![]() As he was paraded on the shoulders of the cheering crowd, he broke down and wept. After an hour and ten minutes, Houdini emerged free. Houdini then went back behind the curtain. It was believed by some that in her mouth was the key to unlock the special handcuffs. ![]() Some 56 minutes later, Houdini's wife appeared on stage and gave him a kiss. Houdini promptly took out a pen-knife and, holding the knife in his teeth, used it to cut his coat from his body. The Mirror representative, Frank Parker, refused, saying Houdini could gain an advantage if he saw how the cuffs were unlocked. On one occasion he asked if the cuffs could be removed so he could take off his coat. 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. ![]() It was reported that 4,000 people, and more than 100 journalists, turned out for the much-hyped event. Houdini accepted the challenge for March 17, during a matinée performance at the London Hippodrome theater. 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. Mirror Cuffs was a Harry Houdini challenge escape first performed in 1904.
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