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Hardeen inherits his brother's secrets Houdini's will makes possible the continuance of Houdini's master mysteries.

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Hardeen inherits his brother's secrets Houdini's will makes possible the continuance of Houdini's master mysteries.

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Created by "Carey and Sons Lith, N.Y."
Transferred from; LC Rare Book and Special Collections Division; 1956.
Despite directions to the contrary, Hardeen passed on to others the legacy he had received. Today, many of the handcuffs and related items are held in the Houdini Historical Center located in the magician's first American hometown Appleton, Wisconsin. A fire, however, at the Houdini Museum and Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls, Canada consumed all but the metal frame of the prominently displayed Upside Down Water Torture Cell.
Under the terms of Houdini's will, the Library of Congress inherited the magic and spiritualism components of the great mystifier's library. Beatrice Houdini received the Theater Collection, now at the University of Texas at Austin. Apparatus and other stage effects were bequeathed to Hardeen. As exemplified by the poster shown here, Hardeen used testamentary language in an effort to position himself as Houdini's heir in magic. His role, however, was to remain "Brother of Houdini." Often credited with having been the first to realize the dramatic potential of doing a straitjacket escape in full view of an audience, Hardeen, nevertheless, was not the creative, evolving, ego-driven force represented by his sibling. The riveting magic of Houdini came from within. Once he was gone, the presence of his apparatus spoke most eloquently about a greater absence a legend who had fused mastery of detail with great showmanship, daring, imagination, and mystery.
Forms part of: Magic poster collection (Library of Congress)
Forms part of: McManus-Young collection of pictorial material relating to magic.

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American magician and escapologist, born in Budapest in 1874. He was one of the most famous and successful magicians of his time, known for his spectacular escape acts and death-defying stunts. Houdini's signature tricks included escaping from handcuffs, straitjackets, and locked boxes, as well as diving into and out of tanks of water while shackled.

Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz, March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American illusionist began his career in 1891, focused initially on traditional card tricks, but had little success. In 1893, while performing with his brother as "The Brothers Houdini," Houdini met a fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner and married her in 1894. For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess worked as his stage assistant. Houdini's big success came in 1899 when he met Martin Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota. Impressed by Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts. In 1900 Houdini started to tour Europe and gave a demonstration of escape from handcuffs and became widely known as "The Handcuff King." He toured England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Russia. In each city, Houdini challenged local police to restrain him with shackles and lock him in their jails. In many of these challenge escapes, he was first stripped nude and searched. In Moscow, he escaped from a Siberian prison transport van, claiming that, had he been unable to free himself, he would have had to travel to Siberia, where the only key was kept. In 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by London's Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, emerging in a state of near-breakdown. While many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies, but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also a keen aviator, and aimed to become the first man to fly a plane in Australia.

The collection includes posters advertising individual plays and operettas, burlesque, vaudeville, and specialty acts, dance companies, extravaganzas produced by the Kiralfy Brothers, portraits of entertainers, and stock posters. Featured performers include Julia Arthur, De Wolfe Hopper, Joseph Hart Vaudeville Co., Thomas W. Keene, Andrew Mack, Robert B. Mantell, Mathews & Bulger, Lewis Morrison, Phil Sheridan's New City Sports Co., Royal Lilliputians, and Jennie Yeamans. Directors, managers, and producers include Edward J. Abraham, Blaney, and Vance, William A. Brady, Sidney R. Ellis, W.J. Fielding, Charles Frohman, Hoyt & McKee, the Kiralfy Brothers, Jacob Litt, Rice & Burton, Rich & Harris, A.Q. Scammon, Sam S. Schubert, Thall & Kennedy, Fred E. Wright, Charles H. Yale, and others. Playwrights include David Belasco, George H. Broadhurst, Bartley Campbell, Charles Turner Dazey, Gilbert & Sullivan, William Gillette, Seymour Hicks, David Higgins, Bronson Howard, Cecil Raleigh, William Shakespeare, Sutton Vane, and others. Plays include such popular titles as Arizona, At Piney Ridge, By the sad sea waves, Devil's auction, Evangeline, Faust, Female drummer, H.M.S. Pinafore, The hidden hand, The last of the Rohans, Ole Olson, The Queen of Chinatown, Shenandoah, Siberia, The sporting life, Uncle Tom's cabin, Venice, The war of wealth, Way down East, Yon Yonson, and others. Images depicted include scenes from plays, portraits of performers, and performers performing. Featured entertainers are not always depicted in the image. Some posters are mainly textual with peripheral images.

Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, also known as Canadian Falls, which straddles the international border between Canada and the United States. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie entirely within the United States. Bridal Veil Falls are separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York as well. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America that has a vertical drop of more than 50 meters (160 ft). Niagara Falls is famed both for its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. In 1881, the Niagara River's first hydroelectric generating station was built. The water fell 86 feet (26 m) and generated direct current electricity, which ran the machinery of local mills and lit up some of the village streets. In 1893, Westinghouse Electric designed a system to generate alternating current. In 1896, giant underground conduits leading to turbines generating upwards of 100,000 horsepower (75 MW), we installed.

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Date

01/01/1936
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Carey and Sons Lith.
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Library of Congress
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