Houdini: Escapes. Séances. One Last Trick.Episode 61:28
The Draft Card Signed by a Stage Persona
America's wartime bureaucracy tries to reduce Houdini to a form, only for his theatrical identity to appear in the signature itself.
Watch it in the appThis episode needs All Access, from $4.99 a week.
Transcript
On a federal draft card, Houdini signed himself with a startling extra name.
The system behind that card began when Congress passed the Selective Service Act on May 18th, 1917.
About 24 million men registered for the American World War I draft.
Houdini entered that system shortly before the registration cutoff age of 45.
The registrant was Harry Houdini, the illusionist already known as the Handcuff King.
The draft card is signed “Harry Handcuff Houdini.”
The card's ink turns a stage nickname into an official identity marker.
Passport applications gave the bureaucracy another moving target: artist, performer, or actor.
Official records could name his work, but they could not contain the performance behind it.
The added nickname shows how Houdini carried his stage identity into government paperwork.
Houdini was an illusionist and stunt performer known for escape acts.
Houdini was an illusionist and stunt performer who held a patent for a quick-escape diving suit.
In 2017, the National Archives displayed an original Houdini draft registration card.
Where it leaves off
The government file beside the draft card contained a new kind of Houdini secret: a patented suit designed for a rapid escape.
Sources
- Searching for Houdini – The Text Messagetext-message.blogs.archives.govsecondary
- National Archives Display Marks Wartime Draft 100th Anniversary | National Archivesarchives.govsecondary
- Introduction - Harry Houdini: Topics in Chronicling America - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
The whole series is in the app.
Download on the App StoreAll Access is $4.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The annual plan starts with three days free.