Last month, while attending a Houdini Nuts Preview of the New Houdini Seance at the Magic Castle, Joe Fox (Escape Artist, Collector, Magic Castle Assistant Librarian, and friend) mentioned that there was a lock show near me in February:

So, I met Joe Fox (middle), Mark Lyons (left), and Jay Leslie (right) at their table.

They had some nice handcuffs, locks, and keys on display:

And also had some handcuffs for sale:

Joe, Mark and Jay are extremely knowledgeable about handcuffs and graciously shared some of their wisdom with me, which I truly appreciate.

In addition,

Jay provided me with an Illustrated Catalogue of Police Supplies 1887:

Joe shared a one of kind cuff and provided me with a copy of his article, The Tompkins Handcuff…..America’s Top Security Handcuff…..that you never saw, that appeared in the Antique Lock Collector (Vol. 43, No. 1 Jan-Mar 2021):

And Mark gave me a great deal on a pair of Tower Double Lock (D.L.) Cuffs for my Grim Game room:

HHCE Collection

Later that day, I invited the guys over to my place to check out my Houdini room (aka The Grim Game Room); Unfortunately, Jay couldn’t join us:

I shared some one of kind items that included, The Master Mystery Broadside, Houdini’s Schooldays book, and Grim Game “Message From The Clouds” advertising card, but they seemed most impressed by the fact that I was called “The Great Escapini” and made my own cuffs when I was a kid, lol:

Joe and Mark helped me identify the cuffs (Tower D.L. Handcuffs on wrists, Marlin-Daley cuff connects to ball & chain, plus Darby Leg Iron on arms) used in Houdini’s movie, the Grim Game:

HHCE Collection

It was an honor to learn from Joe, Jay & Mark, and share some of my collection.

What a great day!

Related:

• Inmate 103126 makes surprise appearance at Scot Nerys Booby Trap (Joe Fox Escapes)
• German Berliner Handcuffs used during trial? (Mark Lyons owns Berliner Cuffs)