| The seances Ford cooked up while the widow Houdini was trying to recover from a head injury and her doctors were loading her up with pain killers made headlines. |
In 1928, Houdini's widow
performed a magic act at
a tryout engagement.
The closing effect was
"Freezing a Man in a
Block of Ice." In his
letter to Jacob Hyman,
Hardeen discussed the
act as well as his
sister-in-law's apparently
successful attempt to
contact her late husband
through a medium.
The spirit medium Arthur
Ford did produce a
message that seemed to
have come from Houdini
on the "other side."
Soon after, an
investigative reporter
from the New York
Evening Graphic
exposed Ford's role in
what was a classic con
directed at a wealthy
celebrity widow, in this
case, the very vulnerable
Mrs. Houdini.
performed a magic act at
a tryout engagement.
The closing effect was
"Freezing a Man in a
Block of Ice." In his
letter to Jacob Hyman,
Hardeen discussed the
act as well as his
sister-in-law's apparently
successful attempt to
contact her late husband
through a medium.
The spirit medium Arthur
Ford did produce a
message that seemed to
have come from Houdini
on the "other side."
Soon after, an
investigative reporter
from the New York
Evening Graphic
exposed Ford's role in
what was a classic con
directed at a wealthy
celebrity widow, in this
case, the very vulnerable
Mrs. Houdini.
| Beatrice Houdini (1875-1943) |
| Injured and ill, Beatrice Houdini was no match for con man, "the Reverend" Arthur Ford (1897-1971). |
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