"It's a masterpiece." -David Copperfield

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Arrival of the Mirror Cuffs


Here's a nice find from the October 18, 1976 Welland Evening Tribune. This photo was taken at the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada, which was preparing to host the 50th anniversary Houdini seance that year. 


The article says these are the engraved silver replicas. I don't know whether the working cuffs came at the same time, but I know the museum had both when I saw them on display in 1990. Today, both are in David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts in Las Vegas.

I'm actually more intrigued by the pouch holding the handcuffs and a photo from the challenge with what may be Houdini's handwriting. Does this pouch date back to Houdini? Is it still around today?

Want more? This month's Patreon reward is a searchable PDF of the 32-page souvenir booklet published by the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame during its 27 years in business. Just click below to claim.


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8 comments:

  1. Nice find! The pouch has a zipper, and although the zipper was invented in 1913, they didn't become widespread until the 1930s. So I think that zippered pouch is 1970s.

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  2. Great find! And that photo is of the working cuffs now in David Copperfield's Collection.

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    1. And, I believe the working cuffs and the Solid Silver Replica came to the Niagara Museum at the same time. According to Handcuffs.org: In October 1975, a niece of Houdini, sent a letter to The Daily Mirror, to see if they were interested in the cuffs, but the price was to high, so they were auctioned off in the USA and the University of Texas and the Niagara Museum plus professional magicians were interested.

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    2. Handcuffs.org has gone to the Dogs! I miss the gallery and houdini page. Joe do you still have access to the site?

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    3. I printed out related posts years ago for my research on the Mirror Cuffs. But it is available via Tapatalk. Joe

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  3. Agree great find! The handwriting "March 17 1904" the date of the challenge certainly could be Houdini's. It appears there's is something under the photo with more writing on it. Maybe another photo.

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