Term Papers on The Great Houdini

Term Paper Title	The Great Houdini
# of Words	1192
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.77

The Great Houdini

The performer known world wide as Harry
Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest.
Although Houdini often claimed to be born in Appleton,
Wisconsin, Houdini actually came to the United States when
he was four years old. To this day many connected with the
small town of Appleton still claim the untruth that Houdini
was born there strictly to attract tourists. Houdini's father
was Mayer Samuel Weiss. Houdini's father was a Rabbi.
His mother's name was Cecilia Steiner Weiss. His parents
spoke little English, and the family was quite poor so most of
the children began to work at an early age. From the age of
eight young Ehrich Weiss sold newspapers and worked as a
shoe shine boy. At the age of 12, young Ehrich left home to
make his way in the world in an attempt to help support his
family. Young Ehrich traveled the country for about a year,
always sending money home when he could. Finally he
joined up with his father in New York City. The family
moved to New York in the hope of finding a better life
there. In New York, Houdini worked as a messenger and as
a cutter in a garment center sweat shop, to help support his
family. Houdini began performing magic as a teenager first
calling himself Eric the Great. Ehrich acquired the name
Houdini from a book he read, "The Memoirs of
Robert-Houdin," the autobiography of one of the greatest
magicians of the day. Influenced by what he read and
learned about the internationally known magician Robert
Houdin, young Ehrich changed his name to Houdini, hoping
to be in some way like his new found mentor. Houdini's first
magic shows consisted of card tricks and other simple
magic. Soon Houdini began experimenting with hand cuffs
and using them in his acts. Houdini performed with another
young man who worked with him in the factory in New
York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. Soon
Houdini's younger brother Theo took the place of the boy
from the factory. Together with his brother Theo, they tried
to succeed as the Houdini Brothers. Their first performances
included shows at amusement parks, beer halls, "dime
museums," and at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. In
1894, Houdini met Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who was
singing and dancing as part of the Floral Sisters. They were
working Coney Island at the time. After knowing each other
only two weeks they were married in the month of July.
Bess, as she was called, worked and traveled with Houdini.
Bess took Theo's place in the act that would now be called
"The Houdini's". Houdini began offering rewards to anyone
who could successfully restrain him, first in handcuffs and
later in all manner of objects. Houdini escaped from
handcuffs, leg irons, straight jackets, jails and prison cells, a
mail pouch, packing crates, a giant paper bag (without
tearing the paper), a giant football, an iron boiler, milk cans,
coffins, and the famous Water Torture Cell. Some of
Houdini's escapes, such as the Straight Jacket or being tied
with a hundred feet of rope, Houdini would do in full view of
the audience. Houdini spent many hours studying, practicing
and conditioning. For Houdini's underwater stunts, Houdini
would practice holding his breath in the bathtub for up to
four minutes. To help draw crowds and sell tickets, Houdini
would do escape challenges, often at police stations with
newspaper reporters present, assuring a headline story.
Martin Beck, Vaudeville's most important booking agent
caught Houdini's act in 1899 and was impressed with his
dynamic personality and booked him as a "challenge escape
artist." Martin Beck booked the Orpheum circuit, the largest
chain of vaudeville theaters in the country and booked all of
the stars of vaudeville. He had a trained eye for talent. He
immediately placed Houdini in big time vaudeville as a
supporting act...

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