The size of the theater made the cabinet appear much smaller than its actual size. What he described as "about 8 feet high" could not possibly have housed the 5-ton, 8 foot tall elephant. The Hippodrome's size made it easy for Houdini to underestimate the size of his cabinet. Once reopened, the cabinet was empty, the elephant vanished. Once inside the cabinet, the doors and curtains were closed. Houdini began with a cabinet, he described as "about eight feet square, twenty six inches off the floor." All parts of the cabinets where shown to the audience and the elephant was walked inside. The illusion called for only a huge cabinet, an elephant, and a team of twelve, strong men. The Hippodrome featured the world's largest stage as well as a troupe of trained elephants. To this day, séances to conjure up the great escape artist are held on Halloween night as a part of Houdini’s written instructions in his will.On January 7th, 1918 Houdini performed his "Vanishing Elephant" illusion at New York's Hippodrome Theater.
When Houdini died, his will specified that his wife was to use half of his fortune to continue his legacy. His posters featured giant green monsters, menacing police, and choking robots as political statements and to stir up controversy. He’d also cross-promote himself with big companies by escaping from milk cans, beer barrels or steamer trunks. He made front page headlines again and again, as well as selling out his shows.
That way the photographers could just pop out of a window to shoot him. When he would enter a new town, he’d hang from buildings that housed major newspapers. And, to Houdini, the legend was just as important as the magic. There is a reason Houdini’s diaries are full of newspaper clippings. His costumes, visuals, theatrics of his show, his ability to create suspense. In an age when public relations was difficult (no radio, internet or television), Houdini built buzz one town at a time.
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