Chapter Two: Purchase of the Houdini Collection
That evening when Henry returned to Niagara Falls from Ottawa, he showed the article to Bella and told her of his idea to buy the collection and build a museum.
Bella liked the idea and added that Henry should call a friend of theirs in Toronto, an opthalmologist by the name of Dr. Harold Stein, who had an interest in magic, and ask him what he thought of the idea. On Friday morning, Henry phoned Dr. Stein, who not only loved the idea, but asked Henry if he could be a bit partner in the venture.
Henry decided to contact Mr. Dunninger to try to buy the collection. The article did not give any contact information for Mr. Dunninger; the only reference was that he lived in New Jersey.
Henry called New Jersey directory information and asked for the phone number of Joseph Dunninger. When the operator responded that a specific city was required in order to look someone up, Henry responded “Newark” because that was the only city he knew of in New Jersey (because that is where the airport is and he had once changed planes there). The operator responded that there was no Joseph Dunninger in Newark; she said there was a Joseph Dunninger in nearby Cliffside Park but his number was unlisted. Henry told the operator that she must give him the number as it was an emergency (it was not!), and after much cajoling, believe it or not, the operator gave Henry the number, even though it was supposed to be unlisted.
Henry then called the number and Dunninger’s future son-in-law, Bruce Gimelson, answered the phone. Bruce had been mentioned in the Times article as the person handling the sale. At the time Bruce was not yet married, but he was dating Dunninger’s daughter Josephine. Henry asked Bruce how much Dunninger wanted for the collection as no price was stated in the article. Bruce responded by asking Henry how much he was willing to pay. Henry responded back that as Bruce was the seller, he needed to give Henry an asking price. Bruce again would not give Henry a price, but he let Henry know that there was a hotel in Las Vegas that was interested in buying the whole collection to set up a museum in their hotel.
Henry told Bruce that he would like to fly to New Jersey to meet that Sunday, and asked Bruce to wait until then before making a decision, which Bruce agreed to. When Henry then told Dr. Stein that he was going to see The Amazing Dunninger, Dr. Stein begged Henry to bring him along, and he did. That Sunday, Henry and Dr. Stein flew to Newark, where Bruce picked them up and took them to Dunninger’s house at 9 Grant Avenue in Cliffside Park.
The stories that Henry and Dr. Stein told of that day would regale friends and family for years thereafter. Dunninger was famous for his mind-reading act. Henry told the story that shortly after they got to the house, Dunninger told Henry that he was writing four digits on a small scrap of paper. He wrote the four digits, folded the paper, handed it to Henry and asked Henry to put the paper into his own pocket. Henry obliged. Dunninger asked Henry what the four digits were, to which Henry responded that he had no idea. Dunninger asked him to think harder, and playing along, Henry said, “2, 8, 6, 4.” Dunninger asked him if he was sure and Henry said he was sure. Dunninger asked Henry to take the paper out of his pocket, unfold it and read the numbers aloud. Henry did. “2, 8, 6, 4”! Henry was truly astonished and not a little bit frightened. He said that for the rest of the day, he made sure never to think of anything because he feared that Dunninger would know what he was thinking.
Bruce and Dunninger took Henry and Dr. Stein to the warehouse where there were thirty-six enormous theater trunks, all marked Houdini. They opened a few at random and saw that they were filled with illusions, paraphernalia both large and small, costumes, cases and cases of posters and photos of all sizes, cases of letters and correspondence, hundreds of films, cases of locks and keys and a myriad of ephemera.
They went back to the house and Henry asked Dunninger if he would be willing to sell the collection to Henry so that Henry could set up a Houdini Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario. And that is precisely what ended up happening. Dunninger sold Henry the collection for $65,000, payable $32,500 then and there — Henry had brought a blank check with him — and an additional $32,500 upon receipt of the goods in Niagara Falls. Henry had agreed to arrange for the trucking.
That was Sunday, August 27, 1967, three days after Henry had read the New York Times article in that hotel room in Ottawa. Henry and Dr. Stein returned to Canada that night. During the ensuing weeks, Henry contacted some other friends of his who had expressed interest in making investments with Henry if and when something interesting became available. In the end, Henry took 51%, and the other 49% was divided up between Dr. Stein, Vince DeLorenzo (Henry’s partner at the Cavalier Motel down the street), Abe Bogolmony, Hymie Bogolmony, and Dr. Bernie Blackstein.


















