Houdini received his copyright ("Special Licence from the Lord Chamberlain") on May 2, 1912. This is my challenge, in the rough of course. In the play a "multimillionaire sportsman" named Tim Connor eyeballs his clubhouse aquarium and concocts the idea of locking Houdini inside it.Ĭonnor: Well, my idea is to put this Houdini fellow into that aquarium head first, understand me, head first, with his feet in the air, then put a lid or cover on, fasten his feet to this cover and lock him in. The purpose of the playlet, which was performed only once for a single audience member, was so he could copyright the new effect. On April 29, 1911, Houdini performed the escape in Southampton as part of a one-act play called Challenged or Houdini Upside Down. The earliest performance of Houdini's Water Torture Cell was actually 18 months before its official public debut.
Houdini had a nearly complete second cell created in case anything happened to the effect while on tour (on one occasion the glass did break because the water was too hot - so Houdini believed). The apparatus weighed around three-quarters of a ton and the cell held 250 gallons of water. It disassembled into pieces that fit into four custom traveling cases and three crates. The front consisted of a plate of half-inch tempered glass. The frame and heavy stocks were made of Honduras mahogany and nickel-plated steel with brass fixtures.
It stood 59 inches tall, 26.5 inches wide. Houdini had his cell built in England at a cost of more than $10,000.
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