WIll Goldston wife sold the effect known as Expanding Cube(by DeKolta)to Houdini,who performed it in UK apparently.
Quote:
And from Will Goldston's wife, Leah, he bought the original equipment for Buatier de Kolta's final creation, "The Expanding Cube" ... The effect of the cube trick was staggering: a die, eight inches square, expanded instantly to become a cube, three-feet square, which was then lifted to reveal a girl beneath it. Houdini presented this illusion in the last showing of his magic revue at the Empire Theatre in Nottingham./Quote

--- Milbourne Christopher, Houdini, the untold story
Does anyone still peform this? Thanks

I don't think anyone is performing this now, but there is a lot of info about it available. I just recently read a very complete description of the effect, but I can't remember exactly where (One of the Germaine books perhaps?) I'll look tonight and see what I can find.

Thanks,
Richard

I read somewhere on the net that the otiginal equipment was sold a few years back. ýt had the name of the family who bought it.

I will try to search for the pages again.

Also, Mike Caveney is a great resource for stuff like this. It may actually have been him that aquired it.

Richard

Actually, it was sold after Goldston's wife to a guy in Indiana. Last I heard the original apparatus was owned by Milbourne Christopher.

John McGiven made one up once for a Collector's Meeting before I joined just to mess if Jay Marshall. A couple of years ago, John Gaughan recreated it for the LA Conference. It was a mechanical nightmare. And the effect was not what I had hoped for. The cube suddenly expanded like a pop open close hamper. No disrepect at all the John. It is a heck of mechanism. It just did not seem to be what I had imagined.

I believe there is an explaination either the Goldston Readers (which were republished by Collector's Workshop) or in the Dover reprint of the first Locked books.

Richard

The explaination is in the Goldston book. It is a crazy, spring-loaded thing and probably does look like an expanding hamper or, as my wife described it, just like one of those self assembling tents. I imagine before those things were common the expanding die could have been quite spectacular. Of course, the amazing thing was the fact that a woman was inside the thing after it expanded. Goldston's explaination of how the woman gets inside seems a bit off for me, but since it is really all I have to go on, I'll assume it's correct. (Richard, How did John handle this?)

Harry, I have a copy of the Goldston book, so if you're interested in seeing what he has to say, just PM me and I'll get you some more info.

Thanks,
Richard

There is a method with pictures available at the learned pig.

There is a new version of the Expanded Die in my PVC Pipes & Dollar Store Illusions book which does away with the need for the spring loaded die and a piece of furniture in the background. You can find the plans on the magicnook site:
http://www.magicnook.com