Shuttering Fairies HUM 3085: Britain Through the Looking Glass Spring 2010 Professors Perdigao and Ruane February 26, 2010

Spiritualists Moving William Mumler ( ), New York and Boston, 1862 first “spirit photograph” Trial of Mumler—not deceased relatives but recently photographed people, charges eventually dropped, destroys negatives before death Spiritualism itself called into question American Spiritualist Movement—Spiritualism Interest in Paris and London in Mumler Frederick Hudson, veiled figures rather than recognizable individuals William Hope ( ) Born in Crewe, group called Crewe Circle, six friends, joined by Archbishop Thomas Colley, began to publicize Interest after World War I, by grievers

Mumlerisms

A Famous Mumlerism

Like at Disney... That ride.

Doyled Again! William Hope’s photograph, inscription: “The Rev. Charles L. Tweedale and Mrs. Tweedale with the spirit -form of the late F. Burnett who died in Taken under good test conditions Sept. 5th 1919” Reverend Tweedale as Anglican minister, leader of spiritualist movement, Vicar of Weston in Yorkshire, believed to live in a haunted vicarage, wrote Man’s Survival After Death (1909) and News from the Next World (1940), work defending spirit photography Harry Price used marked plates, exposed Hope as fraud in 1922, published report in Journal for the Society of Psychical Research (founded in 1882) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remained a supporter of Hope after this exposure, wrote The Case for Spirit Photography to clear his name

Leprechaun... Loch Ness… Sasquatch… La Chupacabra…

It’s Like Capturing La Chupacabra

Ruane!

Friday, October 26, 2007 One-Third Believe In Ghosts News coming from the Associated Press this week. About 34 percent of people polled by the Associated Press and Ipsos say they believe in ghosts, the wire service reported. That's the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects, exceeding the 19 percent who accept the existence of spells or witchcraft. Forty-eight percent believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP. The roughly one-third who believe in ghosts and UFOs is about the same as the 36 percent who said they are baseball fans, the 37 percent who said the United States made the right decision to invade Iraq, and the 31 percent who approve of the job President Bush is doing. A smaller but still substantial 23 percent say they have actually seen a ghost or believe they have been in one's presence, with the most likely candidates for such visits including single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services. By 31 percent to 18 percent, more liberals than conservatives report seeing a specter. Three in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room. Fourteen percent, mostly men and lower-income people, say they have seen a UFO. Spells and witchcraft are more readily believed by urban dwellers, minorities and lower-earning people. Those who find credibility in ESP are more likely to be better educated and white: 51 percent of college graduates, compared to 37 percent with a high school diploma or less.

Oops… Wrong One

John Edward (sans s) and Spirit Photography?

Contemporary (Mis)uses