Daring escapes were Harry Houdini ’s forte , but even the classical illusionist would spat the disappearing act his own scrapbook pulled . Before a Southern California antique dealer reveal the book — the magician style it “ Important Scrap Book – Miscellaneous Clippings”—earlier this calendar month , Houdini ’s scrapbookstayed leave out and unread for about 83 years .
Most of the material the magician compiled in the book of account fare from 1925 and early 1926 newspaper press clipping devoted to Spiritualism , from around the same sentence he started his own full - even show , “ Three Shows in One : Magic , Escapes , and Fraud Mediums Exposed . ” Houdini spent most of the Roaring ‘ XX , until his decease on Halloween of 1926 , demystifying fraudulent psychic and ghostbusting séances .
The Bible has handwritten annotations from Houdini , and the clippings embrace his notable debunking of postiche . Disproving psychic and mediums was a sort of obsession for the son of a Hungarian immigrant ; Houdinionce tell a reporterfrom theLos Angeles Times , “ It takes a flimflammer to catch a flimflammer . ”
One account chronicle through clippings is Houdini ’s most famous public confrontations with a intermediate — his brushwood with Bostonian socialite Mina “ Margery the Medium ” Crandon . Crandon vie for a $ 2500Scientific Americanprize that would be awarded for proving “ conclusive psychical manifestations”—until Houdini give away an elaborated exposé of the medium ’s psychic prowess ( or deficiency thereof ) at theBoston Symphony Hall in January 1925 . After react with a performance of her own , Margery the Medium was eventually trump that spring by aHarvard graduate studentstudying psychological science .
Houdini also hive up some not - so - spiritualist clipping in his scrapbook , including a story musing whether pets live after dying , a Gallic clause about himself from a Montreal newspaper , a page about performing for Teddy Roosevelt ’s grandchildren , and more than a few clippings about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . The mystery writer , a firm believer in Spiritualism , piqued Houdini ’s interest in the field of study . A diarist once said the odd pair of friends“looked like Pooh and Piglet”when the duo stood next to each other .
In true Houdini form , the scrapbook escaped from the Library of Congress ’s collection of more than 100 Houdini scrapbook ( the humankind was one seriously dedicated scrapbook hobbyist ) . John Cox , who runs the Wild About Houdini fan web site , speculates , “ It could be Edward Saint ( prestidigitator and music director of séances ) brought this book to California when he and Bessie ( Houdini ’s widow woman ) relocate here in the 1930s . ”
In his 1924 bookA Magician Among the hard drink , Houdini wroteabout how he “ accumulated one of the large libraries in the worldly concern on psychic phenomena , Spiritualism , trick , witchcraft , demonology , evil feel , etc . ” The one hundred scrapbooks are just a fraction of that assembling , but Houdini proved to be agile with the scissor hold when comb through newspaper .
