda Houdini. 93 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: It's perfect because Uda had some very cool tricks. One 94 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: of them was he had these orange trees that would 95 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: just grow in front of the audience, or a wine 96 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: bottle that poured whatever you want. That's bottomlessly a nice concept, 97 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: very cool, and Houdini also accepted Udan's belief about magic, 98 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: which is that a magician isn't just someone who performs tricks. 99 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: He's someone who almost has supernatural powers. And he's also 100 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: someone who has to believe his own lies or the 101 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: audience isn't going to lives lives the life exactly um. 102 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: But by Judini's father died and even though that makes financial, uh, 103 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: the financial situation for the family even harder, it allows 104 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: Judini to be a full time performer. You have to 105 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: imagine his former rabbi father was kind of reining him 106 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: in a little bit there. So around this time is 107 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,559 Speaker 1: when the brothers Houdini are formed, and first it's Harry 108 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: and his friend Jacob Hyman. It ends up being Hyman's 109 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: brother Joe, and then Harry's brother Theo. But they do 110 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: tricks with scarves and flowers, lots of stuff with cards. 111 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: Judini really focuses on cards early on for a long time. Yeah, 112 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: and they do a simple trunk escape, but that's about it. 113 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: He's honing his craft. He learns some rope high escapes 114 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: from an Australian magician, but it's pretty simple stuff. In 115 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: the beginning, they're not really minor league there. They do 116 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: get to perform at the Chicago World's Fair, so they 117 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: have some publicity. They're just not making much money, right, 118 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: and part of that is because Houdini hasn't learned yet 119 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: about showmanship, which he eventually gets the hang of. It's 120 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: not just doing tricks. You've got to sell the audio. 121 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: Pudini right when he starts doing his famous straight jacket escape, 122 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: he puts on the straight jacket and then actually goes 123 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: behind a curtain, gets out of it, and comes back out. 124 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: And finally someone suggested to him, why don't you do 125 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: it in front of the audience so they can see 126 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: how you do it well in having that delay for escapes, 127 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: you know, so that you don't get out right away, 128 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: because then people think something they were tricked somehow, but 129 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,559 Speaker 1: actually take your time and pretend to struggle and really 130 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: play it all up right de fence And but the 131 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: act changes in around because Judini meets a girl best Raymond, 132 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: whose real name was Willemina Beatrice Ronner, and she's working 133 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: with the Floral Sisters, which is a song and dance act, 134 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: and theo arranges a blind date for him, his brother's Harry, 135 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: Bess and some other girl from the group, and it 136 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: is love at first sight for Harry and be married 137 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: after three weeks, and they're very poor best so she 138 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: basically paid for her own ring, and her Catholic family 139 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: was completely horrified that she'd married a Jewish guy. And 140 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: you have a pretty great quote from Best too. She 141 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: said she sold her virginity to Houdini for an orange, 142 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: just as an idea of just howful they were. So 143 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: Houdini replaces THEO with Bess, and she's a tiny little 144 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: lady five ft ninety pounds, so she's great for these 145 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: future escape kind of tricks he'll be doing um And 146 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: they work together in a circus for a while, and 147 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: it's there that he learns to use his toes almost 148 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:49,079 Speaker 1: like fingers, and picks up strong man stuff and swords, 149 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: swallowing all all things that will come into his show 150 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: later on. Right. I imagine if you couldn't work with 151 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: your toes that well would be very helpful for helping 152 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: with getting out of knocks and street jack it. And 153 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: he also learned a trick where he would swallow a 154 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: bunch of needles and then a piece of thread and 155 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: then you could look inside his mouth. Nothing there, of course, 156 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: and then somehow he'd pull out the thread with the 157 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: needles threaded on it, and this becomes a signature of 158 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: the Houdini act. I would like to see that he 159 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: also starts the straight jacket escape in around. It's very dramatic. 160 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: He came across the idea when he was at an 161 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: asylum in Canada and was trying to figure out just 162 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: how he could do it, like if you had to, 163 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: you know, dislocate your shoulders or right, and so then 164 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: he learned to do it in front of an audience, 165 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: and with all the writhing and jerking about that made 166 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: it so intense. But even while picking up all these 167 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: impressive skills, Houdini and Best are still really poor. They 168 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: have shows canceled, no one's buying tickets, and um, this 169 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: is when they actually live on rabbits for a few 170 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: weeks with a quarter they borrowed. It wasn't even their 171 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: own money. So they get into seyance is because spiritualism 172 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 1: has become very popular and this is one thing they 173 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: can actually make money, big money making industry just communicating 174 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: with the dead. A lot of a lot of tricks 175 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: to make people believe that you actually have a spirit present, 176 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: and um, it's a lot of some of it's just 177 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: not so nice. Like for a while they worked as 178 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: Bible salesman, so they could get in people's homes and 179 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: look at their family bibles and look up old family 180 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: members and deaths, right, so they could use that information 181 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: later or pick up little things in the street. Judini 182 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: had said that when they were in one city, he'd 183 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: seen a woman talking to her child, you know, and 184 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: warning him to be careful in his bicycle. So later, 185 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: when they were channeling some spirit or other, he said 186 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: that the little boy would have broken his arm, and 187 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: she went home and he had in fact broken his arm, 188 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: and Houdini felt terrible about that. Yeah, he's he's pretty 189 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: superstitious as his best and the deception and the seances 190 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: really bothers them. And this will come up a little 191 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: bit later, but first we'll get to Hudini's fame when 192 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: he becomes someone who makes something like forty five tho 193 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: dollars a week in today's money. So I'm thinking of 194 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: switching to magic. So the key decision for Hudini was 195 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: getting away from the card tricks and moving towards doing escapes, 196 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: and the Impressario Martin Beck advises him to do this 197 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: and then books him on Vaudeville's Orphian Circuit. So this 198 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: is Houdini start, right, And nineteen hundred is when the 199 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: fame really hits. He gets this reputation for these death 200 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: defying escapes from shackles and ropes and all sorts of 201 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: containers and handcuffs, and he starts promoting himself in Europe. 202 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: By the time he gets back, he is an international superstar. Yeah, 203 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: and his abilities depended partly on his amazing strength and endurance. 204 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: Houdini ran and swam and maintain this um incredibly in 205 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: shape physique. Um. But he's also got the skill at 206 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: manipulating locks, which is something that's pretty unique to him. Right. 207 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: So he comes home and he's super rich and buys 208 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: all these houses and pretty much can do whatever he wants. 209 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: So he starts a magazine called Conjurors Monthly in nineteen 210 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: o six, which is a place I think I'd like 211 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: to work because it's very much his own personality that's 212 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: coming through. He'll write these snotty articles about his enemies 213 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,199 Speaker 1: and then really cool stuff about his own handcuff tricks 214 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: and cryptography, and then nasty book reviews of people he 215 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: doesn't like. It sounds like a lot of fun. I'm 216 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: not going to live. And he writes a book on 217 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: the history of magic around this time too, where he 218 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: turns on ROBERTA. His his namesake right and tries to 219 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: quote unquote give him his proper place in history. I 220 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: think that's the final title of it. At first, I 221 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: think it was just going to be look, how amazing 222 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: who does And then after a while and think maybe 223 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: he was just an imitator and took other people's ideas. 224 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: So we're going to go through some of Jodini's great 225 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: escapes because I'm sure all your listeners would like to 226 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: like to hear your favorites mentioned. His first big one 227 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: was January seven, nineteen o six, when he escaped from 228 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: the Washington, d c. Jail cell of Charles Guiteau, who 229 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: was the assassin of President Garfield. So, as you can imagine, 230 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: that got a lot of press escaping from the assassin's cell. 231 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: And in January of nineteen o eight he introduces the 232 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: milk can escape in St. Louis, which is still one 233 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: of his most famous tricks. And it's a little hard 234 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: to explain. You kind of need the visual look up 235 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: a milk cam Google image that. But it's this teeny 236 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: tiny space. And what he would do is first just 237 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: get into it while it was full of water, and 238 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: he'd tell the audience to hold their breaths and see 239 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: if they could do it for as long as he could, 240 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: because Judini could hold his breath for three minutes, so 241 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: of course none of them can, and they're all gasping 242 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: by the time he gets out of it. And then 243 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: he would come out very dramatically and be end cuffed 244 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: several times and then go back into the milk can 245 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,440 Speaker 1: and somehow get out. And of course you can imagine 246 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: Whodini has a lot of imitators. One guy Janasta dies 247 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: while trying to do the milk can escape, and Hudini 248 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: was trying to discourage a lot of imitators. He would say, 249 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: you know, the showmanship stuff, the death defying stunt and 250 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: all that helps promote but also maybe dissuade people from copycatting, 251 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: because again he was in fantastic shape, and even then 252 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: it was really hard on the body. The water can 253 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: stuff and things like the straight jacket. At some point 254 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: he bursts the blood vessel trying to get out of chains. 255 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: He's in chronic pain for the rest of his life. 256 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: These aren't eas easy on the body to do. Uh. 257 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: By March thirty to April four of nineteen o eight, 258 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: he performed at the Hammerstein's Theater in New York in 259 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: the famous weed tire grip chain Escape. And then not 260 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: too long after that, he did a manacle jump from 261 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: Harvard Bridge in Boston. In Paris, he jumped handcuffed from 262 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: the roof of the Morganto of the Sun, and he 263 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: also jumps off Queensbridge in Australia. Is one of the best. 264 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: One so gross. It's over kind of a a nasty, 265 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: muddy river. And when he came up from his jump, 266 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: there were two figures and the crowd is sitting there 267 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: looking at exactly but it was a corpse that he 268 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: dislodged from the river mud. And he described that water 269 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: is not particularly toothsome no, and he makes a challenge 270 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: to his fans a thousand dollars for a device that 271 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: would hold him, which even continues to further his his fame. 272 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: A lot of people take him up on it, and 273 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: they try to try to figure something out that will 274 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: hold the great hoodini um. And by nineteen ten he's 275 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: gotten an interest in aviation. He's the first person to 276 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: sustain flight of Australia. This is also hard on his 277 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: body right, and it it contributes to that whole Dare 278 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: Double mystique because flying was extremely dangerous at the time. 279 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: While his very first flight crashed, He's lucky he ended 280 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: up not being hurt, but there were several casual to 281 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: these when it all first started. So the fact that 282 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: he was so into it and so willing to do 283 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: it so something about his character as well. This might 284 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: be one of our favorite illusions. He performs in eighteen 285 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: he vanishes Jenny the Elephant at New York's Hippodrome. I 286 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: would really like to see that. I want to see 287 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: this so badly. There are pictures of Houdini and the elephant, 288 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: but that's that's not enough for me. What happened? You can't. 289 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: He's also in a lot of motion pictures from nineteen 290 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: sixteen to nine three, but surprisingly these don't do well. 291 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: The switch to motion pictures was just one change in 292 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: his career. As he got older. He started a campaign 293 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: against Charlatan's against the mind readers and the mediums and 294 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: the people who claim they had supernatural powers. He was 295 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: going to expose them as charlatan's, debunk their path hours 296 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: and got pretty into it. It was a crusade almost 297 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: for him, right, because a lot of these people were 298 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: making a very lucrative living off of people's grief. You know, 299 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: they would have a child dies. He knew, right, you'd 300 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: have a child or a family member, a loved one 301 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: die and they would say they could put you in 302 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: touch with that person. One guy who was even put 303 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: a man in touch with his dead wife but really 304 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: just hired a prostitute to dress up like her and 305 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: the man ended up dying of a heart attack. But 306 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: it was a shady business to say the least, so 307 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: a little guilt from his own own experiences as a 308 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: charlattan early in his career, and then just trying to 309 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: shine the light on this shady industry that's really thriving. 310 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: And his main target is a woman named Mina Crandon 311 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: who's known in her medium life as Marjorie, who did 312 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: a lot of seances and she's championed by Sir Arthur 313 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 1: Conan Doyle, who it's a very good friend of Houdini's 314 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: until all of this business kind of starts up and 315 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: they falling out. He ends up not quite being able 316 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: to disprove Marjorie, but a Harvard grad student does later, 317 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: and she will come up in a little later. We'll 318 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: remember her name, Remember the name Marjorie. He writes a 319 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: couple of books on this, miracle mongers and their methods 320 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: and a magician among spirits, and he even combines this 321 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: exposing the Charlatans into his own act. He does sort 322 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: of triumvirate of Houdini m skills, you know, magic tricks 323 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: and escapes, and then exposing the Charlatans. So a triple bill, 324 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,239 Speaker 1: if you will. But despite all of that, Houdini and 325 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: Best make an agreement among themselves and whoever dies first 326 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 1: will try to communicate with the other one. They have 327 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: a secret code word. I think it's something like Rose 328 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: Bell or Roosevelt. But it doesn't work. Beatrice herself says 329 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: it's a failure before she died. Yeah, So, keeping on 330 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 1: the subject of death. On October thirty one nine, Houdini 331 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,479 Speaker 1: died in Detroit, and a lot of people think that 332 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 1: he died in one of his escape acts. Um specifically 333 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: the upside down water torture cell, which is kind of 334 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: like the milk can thing, except he's placed upside down 335 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: like shackled by his feet to the top of this 336 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: water cell. It's likely you've seen this because why people 337 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: believe he died in this act is because of the 338 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: Tony Curtis movie from the nineteen fifties, and you've probably 339 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: seen it in countless magician movies. It's sort of the 340 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: main attraction. But Houdini did not die in one of 341 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: his tricks. Now, and the quote unquote true story is 342 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,880 Speaker 1: that he was punched in the abdomen by a college 343 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: student and then dies of a rupture appendix a week later. 344 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: So let's give that a little background. Yeah, so Houdini 345 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: would accept punches from people because he had such amazing 346 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 1: abdominal control that it would just bounce off basically, it 347 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: wouldn't hurt his organs. So this college student comes up 348 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: to him when he's relaxing on this sofa and asks them, 349 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: is it true that you can be punched in the stomach, 350 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: and Houdini, yeah, yeah, it's true, and doesn't have enough 351 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: time to contract his muscles and protect himself before the 352 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 1: college student starts punching away, and so it's thought that 353 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: Houdini's injured in these punches and dies from the appendicitis 354 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: a week later. But medically that doesn't make a lot 355 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 1: of sense, because you can't just punch someone and rupture 356 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: their appendix and then they end up dying of appendicitis. 357 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: That's not how it works. He may have already had appendicitis, 358 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: and I'm sure being punched in the appendix aggravated it 359 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: certainly wouldn't help. But it also didn't help that there 360 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: is no such thing as antibiotics at the time, and 361 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: that he refused to go to the doctor. He just 362 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,880 Speaker 1: kept putting on shows even though he clearly wasn't well. 363 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: He was just sweaty and feverish, and finally I think 364 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 1: Bess insisted, but at that point it was too late. 365 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: But there's another theory put forward in the Secret Life 366 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: of Houdini, which is a book published a few years 367 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: ago by William Collusion Larry Sloman, and that's that Houdini 368 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: was murdered, not a manslaughter kind of thing like the 369 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: college student, but was really murdered and poison specifically, right 370 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: and Best did have food poisoning and was in the 371 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: hospital I think at the same time as Harry Houdini, 372 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: so there's at least a little tiny bit of evidence 373 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: to go off of. So the authors contacted Marjorie the 374 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: medium who you might remember from earlier, contacted her great 375 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: granddaughter and asked her if she had any papers and records, 376 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: and she did, And it turns out that Marjorie's husband 377 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: was a Harvard trained surgeon and an expert in appendecked 378 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: mes and hated Houdini. Hated him as Marjorie would have 379 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: to How could you hate Hudini? Well if if he's 380 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: trying to debunk your whole profession, um, and the husband 381 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 1: is weird too, he's adopting little boys from England and 382 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: they're disappearing. So there's this whole nebulous situation with the 383 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: mediums going on right around Hudini's death, and the mediums 384 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: foretell his death and he dies right after, So there 385 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 1: might be a some kind of sketchy connection there if 386 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: you're into conspiracy theories. This is when we'd like to 387 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: hear more about Email us at History podcast at how 388 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com and let us know what you think. Well, 389 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: and Katie and I also realized that a lot of 390 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: our podcasts involve exhuming a body. That seems to be 391 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: a theme lately of us telling you to dig up 392 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: to and that's come up with Houdin e. Some people 393 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: want to exume him and try to find out if 394 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: he was really murdered. But that's a weird deal too, 395 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: because um, there was supposedly a request to exhume the 396 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: body up in two thousand eight, but you won't find 397 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: anything about it since then. If you do, please email 398 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: us because I'm really curious about that. I say, publicity stunt. 399 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: So Whodini to be proud by the button? Yeah. By 400 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: the guys who wrote The Secret Life of Houdini side 401 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: note also from the book, these guys had suggested that 402 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: Houdini was a secret agent before World War One with 403 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,639 Speaker 1: the United States and Great Britain. Yeah, he certainly was 404 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 1: friends with police and with agents. But they suggest that 405 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: he befriends the head of Scotland Yards Special Branch, William Melville, 406 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 1: and he's sends back info from Germany on stuff like 407 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: you know, I just saw the Kaiser's aircraft and um 408 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: a double side note on that. Melville retires in nineteen 409 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: o three, or so everyone thinks, but he actually goes 410 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,479 Speaker 1: on to start the m I five and was the 411 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,679 Speaker 1: handler of Sidney Riley, who is believed to be the 412 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: template of James Bond. So I really like the idea 413 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,719 Speaker 1: that maybe British intelligence services used some of Houdini's tricks 414 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: when training their secret agent, and he was interested, really 415 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 1: interested in stuff like Chris photography and special little gadgets 416 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: to hide things because of course you always want to 417 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: hide a half key if you can. So it's really 418 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: cool to think that, Yeah, he might have been part 419 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: of that. And the fascination with Houdini's life and death 420 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: has not slackened since there's an official Houdini seance every year. 421 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: Houdini is buried in Queens, but the cemetery has had 422 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: to be closed to the public because there's been so 423 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: much vandalism to his tomb. Yeah, in nineteen the original 424 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: marble bust of Houdini was crushed with a sledgehammer trying 425 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: to get the secrets out of his head. It's a 426 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: very literal interpretation of that. Guys and the Society of 427 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: American Magicians have replaced it twice with cheaper copies, but 428 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: they've disappeared. Um, so they finally had to create a 429 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: removable version that you know, makes appearances on special occasions 430 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: and rides around in a child's safety seat, always buckle 431 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: up and goes to a secret like it. It's kept 432 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: permanently in a secret location maintained by a Brooklyn dentists. 433 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: But one of the one of the stolen busts reappeared 434 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: just a few years ago in a closet in a 435 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: cardboard box. So pretty wild. And as far as Houdini 436 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: memorabilia goes, a lot of his letters and posters and 437 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: cards from performances were destroyed in a house fire in 438 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: late two thousand six when a burglar attempted to light 439 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: his crack pipe, So thanks a lot crack pipe smoking 440 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 1: Burglardini memorabilia is kind of scattered all over the place. 441 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: And he had so much stuff because he was writing 442 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: that book on the history of magic, so it wasn't 443 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: just his own stuff, it was also things you know, 444 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: from Robert Udan all these others fathers of magic. He 445 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: was kind of a historian of magic, and a bunch 446 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: of that is simply gone. But some of the memorabilia 447 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: is in a permanent location in Appleton, Wisconsin at the 448 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: Houdini Museum, and the museum features an explanation on the metamorphosis, 449 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: a trick that was a switchero between Houdini and Beatrice. 450 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: And there was a lot of controversy over this exhibit 451 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 1: because it revealed the secret to the trick, which some 452 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 1: magicians thought breaked the magician's code right, But Kudini revealed 453 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: some of his own secrets. He told a lot of 454 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: his handcuff tricks in his own writing, and even tried 455 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: to sell them at some points when he was poor, 456 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: so I'm not sure he'd be entirely against his signature 457 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 1: trick being told. Thanks so much for joining us on 458 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 459 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or Facebook U r 460 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: L or something similar over the course of the show, 461 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete now. Our current email address is 462 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: History Podcast at I heart radio dot com. Our old 463 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: house stuff works email address no longer works, and you 464 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in History. 465 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, 466 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, and wherever else you listen 467 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff you missed in History Class is a 468 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 469 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 470 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:20,959 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.