She's baaaack

On March 26, our friend Gary Hunt will be lecturing on the fairest of all the "brain thieves," Minerva, as part of the American Museum of Magic's Online Speaker Series. No one knows more about "The Handcuff Queen" than Gary, so this promises to be a great lecture. Pour yourself a glass of lime and join the fun!

Click here for details and to register.

Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting America Museum of Magic Speakers in this Houdini centenary year.

Related:

• Minerva vs. Houdini in new play
• Magic History Conference spotlights Minerva The Handcuff Queen
• Was Houdini a chauvinist?

'Halloween with Houdini' at the Palmdale Playhouse

Duffy Hudson brings his Houdini one-man show to the Palmdale Playhouse in Halloween with Houdini: The Life and Work of the Great Harry Houdini, October 31, 2025.

Join us for a mesmerizing one-man show that brings the legendary escape artist to life! The Great Houdini takes center stage to recount his rise to fame, his lifelong fascination with magic and the death-defying feats that made him a legend. Don't miss out on an unforgettable evening of magic and mystery!

Buy tickets and get more information HERE.

Related:

• Catching Duffy Hudson's Houdini in Burbank
• Duffy Hudson brings Houdini to life in South Pasadena
• Meet Harry Houdini this weekend at the New-York Historical Society 

Henry Marcus does the Overboard Box in 1907

Today, we have a new contender for who first did the Overboard Box.

On Aug. 6, 1907, the Cleveland Plain Dealer advertised that Henry Marcus would be nailed into a packing case and "thrown" into the lagoon at Luna Park. This is six years before Houdini's first overboard box and three years before Hanco did the stunt with a trunk in Australia. At this time, Houdini was just beginning to do bridge jumps as his main outdoor feat.

The Plain Dealer, Aug 6, 1907.

Did Marcus go through with the escape? Try as I might, I couldn't find any follow-up, nor could I find confirmation of Marcus appearing at Luna Park. It appears Luna Park was in competition with White City, another summer resort, which was featuring "Sensational Free Acts" by Capt. E.C. Wilson. Luna also advertised "Free Open Air Acts." Was the Marcus stunt one of those free acts?

The Plain Dealer, Aug 8, 1907.

Houdini was spending the summer months at home in New York when Marcus did this stunt. He would not play Cleveland again until March 1908. So if this was a one-off stunt, Houdini may have never learned of it. But he was aware of Marcus himself. In the April 15, 1907 issue of the Conjurers' Monthly Magazine, we read:

Marcus, "The man in the box," is featuring Houdini's packing case trick and is industriously seeking engagements. When last heard he was in Coxsackie, N.Y.

If someone wants to take up the challenge and try to find Marcus doing his overboard box anywhere else, I'd love to hear what you find. For the moment, we can add this to the mysterious origins of the Houdini Blackstone Hanco Marcus overboard box.

Related:

• Hanco scoops Houdini (or perhaps Blackstone)
• Houdini's overboard box footage identified at last!
• The Overboard Box

LINK: Houdini and Raymond: Revealing Letters

Myron the Magnificent has shared on his blog three interesting letters between Houdini and Maurice Raymond that shed light on their contentious relationship. The letters are part of the collections of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theater Collection. Check them out by clicking the headline above or visit Myron's Blog.

Thanks to Herb Scher for the alert.

Related:

• Mystifier, Second Quarter 1996
• Lifting the lid on Sergeant Houdini
• Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???

Did Houdini repeat the Mirror Challenge?

The Mirror Handcuffs Challenge is the gift that keeps giving. There are still many mysteries and unanswered questions about this seminal escape during the height of Houdini's Handcuff King days. While the current hot topic is the Tatler cuffs, I recently stumbled on a new curiosity in the December 1947 The Linking Ring.

Below is an excerpt from the article "Royal Aquarium & Egyptian Hall" by Will Stone. As a young man, Stone worked with magician Paul Valadon in England. Stone talks about a hapless Handcuff King named Pongo, whom he had helped with an escape in the presence of Valadon and Albini. He then continues...

It was about this time that Houdini was advertised at the Hippodrome. He would give 500 pounds to any one who could get out of a special set of handcuffs, called "Mirror Handcuffs." The Daily Mirror Newspaper Corporation had these handcuffs made especially to challenge Houdini to get out of them, and Houdini accepted the challenge. At the same time, he passed the challenge along to any one. After a lot of urging, Valadon and Albini persuaded Pongo to compete, telling him that he had a fine chance to win, but warned him never to say a word about Valadon and Albini asking him to compete. In fact, never to mention either of their names.

The evening came when Houdini was to get out of the Mirror Cuffs. It had been advertised all over London. Val gave me tickets for Pongo and myself, with strict orders for me to see that Pongo got to the Hippodrome, and that his seat was right down near the stage. After having helped him in the back yard, he knew I was his friend, and he stuck close by. We got seats in the third row, and I had never seen such a full house before. Every seat was taken. The stage was set for Houdini. On the stage a small tent was erected. In came Houdini. The applause was tremendous. He stated what he was about to do—or try to do. He made a long speech, and he knew what to say and how to say it. He then made the challenge to any one in the audience who would attempt to get out of these handcuffs. Up jumped Pongo. "I accept that challenge," he shouted. Every eye was turned on him. Houdini stopped and stared. Then the audience gave a yell. Pongo grabbed me to go with him on the stage, but I pulled away from him and he went alone. Houdini asked three or four from the audience to come onto the stage to see that everything was fair. Valadon and Albini were among those who responded. Houdini looked Pongo over, and no doubt sized him up correctly. He then made a talk explaining things. He said he would fasten the Mirror cuffs on Pongo, and also an ordinary pair of cuffs. Pongo positively refused the ordinary cuffs; only the Mirror cuffs for him. So Houdini fastened the Mirror cuffs on Pongo and led him to the tent. In Pongo went.

After waiting a half hour, the audience became restless and began to shout. Another half hour passed and Houdini went and spoke to Pongo. Pongo came out, looking as if he had been in a fight. The audience saw him with handcuffs still on. He went down to the footlights with uplifted arms, and the spectators, seeing that he had something to say, quieted down. Pongo shouted: "Give an Englishman a chance!" That got them. The yelling and stamping was deafening. So Pongo went in for another half hour, but finally had to call it a go, and quit. The handcuffs were unlocked by the referee, and Pongo acknowledged his defeat.

Houdini was handcuffed with the Mirror cuffs, then with the ordinary pair of cuffs. He went into the tent, and in about ten minutes, out flew the ordinary cuffs. More yells and shouts, then they quieted down, for about twenty minutes. Houdini came out, still handcuffed. His assistant got a pair of shears and cut his coat up the back. It looked as if the coat was too tight. More yells and shouts and stamping! Houdini went into the tent again, and in about twenty minutes he was out with the cuffs unlocked. Then bedlam prevailed, and we went home.

What do we make of this? No mention of Pongo appears in any other account of the challenge, including the Daily Mirror's own highly detailed report. Stone's memories of the escape are also filled with slight differences, such as Houdini being secured with a second pair of handcuffs and his coat being cut off by an assistant instead of being slashed off by Houdini himself with a pen knife. It also seems highly improbable that a full hour would be given to a random challenger on the day of the highly publicized escape. But my biggest problem with this account is that we know Houdini offered up the Mirror handcuffs to challengers only after his escape on March 17 (read: Houdini's own Mirror Challenge).

However, I believe what Stone describes did happen. But it was not March 17, 1904. This was a performance after the original escape when Houdini accepted challengers, Pongo being one of them. Applying a second pair of handcuffs is a believable detail that makes perfect sense in context. The Mirror handcuffs were non-adjustable, so a second pair of cuffs would prevent the challenger from slipping them off.

But what of Stone's memories of seeing Houdini make the escape with all the on-stage dramatics of the original? Is he conflating memories of what he saw with what he had only read? That could be. But I think he may again be describing precisely what he saw, and Houdini was repeating his escape from Mirror handcuffs. He might have even done this several times during his six-week run at the Hippodrome when all of London was abuzz about the original escape.

What interests me is that Houdini also repeats the original escape's onstage theatrics, such as coming out of the cabinet and shedding his coat. But instead of going through the gymnastics of doing it himself, he had an assistant cut it off. Being locked in a second pair of cuffs and having them fly from the cabinet at the 10-minute mark is actually a nice addition.

All this is suggestive that Houdini came to see the Mirror Challenge and his dramatic struggles onstage as a performance piece. Or maybe it was conceived as such from the start.

Want more? You can read Will Stone's entire article from The Linking Ring as a Scholar member of my Patreon below.

Thanks to Joe Fox and the William Larsen Memorial Library at the Magic Castle.

Related:

• Houdini's own Mirror Challenge
• Guest blog: Houdini Reflected, Part I | Part II
• Joe Notaro is hot on the trail of the "Tatler Cuffs"

"The New Houdini" and an old myth

As far as I know, the myth that Houdini died in his Water Torture Cell began with the 1953 Houdini biopic starring Tony Curtis. But the myth was carried forward by a public who didn't know any better, and by magicians who should. Below is what might be one of the first examples of the latter.

Click to enlarge.

Here we see someone billing themselves as "The New Houdini" performing "The Death Defying Act That Ultimately Took the Life of The Great Houdini." The poster artwork, showing two axe-wielding assistants hacking at the cell's glass, is actually pretty impressive. The performer himself is in the foreground with his feet up in stocks above what I think is the partially water-filled tank below.

I don't know anything about this performer, and I don't know anything more about this photo. In fact, I'm not even sure where I got it. (If this belongs to you, let me know, and I will credit it.) I'm also assuming this photo is post 1953. But if this pre-dates the Curtis movie...well, that would be very interesting.

Check out the links below for some other times the myth of Houdini's Water Torture Cell demise was presented as fact.

UPDATE: Looks like we have the answer as to who the performer was here.

Related:

• The biggest myth
• Simon says it wrong
• Hollywood kills Houdini

"A second Hardeen"

I've seen no shortage of aspiring Handcuff Kings likening themselves to Houdini. But here's a young escapist in Tacoma, Washington, being touted as "a second Hardeen." Hardeen had just completed a successful run at Tacoma's Pantages Theater. He had even done a bridge jump. So I guess Tacoma in 1908 was a Hardeen town!

Tacoma Daily Ledger, Oct. 23, 1908.

What would Houdini think of this? For staters, he was touring Europe at this time, so it's likely never saw this. But in 1908 Houdini was open to the idea of franchising his act. There was Hardeen, of course, but Houdini had also made a deal with the Western Burlesque Wheel to showcase the "Houdini Act" as presented by Leonard Hicks. He was also developing a female escape artist in Germany named "Oceana". 

So this begs the question. Was it better to be a "second Hardeen" or the "fourth Houdini"?

Image: Newspapers.com

Related:

• Hardeen's Tacoma bridge jump
• The Houdini franchise
• LINK: The Forgotten Houdini Protege

"Show Mar in chains"

This is a photo I've had in my scrapbooks for decades. It was given to me by my grandfather when I first become interested in Houdini. On the back is written: "Show Mar in chains. London." And that's all I know! So I figured it was time to share this image and see if anyone recognizes this English street escapist?

By the way, notice how no one in this photo is actually looking at him.

UPDATE: Chris Gower over at the GEO (Global Escapology Organisation) Facebook group believes this photo shows long-time Tower Hill street performer Johnny Eagle (shirtless man in background) and his assistant Johnny Kedeno (or Cadenno) as the escapist. Chris says: 

Johnny Eagle was the speaker and would get the audience, he would show his strength by bending a piece of 1.5 inch by 0.25 inch steel bar simply by hitting it on his forearm. He had the ability to take the 30 foot of heavy chain and crack it like a whip. His assistant Johnny Kedeno had huge wrists and standard pair of Hiatt 1960 cuffs would not fit him!

Thanks Chris!

Related:

• Lifting the lid on Sergeant Houdini
• Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???
• Those tricky Houdini imitators

A warning from Houdini

When Houdini returned to the UK at the start of 1913 his new feature was The Water Torture Cell (which he had debuted in Germany the year before). He was proud and protective of his new sensation, as this notice in the February 15, 1913 issue of The Era illustrates.

Click to enlarge.

The "Special Licence" Houdini is referring to is the license he received in 1911 when he first presented the Water Torture Cell as part of a play called Challenged. The mention of the two "Copyists" being fined in Germany is interesting. One is certainly Miss Undina. But who was the other?

Related:

• Poster for Houdini's Water Torture Cell play to be auctioned
• The Undina affair
• Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???

Houdini's Melbourne bridge jump (sans corpse)

Houdini's tour of Australia in 1910 is most celebrated for his aviation exploits. But he also wowed audiences with escapes, including a leap from the Queen's Bridge into the Yarra river in Melbourne on Thursday, February 17. What makes this particular stunt so famous is the story of how Houdini's jump dislodged a suicide from the river depths, causing the corpse to float to the surface. The crowd feared the dead man was Houdini himself, until the escapist surfaced beside it. But did that really happen?

Below are a set of photos and an account of the stunt from the Melbourne Weekly Times. As you can see, no corpse involved, but some nice details, including that Houdini wore a blue bathing suit instead of his usual crimson.

A DARING DIVE

_______________

A PUBLIC SPECTALE

MELBOURNE, Thursday.

The announcement that Houdini, who is at present appearing at the Opera House, would dive from Queen's Bridge into the Yarra attracted many thousands of people this afternoon. Every point of vantage on the Bridge was quickly occupied by spectators, as were also the roofs of the sheds lining the north and south banks of the river and the various steamers lying in the stream. On the river itself were craft of all kinds, densely crowded with men women and children, eager to view the sensational spectacle. It was with the greatest difficulty that a large force of mounted and foot police could secure even space enough for a narrow line of vehicular traffic.

    At about 1.30 Houdini drove up on to the center of the bridge in the motor car. Making his way through the crowd he mounted the parapet, where he was manacled with stout chains. After being handcuffed his hands were fixed behind his back. The chains were passed over his neck and round his body, and were fastened with a stout brass padlock in the middle of his back.

    Clad in a blue jersey and blue trunks but with his arms and head bare, he stood unconcernedly in the blazing hot sunshine. When the manacling arrangements have been completed he looked quietly down on to the lower wharf, and asked "Is it already Jim; is the way clear?" Receiving a reply in the affirmative he first took several long breaths, then, without the slightest hesitation, dived into the river. In about sixty-five seconds he came to the surface again free of his chains, which, by the way, weighed about 26 pounds. The chains themselves he brought up in his hand. As he mounted the steps, Houdini was loudly and continuously cheered, the spectators thronging round him as he again made his way to the waiting motor car. From the time he mounted the bridge until he was driven off again in the car only about seven minutes elapsed.

There are some other details that didn't make this report. The temperature that day was a scorching 101 degrees. Several onlookers fell into the river. Following the escape, reporters on the dock asked Houdini how he liked the taste of the water. He replied by grimacing and saying it was "the least toothsome" he had ever sampled. Later news accounts made light at the idea of Houdini "insulting" their river water.

Houdini's Queen's Bridge jump was his first outdoor stunt in Australia. He told reporters he had considered making a leap from the deck of the ship Malwa when it first arrived in Fremantale, but talk of shark infested waters convinced him otherwise. He later made a 31 foot handcuffed jump into the Domain Municipal Baths in Woolloomooloo Bay in Sydney (below). That jump resulted in him hitting the water wrong and blackening both eyes.

So what about the whole floating corpse thing? If this happened, not a single newspaper (that I've been able to find) reported it, which does not seem likely. The story appears to be a Houdini invention. I'm not sure when he first started telling it, but it appears in a 1918 Boston Post interview along with his famous trapped under the ice story. In it Houdini emphasizes his shock at finding himself beside a dead body. "As long as I live I will not forget that incident. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Like reporters in Houdini's day, biographers can't seem to resist this story. The Australian corpse surfaces in Kellock, Gresham, Christopher, and even Kalush. Only Ken Silverman leaves it out of his account of the escape.

With or without the corpse, I still enjoy the story of Houdini's Melbourne bridge jump, especially as the Queen's Bridge is still there today!

Related:

• Houdini's Tour of Australia available in new printed edition
• Houdini's LAST Australian flight was the wild one
• Harry Houdini Down Under (video)

Hanco scoops Houdini (or perhaps Blackstone)

When Houdini toured Australia in 1910, he discovered the country was as jam-packed with rival "Handcuff Kings" as the U.S., UK, and Europe. In fact, part of his stage patter while in Australia was to inform his audiences that he was the originator of the feats they've been seeing other escapists perform for years.

One of the most active of those rivals was "Hanco The Handcuff King" (real name Sam Cooke). Hanco did handcuff, straitjacket, and challenge escapes, and also promoted his appearances with outdoor stunts. After Houdini left Melbourne for Sydney in April 1910, Hanco arrived in town and did a stunt at Queen's Bridge where Houdini had made a handcuffed dive just a few weeks earlier. But Hanco had his own approach. Check out the description below:

Ballarat Star, April 2, 1910.

Yes, that certainly sounds like an overboard box escape to me! And this is two years before Houdini's first overboard box in New York on July 7, 1912. Hanco also did a version of the escape on stage, which you can see advertised below.

Hanco did his overboard box in several Australian cities that year. But he seems to have had repeated difficulty getting his box--which may have been a commercial steamer trunk--to sink. And in Wagga Wagga he had another mishap.

The Wagga Wagga Advertiser, Feb. 24, 1910.

It's possible the issues Hanco had with staging the escape led to him abandoning it by mid year. After Houdini left the continent, Hanco began doing standard bridge jumps instead.

Houdini was certainly aware of Hanco. He posted some of Hanco's billing into his scrapbook of imitators. So there's little doubt Houdini would have been aware of Hanco and his overboard box escape during his 1910 tour. So is this were Houdini got the idea?

We've all heard the story of how Harry Blackstone Sr. said he originated the overboard box escape, a claim Houdini always disputed. I've tried my best to confirm Blackstone's story, but I've never found any newspaper clippings or photos of Blackstone doing the escape before Houdini. But now I'm thinking that argument is moot. From the evidence we have here, it appears both Harrys were beat to the box by Hanco The Handcuff King!

Thanks to Fred Pittella for the top photo which shows Hanco later in his career.

Related:

• The Overboard Box
• Houdini muscles in on Blackstone auction
• Suspended straitjacket escape in 1913, but it's not Houdini

Houdini's Night With the Spirits?

Here's a discovery that initially had me very excited. We know Houdini did spiritualist exposure shows very early and very late in his career. But here's one from mid career, 1911!

Chester Times, December 8, 1911

Unfortunately, my Houdini chronology tells us this can't be the real Houdini. Houdini was performing at the Keith's Theater in Columbus, Ohio, all this week. On this very night, December 8, he accepted a challenge from the Lazarus Company to escaped from a packing crate. (The original challenge playbill is in the Fred Pittella collection.) 

It's 466 miles between these two cities and even today it's a 12 hour train ride. So it appears this is someone using Houdini's name, or someone using a Houdini-like name that the newspaper misconstrued. But it's still a strange coincidence that it foretells Houdini's future performances and spirit lectures. And it sounds like a good show!

And if this is Houdini performing in two places at the same time...well, we would have all the proof of the supernatural we need!

More trouble for Mysto

Following up on Tuesday's post about Houdini's exposure of Carl Mysto's coffin escape in 1904, our friend Fred Pittella sends over these gems from his collection. This playbill predates the Salford exposure and is almost certainly the work of Houdini.

Click to enlarge.

Poor Mysto. Maybe it's his failed 1902 audition and Houdini calling him "a common bum and a dirty one at that", but I admit I feel sorry for him. I feel like he pulled himself together and came up with good idea with his coffin escape, especially the idea of his hands manacled through the top, and he didn't do anything to warrant its exposure.

But as said on Tuesday, Mysto's skirmishes with Houdini actually brought him publicity and bookings that he wouldn't have otherwise received, and he did go on to have a long career in English Music Halls. In 1922 he even starred in a popular musical comedy show, O.K., in which he played a magician detective named "O.K." In 1930 he renamed himself The Great Neudini.

Thanks to Fred Pittella for the share. Be sure and check out Fred's own website Houdini & Escapes Museum.

Related:

• Opening Mysto's coffin
• The curious story of Houdini and Carleete
• Lifting the lid on Sergeant Houdini

Opening Mysto's coffin

Contrary to popular belief, Houdini did not go after each and every imitator of his act. Theaters were awash in Houdini wannabes, and to have tangled with them all would have left no time for his own act and just brought them publicity. So unless an imitator made false claims about Houdini or used his name in their advertising, he largely ignored them.

In 1903 an escape artist who called himself Carl Mysto began performing challenge escapes in the UK. This was not typical of other Houdini imitators who largely confined themselves to the handcuff act. One of Mysto's feats was to escape from an "iron-bound coffin" with his hands manacled through holes in the top. The escape was a good one and it drew a fair amount of attention, even landing Mysto a photo spread in the Houdini friendly London Daily Illustrated Mirror (above and below).

Houdini had first met Mysto in October 1902 when the budding magician wrote asking if Houdini could arrange an audition. Houdini remembered: "Carl Mysto at the time was working in pubs, doing magic and passing the hat. He was a tramp. I gave him a pair of pants and a few old shirts and half a dollar. He gave a trial show and did not make good. He was a common bum and a dirty one at that."

In September of 1904, both Handcuff Kings found themselves playing opposite theaters in Salford near Manchester. Houdini was at the Regent Theatre of Varieties and Mysto at the Hippodrome. Mysto ran into trouble during his first week. On September 21 he was summons to the Salford police court on a charge of stealing a pair of handcuffs from a challenger, Thomas Skellington. The case was dismissed. 

Did Houdini have a hand in this? If so, it could help explain why the Hippodrome's manager, Broadhead, felt compelled to take a swipe at Houdini during a manager's meeting, saying Mysto gave a better show and did not "talk endlessly of his triumphs." Furthermore, at £10 a week, Mysto made a better profit than Houdini at £150 a week. Houdini's hatred of imitators was matched only by his hatred of unscrupulous managers, and when he learned of Broadhead's words the gloves came off.

Instead of challenging Mysto to a coffin breaking contest as one might expect, Houdini took an approach wholly bent on ruining his signature feat. He paid the man who made Mysto's coffin, Reuben Shaw, to make him a duplicate. He then exposed the escape on the stage of the Regent for two straight nights. The London Daily Illustrated Mirror ran a story complete with photos. Below are those two photos showing Franz Kukol and Hardeen (presumably standing in for Shaw) assisting in the exposure.

Unlike the stories of Houdini undoing Kleppini with the French Letter Cuff or Frank Hilbert with a crafty disguise, the Mysto affair doesn't present Houdini in an especially heroic light. It's an out-and-out exposure of another magician's original invention and a clear breech of the Magician's Code. Local magicians were said to be "blazing with anger", and at least one reader of the Mirror found Houdini's behavior unsportsmanlike:

Houdini portrayed his actions as providing a public service, saying the use of a coffin was "entirely out of place" and that after his exposure "no coffin will ever again be used as an accessory to a public amusement." Privately he told local magician Harry Whiteley that he regretted exposing the coffin trick, but his fight was with Broadhead, not Mysto. The incident did not hurt Mysto, who suddenly found himself in demand. But it also opened the door to exposure acts, many of which would target Houdini.

Despite Houdini's claim to have made the theatrical world safe from coffins, in January 1907 he presented his own coffin challenge escape at the Boston Athletic Association. That coffin is on display today at the Houdini Museum of New York along with an original poster from the 1904 Mysto exposure.

Thanks to Joe Fox for helping me uncover the Harry Whiteley letter and the name of manager Broadhead. For more on Mysto in Salford check out Harry Houdini Legend & Legacy by Brian Lead and Roger Woods, 1993.

Related:

• Houdini, the Magician's Code, and the Talking Tea Kettle scandal
• Houdini and Brindamour: Showdown in San Francisco
• Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???

Houdini and the New Britain mystery stunt (update)

Recently reader Brittany Hart reached out to see if I has any information on a stunt Houdini is said to have performed in her hometown of New Britain, Connecticut. While she could find no information in the local newspaper archives, she points out there's a plaque on the historic Andrews Building commemorating the feat. She was kind enough to send over this image.

It certainly sounds like what Houdini did here was a suspended straitjacket escape. However, I can find no record of an outdoor stunt in New Britain. In fact, the only appearance I have for Houdini in New Britain is a two day stint with the American Gaiety Girls in early March 1896. This was long before Houdini was famous and well before his suspended straitjacket days (not to mention before the Andrews was built). But he did do a handcuff escape at the local New Britain police station.

Houdini performed in nearby Hartford in 1906 and 1926. He also gave charity performances in Westport in 1917 and Southport in 1924. But it doesn't make much sense for him to promote these appearance in New Britain.

However, I did discover that Houdini's The Master Mystery played at the Lyceum Theater in New Britain in December of 1918. This was among the first theaters to show the serial and this was during a time Houdini was on the road making personal appearances. Is it possible he promoted the movie with a suspended straitjacket escape from New Britain's famous 5-story landmark?

Hartford Courant, Dec. 22, 1918

I'm afraid this one has me stumped, so I'm throwing it out there. Can anyone help crack the case of Houdini and the New Britain mystery stunt?

UPDATE: Thanks to our friends Jim Klodzen and Joe Fox, it appears the mystery may be solved, and it's not good news for New Britain nor the Andrews Building.

In 1919 an escape artist calling himself "The Great Luther" toured New England in the wake of Houdini's The Master Mystery, playing theaters that had shown or were showing the serial. Luther advertised himself as a "former assistant to Houdini," but Houdini told Billboard that he had never heard of him.

In February, Luther appeared at the Lyceum Theater in New Britain, which had just played The Master Mystery. On February 23, 1919, he performed a suspended straitjacket escape from the New Britain National Bank Building at 272 Main Street. This is not the same as the Andrews Building which stands at 132 Main Street. But they are on the same block with the Lyceum between them, and as Luther seemed to be doing all he could to be confused with Houdini, it not hard to believe that over time Luther became Houdini in the minds of the citizens of New Britain. At least I think this is the best explanation that we have so far.

Thanks to Brittany Hart for bringing this to our attention in the first place!

Related:

• Houdini's known suspended straitjacket escapes
• Houdini and The Master Mystery at Clune's
• That pesky Parson's Theater program

Lifting the lid on Sergeant Houdini

In my recent Houdini in 1920 post I mentioned an imitator who called himself "Sergeant Houdini" and who toured with a wresting troupe in Canada. Now here's a look at the elusive sergeant himself inside his Milk Can. This comes from the Saskatoon Daily Star, May 19, 1920.

Houdini put an end to the use of his name by penning a letter to the Saskatoon Daily Star. Whatever became of "Sergeant Houdini" and his Milk Can after that I do not know.

Below are some more magicians and escapists who played the Houdini name game.

Related:

• Houdinii
• Jack Houdini?
• The New Houdinys

Mystifier, Third Quarter 1999

Continuing my issue by issue look back at the Mystifier, the newsletter of the Houdini Historical Center that ran from 1991-2003.

The Third Quarter 1999 Mystifier is once again made up largely of a single article by curator Kimberly Louagie on "Houdini's Rivals and Imitators." Once again it's aimed at a more general reader, but there are a few gems for the hardcore. These include a notation on a 1903 photo in which Houdini acknowledges S.S. Baldwin as "the man that gave me the handcuff idea." There's also Houdini's amusing but cheap shot at Brindamour that appeared in his Conjures Monthly Magazine:

He wrote that when he met Brindamour in 1896 he was a dance teacher. He "showed me pictures of himself in ballet costume, and seemed to be proud that he could impersonate the female sex so perfectly." Also included was Brindamour's business card with the words, "Teacher of Fancy Dancing."

The article includes a terrific photo of Jacob Hyman and his sub trunk and an unpublished shot of Hardeen on stage entering a packing case circa 1930.

The newsletter continues with the announcement of a new postcard featuring Houdini's famous Circus Busch poster. It references it as being 1908, but the image is actually the 1912 version. It's also noted that HHC attendance is up 9% for the year, and that QuickTime videos of Sid Radner have been added to the HHC website.

"Backstage with Sid Radner" features a group photo of HHC Honorary Board members at a recent dinner. Sid also notes that Tom Boldt's son, Philip, is training to do Houdini's Water Torture Cell. "An interest in Houdini may be hereditary." Sid then gives a nod to a new book, The Great Houdini by Monica Kulling. He also gives details of the upcoming Official Houdini Seance in London. He then ends with this:

An interesting potential bit of news; there may be another Houdini relative. It appears that a previously unknown family member emigrated to the United States. I am trying to pursue this matter, and will keep you informed.

I'm not sure who Sid is talking about here, and I don't recall if he ever did reveal more in an upcoming newsletter. But I guess we will find out as we continue on!

Mystifier

Volume 9, Number 3

Third Quarter, 1999

6 pages

Contents:

Handcuff Kings & Prison Breakers: Houdini's Rivals and Imitators
New Members
Museum Shop News
Video Added to HHC Web Site

Backstage with Sid Radner

PREVIOUS ISSUE | INDEX | NEXT ISSUE

Related:

• Houdini and Brindamour: Showdown in San Francisco
• Houdini gives the all clear to his imitators???
• Circus Busch Houdini poster for sale at Magic Live

Dave Goulding emulates Houdini's Aberdeen escape

Magician and escape artist Dave Goulding freed himself from handcuffs and a padlocked sack on Waterloo Quay in Aberdeen Harbour on Sunday. Dave did the stunt just 200 meters from where Houdini himself leapt handcuffed into the harbor in 1909.

Modern health and safety rules prevented Goulding from exactly recreating Houdini's feat. "The safety concerns of the lifeboat crew and others meant I could not go in the water," said Goulding, "But it was yucky looking, so I was reasonably pleased about that."

Even in Houdini's day authorities attempted to halt his stunt due to weather and poor conditions in the harbor. Unwilling to disappoint the large crowd that had gathered, Houdini chartered a tug and performed the escape in the rough seas anyway.

Goulding performed his stunt as part of the RNLI lifeboat station's open day and to promote the Aberdeen Magical Society show, Harbour Sleights, planned for The Tivoli Theatre on August 30. All money raised will go to support the work of the Aberdeen lifeboat crew.

Related:

• Lee Terbosic recreates Houdini's straitjacket escape in Pittsburgh
• Dean Gunnarson recreates Houdini's L.A. escape
• Indian magician drowns during "Houdini" stunt

James Randi on his Shelton pool test

Here's a video in which James Randi talks about how his got his start in escapology, and also how he performed his own Shelton pool test on February 7, 1956. This is a feat that does not get a lot of attention, but I consider it a standout in Randi's career, especially as he did it in the same location as Houdini.

Despite the video name, "How to Beat Houdini", Randi did not do the stunt to beat Houdini's time (although he did so by 13 minutes). He was seeking to prove it could be done by natural means, just as Houdini always said. But that point was missed in much of the news coverage, which emphasized the record beating, as seen below.

Related:

• The Shelton pool test at 90
• The Hotel Shelton pool in color
• An Honest Liar on DVD and Netflix

Houdini in 1905

For Houdini, the year 1905 was split into two distinct halves. The first half saw him as an established superstar in Europe. But the second half found him back in America, where in some ways he had to prove himself all over again. It was a fascinating transitional year, and one of his most combative.

This post is now retired. But you will be able to enjoy the story of Houdini in 1905 in my upcoming book.