If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles
Posted 2 years ago
anicolmag
(1 item)
I purchased my Houdini (Silver Plated) flask in 2007 from the Houdini Magic Shop in Las Vegas. The flask reads.... To Supt. Pierce From the Master of Manacles Harry Houdini. The officer, whose name is engraved upon it, was involved in a jail cell escape that Houdini performed. Houdini was very appreciative of the police and it was very good public relations for him to acknowledge the officer. I have had The History Detectives (PBS), research this item last year for a spot on their season 9 show this year. Unfortunately, they were unable to find enough information to make a definitive finding about the flask in the time allotted and had to move on to another story. Although they did email me some images from a pitch book that was published about Houdini’s escape from a city prison dated from 1906 (including a picture of officer Pierce himself). They also gave me a list of some different experts they talked to about the flask and their comments about it. I’m hoping someone out there can shed some more light on my cherished antique flask from the Great Houdini!
Sterling SilverHolding a piece of sterling silver flatware in the palm of the hand is like…
Interesting item-- the lack of discoloration in the engraving would concern me as would anything with a Houdini inscription!
What did the experts have to say about it?