Harry Houdini's Cuff Keys While not directly arcade related, the name Houdini is synonymous with entertainment. Among the ten most recognized celebrity names in the world, Houdini was above all else a true showman. Born Erich Weiss in 1874, The great Houdini was a master of theatre art and thrilled audiences with his escape act. Later in his career, Houdini also crusaded against fake mediums and other charlatans. Harry Houdini died as a result of a ruptured appendix on Halloween day, 1926. His will specified that all of his magic equipment and secrets be given to his brother Theo who was also a entertainer touring under the name Hardeen. Houdini specified that upon Hardeen's death, all the equipment and secrets should be destroyed. Theo Hardeen didn't agree with Harry's request to destroy the equipment and gradually sold most of it over time. Hardeen sold a number of Houdini's locks and a small wood barrel where Houdini kept his smaller handcuff keys to a lock collector named Paul Harter of Mansfield Ohio during 1941. Hardeen passed away in 1945. Paul Harter kept the Houdini equipment in his private collection until his death in the 1990's. The above three key's were personally owned by The Great Houdini and aquired from the Harter estate. Also pictured are a pair of original tickets to a performance by Houdini on March 20, 1926, 10am at the Princess theatre in Montreal Canada. The Princess Theater was to be the place where a McGill University college student would test Houdini's strength later in 1926, punching him in the stomach and inadvertantly rupturing Houdini's already infected appendix. This contributed to Houdini's death on October 31, 1926. "Secure Knots, Secures Not" Click here to view enlarged picture

Houdini's personal lock picking tools. Pictured are two of Houdini's personal picking tools used for escapes. To the left is the Mattatuck tool. Restraints produced by Mattatuck Manufacturing Company were widely used in the 1920's and were often utilized by Houdini in his handcuff act. In fact, Houdini owned a pair of Federal model Mattatuck cuff's given to him by Hardeen. The tool shown above is a special pick Houdini owned and used to open Mattatuck cuff's. As a fellow magician, I won't elaborate on how HH used it. Suffice it to say, the tool allowed Houdini to reach keyholes not normally reachable while restrained. The tool was produced out of a single piece of steel bar and shows outstanding craftsmanship. To the right is a hand made pick created by Houdini for jail escapes. The pick comes from a set of several which he would covertly obtain after being strip searched during jail escapes. The head pattern of the picks are uniquely suited for opening the bit key jail locks of Houdini's era. Houdini would tour with these or whatever other special tools he required for any given nights performance stored away in his mysterious Trunk No.8. Trunk No.8 was off limits to everyone except Houdini, Bess and Houdini's chief assistant and right hand man, Jimmy Collins. Houdini's personal escape tools are obviously very small in number and rarely seen. These tools along with a large collection of Houdini owned restraints, tools and keys were sold by Theo Hardeen to locksmith and collector A. Nugent Jr. in the late 1930's. After several newspaper articles, notably in the Richmond-Times Dispatch, October 1, 1939, Hardeen sent a followup letter to A. Nugent Jr. declaring that he felt he had "The greatest Hand-Cuff and leg-iron collection in the world". A copy of the letter from Hardeen is shown above behind the tools. On August 10, 1954 A Nugent Jr. sold the Houdini collection to Richard C. Wresch. In 1961, Dick Wresch authored a book "The great Houdini Handcuffs and legirons" showing and documenting portions of the collection. On August 22, 1993 the late Dick Wresch's son, Dr. Robert R. Wresch sold the collection to Joe Tanner and a partner Robert S. Rosen. Joe Tanner is the now owner of Wheeler-Tanner escapes which is the sucessor business to his father-in-law Prynce E. Wheeler's escape equipment business. (I purchased much equipment from Mr. Wheeler when I was a young magician). In January 2003, Joe Tanner graciously sold me these pick tools from the Wresch collection. Mr. Tanner is very knowledgable in the area of magic escapology and sell's equipment, supplies and books. I thank Joe Tanner for giving me the opportunity to obtain these rare pieces of Houdini's personal equipment. Click here to view enlarged picture

Houdini's Tower Single Lock Handcuffs. In August, 2004 Joe Tanner, owner of Wheeler Tanner escapes helped me obtain this pair of Tower Single Lock handcuff's which were owned by The Great Houdini then bequeathed to Hardeen, sold to A Nugent and then later sold to Dick Wresch to become part of his outstanding Houdini Restraints collection. Manufactured in the 1870's, these particular cuff's were mounted on Wresch's traveling "The Great Houdini Leg Irons and Handcuffs" display board. They are also pictured in a 1961 booklet detailing Houdini's restraint's in the Wresch collection. Also shown above is a "Best Wish's From Mr. and Mrs. Harry Houdini" card. Click here to view enlarged picture

Harry Houdini's Grave. The Great Houdini died as a result of a ruptured appendix on October 31, 1926. He is buried in Machpelah cemetary, Cypress Hills Street, Queens, New York. The set of pictures presented here were taken during my visit to his resting place in October, 2001 several days before the seventy fifth anniversary of his death. Note that Houdini's actual gravestone has Bess's name engraved with 19__. It was both Bess and Houdini's wish that she be buried next to him upon her death. However, when Bess passed away, Machpelah would not permit her to be buried next to HH since it was a Jewish Cemetary and Bess was Christian. Bess was buried at the Gate Of Heaven cemetary in Valhalla, New York approximately 25 miles away. Click here to view enlarged picture

278 West 113th Street, Manhattan, NY. Houdini purchased a very nice four story brownstone building located at 278, West 113th street in Manhattan, New York City in 1904. The building, which remains standing today served as Houdini's home and base of operation up until his death in 1926. In the foyer, directly behind the front doors, Houdini displayed many momento's of his career throughout the years. On the third floor was Houdini's personal study and impressive library. After HH's death, his tremendous collection of books about magic as well as spiritualists were donated to the U.S. Library Of Congress where they remain today. Click here to view enlarged picture

Houdini's Family Burial Plot. Buried along side Houdini are his Mother, Father and several brothers including Theo Hardeen. The family monument in the back originally had a bust of Houdini on top. Vandals stole the original and it was replaced several times. Each time a replacement was installed, it was eventually also stolen. Awhile back, a white globe was installed instead of the bust with the belief that it would not be as attractive to thiefs. However, recently the white globe was also stolen. I suggested to the cemetary that they install a new, correct bust and install a vandal resistant cage around it. This would both deter vandalism and also provide a subtle representation of HH's career as a escape artist. Click here to view enlarged picture

Walker Estate, Main staircase. This is the main staircase leading from Laurel Canyon Blvd. to where the large Walker mansion stood until it burned in 1959. Over the years, people who believe in the afterlife have reported ghostly figures appearing on this staircase. During my visit in late February, 2001 no ghosts were present to greet me. ;-) Update: A very astute visitor to the website has pointed out that perhaps there were apparitions present during my visit. If you look carefully at the vase on the upper left side of the staircase, there are two streaks visible leaving the vase going downward to the right behind the staircase. I have been informed that these are 'two spectral images' called 'orbs'. There is *something* there, but it could also be a sunlight reflection. You decide.... Click here to view enlarged picture

2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd. During the Houdini's frequent touring to the west coast, they befriended Ralph Walker who owned a large estate at 2398 - 2400 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Hollywood, California. History does not show whether Houdini himself ever stayed as a guest of Mr. Walker. Sometime after Houdini's death in 1926, Bess and her manager, Edward Saint took up residence in the guest house of the Walker estate. The guest house was located at 2435 Laurel Canyon Blvd, across the street from the main estate. There is purportedly a tunnel underneath the road connecting the two. Bess's letterheads as well as her telephone book listing state her address as being on Laurel Canyon Blvd. Bess resided in the guest house for the rest of her life. In 1959, the Walker mansion burned to the ground. In late February, 2001 I visited the estate as a guest of the then owner and took a series of photographs. New owners purchased the estate in March, 2001. During my visit, I asked a gentleman who was working at the estate to keep a eye out for any artifacts uncovered during renovations by the new owners. The key pictured above was found during the subsequent renovations. It is either a key to the estate gates or a key to a large trunk. The key was probably the property of Bess and may have also belonged to HH. Pictured along with the key is a original backstage pass from Houdini. HH would take printed cardboard sheets of these to shows and manually cut out pass's for needed stage help. This is a surviving, not filled in original. Click here to view enlarged picture

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