Hey guys,

A few weeks ago my family and I were in Carlisle when I stumbled across a little family history. My Gran had joined us for a few days, and while we sat in the pub listening to the rain smash down outside and the England cricketers fairing well on the tv, my Gran decided to share with me some of her early memories as the child of a famous local medium.

From what I can gather, my great grandmother was known to be a strong medium. She would regularly hold séances in her house, attended by several close friends and family. A local business tycoon by the name of Mr Goodwin exploited my grandmother’s gift by charging people for a private seating with her. For some of these séances a photographer was present. The photos were developed on postcards measuring 8cm x 13cm.

For over 80 years my gran has kept these photos with her in her house. There are 6 in total, and in each there are ‘ghost entities’. I personally find them fascinating. I’d enjoy listening to your opinions on them.



In photo 1, my great-grandmother is sitting on the right with her long pearl necklace. My gran has no idea who the ‘ghost’ is in any of the photos.

photo 3
Pic 3 seems to have a stain on the right-hand side of the photo.

photo 4

photo 5

Photo 6

although i think these pictures are a great part of history, i think they have been definitly faked. they are amazing though. most of the people who doctored these photos were, in the most part, found out and were proved to be fakes. i am not saying your grandmother did, but maybe the man who made people pay for her talents.

but seriously though, they still are really cool and they are worth keeping!

Very cool looking ghost pics...even if they aren't real they certainly make a great story....now I have an urge to check out old family photos

yeah those photos look a lot like some of the others i've seen that have been proven fake, or admitted to being faked over the years, still good photos though, got anymore to post?



ooooh by the way i was born in carlisle...

FAKE!!!!!

Tommy, I honestly can't say wheather they were "doctored" at some point in time or not.
Very Possibly So...
But frankly, with THESE pics, I just don't much care even IF they HAVE BEEN altered..
They just LOOK Spooky!!!

THEY'RE SOOO COOL!!!

I LOVE Old Photos and if they happen to have something in them that MIGHT BE, or even APPEARS TO BE supernatural, then that makes them All The Better!!!

I'd be interested to know what year that they were taken, if you know, or if you can find out.

In any case, thanks for sharing them, Tommy.

AWESOME PICS!!!!

Wow nice find Tommy. Personally I tend to think that they've doctored by somebody ( again, not pointing fingers at your great granny ) but quite frankly .....WHO CARES ????

Fantastic piece of family history, I'll bet most of us wish we had something like that tucked away somewhere.

Even if the pictures have been faked, they look pretty neat none-the less- especially the last one

Any theories as to how these could have been doctored in the "good old days"?
Just curious. Cool pictures by the way, thanks for sharing

Me_Again,,,I wondered about that too!

Beats me!!!

I know that they had NO Photoshop Programs "back in the day..."


NO THEORIES HERE!!!

There's a sight that explains some of the methods used... I can't remember the site off by heart, but I'll see if I can find a link.

Memler was famous for his fakes.

Stewey! Check your messanges!

very cool and creepy pics. altho, they probably have been doctored, like everyone else said. but i dont know how well old photos can be doctored?

One method for making blurry, ghostly forms, is to have the person in the pic for a second or two... then have them step out.

This was effective because of the amount of time it took to properly expose the photgraphic plate to light for a clear image.

I agree with everyone thay are faked. It is still though an exciting find.

You guys do understand I was being facetious, right? That's what the 'sticky tongue' thingy and the "woot" emoticons where used for. Sort of an 'in' joke to Tommy because, as moderators, we have to deal with the nonsensical and solitary 'fake' declarations on a daily basis. I didn't mean for it to be taken so literally. Sorry Tommy, seems I've created a monster unintentionally.

Nice photos by the way.

Even before your post, there were a few people that suggested they may have been doctored- so don't blame yourself.

I personally think they're neat- even if they have been faked in some way.

The last one, with the face in the mist looks pretty cool to me.

Its normal Magikman .

I to think its faked. The fog on the pictures were used to cover up the cuts and tapes and glues and etc!!

Tommy how long have you had these photos there lovely , They look an awful lot like William Mumler's work ..
William H. Mumler spirit photography .


Lol @ MM ( I thought it was wickedly funny )

Wow I really wasn’t expecting so many replies!

Firstly, cheesedoodle,

I have to say while some of these photos certainly look more convincing than others, I too tend to think they have been somewhat tampered with. Although I can certainly say it wasn’t my gran who did the tampering as she would have been about 5 at the time lol and if my great gran was anything like her daughter when it comes to anything technical, I can safely say it wasn’t her either. So maybe you might be right with Mr Goodwin having them done. But why? Perhaps as a sort of advertisement for people and for what they might expect if they came to my great grandma. Certainly a valid theory!

Stewey,


Thanks for your post, however I’m sure this is not how they were done, only because my gran has given me the names of everyone she recognises from these photos, which includes everyone from all the photos except a few on 4 and 5, but she doesn’t recognise any of the ‘ghosts’. Also it’s not so much that the ghost forms are blurry, as you can see their features clearly enough except for #5, it’s more the mist that surround them. Stewey I’d really like to read that site on forging photos if you’re able to find it.

David,

I wish I could tell you what year they were done, but I think the closest I can round it to is 80 years ago. There is no date on the back of the postcards either (although there is an unfamiliar address on one of them!) I’ll have a chat with my gran and try to be more specific with that, but like I say she was very young at the time.

A few more things I’ve observed about them:

In photo 1 I can’t help noticing the scribble on the top right-hand side. It almost resembles a signature of some sort? And also a faint brush stroke on the left above the younger man’s head. So perhaps the mist was painted on somehow?

Photos 2 – 5 all appear to have been taken I the same room with that black/white stripped stall fringe in the background.

The apparitions in photos 2 and 4 look to have been almost burnt onto the film somehow, so perhaps a method was used to burn on one photo to another? The other thing that strikes me is that all the ‘ghosts’ seem to have very different styles in appearing in the photos, so I don’t think that the same person would have forged them all. For example in 1, the face appears in a big white cloud. In 3, the cloud is more mist-like and less defined. 4 seems burnt on to me, whist 5 is a very blurry pic. (Incidentally talking about 5, I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been looking too deeply at these photos, but the mist at the bottom looks like a dog to me.)

In 6, the ghost girl almost looks painted, and is hugging my great grandmother. It’s a shame that pic looks so underdeveloped, but then again it adds to the mystery.

Hellfire, an interesting idea; I think that could possibly be said about #1, but doesn’t seem to fit too well with the others. Kismit, thanks for the link on Mumler. Very interesting photos there and he started creating them in 1869! I’ve only had these photos for about 2 weeks now.

Any more questions I’ll be glad to try and answer them. Thistle I think you’re spot on. It really hit me for six when my Gran started telling me that these photos once existed, let alone managed to survive all these years in her possession! It certainly makes a good family story.


lol MM, I thought it was quite funny!

Kismit- THAT's the site I was trying to remember, and find a link to! Thanks. Mumler's most famous fake is that of Mary Lincoln sitting with what could be interpreted as President Lincoln's ghost standing just behind her. I say "interpreted" because it's not a very clear image at all.

Tommy, I don't think it was the method either, because it creates a blurry effect as well- I was just answering Me_Again's question about how pictures could've been doctored in the "good old days". The site that Kismit posted details how various "ghost effects" were created back then.

stewey,


oops sorry i meant your great grandma. but yeah, the guy probably tottaly took advantage of your great grandma AND the public. seeing as he also gave them out as postcards.

BUT as i said before, they are really cool, and interesting and a big part of ghost research history!!!!!!!! i love old photos too but these are especially cool!

WAY COOL LINK, KISMIT!!!!

Yaaaay! More old photos,,,I like it!!!

Those are weird........

Tommy,have any of the photos been put in a book?

I have seen the first one somewhere before and for the life of me can not remember where(if I wake up in the middle of the night and have remembered where,can I please blame you Tommy )