ThoughtGallery.org > Unboxing an Antique Ghost Show (Plus an Illustrated History of Spookological Fakery for Fun and Profit): A Live, Zoom Show and Tell with Author and Antiquarian Tony Wolf

Unboxing an Antique Ghost Show (Plus an Illustrated History of Spookological Fakery for Fun and Profit): A Live, Zoom Show and Tell with Author and Antiquarian Tony Wolf

Join author and antiquarian Tony Wolf for a unique unboxing of the “ghost show” he inherited from his father, who was a noted collector of vintage stage magic effects, and for an illustrated lecture on the history of supernatural trickery during the early 20th century.

The eschatological crises of the First World War and the 1918 influenza pandemic sparked a massive revival of the practice of Spiritualist séances. Whereas some spirit mediums sincerely believed that it was possible to communicate with the dead, others were criminal con-artists playing the “ghost racket”; employing phantasmagoric magic tricks and mind-games to rip off the bereaved.

The Iowa-based Ghost Factory company manufactured and sold all manner of “spookology” effects throughout the early/mid-20th century. Some of their customers were fraudulent spirit mediums, while others were magicians seeking to out-do and expose the frauds. During the 1920s, Harry Houdini and his associate Rose Mackenberg – who led Houdini’s “secret service” of spook-busting private investigators – began a public crusade against the ghost racketeers that reached all the way to the White House.

Later, many of these effects were also used on the Midnight Ghost Show circuit, when magicians styling themselves as “mad scientists” would stage elaborately spooky haunted house-style performances for late-night horror movie screenings.

Tonight, Tony will also discuss how he discovered a trunk full of Ghost Factory props in his dad’s collection and demonstrate a number of the effects, including the “talking skull”, the “rapping hand” and the “spirit lamp.” You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions during a talkback session at the end of the presentation.

About Tony Wolf: Originally from New Zealand and now based in Chicago, author/antiquarian Tony Wolf professes a lifelong interest in cultural obscurities. His books include the popular Suffrajitsu graphic novel trilogy (2014), the true-crime anthology Houdini’s “Girl Detective”; The Real-Life Ghost-Busting Adventures of Rose Mackenberg (2016) and the action/adventure novel The Life and Fantastical “Crimes” of Spring Heeled Jack (2020). He has also written and co-produced/directed the independent documentaries Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes (2011) and No Man Shall Protect Us: The Hidden History of the Suffragette Bodyguards (2018).

A veteran of the entertainment and education industries, Tony served as the Cultural Fighting Styles Designer for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and has created action scenes for over 300 feature films, TV series and theatrical productions.

He blogs via alt-death.com, a curated compendium of the ways in which an emerging counterculture of artists, designers, academics and activists are changing the mortality conversation.

$8











When: Mon., Nov. 16, 2020 at 7:00 pm

Join author and antiquarian Tony Wolf for a unique unboxing of the “ghost show” he inherited from his father, who was a noted collector of vintage stage magic effects, and for an illustrated lecture on the history of supernatural trickery during the early 20th century.

The eschatological crises of the First World War and the 1918 influenza pandemic sparked a massive revival of the practice of Spiritualist séances. Whereas some spirit mediums sincerely believed that it was possible to communicate with the dead, others were criminal con-artists playing the “ghost racket”; employing phantasmagoric magic tricks and mind-games to rip off the bereaved.

The Iowa-based Ghost Factory company manufactured and sold all manner of “spookology” effects throughout the early/mid-20th century. Some of their customers were fraudulent spirit mediums, while others were magicians seeking to out-do and expose the frauds. During the 1920s, Harry Houdini and his associate Rose Mackenberg – who led Houdini’s “secret service” of spook-busting private investigators – began a public crusade against the ghost racketeers that reached all the way to the White House.

Later, many of these effects were also used on the Midnight Ghost Show circuit, when magicians styling themselves as “mad scientists” would stage elaborately spooky haunted house-style performances for late-night horror movie screenings.

Tonight, Tony will also discuss how he discovered a trunk full of Ghost Factory props in his dad’s collection and demonstrate a number of the effects, including the “talking skull”, the “rapping hand” and the “spirit lamp.” You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions during a talkback session at the end of the presentation.

About Tony Wolf: Originally from New Zealand and now based in Chicago, author/antiquarian Tony Wolf professes a lifelong interest in cultural obscurities. His books include the popular Suffrajitsu graphic novel trilogy (2014), the true-crime anthology Houdini’s “Girl Detective”; The Real-Life Ghost-Busting Adventures of Rose Mackenberg (2016) and the action/adventure novel The Life and Fantastical “Crimes” of Spring Heeled Jack (2020). He has also written and co-produced/directed the independent documentaries Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes (2011) and No Man Shall Protect Us: The Hidden History of the Suffragette Bodyguards (2018).

A veteran of the entertainment and education industries, Tony served as the Cultural Fighting Styles Designer for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy and has created action scenes for over 300 feature films, TV series and theatrical productions.

He blogs via alt-death.com, a curated compendium of the ways in which an emerging counterculture of artists, designers, academics and activists are changing the mortality conversation.

$8

Buy tickets/get more info now