"What," you may be wondering, "is Houdini doing in an erotic art show?"

My answer is that you take a look at the photos and images below.

Before we consider the greatness of this American-born Jewish showman (1874 - 1926), crowned "The King of Handcuffs," and the breath-taking escapes he staged for millions of adoring fans around the world, let us consider this: what made him think of putting himself in elaborate bondage in the first place? Was it so very different from what we fantasize about and do when we do bondage? Or was he another example of a born-kinky person who figured out a way to make a career out of doing what he loved (and possibly enjoyed erotically) the most? After all, long before he stepped onto the world stage, Houdini was tying himself up and experimenting with shackles, ropes, and cages.

The world thinks of Houdini as an escape artist. But kinky people, particularly those of us (and there are many, many) who were inspired, aroused, or otherwise quietly intrigued by his spectacles, know he was a bondage artist. And, to my mind, still the most amazing bondage artist the world has ever known.

Two of the best links on-line for more images and tons of biographical material on the unique Houdini:

Houdini Tribute, which has the support of friends and family of the magician.

And, from PBS's well-researched series, The American Experience: Houdini

Also fascinating is Houdini's 1926 Obituary in the N.Y. Times and reprinted on-line.

In addition to photos of Houdini at work, I'm including an assortment of handbills and promotional materials for various of his shows; movie posters (he appeared in a few silent movies); and even a couple of pulp fiction covers (aha! a theme for the day!) that featured his death-defying escapes.

(Please note: these photos are so old that many are fuzzy, and in some he is barely recognizable. I myself am not so sure about one of the pix below. But all of these came from reliable sources for Houdini history so, hopefully, the sources correctly identified him. There's also one in the batch which shows two different scenes side by side - not sure if those came from an original card or someone scanned two images on one page.)

And now a miscelleny of art, promotional materials and more, beginning with Houdini's own patent for a diver's suit.

October 12, 2007 in Sex and Arts | Permalink

Your Comments

Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss) was many things: master showman, illusionist, escape artist, actor, debunker of spiritualist mediums, and even the first man the fly an airplane in Australia.

However, he was no writer. In most cases, the fictional works signed by Houdini were written by H. P. Lovecraft (creator of the Cthulu mythos) and the factual works were written by Maxwell Grant (creator of "The Shadow").

Posted by: Nightheron2 at Oct 13, 2007 12:28:13 AM

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Great post! I'm a budding handcuff collector, and lord knows Houdini is still discussed, debated, and analyzed on the handcuff collector boards.

Hot stuff... I wish some of those were available in frame-able form.

Posted by: Boymeat at Oct 15, 2007 9:42:13 AM

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Imagine playing out your wildest, most bizarre fantasies on the world stage - and having millions of people worship you for it....

I am madly in love with Houdini.

Posted by: Gloria at Oct 15, 2007 1:04:52 PM

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Where's the cautionary proviso? The "don't try this at home, unless it's safely, sanely and consensually" ?

; )

Posted by: quillnnib at Oct 15, 2007 1:59:07 PM

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