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| Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University |
Last week we cleared up a mystery that has vexed Houdiniphiles for nearly a century - whatever happened to Franz Kukol, his chief assistant? We published, for the first time anywhere, the above letter proving Kukol still worked closely with Houdini in New York City as late as 1924.
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| Wm. H. Childs, Houdini, J.C. Platt, Theodore Roosevelt, A.W. Erickson, Philip Roosevelt, L. F. Abbott |
This week we add a story to our headline. That letter, and its associated correspondence, shows that Kukol is the man who took the famous picture of Houdini and Theodore Roosevelt aboard the SS Imperator in 1914.
Writer Hermann Hagedorn wanted to put the Houdini group picture in TR’s biography. But he was dissuaded by a letter from William Hamlin Childs, one of Roosevelt’s political power brokers. (He was later indicted for improper handling of campaign funds.)
He’s the surly-looking guy standing to Houdini’s right.
Childs claims he and his golfing buddies were trying to get their picture taken with Roosevelt when Houdini "butted in for the purpose of personal advertising.” Harry saw a copy of this letter and took umbrage, writing three registered letters back to Childs setting the record straight, claiming he and “Colonel Roosevelt” were close personal friends:
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| Carbon copy of letter from Houdini to Childs, affirming his personal friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. |
Houdini’s letter implies that it was Childs and his golfing friends who were butting in, since he, Harry, had arranged for the photo shoot in the first place, with Kukol as photographer. It is noteworthy that in the only eyewitness record of this sea voyage, Roosevelt’s friend L.F. Abbott, the bearded gent at the far right in the picture, mentions Houdini’s dining privately with the former President, but says nothing about his erstwhile golf partners. In any case, Harry lets the record speak for itself by providing the whole correspondence to R.W.G. Vail, who was archivist of the Roosevelt Memorial Association.
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| Carbon copy of Vail's reply to Houdini |
Vail’s reply mentions Kukol's visit and corroborates Harry’s claim that he and Roosevelt were old friends. This is further augmented by a picture of Houdini with Roosevelt’s grandchildren, taken, as far as we can determine, at Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s family home at Oyster Bay, Long Island. Harry did a magic show for the kids, and presented Theodore III with a pair of trick handcuffs.
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| Harry with Teddy Roosevelt's grandchildren (LOC) |
(Letters: Houdini subject file, Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University. Images: Library of Congress)
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Sensational work! The Childs letter is certainly fuel for Houdini haters, but the fact that it's Houdini's own assistant taking the photo pretty much refutes his claim that Houdini butted in on this.
ReplyDeleteWe gotta see those other pictures!
Thanks, John! Trying to track down the other pix.
ReplyDeleteOne footnote: The whole Childs group was returning together from a golf excursion in England. The "Mr. Erickson" referred to in Childs' letter was head of the Erickson advertising agency that later became McCann-Erickson. He met Roosevelt for the first time aboard the Imperator. Childs tells Hagedorn he can get the "unfaked" pictures from Erickson, the ad man! So who was doing the "personal advertising" here?
Ha! William Hamlin Childs is my Great Great Grandfather, so this was funny to discover! Gramps was a documented longterm friend of Theodore, sounds like everyone was confused by why the photo was conjured up, which surely sounds like dark magic. Teehee.
ReplyDelete