Straitjacket

The straitjacket is described as early as 1772, in a book by the Irish physician David Macbride, although there are claims an upholsterer named Guilleret invented it in 1790 France for Bicêtre Hospital.

[6] Before the American Civil War, the mentally ill were often in poorhouses, workhouses, or prisons when their families could no longer care for them.

Many assessors, including Marie Ragone and Diane Fenex, considered straitjackets humane, gentler than prison chains.

Some registered nurse specialists even recommended restrained individuals stroll outdoors, thereby reaping the benefits of both control and fresh air.

In fact, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some prisons even used straitjackets to punish or torture inmates.

On some jackets, the sleeve-ends are anchored to the garment to allow the fastening or knot to rotate away from the wearer's hands as they move their arms, making it more difficult to undo.

Friction buckles are used to fasten institutional jackets with webbing or cloth straps because they are difficult to open without a free pair of hands.

In stage magic, gimmicked jackets, made for magicians who practice escape stunts, omit arm loops, fasten with simpler buckles, and/or leave hidden openings in the sleeves.

Many wearers in these situations attempt to move and stretch their arms by thrashing around in their jackets, which is why institutions take great precautions, such as monitoring patients and conforming to strict protocols, when outfitting people in straitjackets.

To remove a straitjacket with both back and crotch-straps, it is not necessary to be able to dislocate one's shoulders in order to gain the slack necessary to pull an arm out of the sleeves.

The necessity of this ability was fictitiously created by Harry Houdini and his brother Hardeen to try to lessen the amount of competition.

In a few of his later and more popular acts, he performed the straitjacket escape while hung upside down from a crane, and also did the same when placed in a sealed milk can which was filled.

Straitjacket escape is one of the most sensational and famous magicians' tricks; it was a staple in illusionist Harry Houdini's act.

Thus, new world records for straitjacket escape are constantly being attempted, in various ways and with various degrees of difficulty added.