Harry Houdini Original Vintage Magic Memorabilia Collectibles Autographs For Sale

Harry Houdini

Authentic MEGA RARE Magic Book Original Vintage Advertising Promotional Book Campaign Photo Banner Poster
"The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin"
1908

Amazing Piece of History!  ( A First for CVtreasures)

Acquiring a book written by Harry Houdini is a remarkable experience because it represents a direct connection to one of the most legendary figures in entertainment history.   But, imagine owning the Extremely Rare Orignial 1908 Advertising Promotional Photo Poster Banner used to promote that Harry Houdini book? 

Houdini was not only the world’s greatest escape artist but also an author, historian of magic, and relentless investigator of fraud and spiritualism. 

RARE Houdini Photo Advertising Promotion Banner Poster - 1908

Few figures in the history of magic command the fascination and legend of Harry Houdini. Known worldwide as the master escape artist, Houdini was also a passionate historian of magic and a fierce defender of what he believed to be the true story of the craft’s greatest performers. In 1908 he published the controversial and influential book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, in which he challenged the long-accepted reputation of the famed French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

Offered here is an extraordinarily rare surviving advertising promotional campaign banner poster created to promote that groundbreaking book at the time of its publication. Promotional pieces produced for book marketing campaigns were typically printed in very small quantities and intended for temporary display in theaters, magic shops, or booksellers—making surviving examples exceptionally scarce today. This dramatic 1908 Houdini banner is not merely a poster; it is a remarkable historical artifact from the height of Houdini’s career, connecting collectors directly to the legendary magician’s crusade to rewrite the history of magic. For serious Houdini collectors and students of magic history, pieces of this magnitude rarely surface.

NOTE:  We also just acquired an Authentic Signed Autographed copy of "The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin".  Imagine owning the  Signed Book AND this Original Advertising Banner Poster to Promote the Book?

*The History Channel show ”Pawn Stars” solicited me to appear in an episode with a Houdini signed book.  Over the years countless people have confided in my opinion on Houdini’s signature.   

* See enlargeable images

NOTE:  *  An EXTREMELY Rare discovery:
Owning the 120-year-old Harry Houdini poster banner is remarkable, but pairing it with an Authentic Original Signed "The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin" is the kind of discovery collectors wait a lifetime for.   We also have that Museum-grade Signed Book  from 1908 offered separately here on cvtreasures.com.   

1908 Banner/Poster Description:
HOUDINI, Harry (Erik Weisz, 1874 – 1926). "The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin". [New York, ca. 1908]. Two-color offset poster advertising Houdini’s book regarding the inventions and claims of Robert-Houdin. Framed to 28 x 22”.  Unframed 12x18".  Wear, chips, and small losses visible, but not examined out of frame.  UNrestored.   (Note: many if not most of these that have appeared on the market required Restoration onto linen backing.  This is UNrestored)

GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC for LIFE  

* See enlargeable images

Houdini BIO: Many historians, magicians and escape artists that spent a lifetime trying to figure out How Houdini did his seemingly impossible escapes were so frystrated they could never solve the Houdini puzzle, they resorted to, “Houdini must have been in on the act”.  But, of course they could never orive that either!   

Houdini  first attracted notice in vaudeville in the United States and then as "Harry 'Handcuff' Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

From 1907 and throughout the 1910s, Houdini performed with great success in the United States. He freed himself from jails, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope in sight of street audiences. Because of imitators, Houdini put his "handcuff act" behind him on January 25, 1908, and began escaping from a locked, water-filled milk can. The possibility of failure and death thrilled his audiences. Houdini also expanded his repertoire with his escape challenge act, in which he invited the public to devise contraptions to hold him. These included nailed packing crates (sometimes lowered into water), riveted boilers, wet sheets, mail bags, and even the belly of a whale that had washed ashore in Boston. Brewers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other cities challenged Houdini to escape from a barrel after they filled it with beer.

In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from special handcuffs that it claimed had taken Nathaniel Hart, a locksmith from Birmingham, five years to make. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17 during a matinée performance at London's Hippodrome theatre. It was reported that 4000 people and more than 100 journalists turned out for the much-hyped event. The escape attempt dragged on for over an hour, during which Houdini emerged from his "ghost house" (a small screen used to conceal the method of his escape) several times. At one point he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. Houdini promptly took out a penknife and, holding it in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Many thought that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. However, it has since been suggested that Bess did not in fact enter the stage at all, and that this theory is unlikely due to the size of the six-inch key. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. At the time, Houdini said it had been one of the most difficult escapes of his career.

Guaranteed Authentic for Life
Conway's Vintage Treasures

Note: CVtreasures stamp Not on original