If looks are anything to go by, then this massive 18th-century lock should inspire plenty of confindence. One of only three of its type, it has also inspired a local legend. This is the lock that Harry Houdini, the world-famous escapologist, could鈥檔t pick, or so the story goes. Made by locksmith William Fenton in the 1750s, the 鈥渓ock that beat Houdini鈥� is tucked away in the Bradford Industrial Museum in Fenton鈥檚 home town. Twice Houdini was challenged to open the lock-in 1901 and 1914-and twice he refused. The handcuffs on top of the lock are fake, added for theatrical purposes, but the lock itself was no trick: it had already been in used for more than a century.
THE GREAT, the amazing, the one and only Houdini was coming to town. In America, Houdini attracted enormous crowds wherever he went, and his first appearance in London in 1900 had caused a sensation. Now he was on his way north to Bradford in Yorkshire. Houdini鈥檚 reputation for extricating himself from seemingly impossible bonds-handcuffs, chains, even the cells of Scotland Yard-had preceded him and so had his willingness to take on challenges. He advertised big rewards for anyone who could restrain him.
William Fenton, cycle maker and repairer, locksmith, crank and bellhanger (鈥淢ail Carts Repaired on the Shortest Notice鈥�) was only too willing to oblige. He had an old lock he thought might hold Houdini and bring fame to the Fenton family firm, so he dashed off a note. 鈥淒ear Sir, I have a patent lock with wood handcuffs attached, and if you will allow me to fasten you, I challenge you to pick the lock . . . If you will kindly accept the challenge, I shall be pleased to handcuff you, at any time convenient to you . . .鈥�
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The lock had been in the Fenton family for 150 years. It was made around 1750 by William鈥檚 great grandfather, also called William. For years, the lock had been fixed on the door of an old warehouse in the city, but when the building was demolished William retrieved it, regarding it as something of an heirloom. The lock was the only remaining example of three such locks, and even a modern locksmith like William regarded it as special. It weighed more than 7 kilograms, measured 30 by 21 centimetres and was a chunky 9 centimetres thick. Where locks are concerned, though, size isn鈥檛 so important. It鈥檚 the ingenuity of the mechanism inside that keeps out would-be burglars.
The Fenton lock is a three-chambered model-effectively three locks in one. The first chamber is protected by 鈥渨ards鈥�, projections around the inside of the keyhole. Only a key with the right pattern of slots can make it past the wards and on to the next chamber. In this case the key moves straight through to the third section of the lock, where it must be turned through a quarter turn and pulled back into the middle chamber. This holds another obstacle to would-be lock-pickers-a tumbler, a sort of lever that fits into a slot in the bolt. Only the right key will lift the lever just high enough to allow the bolt to slide out. Fenton was confident that the big, old lock couldn鈥檛 be opened by anything but the original key, which was a hefty thing 15 centimetres long and 5 centimetres high.
Houdini thrived on challenges. They were an important part of his publicity and helped to draw huge audiences. At every town he came to, the place would be plastered with posters offering prizes to anyone who could beat him. Houdini was a master of his art. He had the physical strength and agility to work in impossible positions, often tightly and painfully trussed, sometimes confined in a tiny box or a water-filled container-and he was an expert at manipulating locks.
Kernan鈥檚 Theatrical Bulletin for February 1907 proclaims an astonishing, not to say exhausting, list of challenges Houdini would face during one week at a theatre in Maryland. 鈥淢onday evening he will escape from an extra heavy packing box built on the stage . . . in which he will be nailed, roped and sealed. Tuesday afternoon he will escape from a State Asylum straight jacket, such are used for confining the violently insane and in the evening he will be locked and sealed in an extra heavy and strong mail pouch made of leather . . .鈥� By the end of the week, things were really getting tough. 鈥淪aturday matinee his feat will be an escape from an iron bound wicker hamper which is locked, lashed with ropes and sealed. Saturday evening he will attempt to break all of his previous time records in getting out of a full length straight jacket, in which the most dangerous maniacs of the State Asylums have been successfully confined . . .鈥�
Houdini鈥檚 feats were often dangerous but he didn鈥檛 take more risks than he had to. He knew locks inside out. Whenever he came across a new device, he would buy two of them: one to dismantle and study, the second to practise on. Offered something like the Fenton lock, he was understandably cautious. Something as old as this was a bit out of the ordinary. You couldn鈥檛 buy one and he certainly wouldn鈥檛 have encountered anything like it before. It could be a trick.
Houdini had been caught out before, during an appearance in the US. He was challenged to free himself from a simple-looking set of handcuffs. Confident that they would give him little trouble, he agreed. But the cuffs had been fixed so that once closed they could never be opened again. After that, he always asked to see cuffs and locks in action, closed and then opened again-just to make sure. Offered something like the Fenton lock, he would ask to examine it, and if possible take it apart to study the mechanism, or at least take the back off. Fenton turned down Houdini鈥檚 request to study the lock. Houdini, in turn, declined the challenge.
In 1914, on one of Houdini鈥檚 many return visits to Bradford, Fenton tried again. And again Houdini said no. And so the story grew: the lock was so good, Houdini didn鈥檛 dare try it. According to the Fentons, Houdini reckoned the lock was the best he had ever come across. The truth may be more prosaic. Refused permission to take the lock apart and study it, Houdini played safe and said no rather than risk failure in front of his audience. But by turning Fenton down, he left the town with a lock that has become a local legend-and won rather more than 15 minutes of fame.