Rouclere and Mildred: Purveyors of “Mildredism”

In the world of stage magic we are accustomed to a lamentable but long tradition of male domination: male illusionists and their female assistants. In the world of mediumship, however, it was flipped. Women were considered the more “spiritual” of the sexes, a contrivance dating all the way back to the Fox Sisters. So it was, at least publicly, with the act of of Rouclere and Mildred.

Mildred (Mildred Searing Rouclere, 1870-1938) was the centerpiece of the act, sometimes billed as Rouclere and Mildred, other times as The Mildred Novelty Company. Her skill at mind-reading was called “Mildredism”. Later, they worked up a more impressive feat which they called “Pschynotism”. Her husband, Harry (Harry Rouclere Terhune, 1866-1942), would hypnotize her on stage, then go out to the audience and ask people to whisper into his ear what actions they wanted Mildred to perform. Harry would not (apparently) relay their commands to Mildred (whose eyes were closed), yet she would proceed to perform them. This act debuted in 1892, so it can’t have been done with a radio earpiece, as we might do it now. They played Tony Pastor’s and other vaudeville venues throughout the next few decades.

Harry and Mildred had each started out in show business as children. Harry had performed with circuses with a dog act, then as a juggler and acrobat, and finally a sideshow magician. Mildred had performed in vaudeville with a song and dance act, billed as “Millie May”. They met and married in 1889, and thereafter had an onstage/offstage relationship not unlike that of Harry and Bess Houdini. Like Houdini, Rouclere also did escapism, and convened committees of observers to validate his stunts. In the nineteen-teens, the Rouclere’s went into semi-retirement to manage a family hotel in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Rouclere was originally from Paterson.

I cannot tell a lie. There’s a better article about Rouclere and Mildred on the internet. You will find it here.

As it happens, the Rouclere’s daughter went into the family business as Mildred Rouclere, Jr. You will find both Mildred and Mildred Jr the focus in this piece on the great blog “Girls Love Magic”. That site, which is about women in magic (natch), was created by the highly industrious magician and writer Belle Dailey, who not only has an impressive main web site called Belle Magic, but also a terrific blog apart from “Girls Love Magic”. I told you she was industrious!

And for how magic and mentalism fit into the big picture, may I commend you tomy book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.