Ten Years is Long Enough to Wait for Any Man

Roabelle, Rosabelle,
I love thee more than I can tell...

In 1894 (or thereabouts), Bess Rahner was performing Rosabelle Believe at Coney Island with her sisters, when a magician spilled acid on her new dress. The young magician promised to replace it. She liked him. He got his mother to make her a new dress and brought her back to Coney Island. On their way, they were married and Bess became Mrs. Harry Houdini.

She joined his act and became his biggest supporting player. She believed in magic, witchcraft, all things spiritual - Houdini scared the hell out of her on a regular basis and once made the name of her dead father appear on his arm.

She had a nasty temper too. If the Houdinis fought, Harry would go for a walk, come back quietly into the house and throw his hat into the room where Bess was. If it stayed in the room, he came back. If she threw the hat back out of the room, he went for another walk.

Bess is best remembered for wanting her husband to come back. Harry promised that if there were a way to communicate from beyond the grave that he would do it. Every Halloween for ten years after his death, Bess held a séance. At the tenth séance, when her husband failed to return, she put out the candle and declared that "Ten years is long enough to wait for any man."

So goes the Ballad of Bess Houdini.