Was Houdini aware of the Centre Tear?
Posted: June 26th, 2020, 4:40 am
I am a member of the Cambridge Pentacle Club. We celebrated our centenary last year.
Due to the obligatory quarantine, we now meet online using Zoom software.
A couple of years ago at the Event (London) Max Maven gave a very interesting lecture on the origins of the CT (centre tear).
Max based his research mainly on Al Mann’s The Purloined Thought (1990).
This book contains interesting correspondence about the origins of the CT and also includes a copy of the pamphlet released by Annemann.
There was an important transfer of information about this move when Sid Lorraine visited Cambridge (UK). An American student Garrus showed the technique to Lorraine.
Garrus in turn had learned the move from Professor Wyman from Boston (USA).
Wyman had found out about this move from an unnamed Medium.
Lorraine seems to be the first person in magic to document this move.
Lorraine later informed Annemann of this technique.
Mann thinks that Dunninger (1915?) and Reese (1924?) were aware of the CT move.
Note: no specific references are cited though to back up this claim.
Most seem to think that the CT originated from psychic mediums in the 19th century.
Again, a reasonable hypothesis, but I’d like to see more evidence.
I've since discovered that there was a Leland C. Wyman who later specialised in studying the Navajo Indians.
He was born in 1897. He gained a Doctorate at Harvard in 1922.
This Wyman was a 'Doctor' and an anthropologist and lived in Boston.
So the information matches, but if anyone could independently confirm this, I would appreciate it.
Wyman only passed away in 1988! Did anyone ever interview him about his earlier explorations into mentalism and the occult?
I don't know if his early notebooks/correspondence survive.
As to what happened to Garrus, I do not know.
Last month at our Zoom gathering I mentioned this research to present day members of the Pentacle Club. To my surprise, many were not aware of their Club's CT connection.
The question I would like to ask is did Houdini know about the move?
He famously investigated spiritualists and built a reputation for debunking their claims.
So, surely he would have known about the centre tear?
And yet I can’t recall coming across a shred of evidence that he did know about this move.
Can anyone shed light on this mystery?
If Houdini did not know about the move, why was this the case? Were there limits to his technical knowledge?
Note: I originally put these questions to John Cox, a Houdini scholar in early April this year.
I was disappointed that he did not respond to my query.
Due to the obligatory quarantine, we now meet online using Zoom software.
A couple of years ago at the Event (London) Max Maven gave a very interesting lecture on the origins of the CT (centre tear).
Max based his research mainly on Al Mann’s The Purloined Thought (1990).
This book contains interesting correspondence about the origins of the CT and also includes a copy of the pamphlet released by Annemann.
There was an important transfer of information about this move when Sid Lorraine visited Cambridge (UK). An American student Garrus showed the technique to Lorraine.
Garrus in turn had learned the move from Professor Wyman from Boston (USA).
Wyman had found out about this move from an unnamed Medium.
Lorraine seems to be the first person in magic to document this move.
Lorraine later informed Annemann of this technique.
Mann thinks that Dunninger (1915?) and Reese (1924?) were aware of the CT move.
Note: no specific references are cited though to back up this claim.
Most seem to think that the CT originated from psychic mediums in the 19th century.
Again, a reasonable hypothesis, but I’d like to see more evidence.
I've since discovered that there was a Leland C. Wyman who later specialised in studying the Navajo Indians.
He was born in 1897. He gained a Doctorate at Harvard in 1922.
This Wyman was a 'Doctor' and an anthropologist and lived in Boston.
So the information matches, but if anyone could independently confirm this, I would appreciate it.
Wyman only passed away in 1988! Did anyone ever interview him about his earlier explorations into mentalism and the occult?
I don't know if his early notebooks/correspondence survive.
As to what happened to Garrus, I do not know.
Last month at our Zoom gathering I mentioned this research to present day members of the Pentacle Club. To my surprise, many were not aware of their Club's CT connection.
The question I would like to ask is did Houdini know about the move?
He famously investigated spiritualists and built a reputation for debunking their claims.
So, surely he would have known about the centre tear?
And yet I can’t recall coming across a shred of evidence that he did know about this move.
Can anyone shed light on this mystery?
If Houdini did not know about the move, why was this the case? Were there limits to his technical knowledge?
Note: I originally put these questions to John Cox, a Houdini scholar in early April this year.
I was disappointed that he did not respond to my query.