Did you know that in late 19th century Australia, ordinary people would dip sheets in toxic glowing paint and run around at night pretending to be ghosts?

Example of an article with illustration about a ghost hoaxer being thrashed in Connington near Perth, Western Australia, Sunday Times, 27 November 1898, p. 9. (from https://prov.vic.gov.au/ )

Sources

Podcasts

https://talesfromratcity.com/2017/09/23/episode-three-2/

https://talesfromratcity.com/2017/04/27/affairs-of-the-spirit/

Websites

The Atlas Obscura article

Article on Victoria government site 

https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/12/19/4151931.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohocks

https://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/clubs/jt_themohocks.html

https://prov.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/media/provenance2014_waldron.pdf

https://federation.edu.au/news/articles/telling-the-tales-from-rat-city

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capotain

Articles

• David Waldron & Sharn Waldron (2016) Playing the Ghost: Ghost Hoaxing and Supernaturalism in Late Nineteenth-Century Victoria, Australia, Folklore, 127:1, 71-90, DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.2015.1121622
  • https://www-tandfonline-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2015.1121622
  • https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.2015.1121622
• The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 – 1900)  Thu 25 Jul 1895  Page 3  PLAYING THE GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240959110?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=#
• The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 – 1900)  Tue 2 Aug 1898  Page 1  PLAYING THE GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240970787?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954)  Wed 3 May 1905  Page 6  PLAYING THE GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38780953?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954)  Tue 30 Aug 1898  Page 6  PLAYING THE “GHOST.”
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39787331?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911)  Thu 17 Jun 1909  Page 2  CURRENT TOPICS.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186955542?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911)  Wed 20 May 1896  Page 2  LOCAL NEWS
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/177543732?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954)  Wed 14 Jun 1899  Page 6  PLAYING THE GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/202618482?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918)  Tue 4 Aug 1891  Page 2  AN EXTRAORDINARY SHOOTING CASE.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/89006062?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954)  Thu 25 Oct 1888  Page 2  PLAYING THE GHOST AT ST. KILDA.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241506868?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954)  Fri 11 Sep 1925  Page 15  “PLAYING THE GHOST.”
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155808873?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 – 1883; 1914 – 1918)  Tue 29 Oct 1918  Page 1  COUNTRY NEWS.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/73543339?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 – 1928)  Wed 3 Jun 1896  Page 3  PLAYING GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/153489530?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924)  Wed 24 Oct 1888  Page 2  PLAYING AT GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209449977?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Daily Post (Hobart, Tas. : 1908 – 1918)  Wed 28 Jul 1909  Page 4  THE GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187880185?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 – 1954)  Mon 20 May 1929  Page 2  NOTES AND COMMENTS
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46061623?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911)  Tue 27 Jul 1909  Page 4  SEIZURE OF THE GHOST
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186958632?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=
• The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957)  Fri 11 Sep 1925  Page 16  PLAYING GHOST.
  • https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2136087?searchTerm=playing%20the%20ghost&searchLimits=

Images Used in this Post

• Example of an article with illustration about a ghost hoaxer being thrashed in Connington near Perth, Western Australia, Sunday Times, 27 November 1898, p. 9. (from https://prov.vic.gov.au/ )

Don’t miss our past episodes, like The Smallpox Hospital, aka Renwick Ruin, on Roosevelt Island, NYC – Part 1 and The Renwick Ruin and Charity Hospital, Roosevelt Island, NYC – Part 2.