No not the Tatler Mirror Cuff (from missing IBM Museum) that Bessie Houdini gave to W.W. Durbin (President of IBM), but the Russian Manacle that Bessie gave to the Society of American Magicians and is part of the S.A.M Hall of Fame and Magic Museum currently on display at the Whittier Musuem.
Over Ten Years ago (June 2013), I made the trek to the Whittier Museum to see famous handcuff. In fact, I attempted to see the famous handcuff (i.e., the Russian Manacle) twice and both times the Houdini Display was dark. The first time, no one showed up with the key to open the museum, and the second time, the lights in the Houdini Display wouldn’t come on. Well the third time was the charm.
I attended the opening ceremony on January 27th, 2024 and got a nice close-up look at the Russian Manacle.
I highly recommend the experience!
Thanks Joe! That’s a nice close up shot of this manacle. It went from Houdini to Hardeen, then to Ed Saint for his manacle board, then finally to the SAM.
And thanks to our friend Joe Fox, assistant librarian at the Magic Castle, we know Bessie gave the Manacle Board with Russian Manacle to Lenn Gunn, who placed it in the hall of fame.
A big thanks to Joe for the missing information! I wondered how the SAM acquired the manacle board.