Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Houdini's own Mirror Challenge

Here's a terrific news item from the March 21, 1904 London Daily Mirror. This is only four days after Houdini's famous escape from the inescapable Mirror Handcuff. I love the detail that he arrived at the newspaper office with wrestler George Hackenschmidt "to protect me." The idea of these two guys palling around London together is just great. I also like the "click bait" headline. Anyway, enjoy.


A few people did take up Houdini's challenge, but as far as I know, no one succeeded in opening the Mirror Handcuff.
at

3 comments:

  1. Joe M. NotaroNovember 24, 2020 at 11:30 AM

    Love it! And the next day at the Hippodrome, Houdini followed up his challenge to the world:
    “by defying all and sundry to step into the arena and pick the lock of the wonderful [Tatler] handcuff from which he escaped Thursday. Mr. Houdini went on to state that the [David Copperfield] Mirror Handcuffs were on view in a show case at the Hippodrome, and that anyone who boasted his ability to pick the lock within the stipulated time limit, had only to come forward.”

    ReplyDelete
  2. Houdini & HardeenNovember 25, 2020 at 12:03 PM

    Fantastic find John. Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leo HeviaNovember 25, 2020 at 4:39 PM

    Another great find! This was Harry's approach to managing his career. Perform a miracle and afterwards defy the world to follow suit. Miracles are not easy to duplicate.

    ReplyDelete