1897-98 & 1923
Harry Houdini
Escaping The Sunflower State
Harry Houdini's Turbulent Time In Kansas
THE LOCATIONS
During late 1897 & into early 1898 Houdini traveled with a medicine show called The California Concert Company. Information on his performances, daily actives, stories, promotional materials, etc. for each stop is vital to research of this book. Below is a list of the towns The California Concert Company preformed in. Please click on any of the listings for additional information and interesting facts I have uncovered. Any information about Houdini in these locations would be highly valued & credited in the book.
djc@nationsattic.com or 316-371-1828
The Book
Escaping The
Sunflower State
During the winter of 1897, Harry & Bess Houdini would travel to Garnett, KS. With virtually no money or food, the pair had accepted a job at the very bottom of the performing arts food chain – working for a medicine show. Helping sell a "miraculous elixir" during the day and performing with the California Concert Company in the evenings, the Houdini's would have multiple life-changing experiences in small Kansas mining towns during the 3-1/2 month trek. .
During the Thanksgiving week of 1923, Harry Houdini would return to Kansas as one of the biggest stars in the world. During that week in Wichita, he was put into a straitjacket and hung upside down from the Beacon building on Main St. The Innes Company would construct a box that he could not possibly escape from on stage at the Orpheum Theater. He would take to the radio and discuss Spiritualism. He also had a new movie showing at the Holland Theater, Haldane of the Secret Service. After a full week in Wichita in November 1923, he would escape Kansas once again, to never return......
During Harry Houdini's brief time in Kansas, he would perform some of his most famous illusions, make wagers with law enforcement, practice & also vehemently denounce Spiritualism and later claim to have beent shot in the hand in Coffeyville, KS before escaping the state.
Join me, Don Creekmore, in researching, documenting & publishing a book detailing Harry & Bess Houdini's time in the Sunflower State. A time when an unknown magician selling "snake oil" on street corners of small Kansas mining towns would later become the most famous magician of all time.
