Kingsley, who had announced the affair as 'part of the Shakespeare tercentenary celebration,' said this fact was what brought out the crowd. The article then continues with this remarkable paragraph and promise: The exhibition was ordered stopped and reserves from the West Forty-seventh street station had to be called to disperse the crowd which had gathered in anticipation of the event. Police intervention prevented Harry Houdini from trying to escape from a straitjacket while suspended from a derrick over the Longacre Square subway excavation at noon yesterday. Prevent Straitjacket Exhibition in Longacre Square. The MaNew York Sun recorded what happened next: Kingsley, announced the escape for March 28, 1916, saying the stunt would be Vaudeville's special contribution to the Shakespeare Tercentenary celebrations, which marked the 300th anniversary of the death of the great playwright. The press agent for the Palace Theatre, Walter J. And what better location than Times Square (then called Longacre Square). When Houdini played Broadway's famous Palace Theatre in March 1916, he wanted to promote his appearance by performing his latest spectacular outdoor feat, the suspended straitjacket escape. Thinking quickly, Houdini chartered a tug boat to take himself and members of the press to Governors Island where he performed the escape outside of the city's jurisdiction.

In fact, when Houdini first arranged to be nailed into a packing crate and 'thrown' into the East River in 1912, police arrived to stop the stunt.

Unlike other cities, the police would not tolerate the massive crowds and snarled traffic. So let's tell it!ĭespite the general perception, Houdini did not perform many outside stunts in New York City. It's a story that has gone untold and is pretty interesting. His first was actually a year earlier in 1916.

However, I recently discovered that is not the case. History records this as his first suspended straitjacket escape in New York City. This November 5th marks the 100th anniversary of Houdini's suspended straitjacket escape in Times Square.

Houdini straitjacket escape