On this day in 1889, magician and ventriloquist Will B. Wood filed a patent for an ingenious levitation harness. He used it in his illusion called Edna (named after his wife). Edna rose in the air while standing upright and then, while floating, traveled from side to side, up and down, pirouetted and somersaulted. Wood and his daughter died in a mysterious shipwreck off the coast of Mexico in 1908. Despite suspicion that pirates attacked the ship in search of Wood’s money, an investigation found no foul play. Edna Wood continued to exhibit the illusion for years in vaudeville, apparently starring another lady, although the act was always billed as Mysterious Edna. Wood’s levitation attracted some different pirates: Billy Robinson, Adelaide and Leon Herrmann performed copies of Edna.
