On November 4, 1926, Broadway turned out at the Elks' clubhouse in Manhattan to say goodbye to Harry Houdini, and he was buried with his mother's letters under his head. The next morning the New York Times headline read "2,000 HEAR HIM PRAISED." The Associated Press counted fewer: "About 1,000 friends, relatives and associates in the theater world attended the funeral services." The Times story never mentions a wand. The AP report, on the front page of Washington's Evening Star that same day, does: his fellow magicians "broke a wand and placed it on his coffin."
The story as it is told
On November 4, 1926, New York says goodbye to Harry Houdini. He lies in the same bronze coffin he used in his "Buried Alive" act, the story says. As the service ends, the magicians file past, and one of them breaks a wand over him, the first Broken Wand ceremony, a tradition that magicians have kept ever since.
What we can confirm
Two popular details need care: the "first Broken Wand ceremony" and the claim that he was buried in his stage coffin.
Houdini died in Detroit on Sunday, October 31, 1926. The Associated Press reported the next day that "the body will be taken to New York in the bronze casket he carried everywhere." The Library of Congress's Copyright Office blog says he was buried in the custom bronze casket he had used for his "Buried Alive" act.
The New York Times of November 3 reported that the body had arrived at Grand Central and been taken to a funeral chapel on West 91st Street, and listed honorary pallbearers including Adolph Zukor, Lee Shubert, William Morris and Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs.
The funeral was held on the morning of Thursday, November 4, at the Elks' clubhouse on West 43rd Street. The Times report of November 5, headlined "2,000 HEAR HIM PRAISED," says services began at 10:30 a.m. They included rites of the Elks, the Masons and the Society of American Magicians, a prayer by Rabbi B. A. Tintner and a tribute by Rabbi Bernard Drachman, who said, "Houdini's loss is shared by all mankind." At 11 o'clock, the Elks' "hour of remembrance," the hall went dark while a clock struck eleven.
He was buried in the family plot at Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, "with his head pillowed on the letters his mother had written him." That evening Bess Houdini issued a statement: "The only persons who possess the secret of all of Houdini's tricks and illusions are James Collins, his assistant and technical adviser for twenty years, and myself."
The Society of American Magicians says the funeral "featured magic's first Broken Wand Ceremony." Cabinet magazine says the wand was broken after the burial. The Times report of November 5 describes the Masonic rites in detail but does not mention a wand. The Associated Press report of the funeral, on the front page of the Washington Evening Star on November 5, 1926, does: his fellow magicians "broke a wand and placed it on his coffin."
What the record supports: Houdini was buried on November 4, 1926, at Machpelah Cemetery after a funeral at the Elks' clubhouse (the Times headline said "2,000 HEAR HIM PRAISED"; the AP counted "About 1,000 friends, relatives and associates in the theater world"), with rites by the Elks, Masons and magicians, his mother's letters in the casket, and, in the AP's report, a wand broken and placed on his coffin.
The facts
- "the bronze casket he carried everywhere." AP in Evening Star, Nov 1, 1926, p. 2
- Buried in the bronze casket used for "Buried Alive." LoC Copyright blog, Mar 24, 2021, blogs.loc.gov
- Grand Central arrival, West End Funeral Chapel, honorary pallbearers. NYT Nov 3, 1926, p. 23, intervalmagic.com
- Headline "2,000 HEAR HIM PRAISED"; 10:30 a.m.; Elks, Masons, SAM; Tintner; Drachman quote; 11 o'clock hour of remembrance; mother's letters; Machpelah; Bess's statement. NYT Nov 5, 1926, p. 21, intervalmagic.com
- "More than 2,000 people attended his funeral, which also featured magic's first Broken Wand Ceremony." magicsam.com
- Wand broken "following his burial." Cabinet, issue 49, cabinetmagazine.org
- "his fellow magicians broke a wand and placed it on his coffin." AP, "Widow and Aide Know Secrets of Houdini," Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Nov 5, 1926, p. 1, loc.gov
Sources
- Buried in the bronze casket used for "Buried Alive." LoC Copyright blog, Mar 24, 2021, blogs.loc.gov
- Grand Central arrival, West End Funeral Chapel, honorary pallbearers. NYT Nov 3, 1926, p. 23, intervalmagic.com
- Headline "2,000 HEAR HIM PRAISED"; 10:30 a.m.; Elks, Masons, SAM; Tintner; Drachman quote; 11 o'clock hour of remembrance; mother's letters; Machpelah; Bess's statement. NYT Nov 5, 1926, p. 21, intervalmagic.com
- "More than 2,000 people attended his funeral, which also featured magic's first Broken Wand Ceremony." magicsam.com
- Wand broken "following his burial." Cabinet, issue 49, cabinetmagazine.org
- "his fellow magicians broke a wand and placed it on his coffin." AP, "Widow and Aide Know Secrets of Houdini," Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Nov 5, 1926, p. 1, loc.gov