What did Harry Houdini do in the 1920's?

Answer 1

1920 The 1920 edition of Funk & Wagnall's dictionary includes the verb "hou-di-nize," meaning "to release or extricate oneself from (confinement, bonds, or the like), as by wriggling out."

Houdini forms his own production company, the Houdini Picture Corporation. Houdini starts writing "The Man from Beyond," which would premiere in 1922.

1922 Vacationing with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his family in Atlantic City, Houdini attends a séance with Lady Doyle, who claims to channel automatic-writing from Houdini's mother. Houdini is not convinced, and the incident marks the beginning of the end of his friendship with the world-famous author and leading proponent of Spiritualism.

1924 In July, Houdini has his first sittings with the celebrated Boston medium Mina Crandon, aka "Margery." Houdini, convinced Margery is a fake, feuds with her and more sympathetic colleagues on the "Scientific American" panel charged with evaluating her gifts. The case receives wide coverage in the press.

1925 In early January Houdini challenges Margery to appear with him at Boston's Symphony Hall. When she declines, Houdini stages a séance to expose her methods. In February, the "Scientific American" panel votes to deny her the prize, tepidly saying, "We have observed no phenomena of which we can assert that they could not have been produced by normal means." In November, however, Houdini is vindicated by an article in "Atlantic Monthly." In it, a Harvard graduate student in psychology discredits Margery by catching her in a clear deception.

Houdini's career-long search for theatrical respectability ends with his own Broadway show at the end of the year. Running two and a half hours, "HOUDINI" is easily the longest show he has ever done. The second and third acts, featuring some of his most famous escapes and an exposé of Spiritualism, respectively, are vintage Houdini. But the hour-long first act, featuring fifteen tricks and illusions, is a real departure for him. As biographer Kenneth Silverman writes, "... after a lifetime in magic, it marked his professional debut as a magician."

1926 In February and May, Houdini testifies before Senate and House subcommittees for a bill aimed at prosecuting anyone "pretending to tell fortunes for reward or compensation."

On August 5th, Houdini outdoes Egyptian fakir Rahman Bey by staying submerged in an airtight bronze coffin for one hour and thirty minutes. Houdini responds to charges that the coffin was rigged by saying, "there is no invention to it, there is no trick, there is no fake; you simply lie down in a coffin and breathe quietly."

Houdini dies in Detroit on Halloween, from complications of appendicitis. Several days earlier, he had been struck in the stomach by a student in his dressing room, then refused to cancel his shows until it was too late. His death triggers mourning and tributes around the world.

Houdini's funeral is held on November 4th at the Elks Clubhouse on West Forty-third Street in New York. As many as two thousand mourners pack the ballroom, and the event is widely covered. According to his instructions, he is buried with his head resting on a packet of letters from his mother.