Printed poster of a yellow background an encircled illustration showing a man in a suit hovering over a locked barrel in a police cell, a fairylike figure, and a seated uniformed officer beset by small red demons
Printed poster of a yellow background an encircled illustration showing a man in a suit hovering over a locked barrel in a police cell, a fairylike figure, and a seated uniformed officer beset by small red demons

“Harry Houdini, The Jail Breaker: Prison Cell & Barrel Mystery” poster
London: St. Paul’s Printing Co., May 1906
Houdiniana Collection and Magic Scrapbooks and Posters Collection, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center

“Harry Houdini, The Jail Breaker: Prison Cell & Barrel Mystery” poster

In the mid-1890s, Harry Houdini was a struggling magician finding little public recognition in card and sleight-of-hand tricks. But by 1898 he was seeking out police and civic leaders across the United States at each stop on his performance tour to witness his seemingly inexplicable escapes from regulation handcuffs, shackles, and other restraints. This rare poster documents an act that Houdini introduced to London audiences in 1904. Although not as successful as some of his others, it set the stage for his daring Milk Can escape in 1908 and demonstrated the increasingly high stakes of his evolving performances.

: Houdiniana Collection and Magic Scrapbooks and Posters Collection, Billy Rose T…

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