|
Clue |
Evidence |
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1910 |
|
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#1 Harry Houdini flew his biplane in Diggers Rest,
Australia in the 18th March 1910 |
The Argus 19 March 1910 |
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#2 Subsequent flights were made at Sydney's Rosehill
Racecourse on 25 Apr 1910. Houdini sailed for Vancouver
on 11 May 1910. |
"Flypast - A Record of Aviation in Australia" by Neville
Parnell and Trevor Boughton. |
|
#3. After his
Australia tour, Houdini put the Voisin into storage in
England. |
Wikipedia |
|
#4 Harry Houdini's detoured, on the Manuka, to Canada
and the US. He and Bess did not appear publically nor
did Harry do any of his acts while their ship docked at
Vancouver. With Harry's Voisin on its way to England and
Harry and Bess being in transit to the United
States, both likely chose the solitude of their
cabin after weeks of adulation in Australia. |
Vancouver Ancestry Library Edition
Victoria Times, June 1, 1910
(Thanks to Bruce, Vancouver Historical Society)
|
|
#5 John Bevins Moisant flew the biplane in 1910 for a
Paris to London flight attempt and broke a propeller.
Houdini offered him a spare propeller and spare parts. |
John Moisant Crashes in Kemsing
Kemsing Heritage Centre
Aug & Sep 1910 -
Two letters from Houdini to
Moisant
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#6 Houdini
sent
a letter by wire, reply prepaid, "in which I offered you
GRATIS my entire Bi-plane, propeller, and any spare
parts you might have been able to make us of." |
Daily Mail
(Thanks to Bruce, Vancouver Historical Society) |
|
#6 On December 30, 1910 in New Orleans, John Bevins
Moisant raced his Blériot monoplane five miles (eight
kilometers) against a Packard automobile, but lost.
Moisant died on December 31, 1910 in Kenner, Louisiana
in an air crash while making a preparatory flight in his
attempt to win the Michelin Cup and its $4,000 prize. |
Wikipedia
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
1912 |
|
|
#7 Even though Houdini didn't fly again that year, he
had his Voisin "remodeled" in 1912. Despite Wood's
entreaties to bring it back to the States, Houdini left
it in storage outside of London. |
Houdini: A Pictorial
Biography (New York: Gramercy Books, 1976)
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#8 James Vickery supervised the storing of the Voisin at
a warehouse in Peckham, England.. |
'Houdini, A Pictorial
Biography', Milbourne Christopher, p. 70, with photo,
another photo p.73
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
1913 |
|
|
#9 Houdini gives Donald Stevenson a letter addressed to
'Messrs Mulliners', Long Acre London, authorizing
Houdini to take the aircraft in exchange for paying
storage fees |
'Houdini, A Pictorial Biography', Milbourne Christopher,
p. 73, letter and photo of crates.
Photograph
of letter here
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#10 Mulliners was probably Arthur Mulliner's, they were
a coach building firm that briefly was involved in
aviation and offered services as well as their own
aircraft |
H. J. Mulliner & Co.
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#11 Mulliner constructed aircraft at their Northampton
works, 'Messrs. Mulliner and Co.' Col. Mulliner and Mr.
Gordon Stewart are supervising the work of building the
machine Mulliner Ltd. Of Northampton |
A monoplane in Northhampton
(Thanks to Jon Becker)
|
|
#12 Stevenson, in turn, sold
it to another aviation enthusiast. Beyond that, no one
knows what happened to the flying machine.' |
'Houdini, A Pictorial
Biography', Milbourne Christopher, p. 83
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#13 These workshops were located in Bolton, Lancashire,
one behind Robinson's house on Lonsdale Road. |
Google Map of Lonsdale Road
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#14 'In May of 1913, Houdini authorised Donald Stevenson, a
mechanist and semiprofessional magician who, along with
Houdini's friend Billy Robinson, had been designing
unique plywood model aircraft since 1911, to "settle"
the storage account and "remove the machine." |
'The Secret Life of
Houdini, the making of America's First Superhero'
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#15 William Ellsworth Robinson (1861–1918), American
magician who used the stage name
Chung Ling Soo |
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#16 Magician and engineer Donald Stevenson worked in
Soo's Lonsdale Road workshop, sharing expenses. It was a
well-equipped shop for all of his projects. When Soo
wanted help with his magic effects, Stevenson billed him
for his time. |
The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William
Robinson, Aka Chung Ling Soo.
By Jim Steinmeyer
Map of Lonsdale Road
Photograph of House
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
#17 Soo's house was a large, whitewashed three story
brick mansion that comprised two addresses at 48 and 50
Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London. Robinson took enormous
pleasure in building his own workshop behind his home on
Lonsdale Road. |
The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William
Robinson, Aka Chung Ling Soo.
By Jim Steinmeyer
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
1940s |
|
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#18 Hardeen sold much of the collection to magician and
Houdini enthusiast Sidney H. Radner during the 1940s
|
black jade : Magic Entertainment Magazine
|
|
1948- 1956 |
|
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#19 Donald Stevenson wrote a series of articles for
Model Engineering magazine (UK), some detailing his
early model aviation work and connections with Chung
Ling Soo. |
Magic
and Models
By Donald Stevenson
(Thanks to Jon Becker) |
|
1967 |
|
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#16 Much of the paraphernalia used by Harry Houdini in
35 years as a stage magician and escape artist lies in
dusty trunks and crates in a storage warehouse in New
Jersey.
|
THE NEW YORK TIMES • August 24, 1967
|
*Whoever is the first person to e-mail the location of the original biplane that was flown by
Harry Houdini will win a bottle of
