Houdini’s Double Fold Death Defying Water Mystery.1909.

Houdini’s Double Fold Death Defying Water Mystery. American, ca. 1909. A heavy and imposing wooden crate with trapezoidal lid. Four heavy locks incorporated into the lid lock it securely to the box, along with hasps for four additional padlocks. In performance, a large metal milk can was lowered into the box and filled with water. The performer stepped into the water-filled can, and its lid was locked securely in place. To further secure the escape artist, assistants next locked the lid of the wooden crate in place. A cloth cabinet was then drawn around the apparatus. Minutes later – long after every spectator in the crowd had run out of breath and patience – the cabinet’s front curtain was pulled aside, and there stood the magician, dripping with water and perspiration, having made his escape. Houdini devised the device offered here after his Milk Can escape, introduced in 1908, gained enough popularity to be copied by other escape artists trading on the “Elusive American’s” fame and reputation. Its method of operation, a cleverly concealed internal mechanism, is likely the forerunner of other more famous escapes Houdini would use with great success later in his career. The box is pictured in a color stone lithograph promoting the feat, and appears in Milbourne Christopher’s book, Houdini: A Pictorial Life (1976), at page 54. In the latter image, Houdini’s brother, Hardeen, is shown performing the routine. The photograph clearly identifies the escape device offered here as b