He kept the box on the boat, however, and yesterday morning, shortly after the appointed hour, was shackled, chained, trussed and nailed in the box, which was thrown overboard off Governor’s Island. NEW YORK - Such a big crowd collected to see Harry Houdini, the “handcuff king,” nailed in a box and thrown into the East River that the police interfered and drove the vaudeville performer away in a boat. Harry Houdini, Vaudeville man, does underwater box escape “stunt” in East River (1912) See photos from a few of his adventures below, and then get the behind-the-scenes details on how the escape really worked. Hundreds of people would gather to watch the master illusionist achieve what seemed to be impossible - like getting out of handcuffs and shackles, then working his way out of a wooden box that had been dropped into a river.Īnd every time, he nailed it - so to speak. Houdini’s underwater box escape made headlines every time he performed the stunt - and it was one of his most popular.

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