The summer of 1925 was a busy one for the great illusionist and stunt performer, Harry Houdini. After a career in vaudeville, he fulfilled a dream when he mounted his own one-man roadshow. Billed as Three Shows in One, the evening featured magic, escapes, and the debunking of then-popular mediums and psychics.
While prepping for the show, Houdini sought relief from the stress of city life at a summer home in Glen Head. While not much is known about that time, he did express a familiar frustration. He wrote to a friend:
I am a commuter myself and don’t like it. Mrs. Houdini has rented a home at Glen Head, L.I. It is about one hour and five minutes on the Pennsylvania R.R. but including the time it takes getting from the house to the station, it is a two hour journey.
Houdini never returned to Glen Head. His show played on Broadway and toured with great success. On October 24 1926, Harry Houdini died as a result of a ruptured appendix at the age of 52.