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Houdini Billboard

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Billboard that promoted Harry Houdini when he traveled around the world during the 1910s and 1920s. Made of two pieces mounted on 2 wooden boards, the billboard shows an upside-down Houdini confined in a straight-jacket while a horrified man looks on from outside a barred prison window. The poster reads, "The World Famous Houdini - The first human being to successfully escape from a regulation straight jacket as used on the murderous insane." It has a copyright date of 1912, and was later used as a prop in the 1953 film "Houdini," starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Formerly the property of the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada. 110 x 75" Please Note: This is a magnificent, brilliantly colored billboard that was not able to be moved into the photographer's studio due to its size. Consequently, a copy of the billboard that appears in the pages in a book about the life of Houdini has been used for illustration purposes. Should you wish to see the actual billboard (which is far more dramatic) in person prior to the auction, please contact Guernsey's. Sale History: Butterfield & Butterfield, February 1999

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