{"id":40398,"date":"2023-01-13T01:47:28","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T09:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=40398"},"modified":"2023-01-11T15:13:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T23:13:26","slug":"local-houdini-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2023\/01\/13\/local-houdini-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Houdini connection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the documents in the Houdiniana Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is a thank you letter from Harry Houdini\u2019s brother to Dr. Daniel E. Cohn, who was Houdini\u2019s doctor at the time of the escape artist\u2019s death in Detroit on Oct. 31, 1926. (image from New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Houdiniana Collection)<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you know there\u2019s a Harry Houdini connection to Vancouver\u2019s Jewish community? My late husband was Theodore (Ted) Cohn, emeritus professor of political science at Simon Fraser University. Ted\u2019s father, Dr. Daniel E. Cohn, was Houdini\u2019s doctor at the time of the escape artist\u2019s death in Detroit on Oct. 31, 1926 (Halloween).<\/p>\n

After Ted\u2019s mother, Ethel Schatz, died in 2012, we acquired papers related to Cohn\u2019s care for Houdini. Cohn was just 25 years old, starting his medical practice. He was the substitute doctor for the Statler Hotel at the time of Houdini\u2019s Detroit tour.<\/p>\n

Prior to his Detroit performance, on Oct. 22, Houdini had been punched unexpectedly in Montreal by a McGill student, J. Gordon Whitehead. Whitehead was testing Houdini\u2019s ability to withstand abdominal blows. Without advance notice, however, Houdini was unable to prepare his muscles, and his appendix was ruptured. Nevertheless, he and his wife Bess traveled to Detroit, where he performed at the Garrick Theatre on Oct. 24. He collapsed after the show.<\/p>\n

Houdini reluctantly went to Grace Hospital after being examined by Dr. Cohn. His surgeon, Dr. Charles S. Kennedy, operated and discovered the now-gangrenous appendix. With no cure in sight, Houdini remained hospitalized. Specialists were consulted, to no avail.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
Among the documents in the Houdiniana Collection are Dr. Daniel E. Cohn\u2019s notes on his examination of Harry Houdini (page 1 shown here).\u00a0(image from New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Houdiniana Collection)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cohn was able to spend time at Houdini\u2019s bedside, getting to know him and even bringing him \u201cFarmer\u2019s Chop Suey,\u201d a sour cream-raw vegetable dish Houdini requested. The two ate this Jewish specialty together.<\/p>\n

A thank you letter to Cohn from Houdini\u2019s brother, Theodore Hardeen, and other original documents are now in the Houdiniana Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. These include Dr. Cohn\u2019s notes related to Houdini\u2019s medical care and death, and insurance and legal letters related to Cohn\u2019s payment. I wanted these valuable items to have a better home than our personal archival-quality folders, and approached the specialty library, where these papers will be available to researchers.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
One of the legal documents related to Harry Houdini and Dr. Daniel E. Cohn.\u00a0(image from New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Houdiniana Collection)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Houdini\u2019s father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss, moved to Appleton, Wisc., in 1878, to be the first rabbi at Zion Congregation. Houdini, known then as Erich Weiss, was 4 years old. Houdini is buried in Machpelah Cemetery, Queens, N.Y.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the documents in the Houdiniana Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is a thank you letter from Harry Houdini\u2019s brother to Dr. Daniel E. Cohn, who was Houdini\u2019s doctor at the time of the escape artist\u2019s death in Detroit on Oct. 31, 1926. (image from New York Public Library […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4242,22055,22057,22058,22059],"class_list":["post-40398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-history","tag-houdini","tag-houdiniana","tag-new-york-public-library","tag-ted-cohn"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}