In 1963, as part of the downtown merchants' Bargain Days, Sid Radner performed a stunt with a guillotine. Thankfully, for Sid and his volunteer, the 1963 St. Patrick's Day colleen, Joan M. Riley, everything went according to plan, and the participant was unscathed.
A few months prior, in March, American Rug installed a large green carpet on High Street near Dwight. The idea was to see how the carpet would hold up with the parade's foot and horse traffic. After the parade, the carpet was inspected and determined to have held up very well.
In 1965, after hearing of reports of an illegal gambling operation at the Fairview Knights of Columbus carnival, the Hoyoke Transcript asked Sid Radner to accompany them to investigate. Sure enough, the report of the operation was accurate, and the Chicopee police ordered the two rigged wheels shut down. For clarification, it was the amusement company hired to run the carnival that ran afoul of the law, and not the K of C.
By 1966, it was said that Sid Radner had the largest collection of crooked gambling apparatus in the world. In that year, he returned to Canada, this time to Edmonton, Alberta, to provide expert testimony against 5 men who bilked $100,000 in rigged card games from construction workers at a camp 100 miles north of the court site. His testimony assisted in the conviction of the five. The prosecutor later stated, "I needed an expert on cards in order to secure the conviction, so I got Radner, who is the best in the business, or funny business." A senior judge said to a fellow judge, "I'll give you the best advice I have ever given. If you want to play cards with him...don't."
In 1968, he appeared on the Canadian television show Flashback, and in 1969, he appeared on the Dick Cavett Show.
He loaned many of his artifacts to the Houdini Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
In 1969, the British Broadcasting Company visited Holyoke to film the story of Sidney Radner, his connection with Houdini and Hardeen, and to view the memorabilia he had stored at 293 Walnut Street. The famous Chinese Water Torture chamber was shown. Houdini spent $20,000 to construct this, and only Mr. Radner knew the escape routine. He demonstrated the escape from the "punishment suit, a straightjacket with legs bound below. Other famous escapes were also featured.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
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