It was one hundred years ago today, January 25th 1908, that Houdini first performed his Milk Can escape in front of an audience.
At this point in his career the number of people paying to see his performances had begun to decline. After all, how many times can you watch somebody escape from cuffs, irons and chains? His success rate was 100% and people were losing interest. He needed to do something different to bring the people back. The lure of seeing a man die on stage was what it took. Author Kenneth Silverman does a great job of explaining the first performance.
In performance Houdini poked and pounded the can to demonstrate its solidity. When he walked offstage a moment, stagehands filled it to overflowing with twenty or so pails of water. Returning in a bathing suit, he first invited the audience to experience what long submersion might be like. He asked them to time themselves while holding their breath. Then he squeezed himself into the can, the displaced water splashing onto the stage. Long before a minute elapsed, most spectators gave up, gasping. Houdini, however, stepped out of the can, smiling, to perform the actual test.
Kukol [his assistant] appeared onstage with an ax. Houdini explained that if something went wrong, Franz would after a certain time smash the milk can open. Now handcuffed, he again folded himself inside. This time the steel cover was slammed on, the hasps latched, the cover padlocked. The ghost house was pulled forward to surround the can. The audience waited nervously, watches in hand, Kukol standing ready to hack. After little more than two minutes Houdini walked from the cabinet, dripping, puffing, blowing, breathless. The ghost house was withdrawn, revealing the milk can with its six padlocks still closed and in place.
Since Houdini died the method of his escape has been published. I won’t reveal the secret. Why? Because this escape has such an impact on the audience that escape artists are still performing it today, 100 years after it was first performed.
