WHILE Robert-Houdin claims to have invented “The Inexhaustible Bottle” for a special programme designed to create a sensation at the opening of his season of 1848, in the illustrated appendix of the original French edition of his “Memoirs” he states that it had its premier presentation December 1st, 1847. These discrepancies occur with such frequency that it is difficult to refute his claims in chronological order. Perhaps he adopted this method intentionally, to confuse future historians of magic, particularly concerning his own achievements.

In order to emphasize the brilliancy of this trick, Robert-Houdin turned boastful in describing it. On page 348 of the American edition of his “Memoirs,” he states that the trick had created such a sensation and was so much exploited in the London newspapers that the fame of his inexhaustible bottle spread to the provinces, and on his appearance in Manchester with the bottle in his hand the workmen who made up the audience nearly mobbed him. In fact, the description of this scene is the most dramatic pen-picture in his “Memoirs.”

The truth, sad to state, is that the bottle trick did not create the sensation he claims for it in London, nor did the press eulogize it. It was classed with other ordinary tricks, and twenty London papers bear mute testimony to this fact. In a complete collection of press clippings regarding his first London appearance, only four of the London papers mention the trick. The Times, the great conservative English paper, in reviewing Robert-Houdin’s performance in its issue of May 3d, 1847, ignored the trick entirely. The four London papers which made mention of the bottle trick, and then only in a passing comment, were The Chronicle, The Globe, The Lady’s Newspaper, and The Court Journal. Any one acquainted with the two last-named periodicals will know that they rarely reach the hands of the humble artisans in Manchester. Punch, London’s great comic paper, gave the trick some space, however.

The trick of pouring several sorts of liquors from the same bottle has been presented in various forms and under different names. To prove the futility of Robert-Houdin’s claims I will explain the mystery of this trick, which is of an interesting nature.

To all intents and purposes the bottle used looks like glass; but it is invariably made of tin, heavily japanned. Ranged around the central space, which is free from deception, are five compartments, each tapering to a narrow-mouthed tube which terminates about an inch or an inch and a half from within the neck of the bottle. A small pinhole is drilled through the outer surface of the bottle into each compartment, the holes being so placed that when the bottle is grasped with the hand in the ordinary way, the performer covers all but one of the pinholes with his fingers and thumb. The centre section is left empty, but the other compartments are filled with a funnel which has a tapering nozzle made specially for this purpose.

The trick is generally started by proving to the audience that the bottle is empty. It is then filled with water, which is immediately poured out again, all this time the five pinholes being covered tightly with the hand or fingers which are holding the bottle. When a liquor is called for, the performer raises the finger over the air-hole above that particular liquor, and the liquor will flow out. When a large number of liquors may be called for, the performer has one compartment filled with a perfectly colorless liquor, which he pours into glasses previously flavored with strong essences. Certain gins and cordials can be simulated in this fashion.

Various improvements have been made in this bottle trick. For instance, after the bottle has yielded its various sorts of liquors, it is broken, and from the bottle the performer produces some borrowed article which has been “vanished” in a previous trick and then apparently forgotten. This may have been a ring, glove, or handkerchief, which will be discovered tied around the neck of a small guinea-pig or dove taken from the broken bottle.

This is accomplished by having the bottle especially constructed. Its compartments end a few inches above the bottom of the bottle and the portion below having a wavy or cracked appearance, is made to slip on and off. The conjurer goes through the motions of actually breaking the bottle by tapping it near the bottom with a small hammer or wand, and the appearance of the guinea-pig or lost article causes surprise, so that the pretended breaking of the bottle passes unnoticed.

Again, this bottle can be genuine, with no loose bottom at all, and a small article can be inserted, but this makes a great deal of trouble, and the effect is not greatly increased. In doing the trick thus, I was always compelled to have an optician cut the bottom from the bottle, and then at times even he would break it.

To explain further how the article is “loaded” into the bottle, the performer borrows several articles, for example a ring and two watches. He will place the ring and watches into a funnel at the end of a large horse-pistol, and shoot them at the target. The two watches appear on the target or in a frame or any place that he may choose. In obtaining the articles, he may have wrapped them up in a handkerchief which he has hidden in the front of his vest. Alexander Herrmann was exceptionally clever in making this exchange, his iron nerve and perpetual smile being great aids in the trick.

The performer now places the duplicate handkerchief on the table in full view of the audience, and walks to another table for a gun. While reaching for this gun, he places the original articles which he borrowed behind his table on a servante, so that his hidden assistant may reach for them, place the two watches on the “turn-about target,” tie the ring on the neck of the guinea-pig, shove him into the bottle, and insert the false bottom. The trick is then ready in its entirety.

The magician calls for something to use as a target, and the assistant responds with the revolving target or frame. When the conjurer shoots, the two watches appear on the target or in the frame. This part of the trick is accomplished by having the centre of the target revolve, or, if the frame is used, by having a black velvet curtain pulled up by rapid springs or strong rubbers.

While all this is going on, some one has brought on the stage the loaded bottle, and as no attention is called to this, by the time the watches have been restored to the owners the conjurer introduces the bottle trick, pours out the various liquors, and eventually breaks the bottle and reproduces the borrowed article tied about the neck of the guinea-pig or dove.

Many names have been given to this trick. The old-time magicians who remained for months in one theatre had to change their programmes frequently, so for one night they would present the bottle without breaking it, and on the next they would break the bottle, so as to vary the trick.

This bottle trick originated in “The Inexhaustible Barrel.” The first trace that I can find of this wonderful barrel is in “Hocus Pocus, Jr., The Anatomie of Legerdemain,” written by Henry Dean in 1635 (Second Edition). On page 21 is described a barrel with a single spout, from which can be drawn three different kinds of liquors. This was worked precisely on the same principle as was the inexhaustible bottle trick centuries later, by shutting up the air-holes of compartments from which liquors were not flowing.

Its first public appearance, according to the data in my collection, clipped from London papers of 1707 and 1712, was when the “famous water-works of the late ingenious Mr. Henry Winstanly” were exhibited by his servants for the benefit of his widow; and the exhibition included a view of “the Barrel that plays so many Liquors and is broke in pieces before the Spectators.”

In 1780 Dr. Desaguliers presented in London a performance entitled “A Course of Experimental Philosophy wherein the Principles of Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Optics are proved and demonstrated by more than 300 Experiments.”

In the course of these lectures he produced a sort of barrel, worked by holding the fingers over the air-holes. He also exposed the real source of strength of the notorious strong man of his day, John Carl von Eckeberg, who allowed horses to pull against him, permitted heavy stones to be broken on his bare chest, and who broke heavy ropes simply by stretching or straightening his knees. These lectures and exposÉs made Dr. Desaguliers so famous that he has been given considerable space in Sir David Brewster’s “Letters on Natural Magic,” published in London in 1851, in which book the various deceptions used by strong men are fully described. In fact the book is one that should be in every conjurer’s library.

The old Dutch books explain the barrel trick, and in 1803 Charles Hutton, professor of Woolwich Royal Academy, translated four books from Ozanam and Montucla, exposing quite a number of old conjuring tricks. The barrel trick will be found on page 94 of Volume II.

The first use of “The Inexhaustible Bottle” by modern conjurers I found in an announcement of Herr Schmidt, a German performer, who for a time controlled the original writing and drawing figure, as will be found by reference to Chapter III., which is devoted to the history of that automaton. The programme published in that chapter is dated 1827, and does not include the famous bottle, because it was no longer a novelty in Herr Schmidt’s rÉpertoire; but the advertisement reproduced herewith, dated 1821, schedules the bottle trick thus: “The Bottle of Sobriety and Inebriety, proving the inutility of a set of decanters, when various liquors can be produced by one.” Thus Schmidt antedated Houdin’s offering of the trick by more than a quarter of a century.

Next the bottle turned up in 1835 in London, where it was presented by a German who styled himself “Falck of Koenigsberg, Pupil of the celebrated Chevalier Pinnetty,” and who introduced the programme with which DÖbler made such a sensation in 1842.

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Poster used by Falck of Koenigsberg in 1835, featuring the trick of exchange of wine. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
Poster used by Falck of Koenigsberg in 1835, featuring the trick of exchange of wine. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

Mr. Falck opened at the Queen’s Bazaar, Oxford Street, London, November 8th, 1835. Before opening, however, he gave a private performance for the press, and received quite a number of notices. A half-column clipping in my collection, dated November 4th, 1835, which I think is cut from The Chronicle or The Globe, mentions the trick among other effects like “Flora’s Gift,” “The Card in the Pocket,” etc., and adds that the “exchange of wine was so that if once in Mr. Falck’s company, we should not wish to exchange it, for he poured three sorts of wine, Port, Sherry, and Champagne, out of one bottle. Then he put them together, and from such a mixture produced sherry in one glass, and port in another.”

From this notice it will be seen that Falck had “The Inexhaustible Bottle,” and had some method of returning all the liquors not drunk back into the bottle and then pouring out two different kinds of liquor.

Perhaps he resorted to chemicals, but one thing is evident—the bottle was used for six different kinds of liquors at one and the same time.

Phillippe from 1836 to 1838 featured “An Infernal Bottle” trick, also “The Inexhaustible Bottle” trick. The trick also was seen on programmes used by John Henry Anderson, the Wizard of the North, in the same years. According to these programmes Phillippe and Anderson showed the bottle empty, filled it with water, and then served five different liquors.

On April 30th, 1838, Anderson thus announced the trick on a programme used at Victoria Rooms, Hull:

“Handkerchiefs will be borrowed from three gentlemen; the magician will load his mystic gun, in which he will place the handkerchiefs; he will fire a bottle containing wine, the bottle will be broken and the handkerchiefs will appear.”

Programmes in my collection show that Anderson presented the trick, serving various sorts of liquors, when he played London in 1840, but little attention was drawn to the wonderful bottle. In 1842 Ludwig DÖbler, Germany’s best-beloved magician, came to London and featured what he termed “The Travelling Bottle.”

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Reproduction of a political cartoon in Punch, published during Anderson’s London engagement, April, 1843, proving that the “Inexhaustible Bottle Trick” was used by Anderson before Robert-Houdin was a professional entertainer. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
Reproduction of a political cartoon in Punch, published during Anderson’s London engagement, April, 1843, proving that the “Inexhaustible Bottle Trick” was used by Anderson before Robert-Houdin was a professional entertainer. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

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Ludwig DÖbler in his prime, taken about 1839. The original of this rare picture was discovered by the author in a small print shop in Moscow, Russia. It is now a part of his Collection.
Ludwig DÖbler in his prime, taken about 1839. The original of this rare picture was discovered by the author in a small print shop in Moscow, Russia. It is now a part of his Collection.

Ludwig Leopold DÖbler was born in Vienna in 1801. He was the best-beloved magician who ever trod the stage. He started life as an engraver of metals, but his fancy turned to necromancy. He gave his best performances in his native city. In 1841 he was touring Holland, and in a letter now in my possession, which he wrote to a director and editor in Vienna under date of March 15th, 1842, he informs his friend that he has sent all his baggage to London from Amsterdam, and is on a visit to Paris. He regrets that he has not all of his apparatus with him, but has given several performances, and mentions the fact that “to-morrow I am engaged to give a performance in the private parlor of Rothschild and then by the Count Montaliset, minister of the King’s mansions.” He also informs his friend that he expects to visit Paris the next season and build his own theatre. He states a fact most interesting to all magicians, namely, that he has rented the St. James Theatre in London for two thousand francs ($400) a night, or more than $2,400 rent for one week. DÖbler drew such big audiences and made so much money that he refused to give private performances, only breaking this rule when presenting his show before H. M. Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.

He played the provinces, then went over to Dublin, where, although unable to speak English, he was a veritable sensation. In 1844 DÖbler played a return date at the St. James Theatre, London, and this time he had Anderson as a rival at the ThÉÂtre Royal Adelphia.

DÖbler amassed a fortune very rapidly; in fact he retired in 1847, and never again appeared on the stage. He always explained his early retirement by saying: “The public loves me, and I want it to always love me. I may return and be a failure, so it is best to know just when to stop.” He died in a little village near Tunitz, on April 17th, 1864, when one of God’s noblemen was laid to rest.

“The Travelling Bottle” alluded to by DÖbler in his programmes was nothing more or less than “The Inexhaustible Bottle.” The following excerpt from the London Chronicle during DÖbler’s engagement at the St. James Theatre, April, 1842, is illuminating:

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DÖbler’s farewell programme in verse, used when he played his last engagement in the Josephstadter Theatre, Vienna. Original given by DÖbler personally to Henry Evanion; now in the Harry Houdini Collection.
DÖbler’s farewell programme in verse, used when he played his last engagement in the Josephstadter Theatre, Vienna. Original given by DÖbler personally to Henry Evanion; now in the Harry Houdini Collection.

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Ludwig DÖbler in his prime, offering his most popular trick, “The Creation of Flowers.” From a rare lithograph in the Harry Houdini Collection.
Ludwig DÖbler in his prime, offering his most popular trick, “The Creation of Flowers.” From a rare lithograph in the Harry Houdini Collection.

“DÖbler—St. James Theatre.—Among the illusions that more particularly struck our fancy was one entitled ‘The Travelling Bottle,’ where Herr DÖbler, filling a common bottle with water, transformed this water into a collection of wines of all countries, amicably assembled together in one receptacle, and he fills out first a glass of sherry, then one of port, then one of champagne, and so on.”

The critic then describes how the bottle was broken, and the borrowed handkerchief was found inside the bottle.

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DÖbler programme with illustrations of his tricks, used during his engagement at the St. James Theatre, London. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
DÖbler programme with illustrations of his tricks, used during his engagement at the St. James Theatre, London. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

Probably because of the prominence which Herr DÖbler gave to this trick it attracted more attention when Anderson presented it during his London run of 1843. He announced it as “Water vs. Wine, or Changing Water into Different Liquids—Sherry, Port, Champagne, Gin, Milk, Rum, and Water.”

The London Sun of April 18th, 1843, says:

“Mr. Anderson, besides the feats by which his reputation was established in his former exhibitions in the metropolis, performed with perfect ease and success some of greater difficulty than those by which Herr DÖbler astonished the world, such as serving several kinds of wines from the same bottle.”

The Morning Advertiser (London) of the same date said:

“With the utmost ease he produced from an empty bottle wine, water, port, sherry, and champagne, and immediately afterward, under a blaze of wax and gas, he broke the same bottle and produced from it half a dozen cambric handkerchiefs, which had previously been deposited under lock and key at a considerable distance.”

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Andrew Macallister as he appeared during his engagement in the United States. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
Andrew Macallister as he appeared during his engagement in the United States. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

Macallister, the Scotch brick-mason, who became the pupil and assistant of Phillippe, as described in the chapter on “The Pastry Cook of the Palais Royal,” also claimed the bottle trick as his invention. I have been unable to obtain any of the early programmes used by Macallister, but I am reproducing the one he utilized during his engagement at the Bowery Theatre, New York City, in 1852. This was not his first appearance in New York, however. In December, 1848, and January, 1849, he played at the same theatre, and announced that he had just concluded a successful engagement at the Grand Theatre Tacon, Havana, Cuba.

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The original Compars Herrmann, who was Robert-Houdin’s very active rival during the latter’s first engagement in London. Best portrait now in existence, and only one showing Herrmann in his prime. Original photograph loaned for this work by James L. Kernan, of Baltimore, Md., U. S. A.
The original Compars Herrmann, who was Robert-Houdin’s very active rival during the latter’s first engagement in London. Best portrait now in existence, and only one showing Herrmann in his prime. Original photograph loaned for this work by James L. Kernan, of Baltimore, Md., U. S. A.

Although Macallister claims to have invented “The Inexhaustible Bottle” trick, it is more likely that, having been connected so long with Phillippe, he knew the secret several years before Robert-Houdin appeared in public. But as Macallister also claimed to have invented the peacock and the harlequin automata, both of which are recognized as the inventions of his predecessors, his claim cannot be given serious consideration.

He advertised to produce twenty-two kinds of liquors from one bottle, and therefore he must have utilized the essence glasses in connection with the bottle.

What must have been Robert-Houdin’s feeling when, on arriving in London in 1848, he found another magician, Compars Herrmann, heavily advertised at the ThÉÂtre Royal, and already offering each and every trick included by the Frenchman in his rÉpertoire. Even the much-vaunted bottle was in Herrmann’s list of tricks. No one seems able to tell where Compars Herrmann obtained the tricks he used, but he must be given credit for never advertising them as his own inventions. His record in this respect was clean throughout his life as a mysterious entertainer.

The programme presented by Herrmann at the ThÉÂtre Royal during Robert-Houdin’s opening week at the St. James Theatre is herewith reproduced. Herrmann remained some time in London, playing at the Adelphia, then at the Royal Princess, and finally at the Surrey Theatre. A bill used by Herrmann at the Princess is reproduced on page 232. It evidently proved satisfactory to the public and he used it without change for many years.

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Billing used by Compars Herrmann when he played in opposition to Robert-Houdin on the latter’s arrival in London. This shows that Herrmann duplicated all of Robert-Houdin’s tricks. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
Billing used by Compars Herrmann when he played in opposition to Robert-Houdin on the latter’s arrival in London. This shows that Herrmann duplicated all of Robert-Houdin’s tricks. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

Probably the most notable warfare waged over the honor of having invented this trick arose between Robert-Houdin and Henri Robin, who were contemporaries.

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A Herrmann programme dated April, 1848, showing that Herrmann presented the inexhaustible bottle two months before Robert-Houdin appeared in London.
A Herrmann programme dated April, 1848, showing that Herrmann presented the inexhaustible bottle two months before Robert-Houdin appeared in London.

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Henri Robin, generally conceded to have been the most polished conjurer in the history of magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
Henri Robin, generally conceded to have been the most polished conjurer in the history of magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.

Robin, whose right name was Dunkell, was of Holland birth and died in Paris in 1874. He was at his prime about 1839-40, when he toured the Continent. He was popular in London, Paris, and both the English and French provinces. A polished man, famous for the elegance of his speech and manners, he conducted his performance and all his business in a quiet, conservative fashion. In both Paris and London, he had playhouses named temporarily in his honor, Salle de Robin, and at one time in London he also appeared at the Egyptian Hall. He published his own magazine, L’Almanach d’Cagliostro, an illustrated periodical which was quite pretentious.

Robin presented all the tricks and automata that Robert-Houdin claimed as his original inventions, and in the famous controversy, Robert-Houdin came out second best. Robin proved that he had used the bottle trick before Robert-Houdin did, by showing back numbers of his magazine, whose illustrations pictured Robin performing the trick at his theatre in Milan, Italy, July 6th, 1844, or three years before Robert-Houdin presented it in Paris.

Robin, however, never wrote an autobiography nor any exhaustive work dealing with the history of magic, while Robert-Houdin did. The latter set forth his claims over other magicians so skilfully that for more than half a century the intelligent and thoughtful reading public has been deceived and has accepted his statements as authoritative. According to an article published in L’Illusionniste, scientists to this day, in explaining the law of physics as operated by the use of air-holes in the inexhaustible bottle, refer to it as the “Robert-Houdin bottle,” when in reality the honor of its invention belongs to some obscure mechanic or magician whose name must remain forever unsung by writers on magic.