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
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
- The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 – 1900) Thu 25 Jul 1895 Page 3 PLAYING THE GHOST.
- The Kyneton Observer (Vic. : 1856 – 1900) Tue 2 Aug 1898 Page 1 PLAYING THE GHOST.
- Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954) Wed 3 May 1905 Page 6 PLAYING THE GHOST.
- The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) Tue 30 Aug 1898 Page 6 PLAYING THE “GHOST.”
- Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911) Thu 17 Jun 1909 Page 2 CURRENT TOPICS.
- Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911) Wed 20 May 1896 Page 2 LOCAL NEWS
- The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) Wed 14 Jun 1899 Page 6 PLAYING THE GHOST.
- Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 – 1918) Tue 4 Aug 1891 Page 2 AN EXTRAORDINARY SHOOTING CASE.
- The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954) Thu 25 Oct 1888 Page 2 PLAYING THE GHOST AT ST. KILDA.
- The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) Fri 11 Sep 1925 Page 15 “PLAYING THE GHOST.”
- The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 – 1883; 1914 – 1918) Tue 29 Oct 1918 Page 1 COUNTRY NEWS.
- Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 – 1928) Wed 3 Jun 1896 Page 3 PLAYING GHOST.
- The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 – 1924) Wed 24 Oct 1888 Page 2 PLAYING AT GHOST.
- Daily Post (Hobart, Tas. : 1908 – 1918) Wed 28 Jul 1909 Page 4 THE GHOST.
- Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 – 1954) Mon 20 May 1929 Page 2 NOTES AND COMMENTS
- Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 – 1911) Tue 27 Jul 1909 Page 4 SEIZURE OF THE GHOST
- The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957) Fri 11 Sep 1925 Page 16 PLAYING GHOST.
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.