Houdini jumps from Harvard Bridge, Boston, Massachusetts John H. Thurston, stereopticons

Photograph shows Houdini standing by the side of the Charles River wearing chains and handcuffs.

Master of the "Impossible Possible," Houdini performs one of his stunning manacled jumps from Harvard Bridge, followed by an under-water escape in the Charles River. As with his upside-down straitjacket escapes, Houdini's jumps drew huge crowds and publicized his stage appearances. In 1908, he appeared in Boston for two weeks at Keith's theater, a major venue on the Keith Vaudeville Circuit.
Forms part of: McManus-Young collection of pictorial material relating to magic.
Exhibited as a digital copy in: "Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America's Library" at the Annenberg Space for Photography, 2018; Arts section.
Annenberg batch 2

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.