Houdini’s Grave
Friday, September 12th, 2008
Machpelah Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens. A 1995 article in the NY Times tells how Houdini’s grave is maintained by a fund from the Society of American Magicians. A ceremony by the society used to take place at the grave on Halloween, but the cemetary now closes the gates then because of fear of vandalism.
My friend Chris is a magician, he recently moved to Queens a few blocks away from where Houdini is buried. People leave all sorts of strange tributes on the grave. Playing cards, the silk and the key that were left have obvious resonance with the master magician. The rocks appear to be a custom in this Jewish cemetery. Leaving your business card is a bit tacky. But probably the most inappropriate object must be the tiny witch’s broom. If anything, Houdini was a foe of spiritualists and such.
Notice that the death date of his wife was not carved. Bess Houdini died on February 11, 1943, 17 years after her husband, in Needles, California, aboard an eastbound train traveling from Los Angeles to New York City. She was not permitted to be interred with her late husband at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, New York because she was a gentile. She is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. (more…)
