Houdini - Down on the Farm

Happy new year! It has been a while since I've posted anything new, but here is an interesting story I found on Houdini. I don't recall hearing it before. It's from the POUGHKEEPSIE EAGLE (Dec. 28, 1925).

HOUDINI FOUND FARMER WAS HARDEST TO FOOL

New York, Dec. 27 – Harry Houdini found farmers "harder to fool than city people,” and several times the magician's tricks nearly failed when he performed them face to face with rural audiences.

"In country parts, where men themselves perform the magic of making the soil bear harvest. I've found them less gullible.” He wrote in an article published yesterday by Farm & Fireside. “They know it’s just a trick.”

Houdini’s first training in legerdemain was in the small towns, with travelling shows and later as a magician at county fairs. As an example Houdini told of an experience in an Iowa town, where he undertook to escape from a thief-proof barn within an hour.

"Finger the locks as I would I could make no impression on them.” he said. "I exhausted myself and leaned against a door section to rest for a final spurt. To my amazement the door opened and the witnesses applauded me. I bowed with grace and-went back to the farm house to dress. The farmer came into the bedroom and explained that out of pity, he had left that section of the barndoor unlocked, unbolted!