Are Locksmiths Our Modern Houdinis?

Harry Houdini was the master of escapology. Much of his act was about releasing himself from seemingly inescapable situations. Of course he would not have devised a trick knowing that he would not be able to escape. He would need to know the workings of the equipment and could not leave this to others or to chance. You could say that the making and breaking of the locking mechanisms made him a locksmith.

So are the locksmiths of today our modern Houdinis? They are not doing the job to thrill the crowds or travel the world wagering with people that they can escape from any handcuffs as Houdini did. They are however responsible for the creation of security systems which hopefully cannot be broken into. Just as Houdini did, they have to develop systems which are more secure and improve upon them as others discover ways of breaking them.

As with all inventions someone has to initially imagine that something can happen or be made. They have to come up with an idea or concept. This takes forward thinking and imagination. You could also say that there is almost a magical feel about it. Most people would associate the work of a locksmith with the traditional ways of working with metalwork. We are familiar with the counters in the shopping centres where we can get keys cut or the mobile locksmiths in their vans visiting places to replace broken locks or break into them as someone has lost their keys. Would we generally think that locksmiths were responsible for thinking up the security systems for businesses? Probably not.

A locksmith will use all of their skills to develop systems and at the same time try to work out how they could be breached. This would help them to check that they are secure. Houdini would expand his act to more daring tricks to continue to please and amaze the crowds. For example with his Chinese Water Torture trick he would be placed in stocks upside down, padlocked and placed into a tank of water. The crowds wanted to see more daring displays. They wanted to know that Houdini was being tested. Today it is no longer just the case of a simple lock being enough to secure everything. Things need varying degrees of security either due to monetary value or safety, for example, a bank vault or a power plant. They may also require different types of security/locking systems. Locksmiths are required to be creative and work out the best combinations for the safekeeping.

Unfortunately there will always be people who will try to break into things and property. They become more sophisticated in their methods. It is therefore the job of the locksmith to be one step ahead of them and be more inventive. They need to think like an intruder. There is little use using a system which could be easily breached. This calls for the locksmith to think outside of the box or even throw out the box altogether. This is another thing shared with the Great Houdini.