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Prepared from the source scan: surroundings removed and the sheet levelled where required. The source record remains available below.
The WPA & the Golden Age · The American Golden Age
Nothing on Earth Can Hold Houdini! Smith-Brooks Poster
Vaudeville bill: Houdini, with Fred Ray & Co., 1901
Format
Archival pigment giclée on museum-grade matte art paper, color-managed to the source scan — the flat inks and stone grain intact. The 40×60 is the room-changer.
Size
$39.00
What it is
A 1901 colour lithograph by the Smith-Brooks Co.: 'Houdini, nothing on earth can hold Houdini!', sharing the bill with Fred Ray & Co.'s 'Roman travesty'; a long, narrow sheet, 106 by 35 cm.
Why it matters
Houdini first drew notice in American vaudeville, then toured Europe as the Handcuff King, challenging police forces to hold him.
What to notice
Houdini shares the bill with a comedy act. This is vaudeville, before he headlined alone.
A promise he kept for twenty-five years.
Provenance
- School
- The American Golden Age — the Poster before 1931 (United States)
- Printer / house
- Smith-Brooks Co.
- Format
- Theater poster
- Poster published
- Vaudeville bill: Houdini, with Fred Ray & Co., 1901
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 2014636903
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-11-01.
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