On one of those all-too-rare sunny and warm days recently, I finally was able to take a longed-for opportunity to go into New York City. Meeting my New Jersey friend and travel companion, Barbara Borchardt at the Metropolitan Museum, we spent several hours ogling the wonders of their major exhibit, “Treasures from the Forbidden City,” which contains a breathtaking collection of items from the opulent retirement residence of the Qianlong Emperor who presided over China’s last dynasty.
After a leisurely lunch in the Met’s beautiful dining room overlooking Central Park, we headed for the Jewish Museum, nearby, for an exhibit on the fascinating and still famous, Harry Houdini. My mother had seen Houdini, whose name is synonymous with magic, perform one of his famous straitjacket escapes in London, and her vivid re-telling of that experience to me, as a little girl, had left a lasting impression. The exhibit, while not large, is very entertaining and well laid out, and we were particularly fortunate to arrive just as one of the docents was beginning a tour.
Houdini, who was born Ehrich Weisz in Budapest in 1874, was one of seven children of a rabbi and his wife who joined the immigrant stream to America where Ehrich (soon called Harry) grew up in Appleton, Wis., and in a boardinghouse on East 79th Street in New York. At the tender age of 9, little Harry was a practicing trapeze artist, calling himself, “Prince of the Air.”
As he grew up, he played dime museums and sideshows and initially focused on card tricks. He was influenced by the French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin and began to use the name of Harry Houdini. While performing in Coney Island, he met Bess Rahner whom he soon married and who became his lifelong assistant.
His career took off upon meeting vaudeville impresario Martin Beck, and at age 26, he toured Europe. His escape from handcuffs supplied by Scotland Yard in London baffled the police and gained much publicity, and he became known as the “handcuff king.”
Houdini was a master of self-promotion, utilizing the poster, which was just becoming popular, as a way to promote himself. He often would also perform an outdoor feat just before an indoor stage show, usually choosing a site near the newspaper office, so reporters and photographers were sure to cover the event and feature it in the morning paper.
He stayed ahead of other performers by constant innovation and by taking great risks along with rigorous training. He invented the “Chinese Water Torture Cell,” on view at the exhibit, a glass and steel cabinet filled with water in which he was suspended, upside down and handcuffed. In order to escape, he had to hold his breath for over 3 minutes.
He nearly died during one “Buried Alive” stunt in Santa Ana, Calif. Buried in a 6-foot pit, he became exhausted and panicky and had to call for help. He was especially idolized by immigrants and the poor as a symbol of indomitable will ... nothing could imprison him or hold him back. He became active in exposing charlatans who were duping people by claiming supernatural powers and as a member of the Scientific American Committee, offered a cash prize to anyone who could successfully demonstrate supernatural abilities.
This crusade cost him his friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, who was a devout believer in Spiritualism. His brief movie career was not successful, but he was such a celebrity that years later he would be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Several movies were made about his life; one which incorrectly portrayed the manner of his death starred Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. A more recent movie based on his life was “Death Defying Acts” and starred Catherine Zeta Jones. He was honored on a 2002 postage stamp, and there is a Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pa.
Harry Houdini was fond of ending his performances with the phrase, “Will wonders never cease?” The lasting wonder of this legendary performer is his enduring fame and lasting imprint on our culture.
‰“Treasures from the Forbidden City” is at the Metropolitan Museum to May 1.
‰“Conjuring Houdini” is at the Jewish Museum at Fifth Ave and 92nd Street (closed on Wednesdays) through March 27.
Contact Jean Cherni, founder of the retirement advisory service, Senior Living Solutions, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds at Hotchkiss Grove, Branford 06405.
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