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this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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Spiritualists conducting scam stances in 1850s Boston, the Fox sisters. Their scam was done by "knocking noises" that were generated by the sisters cracking joints or even just tapping on the table or floor.
The circles they traveled in included Quakers, suffragettes, high society, and financiers. (Some of their early seances centered on stock market predictions, and made them a good deal of money.)
I just love that intersection of societies coming together to be scammed by some pretty bright women, in a really interesting time in our national history. Strict religious beliefs in a marriage with new age free thought.
I have kind of wanted to write a book centered on that time but never found a good hook.
My grandmother was an eventual product of that generation in Boston. Very equal rights for women while in a weird religious sect, Christian Science, founded by feminist Mary Baker Eddy.
Knocking with your feet to pretend there is a ghost is still an alive and well practice. I don't have exact instances on hand but John Wolfe on YouTube has covered a lot of ghost hunting content and some people in there do it.
Today there are more technological ways to create ghostly knocking using various devices, but if the "ghost hunter"/"medium" is taken to a location they can't prep beforehand, some of them still do basic knocking tricks.
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