Posted by Steve Santini on February 19, 2001 at 18:44:11:
In Reply to: Berliner posted by Dan Schember on February 19, 2001 at 18:01:43:
Hello,
Simply put, Tom is wrong in what he says about the Berliner in his book. Tom makes reference to a Berliner cuff owned
by a German collector and states that the "real" Berliner cuffs have two seperate hinges and DO NOT have both arms "stacked" on a central hinge pin point like
the replicas made by Ian McColl of Australia. This is simply not so. Had Tom bothered to look at many period photos of Houdini shackled in numerous cuffs, he would have seen that
in many of these pictures Houdini is shown wearing authentic Berliner cuffs with different lock bodies but all with the arms "stacked" on a central hinge pin area like the McColl replicas.
In fact, I have yet to see a period photograph of Houdini wearing a Berliner cuff that is NOT made this way. The cuffs on ebay were authentic and there is no doubt about it. One sure way to tell a McColl replica from
a real Berliner cuff is that if one looks closely, one can see ground down areas of weld where McColl has attatched the lock body to the supporting shaft, and also where the arms of the cuff join the "hinge" area.
Unlike the real Berliners which were hand forged, the replicas are made up of numerous seperate components which then are welded together to make a complete restraint. It is unknown how many shape and lock body variations of the Berliner style cuffs exist
but it is certain that the originals were all made using "old world" manufacturing technology that the replicas have yet to mimmick correctly. (Thank goodness!) Hope this helps Dan! Kind regards, Steve Santini. helps: In Gross's first book Manacles of the World. Turn to page 104 Tom talks about each bow being hinged and stacked on the imitation (Berliner). About two months ago a set
: sold on ebay for around 1200.00 but it looked like the
: imitations (stacked) but the dealer added in they were
: indeed real---I wish I would have copied a picture--
: Who is right on this issue. I've only been in this game for afew years and have alot to learn
: thanks
: Dan