Harry Houdini in Salt Lake City, 1915

Famed escape artist Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz) made his Salt Lake City debut in December 1915 and performed thrilling stunts (a “trick” for October's #spookyslc).

Clip from the Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-19 Pg 32

Clip from Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-19 Pg 20

 
While researching the history of the Midwest Casket Building, I saw a reference in a 1928 book about the Salt Lake Casket Company providing a casket in which Houdini escaped during a show at the Orpheum Theater (now Capitol Theater) in 1915. However, I could not verify this information.

What I found indicates that members of the Local No 184 United Carpenters and Joiners of America Union sealed Houdini in a “sturdy wooden box” that they constructed on the stage, on Christmas Eve, 1915.

The carpenters selected were: George H Rose, John H Durbin, Henry J Schmittroth, J H Cox, Bert Harris, Fred Rose.

Houdini entered the box; the lid was nailed down and a strong rope tied around the box. A curtain was drawn around the box and the audience were quiet for the 7 minutes it took Houdini to escape.

The carpenters had made their own secret markings on the box and they declared that the box had not been switched out. According to their report “not a nail was pulled, a board sprung, or a knot in the ropes untied.” The box appeared to still be sealed. 

Houdini performed another trick the day prior. He freed himself from a straightjacket while hanging upside down from his ankles from the Walker Center Tower at 175 S Main Street, Salt Lake City.

Clip of Houdini from the SL Herald 1915-12-23 and the
Orpheum Theater & Walker building in 1920, from USHS

A note about Houdini’s Salt Lake performance, a few weeks prior Houdini had performed and filmed these same feats in Los Angeles. The film of his Los Angeles stunts were shown at the Salt Lake Orpheum Theater for several days before his live performance.

The Wild About Houdini website by John Cox has a great account of Houdini’s 1915 Los Angeles and Salt Lake performances, including a lost and recently recovered film clip of the Los Angeles performance that would have been shown in Salt Lake City.

Cox indicates that Houdini regularly engaged with local groups (Newspapers, Police, Fire Depts) for them to issue a (likely pre-arrange) challenge which Houdini would accept and perform. It was a way to build up excitement and market Houdini’s appearances.

This is likely what transpired with the Carpenters Union, who issued Houdini a challenge for Houdini to escape a box constructed by the union.

I didn’t find any connection of these men to the Salt Lake Casket Company, so they probably didn’t construct a casket and more likely built the “sturdy wood box.” But, it is an oddly specific reference to the Salt Lake Casket Co, so who knows? 

Photo of Houdini with a sturdy crate. Not Salt Lake City.
From crazyabouthoudini.com

Also, check out this Salt Lake City History Minute video about Houdini in SLC.

AND, see me on Fox13!

Sources:

• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-16 p10
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-19 p5
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-2-19 p20
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-19 p32
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-21 p5
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-22 p9
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-23 p4
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-23 p7
• Salt Lake Herald 1915-12-25 p3
• Salt Lake Telegram 1915-12-21 p12
• Salt Lake Telegram 1915-12-22 p12
• Salt Lake Telegram 1915-12-23 p9
• Salt Lake Tribune 1915-12-16 p13
• Salt Lake Tribune 1915-12-25 p3
• Wild About Houdini by John Cox, especially SLC and LA 
• Film clip of Houdini in LA and shown in SLC
• Houdini his life story by Harold Kellock, 1928

The Centre Theater at 299 S. State Street Salt Lake City

Centre Theater when it was photographed in 1981 by Chester H. Liebs as research for his book Main Street to Miracle Mile. Image from UNM.

: When water flowed down State St during the 1983 flooding of SLC
(photo credit Dave Olson from cinematreasures.org).

History text by Grant Smith from cinematreasures.org:

The Centre Theater was opened on December 24, 1937, with Carole Lombard & Fred MacMurray in “True Confession”. It was considered one of Salt Lake’s finest examples of Art Deco style architecture. One of its most unique features was the 90-foot tower located above the theater. It was built by Paramount Pictures Inc. and Intermountain Theatres. By 1941 it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary Tracy Barham.

When the Centre Theater opened it had 1,623 seats, but the installation of a 56-foot wide screen in 1959 reduced seating to 1,174.

In 1989, Cineplex Odeon let its lease run out so the owners could demolish the building. A new office tower was built on the site, along with a bland six-screen multiplex.

Centre Theater in 1937. Image from UHDS.

Centre Theater in 1937. Image from UDSH.

As the site appears today, the Broadway Centre from Google Street View, Oct 2022

Belonging In Utah: Black History on KUTV

 Jamie, me, and Alice walking and talking on Franklin Ave, now Edison St, 2022.

Yesterday, KUTV aired Jamie McGriff's interview with Alice Burch and myself as part of her Belonging In Utah series. 

Click here for a direct link to the news clip and web extras.

We are part of the Sema Hadithi Foundation focused on telling the story of Black history in Utah. Alice is the Director of Special Events while I am a researcher for the Black Women's group.

P.S.: Sema Hadithi is active on Facebook. Check them out.

News clippings from the Salt Lake Herald Republican Sept 7 1906. Highlights are mine.
Link to the original news article.

News clippings from the Salt Lake Herald Republican Sept 7 1906. Highlights are mine.
Link to the original news article.

One of the few remaining buildings still standing from the Franklin Ave days, 235 S Edison St.
As pictured here it is the Salvation Army's Wokmen's Hotel but was originally built as the Franklin Ave Theater.

SLC's First Talkie Film

The Victory Theater, 48 E. Broadway. From UDSH.

Exploring more of the old Yardstick’s history: the first “talkie” film shown in SLC was at the Victory Theater on May 26 1928.

The Victory Theater claims the first “talkie” but the first film with sound to play in SLC debuted the year before- January 29 1927 at the American Theater.

The American Theater was located at 241 S Main (demolished, now the Wells Fargo Center) and was the first theater in Utah to obtain the Vitaphone system for sound- similar to a record synchronized with the film.

The American Theater presented the silent film “Don Juan” with the music score from the New York Philharmonic orchestra played on the Vitaphone. They also showed an introductory mini film synched with a Vitaphone introducing the technology and featuring a selection of musicians and singers.

The next year the Victory Theater, located behind what is now the Yardstick Building at 48 E. Broadway, debuted a full length “talkie” film.

The Victory Theater purchased the Vitaphone and the Movietone systems. The Vitaphone still provided the musical score through a synchronized record but the Movietone provided speech, song, and sound effects that were embedded on the film resulting in improved synchronization.

The first talkie film shown in Utah was “The Jazz Singer” at the Victory Theater on May 26 1928, and featured Al Jolson in blackface.

Of note, in keeping with SLC racial segregation tradition, people who were not White were only allowed in the balcony seats as the floor seats were reserved for White individuals only; this was true of all SLC theaters with balconies until the late 1960s.

The Victory Theater and the nearby Auerbachs Department Store advertised a joint celebration for the first “talkie” and offered “Vitaphone Sundaes” with crushed pineapple and strawberries over orange cremo, strawberry and vanilla ice cream, with pecan nuts, topped with a maraschino cherry.

Sources: SL Trib 1927-01-30; Des News 1928-05-22

The Victory Theater, 48 E. Broadway. From UDSH.

Interior of the Victory Theater, 48 E. Broadway. From UDSH.

Note the Winged Victory of Samothrace statue.

Interior of the Victory Theater, From UDSH.

Vitaphone Week advertisement, SL Trib 1928-05-26

Advertisement for The Jazz Singer at the Victory, SL Trib 1928-06-07

Advertisement for The Jazz Singer at the Victory, SL Trib 1928-09-28

Fire at the Victory Theater

In 1908 Eveline Auerbach constructed a new hotel and theater at 44-52 E 300 South at a cost of $140K ($4M today).

The project was a mixed-use building with stores and hotel on the street front. The hotel rooms were on the top two floors of the building and the hotel office, stores, and the entrance to the theater on the lower level; the theater auditorium and balcony was a large building located behind the hotel.

The hotel started as the Regis Hotel and then changed to the St George Hotel in 1952. In 1956 the now defunct Yardstick fabric store moved into the hotel office space.

The Theater had several names: it started as the Colonial Theater, became the Pantages Theater in 1913, Loew’s State Theater in 1921, and finally the Victory Theater in 1924.

The first Talkie film presented in Utah was shown at the Victory Theater on May 26 1928 and was “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson (in blackface!).

In 1943, one of the most devastating fires in SLC history destroyed the Victory Theater. Several people were injured and 3 firemen were killed. The fire was able to be contained to the theater building and none of the adjacent buildings, including the hotel, were burned.

After the fire only a brick shell surrounding rubble remained. The fire-ruined brick walls stood for several years; sometime after 1950 they were removed but the large concrete subterranean foundation remains.

The property remained with the Aurebach family until 1949 when Eveline’s children sold the majority ownership to a Los Angeles real estate mogul, E. Phillip Lyon. Ownership has transferred a few times since then and the current owners have owned the property for at least 20 years.

The original façade of the street front stores were covered in the 1960s and the stores closed in the 1980s/90s. The building has sat vacant for decades and recently has become known for its ever-changing street art.

Colonial Theatre 1909, From UDSH.

Victory Theater entrance 1924. From UDSH.

Victory Theater fire 1943. From UDSH.

Victory Theater fire 1943. From UDSH.

Fire aftermath July 1943. From UDSH.

Modern façade, 1979. From site form, UDSH.

Sanborn Map 1911

Sanborn Map 1950

Spooky SLC: Fire at the Capitol Theatre

July 4 1949 fire at Capitol Theatre
From Des News 1949-07-05

On the afternoon of July 4 1949, a fire in the Capitol Theatre (50 W 200 South SLC) claimed the life of Richard L. Duffin..

Duffin had started working at the Theatre only 3 weeks previous, soon after graduating from West High School where he was in the ROTC and in the Aviation Club.

Smoke was first detected by Assistant Manager Charles Whitney. He sent two ushers with fire extinguishers into the basement to investigate – 17-year-old Richard Duffin and 19- year-old Herbert Schoenhardt.

Whitney evacuated the 600 theatre patrons who were watching a Rita Hayworth double feature. All 600 people calmly evacuated (one man demanded a refund before he would leave!). 

Soon after, 3 large explosions rocked the building and shattered nearby windows and ruptured a gas line and water main.

The Theatre’s basement was leased as storage space to adjacent firms- the OC Tanner Co stored jewelry manufacturing equipment and the Physicians Supply Co stored surgical supplies and equipment. It is likely that stored oxygen tanks used in jewelry manufacture is what led to the explosions.

Unfortunately, Duffin was still trapped in the basement by a wall of flames. Schoenhardt attempted several times to retrieve his co-usher but he was overcome by the smoke and was rescued and resuscitated by the firemen. Duffin was pronounced dead soon after he was removed from the basement; he died of smoke inhalation.

The flames were mostly confined to the basement of the Capitol Theatre, primarily due to fire-proof construction (built 1912) which includes firewalls, concrete, and steel.

Weirdly, the Grand Opera House (which occupied the same spot as the Capitol Theatre) was destroyed by fire, also on July 4, of 1890. No one was killed in that fire.

Employees of Capitol Theatre say Duffin’s ghost still roams the Theatre.

Sources- Deseret News 1949-07-05; SL Trib 1949-07-05; West High Yearbook 1949

Preservation Note: Although the Capitol Theater is currently owned by Salt Lake County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building itself has no required preservation status as it is not a SLC Local Historic Landmark Site or located within a SLC Local Historic District.

 Richard Duffin yearbook photo 1949

Grand Opera House which burned 59 years previous. From UDSH.

Charlie Chaplin Secretly Edited and Sold "The Kid" While Residing at the Hotel Utah

Poster for “The Kid” from
Wikimedia commons

100 years ago, Charlie Chaplin sought legal refuge in SLC and secretly edited and sold his film “The Kid” while residing at the Hotel Utah.

Charlie Chaplin arrived in Salt Lake City on Saturday Aug 7 1920, although his presence was not discovered by the press until two days later. He had fled Los Angeles and the divorce proceedings of his first wife, Mildred Harris, who sought to stop him from selling his first feature length film “The Kid” and who considered it a marital asset.

A Utah law prevented Charlie Chaplin from being served the legal restraining papers which sought to stop the sale of the film. So, he took the first print and film negatives (reportedly stowed in coffee cans) and set up short-term residence in the Hotel Utah, located at 15 E South Temple (now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building), where he edited the film.

This was rather dangerous, and illegal, as the nitrate film stock was highly flammable and was not allowed in public buildings.

While in SLC, Chaplin successfully dodged the process servers and a continuance of the divorce case was made necessary.

Chaplin screened the film “The Kid” for the first time to a private audience at the SLC American Theatre at 241 S Main St. Once he successfully negotiated the sale of the film Chaplin left SLC, around the first week of Sept 1920. His divorce was granted the following month.

 Hotel Utah, 1911, From UDSH

Original Hotel Utah lobby prior to the 1974-1976 renovation, from UDSH.

Hotel Utah President’s Suite 1911, Did Chaplin sleep here? From UDSH.