[King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900].
This is a circa 1900 promotional text about Houdini, the escape artist, compiled in the McManus-Young Collection at the Library of Congress from a collection formerly owned by Oscar S. Teale, aimed at audiences of magic shows in London and England. The pictures show a performer posed with handcuffs and chains in staged photographs, a head portrait, and a caricature titled King of Handcuffs, which a designer might use for vintage showbill or advertising imagery built on exaggerated caricature and stark studio photography.
![Picture 1 of 5 from [King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900]. (1900), leaf 1](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/locbook-loc_2018682493-1-1.webp)
![Picture 2 of 5 from [King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900]. (1900), leaf 1](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/locbook-loc_2018682493-1-2.webp)
![Picture 3 of 5 from [King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900]. (1900), leaf 2](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/locbook-loc_2018682493-2-1.webp)
![Picture 4 of 5 from [King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900]. (1900), leaf 3](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/locbook-loc_2018682493-3-1.webp)
![Picture 5 of 5 from [King of handcuffs text, ca. 1900]. (1900), leaf 3](https://img.insideoutlibrary.com/img/200/locbook-loc_2018682493-3-2.webp)