Houdini's known suspended straitjacket escapes

One of Houdini's most famous stunts was his suspended straitjacket escape. This iconic escape actually arrived relatively late in Houdini's career (1915). So far I've been able to document over 70 performances of the suspended straitjacket across the United States and Canada. Did your town make the list?

  1. Sept. 8, 1915: Kansas City Post Building at 10th and Main in Kansas City, MO.
  2. Sept. 30, 1915: Tribune Building on 4th St. between Nicollet & Marquette Ave. in Minneapolis.
  3. Oct. 5, 1915: Telegram Building, 70 Albert St., Winnipeg, Canada.
  4. Oct. 19, 1915: Seattle Times Building at 2nd Ave and Union St. in Seattle, WA.
  5. Oct. 25, 1915: Oregonian Building in Portland, OR.
  6. Nov. 23, 1915: First National Bank Building at Broadway & 14th in Oakland, CA.
  7. Dec. 4, 1915: The Express Tribune Building at 719-721 S. Hill Street in Los Angeles, CA.
  8. Dec. 22, 1915: Walker Bank Building at 175 South Main Street in Salt Lake City.
  9. Dec. 30, 1915: Denver Post Building at 1577 Champa St. in Denver, CO.
  10. Jan. 13, 1916: Star-Telegram Building at Throckmorton & 8th St. in Fort Worth, TX.
  11. Jan. 18, 1916: Dallas News Building at Commerce & Lamar St. in Dallas, TX.
  12. Jan. 25, 1916: Houston Chronicle Building in Houston, TX.
  13. Feb. 2, 1916: Express Building at Navarro & Crocket St. in San Antonio, TX.
  14. Feb. 10, 1916: Littlefield Building at 6th & Congress in Austin, TX.
  15. Feb. 16, 1916: The Commercial Appeal Building in Memphis, TN.
  16. Feb. 23, 1916: The Daily States Building on Canal Street in New Orleans, LA.
  17. March 16, 1916: Milwaukee Journal Building in Milwaukee, WI.
  18. March ?, 1916: Old Front St. School in Youngstown, OH.

  19. March 28, 1916: Police halt advertised escape in Times Square, New York, NY.
  20. March 29, 1916: Bowling Green subway construction site in Battery Park, New York, NY.
  21. April 19, 1916: Washington Post Munsey Building at Pennsylvania & E. St. in Washington, D.C.
  22. April 26, 1916: The Sun Building on Charles St. in Baltimore, MD.
  23. Aug. 2, 1916: Keith's Theatre tower on Garden Pier in Atlantic City, NJ.
  24. Oct. 18, 1916: Toronto, Canada.
  25. Oct. 31, 1916: Erie Canal & Exchange St. in Rochester, NY.
  26. Nov. 6, 1916: Post-Sun Building on Liberty Ave. & Wood St. in Pittsburgh, PA.
  27. Nov. 15, 1916: Pickering Building in Cincinnati, OH.
  28. Nov. 22, 1916: Citizen's Trust and Savings Building at corner of High & Gay Street in Columbus, OH. 
  29. Nov. 29, 1916: Grand Rapids Savings Bank Building in Grand Rapids, MI.
  30. Dec. 7, 1916: Country jail building, Toledo, OH.
  31. Dec. 13, 1916: Daily News Building in Dayton, OH.
  32. Dec. 20, 1916: John Harkness Brown Building at 1019 Euclid Ave. at 9th St. in Cleveland, OH.
  33. Feb. 28, 1917: B.F. Keith’s Building at Tremont St. in Boston, MA.
  34. March 7, 1917: Brownell Building at Exchange Place in Providence, RI.
  35. Nov. 5, 1917: Subway construction site in Times Square, New York, NY.
  36. May 15, 1918: Inside Madison Square Garden for NYPL War Stamp rally in New York, NY.
  37. May ?, 1919: Harbour Apartments in Los Angeles as movie stunt for The Grim Game.
  38. Aug. 21, 1920: NYPD Field Day Games at Gravesend Racetrack in Brooklyn, NY.
  39. Aug. 28, 1920: Repeats NYPD Field Day Games at Gravesend Racetrack in Brooklyn, NY.
  40. Sept. 10, 1921: NYPD Field Day at Gravesend Racetrack in Brooklyn, NY.
  41. Dec. 22, 1921: Boston Post Building at 259 Washington Street in Boston, MA.
  42. Jan. 5, 1922: Palace Theater at Broadway & 47th St. in New York, NY.
  43. Jan. 12, 1922: Albee Building at 15th & G Street in Washington, D.C.
  44. Jan. 18, 1922: Munsey Building in Baltimore, MD.
  45. Feb. 3, 1922: The Press building on East 9th and Rockwell in Cleveland, OH.
  46. Feb. 17, 1922: 4th floor of City Hall in St. Louis, MO.
  47. Feb. 24, 1922: Hearst Building at 326 West Madison St. in Chicago, IL.
  48. March 8, 1922: Post-Sun Building on Liberty Ave. & Wood St. in Pittsburgh, PA.
  49. Oct. 9, 1922: Fyfe Building at Woodward & Grand Circus Park in Detroit, MI.
  50. Nov. 13 or 14, 1922: J. Mullins & Sons furniture store at 218-220 Market Street, Newark, NJ.
  51. Jan. 24, 1923: Post Building at 10th Street and Main in Kansas City, MO.
  52. Jan. 31, 1923: Des Moines Capital building at 7th and Walnut street in Des Moines, IA.
  53. Feb. 7, 1923: Tribune Building at 4th Street & Marquette Ave in Minneapolis, MN.
  54. Feb. ??, 1923: St. Paul Daily News building in St. Paul, MN.
  55. Feb. 21, 1923: Free Press Building on Carlton St. in Winnipeg, Canada.
  56. March 1, 1923: Vancouver Sun Building at 137 Pender St. in Vancouver, Canada.
  57. March 19, 1923: Hearst Building at 3rd & Market St. in San Francisco, CA.
  58. March 27, 1923: Tribune Tower in Oakland, CA.
  59. April 4, 1923: Examiner Building in Los Angeles, CA.
  60. May 7, 1923: Patterson Building at 17th and Walton in Denver, CO.
  61. June 11, 1923: Park Avenue exhibit pavilion at Silver Jubilee Exposition in New York, NY.
  62. Sept. 5, 1923: World Herald Building at 15th and Farnam in Omaha, NE.
  63. Sept. 13, 1923: The Commercial Appeal Building in Memphis, TN.
  64. Sept. 18, 1923: The New Orleans States Building in New Orleans, LA.
  65. Oct. 24, 1923: The Journal Building in Sioux City, IA.
  66. Oct. ?, 1923: Dallas City Hall on Commerce Street in Dallas, TX.
  67. Nov. 8, 1923: Chronicle Building in Houston, TX.
  68. Nov. 12, 1923: San Antonio City Hall in San Antonio, TX.
  69. Nov. 16, 1923: 5th floor of Littlefield Building in Austin, TX.
  70. Nov. 22, 1923: Star-Telegram building at Seventh & Taylor in Fort Worth, TX.
  71. Nov. 28, 1923: Beacon Building in Wichita, KS.
  72. Jan. ?, 1924: City Hall building in St. Louis, MO.
  73. Jan. 23, 1924: State Journal Building on St. Carroll in Madison, WI.
  74. Sept. 6, 1924: NYPD Field Day Games at Jamaica Racetrack in New York City, NY.
  75. Sept. 18, 1924: Tribune Building on Westminster Street in Providence RI.
  76. April 2, 1925: Indianapolis News Building in Indianapolis, IN.
  77. Dec. 9, 1925: C.T. Sherer Co. building on Front Street in Worcester, MA.
  78. June 27, 1926: Polo Grounds, New York, NY.

    If you know of a suspended straitjacket escape that you don't see here, please shoot me an email or post it in the comments below.

    Last update: 3/12/24

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