Abbey Cadabra: A New Sign Appears in Griswold Plaza

7May2008 Filed under: Erie, Griswold Plaza Author: Peter Panepento

The renaissance of Griswold Plaza continues this weekend with the unveiling of a historical marker commemorating the life of magician and Erie native Harry Kellar.

Harry Kellar Lisa Gensheimer, who is working on a television documentary about Kellar’s life, describes him as the “globe-hopping conjuror who could make things materialize, levitate and disappear.”

At the close of the 19th century, Kellar was an American popular culture icon — the inspiration for the Wizard’s character in The Wizard of Oz and the mentor of Harry Houdini. On Friday, May 9 — on the 100th anniversary of his final performance — officials will unveil the marker highlighting his life near the spot of his childhood home in Griswold Plaza.

I had little knowledge of Kellar’s story before today. I’m sure many others in Erie haven’t, either. It’s pretty cool stuff — and I hope folks will take some time to learn more about him (or at least try a pint of the new Belgian lager Abbey Cadabra at the BrewErie, which was created in his honor).

Tags: BrewErie, Griswold Plaza, Harry Kellar

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Abbey Cadabra: A New Sign Appears in Griswold Plaza”

Rebecca
May 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am

I didn’t know about the brew - but I mentioned a bit in my column on him a few days ago
Lita
May 8th, 2008 at 10:50 am

I knew about Harry Kellar because I just sort of curiously wandered into the School of Conjuring one day at Union Station. After my trespassing was discovered, the owners graciously showed me around the location (in the teaching rooms, the office, the seance room, and a room with historical materials/memorabilia on magic) and told me the history of magic in Erie, PA which I had not known before.

The guy who runs it has an extensive career and traveled in many magic shows around the world. Nice people… who are also trying to contribute more novelty to Erie. They got a thumbs up in my book. They told me that they wanted to set up a Magic Hall of Fame Museum and were looking for donors. It looks like they’ve done it already!

Entries (RSS)
Comments (RSS)

About 'Outside Erie'

Peter Panepento After more than six years working as a journalist in Erie, I'm now the web editor for the Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington, D.C., and the publisher of GlobalErie.com. I still maintain close ties to Erie - a community that I care about deeply. I hope this Web site can help inspire a better future for Erie.

Outside Erie