Item Detail
-
26688
-
0
-
4
-
English
-
To Lay Bare All of Spiritualism's Shams : Harry Waite and Oscar Eliason's Anti-Medium Crusade
-
Utah Historical Quarterly
-
Fall 2009
-
77
-
4
-
Salt Lake City, UT
-
Utah Historical Society
-
316-332
-
This article describes a dispute and a contest between secular magician Oscar Eliason and medium Harry H. Waite near the end of the nineteenth century in Utah. Waite was angry with Eliason for turning the public against him and preventing him from performing at certain venues in Salt Lake City. The article describes a series of argumentative letters between the two men that were published in the "Salt Lake Tribune." The cultural change that was occurring in Utah at the time is also discussed. The history of the development of mediums is provided along with a description of Eliason's performance debunking all of the spiritual stunts used by mediums.