Houdini stamp 2025

Magyar Posta, Hungary’s postal service, honors the 150th birth anniversary of Harry Houdini with a souvenir sheet issued Nov. 29.

The Hungarian-American escape artist was born in Budapest on March 24, 1874. His family immigrated to the United States in 1878, settling in Appleton, Wis.

 The stamp shows a padlock, while the selvage of the sheet captures a scene from one of Houdini’s film performances.

In a special feature, a portrait of Houdini appears in the padlock on the stamp when viewed under ultraviolet light. The same portrait can be seen under normal light in the space behind the self-adhesive stamp once it is removed from the sheet. When this space is viewed under ultraviolet light, the padlock appears over Houdini’s portrait.

As part of the issue, Magyar Posta offers an official first-day cover franked with the souvenir sheet and canceled with a pictorial postmark showing Houdini’s portrait and signature. The cachet on the first-day cover shows another of the illusionist’s escape acts.

Born Erik Weisz, Houdini adopted the name Harry Houdini in homage to French magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. Houdini began his career in vaudeville, performing traditional magic tricks.