‘Mecca marks a magician’s birth’

    

Mecca Shrine chose McSorley’s
for its premier First Friday bash.

The nobles of Mecca Shrine, the mother shrine of the entire Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine world, gathered at McSorley’s Friday night to commemorate the birth of one of their own.

As you’ll see on his Mecca petition, Houdini
called himself an author, lecturer, and mystifier.

Harry Houdini, one of the most famous celebrities of the early twentieth century, was a magician, illusionist, and escape artist whose exploits drew thousands who came to watch in an age when mass media meant newspapers.

History says Houdini’s birthdate was March 24,
but Houdini, on his Mecca petition, said April 6.

The 150th anniversary of Houdini’s birth will be March 24 April 6, but Mecca has a new inspiration to get together and party: First Fridays.

Just launched, on the first Friday of the month, the nobles and their ladies will convene somewhere for food and drinks, not unlike the Lucky 7 plan at Azim Grotto, when the prophets do likewise on the seventh day of the month (this Thursday, in fact, at the Trailer Park down the street from Masonic Hall).

Houdini was a Master Mason at St. Cecile Lodge 568.

I haven’t been there since before the pandemic.
Good to see it hasn’t changed!

I guess Thom ordered his ale off the kids menu.

Mecca says they donated an antique fez
to McSorley’s museum.

The photos speak for themselves. Good to see Deputy Grand Master Steve Rubin getting out of the house for once!

(The Magpie Mason is not a Shriner. I had been with Salaam many years ago. What happened was the Knights of the North had a demit contest and—just to get on the scoreboard, y’understand—I gave up the Shrine and Sciots.)

All photos courtesy Mecca Shrine 1.

     

‘Shriners movie due this year’

Happy New Year!

One of many things to look forward to in 2021, possibly, will be a movie about the Shriners.

Johnny Royal, who made the documentary 33 and Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry in 2017, will be back in November with a new production.

I can’t find much information on American Shriners of Freemasonry, except that it “explores the 150-year legacy of the Shriners, their connection with Freemasonry, and the impact their culture, rituals, and fellowship have had on American society and fraternal organizations.”

     

‘Alakazam, Abracadabra, Shazam, Amscay!’

     
It’s rare I mention the Shriners here on The Magpie, but Bro. Bill (of Knights of the North, etc. fame) shared something on Facebook today that cracks me up.

An eBay seller offers a Shrine fez this week, claiming it was owned and worn by U.S. Army legend Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated American serviceman in the Second World War, and a Freemason and Shriner.

The starting bid, which has not materialized yet, is to be $998. I encourage any potential buyer to have a very close look before bidding.

The lot is titled “Audie Murphy Owned Hella Shriner Freemasonry Hat & Case Dallas Texas 1957.” The photo:

The lot description:

This is a hat that was owned and worn by Audie Murphy.

Audie became interested in Freemasonry in 1955.

He became a Shriner (Hella Temple, Dallas) on November 15, 1957.

Audie often participated in Shrine parades.

Please see all seven of my ebay pictures.

One of them was shown in The American Soldier book by Harold B. Simpson
on page 336. This photo shows Audie wearing the hat.
 Under the photo it says: Audie, shortly after becoming a Shriner, in a Dallas
 Shrine parade on November 15th 1957.

The hat is in a wonderful case that I think is leather. Audie’s initials are
 on the top and one of my pictures shows his name on the inside of the case.
 Both the hat and case are in Excellent Condition!


First, although the photo of Murphy wearing a Shrine fez is blurry, you can see clearly that he is not wearing the fez that is listed for sale here. The fez in the black and white photo from 1957 has the scimitar above the crescent. Just like my grandfather’s fez of 1960s vintage:

But the fez on eBay has the scimitar-through-the-crescent design. Second, the old fezzes were embroidered pretty simply. These “bejeweled” fezzes, with the fake rhinestones and all that, came later. (Murphy died in 1971.)

I communicated my concerns to the seller, and promptly received this reply:

Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to write and give me your opinion.

Because of where I purchased it I am 100% confident that this hat belonged to Audie Murphy. He became a Shriner in 1957...not in the 1960s.

My ebay picture is not real clear because the photo in the book is not good but if you have the book you might take a look at it closely and you will see that the men in the photo with Audie are all wearing hats and the designs on them are very different. My hatbox also has the design different from the hat.

I paid almost 3 times the amount that I am asking for them and from where they came I will say again that I am certain they were owned by Audie.

Thanks.

So buyer beware! This is why I buy only from newly signed up sellers in Russia and China.

I am no expert on the collectibility of Shriner fezzes, but paying three thousand bucks for one fez—and let’s say it was in fact owned and worn by Audie Murphy—is nuts. (And if you did something that stupid, wouldn’t you at least know to call it a fez, and not a hat?) The $998 isn’t much smarter. I have watched enough History channel to understand how famous people’s antiques, autographs, and personal effects are valued, and this offering is a bit much. No mention of a certificate of authenticity either. I do recall several years ago some of Sir Winston Churchill’s Masonic items went under the gavel and fetched about $500.

That’s Winston Churchill of saving-the-world-fame.

Audie Murphy is remembered as a peerless war hero and even a movie star, so I reckon personal effects of his that are connected to his wartime service and screen career would be the valuable mementos. His Shrine membership? A note in a book of Masonic trivia.

Caveat emptor! (That means look out for the quicksand.)
     

‘Florence Day’

    

Some gravesites become secular shrines for modern pilgrims. (Think Elvis Presley.) Others are the sites of mysterious annual traditions. (The three roses and half-consumed bottle of cognac left for Edgar Allan Poe, for example.) At the final resting place of William J. “Billy” Florence, the nobles of Mecca Shrine Temple initiated a modest commemoration of the life of the co-founder of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. July 25 was that celebration, the third annual Founders Day (on the Sunday closest to the Florence’s birthday), in the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In 2008, Noble Isaac Moore, who now is Outer Guard of Mecca Shrine in New York City, with then Potentate Mike Quigley, Chief Rabban Sanford Gottesman, and Noble Jim Reichman conceived the event out their fraternal regard for their famous founder, and their unshakable commitment to relishing a day of eating, drinking, and smoking. There was a desire on the part of other Shriners to dress up the event Sunday and make it more officious, but Isaac & Co. are having none of that, and if you know anything about Billy Florence and the creation of the Shriners, you’ll agree with them.

Outside of Masonry, Florence is remembered as a famous actor, which is notable considering the only other actor of that era anyone knows is infamous for murdering the president of the United States. Florence and Walter Fleming were Freemasons who had become frustrated with the absence of an outlet for merriment in Freemasonry. Of course this was the Victorian age, not too long after Freemasonry had left the taverns for its own dedicated temples, having emerged chastened from the devastation wrought by the Morgan scandal. It was a time when grand lodges banned alcohol from its lodges, and when the lectures of the degrees would be transformed from fraternally bonding group interactions to the monologues we know today. Blue Lodge Masonry was solemn and sober, and its charitable impulses were channeled outward to show everybody that Masons were good guys.

Perhaps the most comprehensive history of the Shrine is the book “Parade to Glory” by Fred Van Deventer. It doesn’t appear to be a very candid history – cleaned up for an innocent readership – but it may be the only book on the subject.

Anyway, the weather last Sunday was perfect for an outdoor event. About two dozen Shriners, their ladies, and other Masons like myself were in attendance. Michael G. Severe, Deputy Imperial Potentate, made the trip all the way from his home in Colorado!

The commemoration consisted of readings from Scripture, words of appreciation expressed by Potentate Ted Jacobsen, Severe, High Priest & Prophet Reichman, Oriental Guide Avery Toledo, and others. Past Potentate Gottesman read aloud the lengthy inscription on the bronze tablet in front of Florence’s impressive monument. It is William Winter’s eulogy of Florence:

By Virtue cherished, by Affection mourned

By Honor hallowed and by Fame adorned

Here Florence sleeps, and o’er his sacred rest

Each word is tender and each thought is blest.

Long, for his loss, shall pensive Memory show,

Through Humor’s mask, the visage of her woe

Dale breathe a darkness that no sun dispels,

And Night be full of whispers and farewells;

While patient Kindness shadow-like and dim

Droops in its loneliness, bereft of him

Feels its sad doom and sure decadence high

For how should kindness live, when he could die!

The eager heart, that felt for every grief;

The bounteous hand, that loved to give relief

The honest smile, that blest where’er it lit

The dew of pathos and the sheen of wit:

The sweet, blue eyes, the voice of melting tone

That made all hearts as gentle as his own;

The actor’s charm, supreme in royal thrall

That ranged through every field and shone in all.

For these must Sorrow make perpetual moan

Bereaved, benighted, hopeless and alone

Ah, no! for Nature does not act amiss

And Heaven were lonely but for souls like this.

But about the eating, drinking, and smoking: Most of us adjourned to the Bushwick Country Club, an exclusive resort on Grand Street. Beers, ribs, and oysters, with cigars for some, were enjoyed with great pleasure. A sudden rain kept everyone off the golf course (miniature), but there was plenty else to do.

With some time to pass between the memorial ceremony and lunch at the Country Club, I remained inside the Green-Wood Cemetery to look for Masonic headstones and other notable sights. To wit:

I don’t know who Capt. C.A. Mathisen was, but he must have taken his Freemasonry very seriously. In addition to the Square and Compasses on the front of his mausoleum, there are leaded stained glass windows showing other Masonic symbols on all sides.

Not every Mason’s gravesite was so grand. Here are some more “normal” headstones, but keep scrolling to the end for a special sight.

The name on the mausoleum reads Van Ness Parsons. No indication of a Masonic affiliation, but one would think a man entombed inside this pyramid surely was a Rosicrucian of some kind! Although some websites say he was an Egyptologist, but without saying anything more certain.

Of course that is a sphinx on the right. Flanking the entrance is Jesus as an adult, holding a lamb; and Mary holding the infant Jesus.

I do not know what type of stone this is, but the sphinx is eroding.

A winged solar disk, above the entrance of the pyramid.

    

    

Not far from the main entrance of the cemetery is this sort of Tree of Life mural on the side of a building on 18th Street at Fifth Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.