Houdini/Vernon - Program and Toastmaster’s Notes, 1922.

Houdini, Harry. Program and Toastmaster’s Notes for the Chicago SAM Houdini Night. Feb. 6, 1922. Including the printed program for the evening, together with nine typescript pages compiled by the Toastmaster/Emcee for the event, B.L. Gilbert. The latter includes a toast to Houdini, as well as remarks regarding many of the performers on the program, among them Ade Duval, Russ Walsh, and Harlan Tarbell. Both items show wear. Though not noted in the printed program, a magician from New York was in attendance for the Houdini Night festivities. His name was David Frederick Wingfield Verner -- Dai Vernon. It was at this meeting in Chicago where Vernon, still relatively unknown, performed the same card trick eight times in succession for Houdini, who could not fathom its secret despite the repetition. From that encounter, Vernon would forever after be known as “The Man Who Fooled Houdini.”