Continuing our visits to unusual attractions –a must see place I’ve never forgotten since my first visit, is the Houdini Museum and Show in Scranton, PA. This is not a huge fancy contemporary building but an intense collection of everything one could imagine Houdini ever touched, all in a converted historical home befitting the collection.
Harry Houdini was born in 1874 in Budapest, moving to America as a small child — he became the most famous magician of all time. Big time Houdini Fans and Museum founders Dorothy Dietrich and John Bravo put on an entertaining family program. Recently historical and previously unseen film footage of Houdini has been restored and is shown to the museum visitors.
The museum even has Houdini’s original family pictures on display among the 1000’s of artifacts. You could spend days here.
Dorothy Dietrich, is one of the best known woman magicians in the world, performing in the daily shows.
Museum Director and major force here is Magician John Bravo who ran New York’s famous Magic Towne House and was owner and publisher of Hocus Pocus Magazine, in addition to his performing. They have both been featured on many national television programs with their Houdini Museum.
A typical visitor sees the Houdini Video, gets a guided tour of all the rooms and then in the theater various other Houdini stuff, a Magic Show with ducks dogs and other performing animals, audience participation and more!
The Houdini Museum is in Scranton PA–get all the information at www.houdini.org