Leonard Hevia wrote:More wonderful Erdnasium from the great David Saltman's blog:
http://www.houdinifile.com/2018/04/the- ... dnase.html
Wasshuber could not resist leaving his Gallaway calling card at Saltman's blog. In his fictional narrative, Gallaway also met Houdini when they both worked at the circus:
"How well did these two know each other?" Since I am convinced S.W. Erdnase was Edward Gallaway...there is one other possible connection between Erdnase and Houdini: circus. Edward Gallaway worked at the circus ~1891-1894. We also have him managing a sideshow for a fair in 1896, so his involvement with the circus spans at least 1891-1896. That means there is a possibility that Gallaway may have met Houdini at the circus. Or perhaps it was a topic Gallaway and Houdini could bond with when they perhaps met at Roterberg's shop, or when Harto introduced them. Also Harto was a circus performer, as was Vernelo, yet another magic shop owner in Chicago who worked at circuses. Perhaps all of these folks knew each other from the circus, or at least knew of each other as circus people and thus bonded and did business with each other.
Houdini worked for the Welsh Brothers circus in 1895, and did not return to the Welsh Brothers again until 1898 for one final time. He only spent two seasons with the Welsh Brothers, which goes to show you the circus life was not for him. If he did meet Gallaway at the circus, it could have only been during his stint with the Welsh Brothers in 1895. As far as I know, there is no evidence that Gallaway was involved with the Welsh Brothers in any capacity.
In any case, Gallaway left the circus in 1894, that was a year before Houdini even joined the Welsh Brothers! As for working that fair in 1896, there is no evidence of Houdini having worked in any fairs in 1896. This is all more fanciful musings from Wasshuber and not actually hard research.