Mentalist Shows

January 27, 2015 By Editor

Can Someone Really Read Your Mind?

Mentalist Shows were popular on carnival midways in the early 1900’s.

Mentalist Shows and fortune tellers were all the rage at the turn of the 20th century.

Even the Great Houdini found interest in this area and because of his training in magic, set about in the 1920’s on a crusade to debunk practicing spiritualist as frauds. ( a practice that cost him his friendship with the great writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle )

Shows like these provided entertainment that delighted the rather naive crowds of that period.

They should not be confused with fortune telling “Mitt Camps” which promised to tell your future by reading the palm of your hand or the bumps on your head but were often nothing more than ‘clip joints’ and run by pickpockets and bunco artist.

This rather grainy photo of the Great Hilliar’s mentalist show was taken sometime in the early 1900’s

I wish I could buy a ticket to go see it today…

International Independent Showmens Museum

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International Independent Showmens Museum

The Cardiff Giant is one of the most famous hoaxes in American history. It was a 10-foot-tall purported "petrified man", uncovered on October 16 1869 by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell, in Cardiff, New York. The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. He was an ardent believer in science, especially in the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. Hull, an atheist, got into an argument with a fundamentalist minister named Reverend Turk and his supporters at a Methodist revival meeting about a Bible passage (Genesis 6:4) which states that there were giants who once lived on Earth. Hull lost the argument to the fervent congregation and was quite miffed. Hull decided he wanted to prove how easily he could fool people with a fake giant so in 1868, Hull, accompanied by a man named H.B. Martin, hired men to quarry out a 10-foot-4.5-inch-long block of gypsum in Fort Dodge, Iowa, telling them it was intended for a monument to Abraham Lincoln in New York. He shipped the block to Edward Burghardt in Chicago, a German stonecutter he had sworn to secrecy. Burghardt hired two sculptors, Henry Salle and Fred Mohrmann, to create the giant. They had taken cautious steps to cover up their work during the carving, putting up quilts to lessen the sound of carving. For the giant to look ancient, various stains and acids were used to make the giant appear to be old and weathered, then buried the "Gaff" behind the barn and waited until he thought the time was right to unveil it. It initially caused a lot of speculation both pro and con and opinions abounded as to its validity by "experts" and it even resulted in a court ruling.On December 10, 1869, Hull confessed everything to the press.The Cardiff Giant was displayed at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition but did not attract much attention.Iowa publisher Gardner Cowles, Jr. bought it later to adorn his basement rumpus room as a coffee table and conversation piece. In 1947 he sold it to the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, New York, where it's still displayed. These Cardiff Giant "gaffs" were extensively used on carnival midways as stand-alone side shows from the early 1900s, right through the latter part of the 20th century. Incidentally, we have a pretty good "Cardiff Giant" of our own going under another name that's displayed here at the sideshow exhibit at the Showmen's Museum. ... See MoreSee Less

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Mentalist Shows

Can Someone Really Read Your Mind?

Mentalist Shows were popular on carnival midways in the early 1900’s.

Great Hilliar’s Mentalist Show

Early Forms of Entertainment In America

Showbiz And The Big Screen

Can Someone Really Read Your Mind?

Mentalist Shows were popular on carnival midways in the early 1900’s.

Magic Acts

Carnivals

Carnival Movies