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Harry Houdini TLS Recounting Underwater Casket Experiment, 3 Months Before His Death & Burial in the Same One!
Harry Houdini TLS Recounting Underwater Casket Experiment, 3 Months Before His Death & Burial in the Same One!
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Description:

Harry Houdini
[New York, New York], August 6, 1926
Harry Houdini TLS Recounting Underwater Casket Experiment, 3 Months Before His Death & Burial in the Same One!
TLS

A 2pp typed letter signed by American illusionist Harry Houdini (1874-1926) as "Houdini" at the bottom of the second page. August 6, 1926. [New York, New York.] On watermarked paper with "Houdini / 278 West 113th Street / New York, N.Y." letterhead. With a minor typographical edit (the addition of an apostrophe) found on line 3. Slight feathering to the signature, but still bold and dark. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds, even toning, and scuffs along some of the edges. Partially rusted paper clip impressions found at the upper left corners. Hole-punched along the left margin. Else near fine. 8.375" x 10.875."

Harry Houdini wrote this letter to German writer Karl Graf von Klinckowstroem (1884-1969), an independently wealthy intellectual from Munich with whom Harry Houdini regularly corresponded during the 1920s. A historian of science, technology, and culture, von Klinckowstroem was intrigued by the occult, especially the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, but he also showed a receptiveness to Houdini's scepticism about false mediums.

Houdini's letter describes one of the entertainer's last major stunts before dying three months later: a series of much-acclaimed underwater sealed casket experiments. On August 5, 1926 - just one day before writing this letter to von Klinckowstroem - Houdini had clambered into a custom-designed galvanized iron coffin manufactured for him by the Boyertown Casket Company. The casket was made airtight and then submerged in a swimming pool at the Hotel Shelton in midtown Manhattan. 2,000 lbs of dead weight, in addition to several volunteers (reports vary, between 6-8 people) stood on top of the casket to force it underwater. Houdini remained there for much more than the 60-minute record set by his rival, Rahmen Bey, earlier in July 1926 at the Dalton Swimming Pool at West 59th Street. (Rahmen Bey was a 26-year-old entertainer born in Eritrea to an Italian father and Egyptian mother. Consequently, Bey's stage names ran the gamut from the "Egyptian miracle man" to, rather illogically, the "Hindu mystic.") To prepare for this death-defying feat, Houdini had trained in several different coffins, one of which was a replica of Rahmen Bey's bronze coffin. It was in this bronze casket that Houdini would be permanently buried only a few months later.

Houdini wrote von Klinckowstroem in part, with unchanged spelling and punctuation:

"… you will find [details of] my latest exploit in unmasking Rahman Bey. I had the same mechanic from the Du Wico Company, 303 W. 45th Street, New York City, make the self-same coffin as Rahman Bey's the only difference was I had a telephone put in so I could keep in conversation with my assistants and I had two marine plates on top of the coffin so that plenty of air could come in in case an accident would happen.

I believe this is the first time anyone has remained so long in that sized compartment without fresh air. Had the test taken place outdoors, the air in the casket would have been fresher than in the Swimming Pool which is enclosed, the air being forced through by artificial means, therefore it is rarer than I might have received in the out-doors.

I trained for this and the Boyertown Casket Company also made me a bronze casket with a glass top. I tried this before the public test and had no difficulty in remaining one hour and twelve minutes. If these experiments interest you, I will keep you posted. There was no trick in this - it was an accomplishment of that you may rest assured…"

The Boyertown Casket Company (also known as the Boyertown Burial Casket Company) was located in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. After its founding in 1893, it became the second-largest coffin manufacturer in the United States, and was celebrated for its craftsmanship, quality, and innovation. The company started producing metal caskets (like the iron one used by Houdini) after 1923.

Later on in this letter, Houdini also triumphantly recounts how he had recently appeared before the U.S. Senate in February and May 1926. Houdini had testified at congressional hearings to lobby for proposed legislation regulating the fortune-telling industry in the District of Columbia. In a room filled with lawmakers and "two hundred to three hundred spiritualists and mediums," Houdini performed undetected tricks of the medium trade, including relaying a message supposedly received from Benjamin Franklin.

The correspondence between Houdini and von Klinckowstroem typically revolves around the people, places, schemes, and themes of the spiritualist world they knew and shared. In this letter jam-packed with spiritualist debunking content, Houdini refers to ten mediums, psychical researchers, professors, and scientists from the United States and United Kingdom.

Houdini refers to the following individuals, in order of reference:

Harry Price

"… Mr. Harry Price is not a clever magician… Among magicians he is not considered as expert as a performer. As a matter of fact I have never witnessed him do any trick…"

Harry Price (1881-1948) was a British psychical researcher, amateur magician, and one of Houdini's close friends.

Eric J. Dingwall

"… Dingwall, in my estimation, is hardly worthwhile talking about. He has been unethical to me to such a degree that I cannot write it…"

Eric J. Dingwall (1890-1986) was a British psychical researcher who served as the official research officer of the Society of Psychical Research from 1922-1927. In this role, Dingwall investigated many alleged mediums.

Hereward Carrington

Hereward Carrington (1880-1958), an American psychical investigator, evaluated Neapolitan soothsayer Eusapia Palladino, and Mina Crandon (see below). Carrington was one of the 5-person "Scientific American" investigating committee vetting Crandon's claims in Summer 1924.

William Wortley Baggally

W.W. Baggally (ca. 1848-1928) was a British psychical and paranormal investigator who also tested Eusapia Palladino. Unlike Houdini, Baggally believed in certain hauntings, and in telepathy.

Mina "Margery" Crandon

"Re Margery. - I exposed her when she was about to get the prize… She has since changed her whole repertoire and presented an entirely new program…"

Mina "Margery" Crandon (1888-1941), also known as the "Witch of Lime Street," was the Canadian-born wife of a prominent Boston surgeon who began experimenting with spiritualism in the early 1920s. Crandon claimed to be a conduit to the invisible world by channeling her dead brother. Ringing bells, apparent spontaneous manifestations of ectoplasm, and the unpleasant touch of disembodied hands during her seances convinced many. In 1924, Crandon's name was submitted for consideration in the contest sponsored by "Scientific American" magazine. Houdini was one of her most vociferous critics.

William McDougall

William McDougall (1871-1938), a leading parapsychologist and Harvard professor of psychology, was one of the aforementioned 1924 "Scientific American" investigating committee members.

S. Foster Damon

S. Foster Damon (1893-1971) was an English instructor at Harvard University, and specialized in studying how mysticism influenced the works of William Blake.

Grant Hyde Code

Grant H. Code (1896-1974) also taught English at Harvard University.

J. Malcolm Bird

"I denounced J. Malcolm Bird in Philadelphia when he was on the stage with me. Told him he was a liar and had witnesses there to prove it. His book on Margery is the grossest misrepresentation I have ever read, in my thousands of volumes of Spiritualistic material and I assure you there is lots of piffle…"

J. Malcolm Bird (1886-1964), an American psychical researcher, was intensely mistrusted by Houdini and others for his endorsement of Margery Crandon. Bird served as the official research officer of the American Society for Physical Research between 1925-1931 before the Crandon scandal forced him to resign. The book decried by Houdini in this letter was his "Margery the Medium" (Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1925).

Hudson Hoagland

Hudson Hoagland (1899-1982) was an American neuroscientist. His article about Margery Crandon mentioned by Houdini in this letter was "Science and the Medium: The Climax of a Famous Investigation," which was published in the November 1925 issue of "The Atlantic Monthly."

During the last half of his career as a celebrated illusionist, stuntman, and entertainer, Houdini emerged as one of the world's preeminent psychical researchers. After over 30 years of applied study, Houdini had built up a massive archive of relevant scholarship, and his expertise on the subject enabled him to routinely lecture at American universities. Houdini actively investigated fraudulent mediums, in his view thus preserving the real art and craft of explicable magic. In the 1920s, Houdini had famously sponsored a cash prizes (drawn from numerous sources) to be presented to any genuine medium. Houdini's investigations into mediums had resulted in dozens of convictions.

Houdini died at age 52 of peritonitis on October 31, 1926. He was buried in the very same "bronze casket with a glass top" that he used in his swimming pool experiment tests. Contemporary newspapers commented on how Houdini, the best escape artist in the world, failed to flee from death. Houdini was buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York on November 4, 1926.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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