HOUDINI
HOUDIM'S ESCAPES and MAGIC PREPARED
FROM HOUDINl's
PRIVATE
NOTEBOOKS AND
MEMORANDA WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF BEATRICE HOUDINI, WIDOW OF HOUDINI, AND BERNARD M. L. ERNST, PRESIDENT OF THE PARENT ASSEMBLY OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN MAGICIANS
by Walter B. Gibson
BLUE RIBBON BOOKS, I N C . NEW YORK CITY
COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY BERNARD M. L. ERNST
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
PRINTED AND BOUND BY THE CORNWALL PRESS, INC., FOR BLUE RII1BON BOOKS, INC., 3 8 6 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK CITY
Printed in the United States of America
PREFACE by Bernard M. L. Ernst AD Houdini lived he would have written this book. He planned to write a number of books other than those which were published during his lifetime. Among them was to be the first-hand story of his unusual and remarkable career and accomplishments. A volume on the lives of famous magicians was to follow. A work on plagiarism was contemplated and an authoritative exposure of the methods and devices of fraudulent mediums. A number of books on controversial subjects were also planned as well as a series of essays and treatises on magic and finally an encyclopedia of magic and kindred art. He had gathered a mass of material for all of these contemplated publications and in some cases had prepared parts of his manuscript. In M.U.M., the official journal of the Society of American Magicians of which he was the president, and elsewhere, he had published serially much of his material dealing with the lives of famous magicians; and he also had dictated many chapters of his autobiography. These, un-
vi
PREFACE
fortunately, were lost during his life, to his great regret and discomfiture. During the summer of 1926, only a few months before his death he sent me a mass of material including rough notes, drawings, blue prints, and manuscripts, with the request that it be arranged, edited and published in a series of books on magic and escapes with which his name should be connected. Much of the material in this book is taken from this source. More than a year before, while staying with Mrs. Houdini at my home at Sea Cliff, L. I., he had begged me to examine a trunkful of his material and write one or more of the books which he was eager to publish and which he never found time to write himself. He described what he had gathered together and insisted that many of his ideas and inventions had never been thought of or made public. As late as October 9, 1926, the last day he was in New York, before his death at Detroit, Mich., on October 31, 1926, he again spoke to me at my home about the projected books, and referred to additional material he had for such use. After his death, Mrs. Beatrice Houdini, his widow, knowing of his plans and familiar with his collections, sent this additional material, a part of which also appears in Mr. Gibson's work. Indee4 during Houdini's life Mr. Gibson had practically com-
PREFACE
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pleted two volumes of a proposed series of books on "small magic" along lines projected by Houdini; but because of the latter's untimely death the publication of these works was abandoned. Houdini made it plain that certain of his greatest and most distinctive escapes were never to be made public. Among these was his escape from the socalled Chinese Water Torture Cell, which he used in vaudeville for many years and which he referred to as his "upside down." Other methods and escapes now used by professional magicians are also withheld from publication in justice and fairness to conjurers generally. The contents of this book have been referred to the Committee on Exposures of the Society of American Magicians and to Hardeen, Houdini's brother, who is using many of Houdini's effects upon the stage, and deletions have been made as suggested by them. Magic exposed is deprived of mystery and ceases to be magic—at least for entertainment purposes and use in the theater. Thus the vanishing of an elephant from a cabinet on a full lighted stage as done by Houdini and many similar illusions of the professional performer are omitted here. Many releases from restraints, however, at one time or another used by Houdini or devised by him, are published, it is believed, for the first time, and many of the creations of his ingenious mind now find
viii
PREFACE
their way into print as he intended. The reader will be amazed at the simplicity in some cases and at the complexity in others of the devices and methods employed or originated by the master of escapes, the "handcuff king," the man whose power of releasing himself has been described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others as being super-normal and supernatural. In his book entitled Spirit Intercourse, J. Hewat McKenzie, president of the British College of Psychic Science, writes: "The force necessary to shoot a bolt within a lock is drawn from Houdini, the medium, but it must not be thought that this is the only means by which he can escape from his prison, for at times his body has been dematerialized and withdrawn." Houdini's reply was in part as follows: "I do not claim to free myself from the restraint of fetters and confinement, but positively state that I accomplish my purpose purely by physical, not psychical, means. My methods are perfectly natural, resting on natural laws of physics. I do not dematerialize or materialize anything: I simply control and manipulate material things in a manner perfectly well understood by myself, and thoroughly accountable for and equally understandable (if not duplicable) by any person to whom I may elect to divulge my secrets." Some of the secrets of Houdini as communicated
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to me and as put in the writings which he gave to me are found in the pages which follow. Many of his effects were so hazardous and nerve-racking that no one, even if familiar with the modus operandi, would have the courage, physical ability, or temerity to attempt to duplicate them. There has been only one Houdini and he is gone.
CONTENTS OF BOOK ONE
PART ONE.INTRODUCTORY Houdini's Notes
3
Houdini's Methods
7
The Escape Act
12
Handcuff Escapes
17
Rope Ties
22
Houdini's Cabinets
26
The New Scene Cabinet
27
The Built-up Cabinet
30
The Platform Cabinet
31
PART TWO. ROPE TIES AND CHAIN RELEASES Houdini's Trick Rope
37
The Sailor Challenge
39
The Rope Pillory
41
The Self-tie
•
43
The Gallows Restraint
45
Ladders and Rope Challenge
49
Chain Releases
55 xi
xii
CONTENTS
The Chain and Lock
55
The Chain Challenge Act
56
The Dog Chain Escape
59
The Escape Board
61
PART THREE. SPECIAL CHALLENGES The Straitj acket Escape
67
The Blanket Restraint
72
Escape from a Crazy Crib
77
Hot Water and Wet Sheets
81
The Mail Bag Escape
84
The Pasteboard Box Escape
87
The Basket Escape
93
The Paper Bag Escape
97
PART FOUR. BOX ESCAPES Box Escapes of Various Types
103
The Under-water Escape
104
The Packing Box Escape
106
The Sliding Panel Box
109
The Telescopic Box
111
The Slide-up Box
112
The Metal-rimmed Box
114
The Lead Sheeted and Lined Box
118
The Double Box Escape
123
The Niagara Falls Escape
126
The Indian Box Mystery
128
CONTENTS
xiii
The Buried Box Escape The Iron Express Box The Metal Bath-tubs The Sprinkling Wagon Escape The Iron Box Challenge The Shelved Box Escape The Plate Glass Box
136 140 141 141 142 146 149
PART FIVE. UNDER-WATER ESCAPES Rubber Bag and Glass Box The Crystal Water Casket A Glass Cabinet The Submerged Trunk Escape Houdini's Double Box Mystery Milk Can Escapes The Unprepared Milk Can The Milk Can Challenge The Regular Milk Can The Double Milk Can PART SIX. TRUNKS Trunk Escapes Barrel and Cask Escapes The Barrel Challenge The False-bottomed Barrel The Side-trap Barrel The Double Barrel The Great Coffin Imposture Sheet Iron Coffin Escape The Metal Casket Escape The Galvanized Iron Coffin
157 166 175 177 183 188 191 193 196 197 BARRELS
COFFINS 203 207 207 212 214 214 216 219 223 227
xiv
CONTENTS PART SEVEN. MISCELLANEOUS ESCAPES
The Wooden Log Escape Pillory Escapes Pillory Number One Pillory Number Two Pillory Number Three The Glass Cylinder The Glass Tube Test Escape from a Block of Ice The Automobile Tire Escape The Maine Tramp Chair
233 235 235 236 238 239 243 251 255 257
The Knife Box The Spirit Collar The Champion Lock Cuff
261 264 266
Two Tricky Doors The Valise Challenge
268 271
PART EIGHT. SPECTACULAR MYSTERIES AND ESCAPES The Cradle of Steel Walking Through a Brick Wall Walled in Alive!
277 280 283
The Cylindrical Cross Escape
287
The Suspended Brass Tube
296
The Great Cell Mystery
302
The Rack Test
306
The Spanish Maiden Escape
312
Conclusion
316
HOUDINI'S ESCAPES
INTRODUCTORY section tells of Houdini's notes—their purpose and their extent—and surveys the material that was used for this book. It also gives certain general information concerning escapes, with brief references to Houdini's writings on the subject. THIS
HOUDINFS NOTES
I
=n=3HE notes left by Houdini form a remarkable colu lection of material on methods of escape, magical tricks and illusions, and spiritualistic effects. Of these, the methods of escape constitute a large and interesting portion. Houdini was famous as a magician and as an exposer of fraudulent spiritualistic phenomena, but it is an undeniable fact that he gained his great reputation through his sensational escape tricks, which he performed during the early years of the present century. Millions of people remember Houdini as the man who "could get out of anything," and public interest finds a natural center in this particular branch of his work. The notes which Houdini left are of great variety. Some of his most important escapes are not covered by them. The reason is that these notes were intended primarily for his own reference. Methods that were already built or in operation did not require written descriptions; in fact, Houdini made it a practice not to set them down in writing. The system he