The box was placed in a cabinet with a curtain.īessie stepped into the cabinet and drew the curtain closed. The sack was placed inside a box, locked, and strapped closed. Houdini’s hands were bound behind him, and he was placed in a sack that was knotted closed. In 1895, the circus took the Houdinis on tour. His version became a sensation, catching the attention of the Welsh Brothers Circus. Houdini didn’t invent the illusion, but earlier versions of the acts had featured two men changing places. Houdini performed the “Radio of 1950” illusion at the end of his career (and life), but he performed the “Metamorphosis” illusion at the beginning of his career, when he and his wife Bessie took their act on the road in 1894. Dorothy Young lived to be 103 and died in 2011.
Hardeen purchased the radio from his brother’s estate. The image above is of Houdini’s younger brother, Theodore “Dash” Hardeen, demonstrating Houdini’s radio with assistant Gladys Hardeen. While the master magician dialed the radio station, she simply climbed back into the radio. She then opened the trap and slid into the bellowed area between two table tops and waited there as Houdini showed the radio’s empty interior. Young was inside the radio when it was set on the table. Young’s weight without going below the skirt of the tablecloth. The lower top hung from the upper by springs that dropped under Ms. The upper top had a trap door that opened upward. Called a “bellows” table, it had two table tops. “Tune in to any station and get the girl you want,” Houdini said. The radio announcer said, “And now, Dorothy Young, doing the Charleston.” The top of the radio flew off, and out popped a young assistant, who jumped down and danced the Charleston. Houdini adjusted one of the dials until a radio station tuned in. Houdini opened the doors to show that there was nothing inside except coils, transformers, and vacuum tubes. The front of the radio had huge dials and double doors. Then assistants placed on the table a giant radio approximately 2 meters (6 ft) long and 1 meter (3 ft) high and wide. Houdini walked around the table, lifting the tablecloth to show that there were no mirrors or anything else under the table.
The radio was a novelty at the time, and the act featured what Houdini said the radio would be like in 1950.Īccording to Dorothy Young, Houdini’s assistant, the great magician began by introducing a large table with a tablecloth that fell halfway down the table’s legs. Houdini developed the “Radio of 1950” illusion for his evening shows from 1925 until his death the following year.
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