When they were married, Harry was 19 and Bess was 18. She was 18. She was from an Irish-Catholic family, but the difference of religion did not seem to matter to them. By then, he was a handsome, strongly built young man. Though they hardly knew each other before they married, their marriage was a happy one. They remained together, working and traveling side by side until his death.
Now that Bess was in the show, they were offered a job at a vaudeville theater. Harry hoped this was their big opening, but no other offers came along after that. They had to go back to dime museums and beer halls. Since the couple could not afford an apartment of their own, they lived with Harry’s mother on 69th Street. Finally, they got an offer from the Welsh Brothers Circus in Pennsylvania. They worked very hard. They did magic shows and trunk trick, as well as all kinds of other show. While they were traveling with the circus, they worked long hours. But they also made good friends,
By the fall of 1898, they were getting tired of this life. Houdini’s brother-in-law offered him a job with a lock company, and he almost accepted it. He failed as a magician. In fact, he was so sure that his career was over that he offered to sell his magic secrets. Fortunately, no one wanted to buy them.