Houdini's overboard box escape is one of his most famous and iconic outdoor stunts. It's also the one he appears to have done the least. In fact, I've only documented nine such escapes. Contrast this with 74 suspended straitjacket escapes!
While Houdini's two overboard box escapes in New York in 1912 and 1914 are well documented, we hear far less about the others. That's why I was excited to find the below. This is an account of Houdini's overboard box escape on July 28, 1915, from the Garden Pier in Atlantic City. Sounds like they had some problems with the block and tackle. But Houdini made his escape as always. Enjoy.
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| Atlantic City Daily Press, July 29, 1915. |
Here's another nice detail. The below ran in the Atlantic City Review on the day of the stunt. I love this kind of thing.
Finally, here's a fun post-escape item that appeared in the Atlantic City Daily Press.
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| Atlantic City Daily Press, July 29, 1915. |
Want more? You can view 20 newspaper clippings from this eventful week in Atlantic City as a "Scholar" member of my Patreon.
Top photo from 'Houdini His Legend and His Magic' by Doug Henning. Original in David Copperfield's International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts.
Related:
The Garden pier still exists but they have taken down most of the structure that was over the water. The structure evolved as it was severely damaged by several hurricanes through the years.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the theatre Houdini was playing at the time was located on the pier!
Here is a postcard of the pier circa 1916. https://www.oldpostcards.com/uspostcards/new-jersey/atlantic-city-nj_zz_18547-night-view-of-garden-pier.html
Thanks for the details, Anon. You can see a pic of HH hanging from the theater tower in this post.
DeleteAnd here is a postcard of the theatre. Must have been magnificent. Perry from NJ.
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More:
ReplyDeletehttps://drypigment.net/2019/10/31/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-part-838-the-garden-pier-theatre-atlantic-city-1913/