Houdini: A Life Worth Reading

by Higher Read

  Committee members, including Prince, whom Houdini had trusted as an ally, and McDougall, whom Houdini had made up with after McDougall’s insults, reacted by publishing statements disapproving of Houdini’s show and asserting that Houdini’s replication of Margery’s tricks had proved nothing. Doyle joined the fray by publishing an article about his view of Margery’s abilities, aimed to discredit Houdini’s reputation as a serious investigator of Spiritualism. In addition, the publisher of Scientific American, Orson Munn, had become fed up by the way Houdini had changed the magazine’s scientific investigation into a Houdini-focused publicity stunt. Public supporters of Margery spread the news that many mediums predicted that Houdini would be dead within a year, a well-deserved punishment for his harassment of one of their revered leaders.

  Enraged and betrayed, Houdini held a six-week show at New York’s Hippodrome Theater in which he continued to produce phenomena that supposedly only mediums could evoke through channeling spirits, including supposedly predicting two events before they happened (in reality, Houdini had journalist friends give him the information before it went to the press). The Crandons retaliated by holding a lecture in Boston, to which they invited professors from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other academic elites, where they illustrated Margery’s abilities in a slide presentation. A researcher from the Society of Psychical Research named Eric Dingwall, a former magician whom Houdini had considered to be an ally, spoke, devoting considerable time to criticizing Houdini’s qualifications to judge Margery’s abilities, and recommending that Margery come for further study in England. McDougall chaired the lecture.

  The committee’s deadlock was finally broken when the Crandons refused to continue to submit to testing unless Houdini was removed from the committee. Munn, the publisher of Scientific American, for all that he resented Houdini’s showmanship while serving on the committee, refused to remove Houdini, and the Crandons withdrew from the investigation. The committee members then voted four to one that there was no basis for believing that Margery’s skills came from supernatural sources. Prince and McDougall released separate, individual statements indicating that they had not been convinced that Margery had any paranormal abilities.

  The Crandons attacked the verdict, saying that they had withdrawn from the test, not that the committee who had come to a decision. Houdini, infuriated by the weak language of the verdict, harangued Prince to release the truth to the public—that he, Houdini, had discovered not only a lack of proof of paranormal ability but also that Margery had engaged in several fraudulent tactics. Prince refused and resigned as head of the American Society of Psychical Researchers, exhausted and disgusted by the dramatic fighting. The American Society of Psychical Researchers was taken over by none other than Houdini’s original nemesis on the committee, Bird. Houdini immediately resigned from the American Society of Psychical Researchers.

  Not one to submit to less than crushing his opponents, Houdini orchestrated the publication of a pamphlet denouncing an unnamed couple that fraudulently called themselves mediums. Shut out of Margery’s séances himself, he sent an undercover agent to infiltrate the goings-on and report back to him, continually replicating whatever stunts that Margery produced onstage so that the Crandons knew that he was watching them.

  In 1925 Margery was discredited publically when she was studied by Harvard University’s Psychology Department, who discovered and published many of her non-paranormal techniques for producing “communications” from the dead. Houdini was beyond gratified when Walter Franklin Pierce, the committee member who had betrayed him, publically told the papers that he had been wrong and that Houdini had been right. Prince and Houdini re-established their friendship via mail. Houdini was even more thrilled by the timing of the Harvard report, as it gave him the opportunity to humiliate his old enemy J. Malcolm Bird, who had in the meantime published a book devoted to exalting Margery and disparaging Houdini. In 1926 Houdini showed up at a public address of Bird’s at a Spiritualist church in Philadelphia and traded bitter speeches with Bird about poor character and deceitful tactics.

  Ironically, Houdini later learned from his Boston informant that Margery, who was now reduced back to Mina Crandon and who was drinking herself to death, admired Houdini’s ability to see through her act and his determination to stand his ground.

  Houdini’s Anti-Spiritualist Campaign

  After the committee’s verdict, Houdini became more aggressive in his efforts to discredit mediums. Not only did Houdini disagree with opportunistically tricking vulnerable and uneducated people out of money, he also espoused the popular theory of the time that Spiritualism could lead people to become insane and/or to commit crimes and pointed out that sexual assaults on women happened under the cover of the séance proceedings.

  Houdini essentially opened his own anti-fraud, anti-Spiritualist police force. He advertised in papers that anyone who had been robbed by a medium could write to him for help. He trained the New York Police on tricks used during séances. He also hired his own undercover investigators. Houdini still attended séances and exposed mediums on the spot, often testifying against them later in courts of law. He retained open the $10,000 reward that he had held out to Margery, offering it to any medium who could perform an act that he himself could not duplicate. Mediums who attended his shows were likely to be called out, challenged, and then booed out of the theater, sometimes in tense situations that threatened rioting and violence.

  Two of Houdini’s most useful informants were Robert Gysel and Rose Mackenberg. Gysel was a magician who lived and performed in the Midwestern states. Gysel used extreme measures to expose mediums, including harassment and prosecution. Mackenberg was a young, non-descript Jewish woman from Brooklyn who traveled around to mediums under various identities, receiving advice and predictions about nonexistent children and husbands. She reported back in writing to Houdini what she learned.

  Houdini used Mackenberg to publically humiliate a reverend of the Spiritualist faith, Charles Gunsolas from Indianapolis, who had written to Houdini with a veiled threat that Gunsolas could reveal all of Houdini’s methods of doing tricks if Gunsolas wanted to. Houdini sent Mackenberg for some readings with a fictional story of having lost an infant, and Gunsolas provided his medium services to her. When Gunsolas showed up at Houdini’s show in Indianapolis, Houdini called him up on the stage and revealed his detective work and the evidence that he had of Gunsolas’ fraud.

  Houdini scoffed at Spiritualists who called themselves ministers and reverends, pointing out that ministers of other faiths had to undergo years of intensive training, whereas all one had to do to be a Spiritualist leader was to claim psychic powers. To prove his point, Houdini had Mackenberg travel the United States becoming ordained as a Spiritualist minister many times over. Houdini also sent Mackenberg to Massachusetts to purchase the charter of a Spiritualist church, which she was able to do with ease, although Houdini was later court-ordered to return the charter.

  Houdini became a hated name among Spiritualists, who attempted to organize themselves to stop his crusade. During his Chicago run of HOUDINI, Houdini and his agents claimed to have exposed nearly eighty cases of medium fraud in the Chicago area. Several mediums brought lawsuits against Houdini for slander and libel, with the amount Houdini was sued for totaling almost a million dollars between the many plaintiffs.

  In the mid-1920s, Houdini took his activism against Spiritualism to Congress. A U.S. representative from New York had sponsored a bill banning fortune telling in the District of Columbia. Houdini arrived in Washington, D.C. to testify for four days of hearings in front of the House of Representatives and the Senate. As usual, where Houdini went, drama and entertainment followed. The hearings were packed with angry Spiritualists who booed and heckled Houdini, calling him a liar and a fake. Houdini, as always thriving on attention, took center-stage to cross-examine witnesses, warning mediums that he would find them out and presenting testimony from his investigators, incl
uding Mackenberg. An especially juicy scandal erupted when Mackenberg testified that a medium had told her that many members of Congress and the President and his family themselves practiced Spiritualism, provoking the White House to print a denial of these claims. In the long run, the proposed bill did not pass because it violated First Amendment guarantees to freedom of speech and religion. For the first time, perhaps, Houdini reflected that his efforts might have been more effective if he hadn’t made the hearings into a one-man Houdini show, thus distracting Congress from the work of passing a bill.

  In Houdini’s Words

  Houdini’s book Miracle Mongers and Their Methods is dedicated to discussing the kinds of fraudulent mediums Houdini seemed to despise. The first chapters discuss the “fire eaters” of bygone days, and his summary of them not only reveals his contempt for the Spiritualists of his own time, but something of his intimate understanding of how performers depend on trends.

  The great day of the Fire-eater—or, should I say, the day of the great Fire-eater—has passed. No longer does fashion flock to his doors, nor science study his wonders, and he must now seek a following in the gaping loiterers of the circus side-show, the pumpkin-and-prize-pig country fair, or the tawdry booth at Coney Island. The credulous, wonder-loving scientist, however, still abides with us and, while his serious-minded brothers are wringing from Nature her jealously guarded secrets, the knowledge of which benefits all mankind, he gravely follows that perennial Will-of-the-wisp, spiritism, and lays the flattering unction to his soul that he is investigating "psychic phenomena," when in reality he is merely gazing with unseeing eyes on the flimsy juggling of pseudo-mediums.

  XII. Houdini, the Developer and the Patriot

  Read It and Know It

  After reading this chapter, you will know more about

  Houdini and London: He was founder and president of the London’s Magician’s club

  Houdini and SAM: He had a difficult on/off relationship with the Society of American Magicians.

  Houdini and the draft: Despite his age, the magician tried to enlist.

  Patriotic efforts: Not to be discouraged by his ineligibility to fight, Houdini tried to help by teaching his tricks to the armed forces.

  Houdini and the Clubs

  Although Houdini’s self-obsession was well known and widely evident, Houdini also made undeniable contributions to the development of magic. In his own career, he demonstrated a huge range of skill and ability to innovate, successfully mastering acts encompassing card tricks, needle swallowing, torturous escapes, and breathtaking illusions. He also worked to organize magicians into a respectable and united force and used his abilities to contribute to charity, safety initiatives, and patriotic works.

  While touring in England, Houdini worked to establish an institution for magicians. Always at home in England, he forged a society that dedicated itself to promoting the art of magic and to supporting developing magicians. In 1913 he started the London Magician’s Club, which he led as the president.

  Back in the U.S., the Society of American Magicians (the SAM) had already been created. Houdini had had a rocky relationship with the SAM due to the competition between his magazine Conjurers’ Monthly and another SAM members’ magazine The Sphinx. Houdini had in fact resigned in 1908 from the SAM over this conflict, but in 1912 he was made an honorary member in recognition for his contributions to magic. Although the SAM had been founded in 1902, it had failed to thrive as an organization.

  Around 1916 Houdini turned his energies to revitalizing the SAM. He collaborated with Oscar Teale, a retired magician and Columbia University professor, to reach out to local magicians’ clubs around the country. Houdini organized, hosted, and paid for dinners for members of these clubs in various cities around the United States, using this platform to speak to the clubs about the importance of joining a larger union. Many clubs did join, the first being the Buffalo Magician’s Club from Buffalo, New York. Houdini’s contribution to uniting these groups was profound and long lasting; the SAM survives today, with more than 250 member clubs. In 1917 Houdini was elected the SAM’s president, which he took on with typical energy. He facilitated meetings of the group, oversaw publication of its monthly magazine, and threw huge banquets for members. He also tried to unite the re-energized SAM with the London Magicians’ Club.

  Houdini also went out of his way to interview legendary magicians and learn from them. In 1910 Houdini met with the surviving member of the famous magician-spiritualist duo the Davenport Brothers, who showed Houdini some of the Brothers’ long-held secrets for doing rope tricks. Houdini also sought out famous German magician Wiljalba Frikell and the family of Robert-Houdin, although he later worked to expose Robert-Houdin as a fraud. Houdini also joined another organization influential to the reputation of magic; in 1923, he became a member of Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, and was initiated at St. Cecile’s Lodge in New York City. He remained active in the Masons until his death in 1926.

  Houdini the Patriot

  With the entry of the United States into World War I in 1917, Houdini downplayed his connections with Germany and signed up for the draft. Already forty-three years old, he was not drafted. Houdini instead plunged into efforts to support American troops and their families. He led an initiative for SAM members to perform at army camps. Houdini himself staged performances at large military bases such as Fort Dix and Slocum, and also performed for benefits held by the Red Cross. When the American ship the Antilles was sunk, Houdini organized an elaborate benefit for the families of the troops killed on the ship. He recruited SAM magicians to come to the benefit, creating a huge “Carnival of Magic.” His crowning achievement, however, was convincing retired magician Heinrich Keller (also known as Harry Kellar) to return to the stage after having been in retirement for ten years. Keller was perhaps the first American-born magician and the only magician that Houdini ever came close to acknowledging as his superior. Keller’s re-appearance brought down the house, surpassing even Houdini’s performance of the Water Torture Cell.

  As the war got into full swing in 1918, Houdini arranged with the Secretary of War to teach American recruits how to escape from sinking vessels and German handcuffs, and how to survive for longer underwater. The practical value of these lessons was probably minimal, but Houdini felt proud of his contributions to the war effort. Further, this is probably one of the only instances in which Houdini volunteered to share with any other person his secret escape techniques, reflecting a real desire to help the American effort.

  For six months in 1918, Houdini performed twice a day in a patriotic show called “Cheer Up” at the Hippodrome Theater in New York City. “Cheer Up” featured re-enactments of famous American historical moments and figures and music by John Philip Sousa. During “Cheer Up,” Houdini performed the Vanishing Elephant Trick and a form of his Underwater Box Escape. He also continued to give performances at military compounds. He created a group known as the Rabbis’ Sons Theatrical Benevolent Association, which raised money for American troops. Houdini was president of the Association.

  Houdini also was a major organizer of a major benefit for the wartime hospital fund, and planned to perform a trick in which he seemed to catch a marked bullet fired from a gun. His friend and mentor Keller admonished him not to take on the dangerous trick, which had recently taken the life of a magician friend of Houdini’s, and Houdini agreed to do the Upside Down instead. Houdini served as auctioneer of Liberty Bonds at this benefit, bringing in tens of thousands of dollars for the war effort. In the 1920s, Houdini continued his charity work, giving shows to benefit the United Jewish Campaign and performing in children’s hospitals and prisons.

  After the war, Houdini offered to teach leaders in the U.S. Bureau of Mines how to preserve air in case of mine collapse emergencies. After Houdini managed to stay underwater in an airtight casket in a New York swimming pool in 1926, Dr. W. J. McConnell of the Bureau tried to spread Houdini’s lessons outside of the Bureau as well, although mos
t experts did not accept his offer, either not believing that Houdini was authentic or not wanting to be associated with a magician. Houdini also designed a diving suit that he believed would save the lives of divers because it allowed them to exit the suit quickly in case of emergency.

  In Houdini’s Words

  Houdini was not alone in thinking that magic tricks could help humankind. In Miracle Mongers and Their Methods he describes how the discoveries of “fire eaters” and their ilk have helped develop tools for modern fire fighting. Houdini’s clear pride in the use of magic tricks to save lives comes through in his extensive use of “scientific” evidence.

  In our own times the art of defending the hands and face, and indeed the whole body, from the action of heated iron and intense fire, has been applied to the nobler purpose of saving human life, and rescuing property from the flames. The revival and the improvement of this art we owe to the benevolence and the ingenuity of the Chevalier Aldini of Milan, who has travelled through all Europe to present this valuable gift to his species. Sir H. Davy had long ago shown that a safety lamp for illuminating mines, containing inflammable air, might be constructed of wire-gauze, alone, which prevented the flame within, however large or intense, from setting fire to the inflammable air without. This valuable property, which has been long in practical use, he ascribed to the conducting and radiating power of the wire-gauze, which carried off the heat of the flame, and deprived it of its power. The Chevalier Aldini conceived the idea of applying the same material, in combination with other badly conducting substances, as a protection against fire. The incombustible pieces of dress which he uses for the body, arms, and legs, are formed out of strong cloth, which has been steeped in a solution of alum, while those for the head, hands, and feet, are made of cloth of asbestos or amianthus. The head dress is a large cap which envelops the whole head down to the neck, having suitable perforations for the eyes, nose, and mouth. The stockings and cap are single, but the gloves are made of double amianthus cloth, to enable the fireman to take into his hand burning or red-hot bodies. The piece of ancient asbestos cloth preserved in the Vatican was formed, we believe, by mixing the asbestos with other fibrous substances; but M. Aldini has executed a piece of nearly the same size, 9 feet 5 inches long, and 5 feet 3 inches wide, which is much stronger than the ancient piece, and possesses superior qualities, in consequence of having been woven without the introduction of any foreign substance. In this manufacture the fibers are prevented from breaking by action of steam, the cloth is made loose in its fabric, and the threads are about the fiftieth of an inch in diameter.