I'm Laura Norton, and this is One Strange Thing, the show where we search the nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained.

Strangers, you're going to have to indulge us for a moment, because we want to start at the end of this story,

specifically on Halloween night, 1936. As the Evening Star reported, this was the evening that Mrs. Bess Houdini, the widow of the celebrated magician, conducted an unsuccessful attempt to communicate with her husband's spirit.

It was not her first go-around, but we'll get to that later. First, we need to start with the

gathering itself, because it was of note.

That's according to the Library of Congress's blog which described the scene.

Mrs. Houdini had arranged, well, we suppose we'd call it a star-studded event, or at least a very high-profile one, and she'd staged it on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood.

This was no musty parlor act.

Per the Library of Congress,

300 invited guests had gathered to stare at a pair of handcuffs,

ones that had been placed on a pillow which was put on a table.

Yes, that sounds kind of boring, but the scene itself was

tense and probably would have amused Harry Houdini, who always appreciated good showmanship.

They were all there to wait for a sign, one specifically designed by the man himself.

We don't think it's controversial to say, Harry Houdini, he's the

world's most famous magician. Now, we know there are others, Copperfield and Chris Angel and

Blaine and even Penn and Teller. You get the idea. But in terms of legacy, it's got to be

Houdini. And he was legendary in 1936, too, even though he'd been dead for a

decade. Thus, the seance and the crowd. The Library of Congress blog wrote that a recording was made

of that event. It captured the words of the host, Edward Saint. He was a former carnival barker and a friend of Bess Houdini, so perhaps he was the perfect choice.

His voice certainly carried.

At a carefully chosen moment, he cried out,

...