Houdini Museum

**written by Brian**

A couple weeks ago, as I was trawling through the Internet in search of new things to see and do in New York, I found a little news story about a magic shop in the city that had opened a small exhibit about Harry Houdini two or three years ago. From what I could see online, it was a small corner of a store with a few framed photos and a couple of bits of Houdini paraphernalia. But it still sounded interesting, and it gave us an excuse to get out of the apartment, so away we went.

We trekked into Manhattan and went in search of Fantasma Magic Shop, which wasn't as easy to find as you might think, since it doesn't have a normal storefront but instead is up on the second floor of a building, with only a small sign to tell people walking by that it’s there. (One odd note: Apparently the restaurant chain Hooters--yes, that Hooters--has some of their business offices in the same building. Random.) The building has a doorman, but not the uniformed sort behind a desk. Instead, it was just some guy in shorts and a t-shirt, sitting by the doorway in a lawnchair. My suspicions that this was going to be some chintzy, half-hearted attempt at an “exhibit” were growing stronger, but we went up anyway.

Once we made it up to the store, we were surprised to see that the majority of the space was actually dedicated to the exhibit. As we looked closer, it was also pretty clear that there was a substantial amount of stuff on display.

On the walls were framed photos, newspaper clippings, posters, and handbills from Houdini’s long career.

They also had on display one of the heavy straitjackets (this one was actually a full-body restraint called a “Punishment Suit”) used in some of his escapes.

One of the items on display was a full-page spread from The Ladies Home Journal, which had a full explanation of how Houdini escaped from a straitjacket. Jess thought this was hilarious.

Another escape involved Houdini being locked up and put into a locking mail sack. It didn’t even slow him down.

Originally, Houdini would perform his escapes behind a curtain, playing up the mystery of how he freed himself. In later years, however, he did more public (and much more dangerous) escapes completely out in the open--like this one, escaping from a straitjacket while hanging upside-down off the side of a tall building.

Starting off on the vaudeville circuit, Houdini became a master showman, and he perfected his marketing to a fine art. He would start building up excitement for a show days and even weeks in advance by publicly challenging the local law men to present him with a pair of cuffs he couldn't escape, or anyone in the public at large to duplicate his escapes. 

He would also challenge local police and jailers to see if they could restrain him. Across both the US and Europe, he routinely escaped jail cells, slipped out of handcuffs, and would often go so far as to switch prisoners in their cells. He would sometimes do this while wearing little (like a pair of trunks) or nothing, just to prove he didn’t have any keys or tools hidden on him. In reality, he usually still had them, by means of swallowing keys, hiding bits of wire in his hair or mouth, and other clever tricks. He would also get said law men to sign on for testimonials, which he ran in the newspaper.

He would devise partnerships with local business to build special crates and boxes to pack him in during an escape. He would write up exposés of other performers acts whenever they would copy his work, and then use the article to introduce a new act that was bigger and better.

They had dozens of handcuffs and manacles that were part of Houdini’s personal collection. He had an enormous collection of all sorts of locks, keys, and handcuffs, and all sorts of picks and specialized tools for opening them.

One interesting set of “cuffs” looked more like a pair of metal mittens. These were special restraints for prisoners that prevented them from grabbing at things. They eventually stopped using them because they were too effective -- prisoners were rendered unable to undo their pants to go to the bathroom, and the guards weren't too keen on having to help them.

A master at picking locks, Houdini had all sorts of little tools for beating locks, from short bits of piano wire (which could be easily hidden on his person, even in his hair), to modified keys. Some of these keys were cut down to more easily conceal in hidden pockets, or to be swallowed and brought back up, while others were modified to be used in unconventional ways. One was welded to the end of an 8-inch long strip of metal, which could be clenched between the teeth and used to open handcuffs that were locked to his waist.

One of the most interesting items on display was a custom made metal plate that he wore on his thigh or hip under his pants. Molded to the contours of the body, it was difficult for anyone to detect, but the metal plate gave him a hard surface that he could bash a set of handcuffs against. Apparently, a significant number of old cuffs would pop open with a good hard whack!

One of the items on display was a heavy wooden trunk used in the “Metamorphosis” trick. During this trick, Houdini would be handcuffed and tied up in a sack, then locked in the trunk. His assistant would pull a curtain around the trunk, and with a flourish, throw back the curtain only a moment later, with Houdini free, and the assistant in the box! 

Here’s a video of the trick being performed by Harry’s brother, who performed as “The Great Hardeen”:

Another was a 6-foot-long coffin that Houdini would be placed into--usually handcuffed or otherwise restrained--and the top would be screwed on.

One fascinating tool on display was a small hand jack used for popping open coffin-like boxes from within. The jack had two threaded arms, which screwed in and out, joined with a middle piece. Brace the jack between the lid and bottom of the coffin/box, and turn the middle segment, and the arms would extend, eventually forcing open the lid. Pretty ingenious.

When Houdini was performing in shows at Coney Island, he met Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who went by Bess. The two were married, and she performed alongside him as his stage assistant for the rest of their marriage.

Once after one of his travelling shows, Houdini was accosted by some local gamblers, who held him at gunpoint and forced him to pick the lock of the local gambling house so that they could rig the decks. Harry unlocked the door, and then knocked the two men over, rushed inside, and slammed the door shut behind him. One of the men came around to a window and fired at him through the glass. Houdini threw his hands up to protect himself, and the bullet lodged in his hand. He never had it removed.

In his later life, Spiritualism--in the form of mediums conducting seances--became very popular. During his early career, Houdini and his wife, Bess, put on shows with some of these same elements, but eventually quit because they felt there was something immoral about falsely claiming spiritual powers and preying upon the hopes of people who missed their dead loved ones. Being well versed in the tricks used by these phony mediums, he eventually began something of a crusade to disprove many of the popular mediums, performing stage shows where he would demonstrate all of the illusions and devices used by them.

We learned all sorts of things about this fascinating man during our visit.

Being quite familiar with all sorts of locks and keys, he was very mechanically minded, and would tinker with all sorts of things. He designed and patented a two-piece dive suit with a locking belt around the waist that could be more easily removed in the event of an emergency. You can view the patent here.

He once performed at San Quentin Prison, where he performed a trick involving several needles and a length of thread. During the trick, he would appear to put a dozen needles in his mouth, followed by a long piece of thread. After some theatrical chewing on this mouthful of needles, he would pull the thread from his mouth, with all of the needles threaded along its length. You can read all about the trick here.

He also got involved in the movie business, performing as an actor/stunt-man in short silent movies that would highlight his escapes as part of a thrilling adventure. The films were extremely popular, but audiences started to pass off his legitimate escapes as the result of trick photography, and he found that movie fame wasn’t translating into the riches he hoped, so he went back on the road.

Often showing off his physique and athletic capabilities, Houdini would let curios audience members hit him in the stomach, so he could show off his abs and demonstrate how impervious to pain he was. One evening, in his dressing room after a show, an over-eager college student asked about this feat, and caught Houdini with an unexpected punch. The blow aggravated an inflamed appendix, and he died a week and a half later, after having put on two more shows while running a 100+ fever and enduring excruciating pain. He’s now buried in Queens, in Machpelah Cemetery. We might go to visit the grave site sometime.

He was a fascinating man and a few days later we watched this documentary about him. If you want to learn more about Houdini, definitely check it out.

The shop portion of the store was quite small and most of it was located behind a counter manned by a heavily tattooed fellow. The place was busier than we expected it to be, quite a few people came in while we were there. One was a father who had brought his son to purchase a few magic tricks and as we walked around we overheard the shopkeeper explain the trick to the kid before he bought it. 

Over in the corner was a cage containing a rabbit. The bunny just looked at us while he laid lazily in his cage--he wasn't performing any time soon.

The museum exceeded our expectations and we left satisfied with the experience and eager to find other random places to visit in this crazy city.