Thursday, May 4, 2017

Houdini and Jennie the Elephant (and Lucy, and Fanny)

In the Spring of 1922, Houdini was at the Times Square Theatre promoting his film, The Man From Beyond.

The Evening Telegram - New York newspaper from April 8, 1922 reported, "After the film Houdini appeared in person on the stage and went through his many mystifications. He makes a lady disappear. He gets out of a straight-jacket that is seemingly impregnable. He swallows four packages of needles and then he swallows the thread and presently produces that same thread from his smiling mouth with all the needles duly threaded.
“No wonder he has nerves of steel” commented the girl in the front row.
Finally, he makes an elephant disappear. Of his two elephants, only Lucy came on for her act. Fanny was captivated by the bright lights of Broadway and refused to enter the Times Square Theatre. Meanwhile, Lucy suffered from an attack of temperament and liberal rations of gum drops were necessary before she could be induced to do her act."

Lucy? Fanny? I never heard of these two pachyderms, only Jennie. Anybody else know if this was just a reporter's embellishment or a fact?