tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post5632242020303154724..comments2024-03-28T21:34:40.656-07:00Comments on WILD ABOUT HARRY: Houdini's Double Fold Death Defying Mystery at auctionJohn Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-43305733199516804632014-08-20T11:21:12.326-07:002014-08-20T11:21:12.326-07:00UPDATE on where the box came from HERE.UPDATE on where the box came from <a href="http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2014/08/the-double-folds-inspirational-journey.html" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-89086357514655059452014-08-08T11:46:19.635-07:002014-08-08T11:46:19.635-07:00One thing I remember.....I visited the Houdini mus...One thing I remember.....I visited the Houdini museum in Niagra Falls several times back in the 80's. I remember seeing that milk can with the dummy inside sitting up on a corner shelf. My thought at the time was it was too small to fit an average man. It seemed a prototype rather than an actual milk can used for stage performance. Perry from NJ.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17114940067069653377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-67606355410898918812014-08-02T10:13:22.065-07:002014-08-02T10:13:22.065-07:00So those who worry about the DFDDM being Hardeen&#...So those who worry about the DFDDM being Hardeen's and not Houdini's, don't fret. Two of Hardeen's scrapbooks with newspaper clippings sold for $63,000 with buyers premium in a 2011 auction. On average higher than a Houdini scrapbook at $31,500 each. Not bad Theo, not bad. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-77148226901165387422014-08-01T18:49:43.461-07:002014-08-01T18:49:43.461-07:00Could this be Houdini's original box adapted f...Could this be Houdini's original box adapted for Hardeen's height?<br /><br />Hardeen had a Milk Can made for him but these were not too hard to come by. Dealers were already selling copies not long after Houdini unveiled it.Leo Hevianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-11756732612358282382014-08-01T17:41:40.416-07:002014-08-01T17:41:40.416-07:00Photo helps! Clearly different planks than the one...Photo helps! Clearly different planks than the one being offered for auction. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-20737912749196003262014-08-01T17:19:22.947-07:002014-08-01T17:19:22.947-07:00For a somewhat better image of that documentary ph...For a somewhat better image of that documentary photo <a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NrMSMXgnirg/U9ws_AsQqFI/AAAAAAAAYu0/7YTOpHckUTU/s912/best%2520fold.jpg" rel="nofollow">CLICK HERE</a>.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-40595804637185576272014-08-01T09:22:57.359-07:002014-08-01T09:22:57.359-07:00Maybe. It's hard to glean much detail from the...Maybe. It's hard to glean much detail from the photo as posted here. It's pretty low quality. Playing at speed in the doc itself it looks like it has 5 planks.<br /><br />It appears this pic may be inside the Houdini Challenge Scrapbook that at one time belonged to Sid Radner. Not sure who owns that today. Be great to get a better image.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-84769972752774785922014-08-01T06:20:08.328-07:002014-08-01T06:20:08.328-07:00Good point made. The box in the Gene Gamache docum...Good point made. The box in the Gene Gamache documentary has four wide planks. The box at auction and photo with Hardeen has six planks. Two different boxes. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-44420640658180405082014-08-01T04:00:00.120-07:002014-08-01T04:00:00.120-07:00Joe Notaro points out that the DFDDM we see in the...Joe Notaro points out that the DFDDM we see in the documentary photo appears to be smaller than the Hardeen/auction box. This pic isn't great quality, but there appear to be less slats. Maybe Hardeen and Collins built a slightly taller box to hold Hardeens taller can? The lid could remain the same.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-91378501263831856852014-08-01T03:47:19.277-07:002014-08-01T03:47:19.277-07:00He did. Probably because he couldn't fit in an...He did. Probably because he couldn't fit in any of Houdini's cans.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-79716359275876536532014-08-01T03:22:56.227-07:002014-08-01T03:22:56.227-07:00Hardeen had his own milk can constructed. Hardeen had his own milk can constructed. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-41072199832907261352014-07-31T21:11:07.490-07:002014-07-31T21:11:07.490-07:00Agreed. Inventing and constructing sophisticated e...Agreed. Inventing and constructing sophisticated escape apparatus did not seem to be Hardeen's forte. Why would he attempt to reconstruct the DFDDM if Houdini's original was probably in his basement? Leo Hevianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-88049833819956703912014-07-31T19:23:47.569-07:002014-07-31T19:23:47.569-07:00After Houdini's death, I don't think Harde...After Houdini's death, I don't think Hardeen had the money or ambition to be inventing or constructing escape apparatus. My sense is performing was a job to him, not a passion. He used what he could.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-51459813483621935292014-07-31T19:13:14.177-07:002014-07-31T19:13:14.177-07:00Hardeen never bothered to have a USD built for him...Hardeen never bothered to have a USD built for him because Houdini's cell was too small. Collins was still alive and could have done the job. Probably too expensive to make another USD, given the Depression and other problems Hardeen must have experienced.<br /><br />Would Hardeen have a DFDDM custom built for him? Maybe, or maybe not. It would have cost quite a bit to have Collins make one Leo Hevianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-63614828434160133972014-07-31T19:07:29.239-07:002014-07-31T19:07:29.239-07:00That's certainly true of handcuffs and at leas...That's certainly true of handcuffs and at least one Milk Can, but I'm not sure what else has been incorrectly attributed to Houdini. Recall that Dash left performing in 1916 to run the FDC, and when he returned in 1927, he did so with the inherited show and props and those are what have largely survived. Also recall that we sometimes wondered about Pat Culliton's sub trunk because John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-61277883832414211482014-07-31T18:38:49.264-07:002014-07-31T18:38:49.264-07:00Hardeen had his own career and had a number of his...Hardeen had his own career and had a number of his own items constructed. Unfortunately history is changed too often to make a Hardeen item a Houdini trinket for profit. You would think from some that Hardeen never legitimately owned his own equipment and only got into the magic biz after his brother's death. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-22695159244003133012014-07-31T16:15:09.485-07:002014-07-31T16:15:09.485-07:00There were two version of the milk can with two di...There were two version of the milk can with two different modes of escape. Knowing the workings of this box tells me that it was designed to work with one of the milk can versions and not the other. Perry from NJ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-77771277130103868412014-07-31T12:08:10.487-07:002014-07-31T12:08:10.487-07:00Indeed. It's an important piece of magic appar...Indeed. It's an important piece of magic apparatus beyond the obvious.John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-8277872668998160972014-07-31T10:35:12.166-07:002014-07-31T10:35:12.166-07:00I can see the similarities between the torture cel...I can see the similarities between the torture cell and this devise in terms of its "gaff". Very interesting how this escape is so very closely linked with the USD.......never knew this before. No way DC is going to let this one go. It's destined to be in his collection.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-88742535988785448122014-07-31T08:11:52.868-07:002014-07-31T08:11:52.868-07:00I didn't mean to make it sound like this came ...I didn't mean to make it sound like this came out of nowhere. It was just unknown to me. Those who travel in the higher ranks of the magic world and collecting appear to have known about it. Bill Kalush mentioned it in his Skirball talk <a href="http://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2011/07/william-kalush-discusses-houdinis.html" rel="nofollow">in 2011</a>.<br /><br />And this is a complicated and John Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04391313393222271260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732721553418878547.post-38672782026747296772014-07-31T05:46:01.880-07:002014-07-31T05:46:01.880-07:00Can we be certain it's the real deal? All thes...Can we be certain it's the real deal? All these years and the whereabouts have been chiefly unknown? Hardeen's certainly possible. Houdini's, questionable. Next the Margery cabinet.?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com