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The events involving the courtship and marriage of the jewish Ehrich Weiss (Harry Houdini) to the catholic Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahmer (Bessie Raymond) appear to vary, depending upon the source. The actual facts(?) mentioned in the many Houdini books written by various authors, seem to differ from book to book. The information supplied by Houdini's own wife Bess has even been questioned. It seems that she too, took the liberty of "romancing" the story past the truth. What follows, are some general inconsistencies concerning: how and where Harry and Bess first met, the date(s) of their marriage, and the person(s) who performed the wedding ceremony.
In the book "Houdini, His Life Story, From the Recollections and Documents of Beatrice Houdini." (©1928 Harold Kellock - Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York), the author tells the story of the couples' initial meeting, courtship, and quick marriage. The fact that the book was officially authorized by Houdini's own widow, leads the reader to believe that this an accurate account of events based on the truth. Kellock claims that while Houdini was performing at a high school, he accidentally let a few drops of acid (used during his "Ink to Water" trick) splash on an article of clothing worn by Bess. In an effort to apologize and secure an arrangement to repair the garment, he managed to get her home address and call upon her. He later took her to Coney Island and introduced her to the exciting boardwalk amusements, which she had never seen before. The story goes on to say that they both stayed out so late, Bess feared the punishment that awaited her when she returned home. Harry then did what he thought was the honorable thing to do, and proposed marriage on the spot. Kellock goes on to say that they were hastily married by the boss of Coney Island, John Y. McKane, on June 22nd, 1894. Many believed this story was true until a problem surfaced. Further examination of Kellocks book, as mentioned in "Houdini: The Man Who Walked Through Walls" (©1959 William Lindsay Gresham - Henry Holt And Co., New York) indicates that John Y. McKane was in Sing Sing prison on that date, serving a sentence from the result of his not-so-legal Coney Island business practices. If Gresham is correct, than perhaps Kellock and/or Mrs. Houdini wished to "romance" their story a bit, to make it more interesting. After all, a more interesting story might sell a few more books. Gresham's 1959 book continues to cast doubt on the 1928 Kellock story by providing information from various newspaper articles contained in Houdini's own scrapbook, which was then part of the Sidney Hollis Radner collection. Gresham says that although Bess always celebrated June 22nd as their wedding anniversary, an interesting newspaper article from the scrapbook might dispute this day as being the wedding date. The article is dated the same, June 22nd, 1894, and speaks of "The Brothers Houdini" show at the Vacca's Theatre. Whether or not the performance actually occured on June 22nd, or the story only appeared in the newspaper that day, is unknown. If the latter is true, perhaps the article alludes to a prior performance. In the article, "Hunyadi" (a misspelled Houdini) takes on a heckler named "Risey", who claims "The Brothers Hunyadi" box trick (Metamorphosis) is a fake. After Risey is locked in the box himself, he fails to free himself as he claimed he could. The article also mentions that one of the Hunyadi brothers was taking one of "The Floral Sisters" for a stroll between shows. (Bess was one of "The Floral Sisters".) In later years, Houdini's brother Dash (Theodore) told Sidney Hollis Radner that Harry kept this article to mark the beginning of his courtship to Bess. If this was only the beginning of their courtship, which seems to be likely since the article does not refer to Bess as Mrs. Houdini, than we might assume two things. Either they were not married yet, or they were married but nobody knew it yet. It would seem unlikely that they were married, since Dash said of the June 22nd article "It marked the beginning of their courtship". Regardless, Bess always celebrated this day as their anniversary. Gresham also explains how Sidney Hollis Radner recalled the story of Harry and Bess meeting, as told to him by Dash. Supposedly Dash had called on both sisters from "The Floral Sisters" act and arranged to meet them on the Coney Island beach between shows. Harry went along as the second man on this "double-date" and was introduced to Bess. According to most magic historians, this seems to be the more likely scenario. Gresham includes information from another scrapbook article, a small announcement from the theatrical New York trade paper, the Clipper, dated July 28th, 1894. The announcement stated: "The Brothers Houdini, who for years have mystified the world by their mysterious box mystery, known as Metamorphosis, are no more and the team will hereafter be known as The Houdinis. The new partner is Miss Bessie Raymond, the petite soubrette, who was married to Mr. Harry Houdini on July 22nd by Rev. G. S. Louis of Brooklyn. Harry has bought his brother's interest in the act and he and Miss Bessie Raymond will hereafter perform it." Notice the article says July, not June. It could be very possible that the Houdini's were married twice, once in a civil ceremony and again in a religious ceremony by a priest, since Bess was a Catholic. It is also quite possible that they were married a third time by a Rabbi, to acknowledge Harry's Jewish faith. The exact truths concerning who really married Harry and Bess, how they really met, or when and where they were actually wed, are unfortunately somewhat unclear. Today's facts are almost based on heresay and opinion, rather than truths. Ironically, the same authors who wanted to share the story of a remarkable man, managed to lose site of a remarkable man's story. While they were busy perpetuating the glorified legend of Houdini, the real secrets of Ehrich Weiss gradually got lost in the shuffle. The true facts have changed so much, many have nearly disappeared without a trace. Such is the legend of the great Houdini. |
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