ABSTRACT
Several fads of the 1920s relied heavily on the credulity of the average American. The in-vogue thing was to visit a psychic or medium to talk to a dead relative, to seek advice before making an important decision, or to test the powers of the spiritualist. Harry Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist, made it his personal mission to expose these tricksters. He revealed that spiritualists relied heavily on radio transmission for their secret information. A psychic or medium might place an antenna in the sole of her shoe, under a nearby rug, or in a bouquet of flowers. A headphone hidden inside her wig or headdress received messages from a confederate, who had learned inside information earlier from the client. This simple ruse allowed the spiritualist to greet a perfect stranger by name and tell that person his or her past history in detail. Houdini also explained how easy it was to plant a telephone receiver in a statue to make it speak, or even in a kitchen kettle. Another favorite subterfuge was to have confederates wait at police stations, hospitals, and newspaper offices to get all the fast-breaking news. Once ascertained, the confederate would radio in facts for the psychic or medium to tell her clients. Later that evening or the next morning after the news was public knowledge, those who had heard it “first” from the spiritualist were amazed and reverential.
