Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss was born in Appleton, Wisconsin April 6, 1874. His parents, Rabbi Dr. Mayer Samuel Weiss and Cecilia Weiss traveled from Hungary to America. Reports have Houdini being born in Budapest and traveling with his parents at the age of 4 to America while others state he was born in Wisconsin. Houdini came from a large family of four brothers and one sister.

It appears as if Houdini, his stage name in honor of his idol Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) a famous French conjurer and illusionist, started conjuring and picking locks at an early age. His first act of picking a lock was the result of wanting a slice of his mothers pie that she kept locked in a cabinet!

He captivated the manager of a circus that came to his town with rope tricks he had managed to learn by himself. However, his father strictly forbade his following the circus.

By the age of eleven, Houdini had worked at many odd jobs which included working with a local locksmith. His dream was to become a stage magician and spent all his time learning how to master the skills of his idol. With his friend Jack Hayman, Houdini put together an act of tricks and mind-reading. The ability for mind-reading was dependent upon the two friends memorizing a code. As the Houdini brothers the act took them to local clubs, dime museums and side shows. After Hayman left the act, one of Houdini’s brothers joined him.

While performing at an all girl school Houdini spilled acid on Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner’s dress ruining it. Houdini was very close to his mother and his mother made the young woman a new dress to replace the ruined one. They wed a short time later and joined his act. In order to make ends meet Houdini and wife performed fake séances working with information obtained through local tipsters. People believed he was real and this truly amazed him.

By 1900 Houdini could pick any lock any where! In his acts he would challenge guests to bring their own restraints or place him in their own contraptions – he always got out including handcuffs made by Scotland Yard and submerged boxes filling with water!

In 1920 the Houdini’s became friends with Jean and Arthur Conan Doyle. Jean professed to be a medium and offered to attempt to contact Houdini’s mother for him. After only four short years of being close friends, this act of friendship to contact his mother ended their relationship. The message obtained by Jean, Houdini felt was fraudulent because his mother was Jewish and would never draw a cross. Also, she was not fluent in English and this was how she communicated. The explanation didn’t matter to him; Houdini was convinced that she was a fraud. The close tie to his mother devastated him otherwise he might have been more open.

In January 1923 rewards were offered to anyone who could produce a spirit photograph that could pass the intense scrutiny of experts and test conditions. Then there was a reward offered to anyone who could produce physical evidence of paranormal phenomena and have it confirmed by scientific equipment. The committee responsible for verifying any evidence included William McDougall of Harvard, Daniel F. Comstock of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Malcolm Bird of Scientific American, and Walter Franklin Pierce of the American Society for Physical Research, Hereward Carrington and Houdini.

It became Houdini’s mission in life to weed out fraudulent mediums to the point that some believe he might have provided planted evidence to make them appear as frauds. Mina Stinson Crandon, known as Margery was under scrutiny by Houdini. He placed her in a box to confine her hands and keep her from pulling the wool over anyone. Later, an employee of Houdini confessed to leaving articles in the box so that it would look as though the medium had put them there in order to assist her in fraudulently conducting a séance.

Without success Houdini continued to search for someone who could contact his mother so he could receive the one worded message he longed to hear – forgive. Many believe he was seeking his mother’s forgiveness for something. He never divulged the secret.

Before his death October 31, 1926 in the Grace Hospital in Detroit he and Bess had arranged a secret code so she would know it was him back from the dead delivering a message.

Medium Arthur Ford, pastor of the First Spiritualist Church of New York reportedly gave her a message which contained the one word that Houdini had long sought from his mother – forgive. Then in November 1928 the first word in the code was revealed to Bess. The code was finally delivered in full to Bess – Rosebelle, believe. Although she signed a statement verifying that Ford had broken the Houdini code and given his message from the afterlife, she withdrew the claim shortly afterward.

Today, Houdini’s legend is still awe inspiring and mystifying. Many strive to capture his skills and captivate audiences. Houdini is a hard act to follow and few have managed to be as successful as Houdini.

• He was not double jointed.
• He died from peritonitis from a ruptured appendix and not while performing the Water Torture Cell as depicted in the Hollywood version of Houdini’s life.
• Houdini loved children but never had any of his own.
• He was a member of the Freemasons.
• Houdini Museum is located at 1433 N. Main, Scranton, PA 18508. Tel. (570) 342-5555