Just think- you can own a piece of magical history- something that was handled by the great Harry Houdini in his daily life! This is a one-of-a-kind collectible, perfect for framing.
What a great gift!
This is one of the envelopes found in Harry Houdini's personal desk. The postmark date is Jul 6 1925. The return address is Mysterious Gillette and Company, Billboard NYThe envelope is addressed to Houdini in care of Lawrence Weber's office.
The back of the envelope has pencil doodles on it, the kind made while mindlessly thinking.The written numbers appear to be similar to Houdini's handwriting.WE ARE NOT EXPERTS and cannot authenticate that Houdini wrote on this envelope, but our opinion is that he probably did.
Lawrence Weber was a stage producer and early movie mogul. In 1925 Weber went into partnership with Houdini to put together his legendary 1925 "HOUDINI" tour. The show opened in August 1925 at the Maryland Theater in Baltimore and came to New York in December 1925. The show ran for two and a half hours in three acts. The first act featured magic tricks, in the second Houdini performed one of his famous escapes, and the third act gave an expose of fraudulent techniques used by spirit mediums.The Mysterious Gillette was a minor vaudeville magic act in 1925.This letter was sent to Houdini just before the HOUDINI show opened; perhaps it was a request by Gillette for work in the show.
See a larger version of the front of the envelope here.
See a larger version of the back of the envelope here.
In the late 1980's, magician Peter Monticup (owner of MagicTricks.com), purchased Harry Houdini's ornate personal desk. The desk had been in storage in Houdini's former NYC home from 1926 until it was sold in 1980. Peter purchased the desk from this buyer, along with some other personal items from the Houdini home.
The desk had a number of secret compartments and hidden drawers. Inside one of the drawers was a stack of envelopes from correspondence Houdini had received. The envelopes were from all different sources- his lawyers, his fans, fellow magicians, etc. He even wrote notes on some of the envelopes, either noting the importance of the contents, or just scribbling on them as scrap paper.
In researching each of the envelopes, we've found an important connection to an event or person in Houdini's life.Of all the thousands upon thousands of letters he received each year, he saved each of these envelopes for a reason.Houdini was a notorious "saver".These envelopes were used as his personal Rolodex (address directory).
You provide the frame if desired.
This envelope is about 6.5" x 3.75". It's old, it's been through the mail, it's yellowed, it has tears.Apparently Houdini tore it across the top with a dull letter opener to remove the contents. This envelope is in "AS FOUND" condition.
The envelope will be shipped to you in a plastic protective sleeve, accompanied by a printout of the story of this envelope.
DISCLAIMER: Though these envelopes are absolutely original and absolutely came from Houdini's desk, we cannot be totally sure of the contents of the correspondence that was sent in the envelope, because the envelopes in the desk were all empty. What you read in the description above is our BEST GUESS about the contents of any correspondence, based on our research and our own conclusions.