ACCEPTING PAYMENT IS MENIAL.

ACCEPTING PAYMENT IS MENIAL. Just as Houdini had prepared for his trick by research, he had also prepared for dealing with the question of payment. Craig Brown says: “After it is all over, the Tsar is particularly impressed by the way Houdini refuses any sort of payment.” Houdini had found out that “the royal family regards anyone who accepts payment as a menial.” Instead, Houdini accepts expensive gifts from the grateful Tsar. Scorn for trade and payment in money has been characteristic of aristocrats from Classical Greece and Rome to nineteenth century England. Gifts avoid the idea of payment for services and highlight the generosity of the giver.