Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions

Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions — page 9
Humble Beginnings O n March 24 1874 Ehrich Weisz the boy who grew up to reinvent himself as Harry Houdini was born in Budapest Hungary His parents quickly had a houseful they already had three older sons and another son was born after Ehrich Their father Mayer Samuel Weisz had studied to be a lawyer but he found little opportunity in Hungary The family was just getting by and times looked bleak They were Jewish and many Jews in Europe suffered discrimination and harsh treatment Like many other immigrants from Europe at that time Mayer Weisz booked passage on a ship to New York City COMING TO AMERICA In the late 1800s millions of immigrants came to the United States from Eastern and Southern Europe They arrived by ship usually traveling in family groups with everything they owned tied in bundles or trunks Industrialization in Europe meant that machinery replaced human labor leaving many peo ple without jobs or farmland In Russia masses of