The Continuing Adventures of Rayo
After being ignored by most people when he nailed his tongue to a wooden board, Rayo the Fakir sealed himself with a snake inside a glass "bottle," in which he toured Europe. By the time he emerged, a year later, the snake had died.
Life magazine reported that the year-long stunt almost didn't happen because city authorities in Linz filed a temporary injunction, citing the act as "counter to the dignity of man... liable to produce panic... and creating an unhealthy condition for the inhabitant of the bottle."
I'm guessing Rayo wasn't actually Indian. He just pretended to be an Indian fakir as part of his act. (Basically, he was the David Blaine of the early 1950s.) Also, I think his last name was spelled "Schmied," though a lot of papers reported it as "Schmidt."
Life magazine reported that the year-long stunt almost didn't happen because city authorities in Linz filed a temporary injunction, citing the act as "counter to the dignity of man... liable to produce panic... and creating an unhealthy condition for the inhabitant of the bottle."
I'm guessing Rayo wasn't actually Indian. He just pretended to be an Indian fakir as part of his act. (Basically, he was the David Blaine of the early 1950s.) Also, I think his last name was spelled "Schmied," though a lot of papers reported it as "Schmidt."
Newsweek - Jan 12, 1953
Bottled Up: The Austrian Fakir, "Rayo," whose real name is Rudolf Schmied, plans to tour Europe for an entire year while sealed with his pet snake in this glass bottle. He'll practice yoga, massage himself with special oils, and subsist on vitamin tablets and glucose. He hopes to be in London for the Coronation. (Newsweek)
The Circleville Herald - Dec 26, 1953
Comments
Is it just too easy to point out that he was a fakir faker?
Posted by Wilson on 02/02/16 at 12:20 PM
Just so Nayo to Rayo.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 02/02/16 at 06:12 PM
And no one spoke of the cruelty to the snake back then.
Posted by Virtual on 02/02/16 at 07:17 PM
Massage himself with special oils? Is that a euphemism for self-pleasuring? I suppose some people might pay to watch him do that.
Posted by Fritz G on 02/03/16 at 08:38 AM
Can we make David Blaine do this, too? And provide a better quality rattle snake?
Posted by Richard Bos on 02/03/16 at 11:49 AM
The poor snake, can you imagine what it smelled like in that box?!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/04/16 at 08:23 AM
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Category: Human Marvels | 1950s