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HOUDINI'S NEW YEAR: COUNTING THE MONEY



From the Quincy Kilby scrapbook at the Boston Public Library.

One hundred ten years ago this week, Harry Houdini was taking time off after his best holiday season yet. Instead of vacationing the week between Christmas and New Year, he did a show every night in Bolton, an ancient mill town in northwest England.

 As you can see from this receipt he made a killing, clearing 219 pounds 18 shillings and eightpence for seven shows. 

 In those days the British pound sterling was worth five American dollars, and considered the strongest currency in the world. To give some perspective on how much Harry netted, consider that the cost of a 64-ounce loaf of bread in 1904 England was five pence. There were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

 A well-paid plumber in those days earned a little more than two pounds a week - one hundred pounds a year. A blacksmith earned 10 pence an hour. And all commonly worked at least 50-hour weeks.

 Two hundred pounds in seven days was already a small fortune. And there were 51 more weeks to go in the year.

 Let's all get back to work!


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5 comments:

  1. Leo HeviaJanuary 15, 2015 at 12:58 AM

    Wow! Adjusted for 2013, Houdini earned something like $28,092.26 U.S. dollars! Which comes to $4,682.04 a day for those 6 days of work. That's ridiculous! You can see how he was able to purchase 278 in Harlem without a mortgage the summer of 1905 and that farm in Stamford, Connecticut. Adjusted for inflation, in today's market, Houdini paid something like $638,474.06 for the Harlem brownstone.

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  2. DAVID SALTMANJanuary 15, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    Thanks for the number-crunching, Leo!

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  3. Leo HeviaJanuary 15, 2015 at 11:18 PM

    You're welcome David! I'm wondering how Mr. Quilby got his hands on a paycheck stub owned by Houdini. Harry must have put it in a scrapbook to remind himself that he could earn the big money. I suppose we're lucky Houdini didn't lose it or toss it out with other scrap paper.

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  4. DAVID SALTMANJanuary 16, 2015 at 2:03 PM

    I'm guessing Houdini gave it to him. There's a lot more from that show - the contract, daily proceeds, etc. Are you interested? I could show it all in a future post. In fact, I shoulda thought of that! Thanks!

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  5. Leo HeviaJanuary 16, 2015 at 10:57 PM

    Absolutely David! Hold nothing back from your readers. Our appetites for Houdini underground information are voracious!

    Well...at least for me.

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