In the “Roaring Twenties” America was impacted by many people who changed the world. Amongst these people was the well-known Harry Houdini, who changed Americans, and the world of magic forever.
The beloved magician and entertainer was born as Erich Weisz in Hungary. Although he claimed to be born on April 6, 1874, in Appleton, Wisconsin, he was actually born March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary, and was one of seven children from Mayer Samuel, and Cecelia Weisz. Erich and his family moved when he was young to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he later said that he was born. At the age of thirteen, Erich moved with his father to the ever booming New York City, where he was working odd shifts and staying in a boarding house before the rest of their family could join them. It was there, in New York, where he became fascinated with trapeze arts.
In 1894, Erich rocketed his career as a professional magician, and renamed himself “Harry Houdini”. He chose this name as a way of Americanizing himself. The first name was of his childhood nickname, Ehrie, and the last name was after a magician who he highly idolized; the great French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. At first his magic came out with little success. But he soon drew attention for his tricks of escape using handcuffs.
In 1893, Houdini would gain not only a wife by marrying Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, but also, a lifelong stage assistant who came to be known as Bess Houdini. The two performed in amusement parks, stages, halls, and they even toured with a traveling circus for a time. When people told them that their escape tricks and magic was lame or unentertaining, they would perform comedy acts, often stealing old jokes and skits from magazines or the paper. Through these years together, Harry would perform the “Hindoo Needle Trick,” in which he would swallow forty needles before pulling them out from his mouth. In 1895, he first thought of escaping from policemen handcuffs. These stunts brought free publicity, which was much needed, and increased their attention.
Houdini’s American tours were followed by a number of successful appearances in Europe. He worked very hard to secure his public image. He began performing more difficult escapes that ranged from from straight jackets, safes, coffins, and shackles, each increasingly more difficult than the one before. At each performance he even invited police onstage to thoroughly search him and all of his stage props to confirm that they were not fake.
With his talents, he hid things. Brandon wrote, “When he had to strip naked, he sometimes hid a small pick in the thick skin on the sole of a foot—not a spot that would ordinarily be searched.” In 1908, he invented the Milk Can escape, where he was handcuffed and locked inside an oversized milk can, filled with water (later replaced with milk), and then advertised it as ‘Failure Means a Drowning Death’. Once he mastered this trick, he could escape within two and a half minutes.
One of his most famous tricks was the underwater box escape. This was first performed in 1912, and he “took 57 seconds to unlock the handcuffs and leg-irons, and escape from a crate loaded with 200 pounds of lead and immersed in warm water.” (Brandon 2)
In 1912, he started the Chinese Water Torture Cell. During this performance, his body was hung upside-down in a thoroughly locked steel-and-Glass cabinet filled with freezing cold water and had to hold his breath for over four minutes in order to.
On October 22, 1926, two students visited Houdini’s dressing room before a performance. J. Gordon Whitehead, asked Houdini if he could actually tolerate any hit to the abdomen, as he had previously stated. Harry answered that he indeed could, if he had time to properly brace himself. Then, under the impression that Houdini had indeed braced himself, Whitehead hit Houdini four times in the abdomen. Throughout the evening after that, Houdini had performed in much pain. He was not able to sleep that night, and he remained in severe pain for the next three days, but did not seek any medical help whatsoever. When he actually saw a doctor, Harry had had a stifling fever of one hundred and three degrees and acute appendicitis, and strictly advised to go to the hospital for immediate emergency surgery.Harry decided to complete his show instead, completely disregarding his health.
When he arrived on stage, his fever rose to one hundred and four degrees. He was extremely exhausted, and clearly in serious pain. Members from the audience noted that he had missed his cues and he seemed to be rushing. As soon as the curtain closed, Harry collapsed right from where he was standing, and then had to be carried immediately back to his dressing room. At the hospital he gave in and had his appendix removed, however it had already ruptured. On the morning of October 31, 1926 surrounded by his brother and his wife, Harry Houdini died. His funeral was held with more than two thousand people in attendance, and buried in Queens New York at the Machpelah Cemetery. He greatly impacted the world of magic and the curtain will never be closed on his achievements from his time.
Works Cited
Brandon, Ruth. The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini. Random House, 1993.
“Harry Houdini.” Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 08 Jan. 2016. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.
“Harry Houdini.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016.