Was Harry Houdini America’s first international super spy?

There is a great deal of recent speculation on the life and times of one of magic’s greatest legends, Harry Houdini.  It seems that new information has come to light on things that governments don’t like to talk about.  Espionage.

Happy Birthday Harry Houdini.

Seeing  as tomorrow marks the 137th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s birth I would like to take a minute or two to honour this master illusionist, escape artist and debunker of spiritual chicanery.

Harry Houdini

To read more about Harry and his life, check out these two great posts that I wrote last year on the topic.

Spirits, levitation and Sherlock Holmes

Harry Houdini: The Mythbuster of his age

Happy Birthday Harry, the world of magic and illusion wouldn’t be the same without you.

Harry Houdini: The Mythbuster of His Age

In my last post Spirits, Levitation and Sherlock Holmes I described Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of the leading figures of the spiritualism movement.  I also referenced Harry Houdini but only in passing as one of the great entertainers of that era.

Houdini Handcuff King and Prison Breaker

Spirits, Levitation and Sherlock Holmes.

You wouldn’t know it now but back in the heyday of the 1920’s Winnipeg, the Chicago of the North, was a hotbed of spiritual investigation.

Ectoplasam at a Hamilton seance – Note the image of Doyle suspended in the ectoplasm 2 years after his death. (Photo – June 27,1932)