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Burdick leg irons?

28 visible archived posts · 28 preserved total · topic ID 6475
Original topic ↗Recovered images
Mike 25 Nov 2017
#1
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



djhalfdead 25 Nov 2017
#2
Very cool! They do look like the rare Burdick Leg irons to me. I am not aware of them ever making an "oversize" cuff version?
-Richard Knip-
banker 25 Nov 2017
#3
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



$1500 plus
Interested 25 Nov 2017
#4
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



If you're considering selling them please put them on eBay so we will all have a fair chance and you can get the most money for them
Interested 2 25 Nov 2017
#5
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Start the bidding at $1500.
Anonymous 25 Nov 2017
#6
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



They don't look "right" to me ............ I thought that Burdicks had a circular key, at least the few I've seen!

See following links:

Lars Holst:

http://restraintsblog.blogspot.com/2009 ... d-leg.html

Handcuffs.Org

http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/t ... t+Auctions
djhalfdead 25 Nov 2017
#7
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



The handcuff folder on the main page of this site shows a Burdick Chain Cuff with the above key. This and the round are the only two versions I have ever seen.
-RK-
Nils 25 Nov 2017
#8
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Cool cuffs.

I'm also interested how you hosted the images, because that has been a problem lately. It seems "tinypic.com" is also a photobucket company!

© 2004-2017 TinyPic®, a Photobucket Video & Photo Sharing Company

About Terms Legal & Privacy Help?
mikepel 27 Nov 2017
#9
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Hi all,

I made an 'official' account I think. These aren't for sale. I was just trying to see if indeed they were the Burdick leg irons. I tried to find the patent on Google's patent search but I can't find any for leg irons, generally do the handcuff patents cover both the hand cuff and leg iron version? (I'm quite new to this whole handcuff world)

Also, as far as hosting the image I uploaded it to Tinypic and then clicked view image full size and then I right clicked on it and selected 'copy image source' (this is in Google Chrome, I don't think Internet Explorer has that option). That will copy the exact image location. You should note: most site use HTTPS and HTTPS doesn't automatically post in-line on these forums so you'll need to remove the S for it to post.
Mark Lyons 27 Nov 2017
#10
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Here is a pic of my Burdick Leg Irons which look identical to the pair above.
I believe my key is an original.




mark
O-------O
Mark Lyons 27 Nov 2017
#11
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



In my pair, there are 22 link between the leg chain and on the above example, there are about 33 links.
Mine has about 9 links on each side of the leg chain and about 13 or more on the other set.

If a side by side comparison was made, mine would be smaller.
It is hard to see in the original phot but I believe I am seeing round links which join the segments of the chain together and at the lock cases.
My leg iron uses just the twisted link chain without the rings.

I have not seen any other examples of Burdick Irons besides mine so I don't really know if the company used a standard when manufacturing these or not.


mark
O---O
Chris Gower 29 Nov 2017
#12
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Very nice photos of the Burdick LI. The only example I knew of many years ago was in the collection of Nick Stone a collector and escapologist. Guess your pair Mark may be the same ones? The Burdick Handcuffs are very rare do we know how many exist in collections. I do have a pair with original key and original lead handle. I do not know of any other examples in the UK.
Chris
Ron Spitz 29 Nov 2017
#13
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



I have the cuffs with original handle, but I don't know it the key is original.

Ron
Mark Lyons 29 Nov 2017
#14
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Happy Guest 30 Nov 2017
#15
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Great pics along with great post ....

Thanks posters !
mikepel 01 Dec 2017
#16
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Here is a picture of the original photo (you can scroll to zoom in a bit)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wmPLo0 ... sp=sharing
Nicksdaughter 08 Dec 2017
#17
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Chris,
Nick Stone was my father. He had a wonderful collection of restraints including the Burdick cuffs.I currently have 4000 pieces of his lock and key collection and several of his restraints. He was a true pioneer in the lock, key and restraint collectors field.
As you mentioned he was an Escape artist, well known to hundreds of thousands. He beat Houdini's record for the straight jacket and most of Nicks underwater escapes took him only 23 seconds! The longest was when he got trapped in seaweed and could not surface for over 2 minutes.
I was happy to see him remembered for his collection and his Art all these years later here on this forum.

Thank you!
Mark Lyons 08 Dec 2017
#18
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Nicksdaughter,

Do you know if your 4000 item collection still has the Burdick Leg Iron in it as shown above?

I am not aware of any special provenance pertaining to the one I own, but as Chris points out, these are quite rare and a slight possibility exists that mine may have once belonged to your dad, if indeed this restraint is no longer in your collection.

If so, this would be quite an honor for me but unless you had a detailed picture from your dad, it would be almost impossible to prove that mine was once in his collection.


mark
O----O
Nicksdaughter 08 Dec 2017
#19
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Hello Mark,
We have photographs in some form of all of my father's collection. His locks are in his book. We have most of his keys. The Burdicks were sold by my brother along with many really unique restraints. We do have a log of the most of items my brother sold and to whom. It is possible we have the paper work or photos to link the items to the new collectors. Can you tell me where you got yours and what year? You can e mail me at barbs@neo.rr.com.
Thank you for considering it an honor to own a piece of his collection. He was a remarkable man, a very talented Escape Artist and Magician. We have hundreds of articles, contracts, photos and letters about his career. A true collector of all things that locked, restrained and anything connected to those items.
As I said before it is nice to see he is still remembered in some way today by other people who share his passion and appreciated his work.


Mark Lyons 09 Dec 2017
#20
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Barbara,

It is a pleasure talking with you here.
I did not know the lineage of my Burdick Leg Irons before now but I bought them about 7 or 8 years ago from a collector who got them from the famous George Hill Collection in 1978.

The fellow I bought them from stated to me that the timing of the sales would make it virtually impossible that this item was originally part of your father's collection.

If you see any reference to George Hill in your records about this item, please let me know but I really don't think my leg iron was ever in your dads possession.

I was also told that unless any other leg irons surface, there are only 3 or 4 known to exist.

Thanks for the kind words.


Mark
O--O
Chris Gower 13 Dec 2017
#21
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Been looking up some old notes, found a picture of the set Nick Stone had. They were a figure 8 type and almost certainly a one off factory model. Seemed they were used for hangings. Notes show that Stan bought his LI from George and Frank Hill in 1978, so I guess the set you have Mark are the same ones. I have a photo from Don Hinz showing both the Handcuffs and LI dated 1978 and asking which is rarer, I think these are another set to the ones Stan got and it is just a coincidence the dates are both 1978.
Found an article written on Nick Stone, he was born Nicholas Cherniak in Poland in 1913, he moved with his family to the US when he was 12, he married Betty and they had two children and 4 grandchildren. Nick spoke and wrote 6 languages, he lived in Ohio and his collection of locks and restraints weighed 3 tons!!
I know that he suffered from two heart attacks and I think the last I heard of him was in about 1988, perhaps Barbara you could fill us in with more details. I understand that he wrote a couple of books, I have not seen these and would be interested to hear if there are illustrations of his handcuffs.
Chris
holstcollection 13 Dec 2017
#22
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Interesting information Chris. Then I must have the handcuffs on the photo as they too came from Stan.
The key is not an original though.

Lars

Nicksdaughter 14 Dec 2017
#23
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Hello Chris,
Thank you so much for the information you shared and the photo.
He did write a book on his collection in 1982. We do have photos of his collection that were taken for the book and for a second edition he was working on. My brother picked up the entire collection and the contents of his home in 1991. My brother did sell most of the restraints from 1992 though 2015. I have a few of his restraints and about 1 and a half tons of his collection now.

My Father was actually born in 1912 but he often said 1913. Its a strange little story of leaving Russia during the revolution and being afraid of giving factual identifying information on yourself or family members or on anyone fleeing the Bolsheviks. They left their home and traveled through several countries departing for the US from Germany. His mother, brother and my father arrived in the US in 1923 when he was 11 years old. He spoke 9 languages for quite a while of his life but at the time of his death spoke 6 fairly well.
In 1984 He had 2 stokes but recovered very well. He died in Oct 1990 of a heart attack.
He was good friends with Thurston, friends with Harry Blackstone Sr and many other well known Escapologists and Magicians. He was a very good friend of Horace Marshall and one of the very very few people allowed in Marshall's workshop. He stopped doing Magic shows in the early 70's and did escape work until around 1982. A little known fact from early in his career, he wrote a weekly column on Magic for the Akron Beacon Journal. I have his last column. I have heard from so many people in the past month who knew him, have his book, saw his collection or saw him perform. It's been heat warming. Just by Coincidence I was reading here for the first time and saw your comments about him and his collection.

Gordon 15 Dec 2017
#24
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



My first lock show that I attended was in ~ 1979. It was called the Midwest Show. I remember
seeing Nick Stone there. Someone pointed him out to me and said he was an old time escape artist.
I have somewhere a newspaper article about him.
My Burdick leg-iron came from the Prynce Wheeler collection. For a long time there was only
3 known in collections.
Nicksdaughter 15 Dec 2017
#25
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



Gordon,
Evidently there are more of the burdicks than originally known or so it seems to be the case.

One thing I would like to mention is that my father did not use any of his own locks or restraints in his Escapology. He was always bound by outsiders, police officers, and other professionals with restraints , ropes, chains and locks supplied by outsiders unknown to him. He did not examine these items before they were used. He felt it gave him more authenticity and credibility as an Escapologist than others in the same field. Also the Performing part of his life was his financial income. His work. Although he liked the worked and the recognition and promotion it provided it was not what he loved. He did LOVE restraints, locks, keys and his collection. He was fascinated very early in life by the mechanisms, the purposes, designs and the evolution of all of the devices. In his last interview for the Beacon Journal in 1988 his statement was that collecting has been his life and in his later years his collection was a big reason for living. Searching for the next unique or rare addition and sharing with others who had the same passion kept him going.
houdini's spirit 16 Dec 2017
#26
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



some of the collectors here are escape artists or, personally know escape artists. Also by association with the hobby of handcuffs most of the people here are well aware of all the methods, techniques and claims of escapes artists. Each claim to be different and better from all the others escape artists. we know, nudge nudge wink wink.
Nicksdaughter 17 Dec 2017
#27
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



"Houdini's Spirit"

I did not mean to discredit any one or their methods or "secrets" to be sure. This was my father's feelings about his own work. He absolutely respected, admired and even honored many of his predecessors and his peers as well as their techniques. It is all impressive and individual. His ideas were only things he felt would serve him well in his profession and things he chose to incorporate. Me I can't escape a paper bag and the only thing I can make disappear is my pay check. So my hat goes off to all of them and you.
Mark Lyons 11 Jan 2018
#28
I'm trying to figure out what these things are and their possible value. They seem to be too big to be handcuffs (they slip right off my wrists), but I also have read the Burdick leg irons are kinda rare? The 2nd picture has the constant/lighting adjusted so you can see the engraving better.



I'm not sure if anyone ever seen this info, but... here it is anyway

This was copied from a builders hardware magazine called "Iron Age". It was a sort of trade publication from the early 1900's. The exact date of this was from issue number 75 on March 2nd 1905.

"The Burdick Handcuff Company. Sault Ste. Marie. Mich. has incorporated to manufacture the Burdick patent combined handcuff and comealong, leg irons and gang chains. The company is capitalized at $5000. The following being its officers: President. C.W. Given ; vice-president. C.W. Baldwin ; treasurer. J.C. Barnhisel ; secretary and manager. N.A. Burdick. Arrangements have been made with the Globe Machine Stamping Company. Cleveland, Ohio, to manufacture the cuffs. and it is expected that they will be placed on the market within the next 90 days."

I have reason to believe through other research, that the Globe company was a supplier of handcuff parts if not complete manufactured cuffs for numerous handcuff companies during the turn of the century. I shall continue my research, and share any useful info I discover.

--Vince
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