The milk can was later locked inside a wooden chest, being chained or padlocked. He would then make his escape behind a curtain.

The escape act involved Houdini handcuffed and sealed inside an over-sized milk can filled with water. Harry Houdini getting locked inside the milk can. His brother Theodore Hardeen, continued to perform it in the 1940s. However, these sources are biased.Ī full-sized design of the same Mirror Handcuffs, as well as a replica of the Bramah style key for it, is on display to the public at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania.Ĭonsidered his own original act, Harry Houdini made it a part of his regular act for the first four years since its inception.

It has been suggested by many that Harry Houdini was bested that day and that his wife Bess helped him out by smuggling the key in a glass or water or in some cases in her mouth, which she gave to him through a kiss. His wife even came out on stage during the 56 minute mark to give him a kiss. After his request was denied the magician and escape artist took out a pen knife and cut off the coat from his body by holding the knife in his teeth. He even asked a representative from the newspaper that had made the challenge to remove th cuffs temporarily so that he could take of his cout. Pic/YouTubeĭuring his escape attempt Houdini emerged from his 'ghost house' (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. Harry Houdini handcuffed before the Mirror escape challenge.

It took him one hour and ten minutes to escape from the handcuffs. Houdini performed the stunt in the presence of a crowd of 4000 people, which included over 100 journalists at London's Hippodrome theater. Houdini accepted the challenge made by a daily major London news publication to escape from special handcuffs that apparently took the maker, Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Harry Houdini has gone on record several times during his life calling this the most difficult escape of his career. To commemorate this occasion we look back at the illusionist and stunt performer's most notable public spectacles that both wowed and stumped audiences worldwide.

Harry houdini water tank escape