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Really been seeing them see you now available wherever you get. My guests welcomes stuff. You missed in history, class from Housetop works, dot, com, hello and welcome to the amazing the marvelous, the stupendous stuff, you missed in history class tat cast Iron Katy, the Clairvoyants Lambert, and I am pleased that tackles Sarah Dowdy and we are injecting a little extra magic into our pod cast today because we're talking about the Master Mystifier Harry, Dear who Dini. If someone asked you to name a famous magician Houdini is probably the very first person who comes to mind at least before David blame one would hope or Joe Blue. Maybe what he does. Allusion fair universal hand limits that he magician, though, could any wasn't born

who d? Neither of course he was born Eric Fife on March twenty fourth eighteen, seventy four to failure, ways and means of family life in the newly consolidated Budapest, which is interesting because a lot of his later interviews, he claims he was born in with concepts, but he was hungarian you'd be moved to Appleton Wisconsin when he was a toddler or young boy, because his father was called to serve as a rabbi for the german speaking thy unreformed jewish congregation, but unfortunately for the family his father's tenure. There was not very long because the congregation thought he was so old fashioned rain and they dismissed him hopefully in the family, never quite recovered. Financially from this, they ve got seven And it's tough to keep a family with seven kids afloat regardless, but when you're happy from job to job and comfortable, very plain, English, and now it's there are to have a tough life early on. So they end

moving from Appleton to Milwaukee, and the young Eric shines shoes and fills newspapers, and there will then take jobs to help keep family afloat and around Time is also when he sees his first circus and after that he teaches himself to walk a tightrope in his back yard and he also seen the tightrope walk or hang by his teeth from the tightrope. So you know little Eric is very excited about this and he tries it himself and knocks out all of its teeth, because he hadn't realize he's mouthpiece uttered. A thing in the human body doesn't really dangle well from you know, little seven year old teeth and he's also really into locks. At this point any starts messing around with them at home and shops. He supposedly learns how to pick locks in the kitchen and trying to steal begged goods from from asthma. Realise mom was looking as good a state of any magic the, and he also makes a solemn promise at the age of twelve to his dad that

always always provide for his mother, especially if something happens to his father and she keeps to his word for the rest of his life really attached his mother, but of leave home at twelve and trying to make his fortune train Albania strike out on his own. He goes delving with concepts and he meets a new mother figure. There. Woman who feel sorry for this little ragamuffin boy and takes men, gives them a bath and a bad and food, and when he has a job, when he's older, he sensor a shirt with dollar bill than it and continue the sender presence from all over the world for for the rest of her life to discuss you an idea of food in his character and yet the kind of guy that he was Family ends up in New York and again Harry's got kinds of our jobs, trying to help the family he's a messenger boy for a while and China. Her whole blurry are a little bit of money and heaps,

performing a vaudeville shares, but he's not terribly successful for someone like it could eating you. Imagine him being successful. As soon as he gets on stage, but it takes a long time. It is a long, hard climbed to the top it does and but Walter working in a necktie cutting factory in New York. He at least makes one change that sends him on the road to fame. He reads: an auto biography of robbery, down who's that father of modern magic and heat like the name so much that it keep decides to taken on suffers name right. A friend of his had told him that, if you add the letter, I d someone's name in French, it means that your like them, so he thought. Okay, now outta houdini- it's perfect, because I have some very cool tracks. One of them was he

is orange trees that which is grow in front of the audience or a wine bottle that poured whatever you want. That thought. Aimlessly unease, concept own very good and Houdini also accepted, do downs believe about magic, which is that a magician Isn T just someone who performs tracks. He someone who almost has for natural powers, and these also someone who has to believe his own lies or the audiences and going here lives lives, delay exactly, but eighteen. Ninety two Houdini's father died and even though makes financial the fund the situation for the family even harder. It allows Houdini to be a full time performer. You have to imagine his former rabbi father with, raining a man a little bit there. So around this time as when the brothers Houdini are formed, and first it's Harry and his friend Jacob Hymen. It ends up being hangman's, brother, Joe and then Harry's brother Theo, but they do tricks

scarves and flowers lots of stuff, with cards. Houdini really focused on cards early on for a long time yet and they do a simple trunk escape, but that's about it his coat. His craft. He learned some rope tie escapes from an australian magician, but it's pretty simple stuff. In the beginning there not really minor league there. They do get form of the Chicago worlds there. So they have some publicity, they're, just not making much money ray and part of that is because Houdini hasn't learned yet about showmanship, which he events. Get the hang of its not just doing tricks you gotta solely on the hope of the night when he starts doing his famous straitjacket escape. He puts on the straitjacket and then actually like goes behind. The curtain gets out of it and comes back out. And finally, someone suggested to him. Why don't you do it one of the audience that they can see how you do it mine and having that delay for escapes. You know if they dont get out right away, because when people think something they they were tricked somehow

but actually take your time and pretend to struggle and play it all up right, fencing, but the changes in around eighteen? Ninety, three because Houdini needs a girl, thus Raymond, whose real name was willing, Mina, Beatrice Runner and she is working with the floral sisters, which is a song in act and Theo arranges a blind date for him. His brothers Harry Bass and some other girl from the group- and it is love at first sight for Harry and married after three weeks and their very poor Beth, said she basically paid for her own ring and her catholic family was completely horrified that she married a jewish guy in view of a pretty great quote from vast. She said he sold her virginity de Houdini for an orange just as an idea of just how poorer they re were. So who did you

places Theo with bath and she's a tiny little lady five feet. Ninety pound so she's great for peace, future escaped kind of training permitting into fisheries he'll be doing, and they together in a circus for awhile and its there, that he learns to use his toes almost like fingers and picks up strong man, staff and sword swallowing all things that will come into his shall later on. I am, I imagine if you couldn't work with your toes that well would be very helpful for helping we're getting out of knots and Andrew Jackson, He also learned a trick where he would swallow a bunch of needles and then a piece of bread. And then you could look inside his mouth, nothing there of course, and then

somehow he pull out the thread with the needles threaded on it and thus becomes a signature of a Houdini act. I would like to say that we also starts the strait jacket escape and around eighteen, ninety nine, its very dramatic. He came across the idea when he was at an asylum and Canada and strain, you're out just how he could do it like. If you had to notice locators shoulder lying down right and so then he learned to do it in front of an audience and with all that rising and working about that made it so intense, but even more they have all these impressed Skills had any and better still really poor, they have shows cancelled no one's buying tickets, and this is when they actually live on rabbits for a few weeks with a record in Barodia than their own money. So there

into saying answers, because spiritualism has become very popular, and this is one thing they can actually make money money making. Industry are just communicating with the dad a lot of a lot of tricks to make people believe that you actually have a spirit present and it's a lot of floods not so nice like for a while. They worked as Bible salesman, so they get in people's homes and look at their family bibles and look up family members and went anvil were born and I read and write so they could use that information later or pick up All things in a street routine had said that when they were in one city, he'd seen a woman talking to her child, he known warning him to be careful of bicycle, so later, when they were channeling, some spirit or other. He said that the little boy will broken his arm and she went home and he had in fact broken. Arm and issued Geneva. Terrible about that here he's he's pretty superseded

just as is back in the behind the science is really bothers them, and this will come up a little bit later, but first full two Houdini's fame when he becomes someone who make something like forty five thousand dollars a week and their days money. So I'm thinking of switching to magic so that the cutest four Houdini was getting away from the car checks and moving. It's doing escaped and impresarios Martin back advisers and do this and then buxom on five Orpheus circuit, so This is heading a start right in eighteen hundred is when the fame really heads. He gets this reputation for these deaf defined scapes from shackles and ropes and all sorts of containers in handcuffs, and he said

promoting himself in Europe by the time he gets back. He is an international superstar is abilities, depended partly on his amazing, strengthen Endureth Houdini, ran and swam, and maintain this incredibly in shape physique, but he's also got the skill. Manipulating locks, which is something that's pretty unique term right. So come home and his super rich and buys all these houses and pretty much can do whatever he wants. So he starts a magazine called conjurers monthly in nineteen o six, which is applied they think I'd like to work because its very much his own personality, that's coming through. It will rightly snotty articles about his enemies and then

cool stuff about his own handcuff tracks and cryptography, and then nasty book reviews the people he doesn't like. It sounds like a lot of fun: I'm not going to land. He read a book in the history of magic, groundless time to where he turns on robbery die his his namesake and tries to call him quote. I give him his proper place in history. I think, has the final title of aid at first. I think it was just going to be look how amazing who dies and then, after a while The only is just an imitator took other people's ideas. We're gonna go through some of hitting is great escapes. I'm sure. Are you listening? but, like TED like to hear your feet, its mentioned, his first big one was January. Seventh, nineteen o six when he escaped from the Washington DC jail cell of Charles Guiteau, with these fast and of President Garfield. So as you can imagine. I got a lot of press statement from the ass cell and

in January of nineteen o eight. He introduces the milk can escape and Saint Louis, which is still one of his most famous tracks, and it's a little hard to explain to carry the visual military look up. I'm not can google image that but its teeny tiny space and what he would do is First get into it. What was full of water and he tell the audience to hold their breath and see if they could do it for as long as he could, because Houdini could oldest breath for three minutes, so course. None of them can and they're all gasping by the time he gets out of it, and then he would come out very dramatically and be handcuffed several times and then go back into the milk can and somehow get out course you can imagine. Houdini has a lot of imitators one guy gymnastic dies while trying to do the milk can escape and food.

He was trying to discourage alot of imitators, he would say in other showmanship stuff the justifying stand and all that it helps promote, but also maybe dissuade people from copycat, because again he was in fantastic shape and even then It was really hard on the body the water can stuff and things like that straitjacket at some point: the blood vessel trying to get out of chains using chronic pain for the rest of his life. These aren't easy on the bar you March Thirtieth two April, fourth of nineteen o eight. He performed at the Hammerstein Theatre in New York in the famous led tire grip chain escape and then not too long after that he did a manacled jump from Harvard Bridge in Boston in Paris. He jumped handcuffed from the roof of the morgue into the sand and he also jump Self Queens Bridge in Australia. One of the best growth is over kind of it. A nasty muddy river, and when he came up from his jump there were figures in the crowd.

Let us not out of the fact that it was a corpse that he'd dislodged from the river. My turn to you described that water is not particularly to some know, and he makes a challenge to spans of a thousand dollars for a device that would hold them, which, even today, further his his fame frame out of people take em. I find it may try to try to figure something out and hold the great Houdini and by nineteen. Ten he's got an interest in aviation he's the first person to sustain flight over Austria. This is also hard in this body way in it. It contributes to that hold, dare Devil mistake, because flying was extremely dangerous at the time, while his very first flight crashed he's lucky, he ended up being hurt, but there were several casualties when it all first started, so the fact that he was so into it

so willing to do it for something about his character as well. This may be one of our favorite illusions. He performs in an eighteen eighteen he vanishes Jenny. The elephant at New York Hippodrome would really like to see. I want to see the so badly their pictures of who Danny and the elephant, but that's that's, Not enough certainly happen they went away her vanish tells you can't he's also in a lot of motion pictures from nineteen. Sixteen nineteen twenty three. But the price of these don't do well the switch to motion pictures with just one change in his career, whereas he got older, he started a campaign against charlatans against the main leaders and the media and the people who claim they had supernatural powers. He was going both the Miss charlatans, debunk their powers and got pretty into it. It was Christine

it almost for em right, because a lot of these people were making a very lucrative living off of people's grief. You know they wouldn't have a child dies. New right, you didn't have a child or family member, a loved one die and they would say they could put you in touch with that person. One guy was even Put a man in touch with his dead wife, but really just hired a prostitute to dress up like her in the manner that up dying of a heart attack. But it wasn't a shitty business. Yeah tell me so little guilt from his own own experiences. Charlotte and early in his career and then just trying to shine a light on this shady industry. That's really thriving and his main target is a woman named Nina crammed and whose known in her medium life as Marjorie, who did alive, Sciences and she's championed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who is a very good friend of Houdini's until all this business kind of starts up and gravel falling out, he ends up, not

being able to disprove Marjorie by a Harvard grad student does later and she will come up in a little later alone for her name member, the name Marjorie. He writes a couple book: farmers, miracle mongers in their methods and a magician among spirits and heat, and combines this Supposing the charlatans into his own act, he does sort of trial rid of Houdini skill in a magic tricks and escape, and then exposing the charlatan so a triple bill, the fewer. But this all of that Houdini and Bass make an agreement among themselves at whoever dies. First will try to communicate with the other one. They have a secret code word, I think, of something like rose Bell arose about, but it doesn't work Beatrice herself says it's a failure before she died, so keeping on the subject of death.

In October thirty, first nineteen twenty six Houdini died in Detroit and a lot of people think that he died in one of his escape acts of specifically the upside down water torture cell, which is kind of like the milk, can thing except his placed upside down like shackled by his feet, to the top of this water. So it's likely you famous, because why people believe he died in this act is that the Tony Curtis movie from the nineteen fifties and policing in countless magician movies at threat, sort of the main attraction, but Houdini did not die in one of his tracks now and the quote unquote, true story, as that he was. And the abdomen by a college student and then dies of ruptured appendix a week later. So, let's give that, although background yeah, so Houdini would accept punches from people

He had such amazing abdominal control that it would just outside Basically, it wouldn't hurt his organs, so this college student comes out to him when he's relaxing on the sofa and ask them. Is it true that you can be punished damn it in any area and doesn't have enough time to contract of muscles and protect himself before the college student starts punching away, and so it's thought, Houdini's injured in these punches and dies from depend decided a week later, but medically that doesn't make a lot

sense, because you can't just punch someone and rupture their appendix and then they end up dying of appendicitis. That's not how it works. He may have already had a pen decided and I'm sure, being punished in the appendix aggravated- certainly wouldn't help, but it also didn't help that there is no such thing as antibiotics at the time and that he refused to go to the doktor he just kept putting on shows, even though he clearly wasn't well. He was just sweaty and feverish and finally, I think basins dead. But at that point it was too late. But there's other theory, put forward in the secret life of Eugenie, which is about published a few years ago by William Collusion, Larry Sloman, and that's that guinea was murdered. Not a man. Slaughter anything like college student, but was really murdered and poison specifically right invested, have food poisoning and was in the hospital. I think at the same time as Houdini. So there's at least

little tiny bit of evidence of through the authors contacted Marjorie. The medium, for you might remember from earlier contacted her great granddaughter and her if she had any papers and records and- and she did an eternal that Marjorie husband was a Harvard train surgeon and an expert in appendectomies and hated Houdini hated. As Marjorie would have to. How could you he Houdini voice? If he's trying to thank you, your whole profession and the husband is weird too, is adopting. Will a boys from England in their disappearing for there's this whole nebulous situation the medium going on right, around Houdini staff and the mediums foretell his death and he dies right after so, there might be some kind of

sketchy connection if you're into conspiracy theories. This is when we like to hear more about Emil S at history. Pine cast at Housetop works, tat, calm and let us know you think in Katy. I also realise that a lot of our part can involve grooming, a body that seems to be a theme lately of us telling you to dig up there and that's come up with who dna some I want to zoom him and try to find out if he was really murdered, but that's a weird deal too because of their waste. Finally, a request to examine the body in two thousand eight, but You won't find anything about it since then. If you do, please email ask as I'm really curious about that. I say publicity stunts so who deal you might get round by the bout me by the guys who wrote the secret life of Eugenie side note

also from the book. These guys had suggested that Houdini was a secret agent before world, where wine, with the United States and Great Britain you're here, certainly was friends with police and with agents, but I suggest that he defends the head of Scotland Yard Special branch, William Melville and he's sent back involved. Germany and suchlike? I just saw the Kaiser aircraft and on a double five note on that Melville retires in nineteen o, three or so everyone thinks, but he asked it goes on to start the am I five and with the handler of Sydney. Riley, who is believe should be the template of James Bond. So I really like the idea that maybe british intelligence services use some of Houdini's trick: fine training their secret. When he was interested really interested in stuff like cryptography in special little gadgets. Tidying up because, of course, you're is one

the half key. If you can, so it's really call to think that yeah he might have been part of that and fascination with Houdini's life and death has not slackened since nineteen twenty six, there's an official Houdini fans every year, who did buried in queens, but the cemetery have had to be closed to the public because they spend so much vandalism to his tomb. Nineteen. Seventy five, Regional, marble burst of hidden was crushed with a sledgehammer training at the secrets out of his head. Very little else. Interpretation of that I am the society of american magicians have replaced it twice with cheaper copies, but Dave disappeared. Finally, how to create a removal version that

Appearances and special occasions and rides around in a child safety fee always tackle a secret like it. It's capped permanently in a secret location maintained by Brooklyn Dentist, but one of the one of us stolen path reappeared just a few years ago in a closet in a car back so pretty wild. As Houdini memorabilia goes a lot of his letters and posters and cards from performances were destroyed and how fire in late? Two thousand and six, when a burglar attempted to light his crack pipes? Are thanks a lot crack type, smoking, a member Billy of kind of scattered all over the place he had so much stuff, because he was writing that book and history of magic. So it wasn't just his own stuff. It was also things you know from Ribeiro die and all these others fathers of now yeah. He was a man of a historian of magic and a bunch of that is simply gone.

But some of the member Billina is in a permanent location and Appleton Wisconsin Houdini Museum in the museum features an explanation on the metamorphosis. A trick that was a switch real between Athenian Beatrice and there was a lot of controversy over this exhibit because it reveals the secret to the trick, which Some magicians thought The magicians could re Bit Houdini, revealed some of his own secrets. He told a lot of his handcuff tricks and his own writing and even tried to sell them in some points when he was poorer. So I'm not sure he'd be entirely against his signature. Trick being told

it's about a ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoy your introduction to the marvelous world of Harry who do need, but if that's not enough for you, we ve got articles on how swords following works and how buyer proving works, and you can look for them on our homepage, W W W that housetop works dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics for the House of works dot com. Let us know what you think: an email to podcast Housetop, work, Stockholm and be sure to check out the stuff interest in his glass blood on the house to efforts to uphold this episode is brought to you by Mama.

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number two save something for yourself with peppered farm Olano. We are going to ITALY after the success of last year's trips of Paris. We are planning another similar trip still with defined destinations this time to Rome and Florence. Yet we are going to spend a week exploring some amazing things were going to have city tours of both roman Florence, we're going to see the Roman Colosseum, the Vatican Museum in the Sistine Chapel seat, Peters, Basilica, Vatican City. This is just a tiny fraction of all the stuff we're gonna get to do, get its May fourteen to twenty first twenty twenty and to get more information, go to define, destinations, dot, com and scroll down to the roman foreign strip with stuffy. Mr Mr Glass,