Category:
Frauds, Cons and Scams

The Great Cheiro

The late part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century were filled with occult types, most famously Aleister Crowley. But I had not previously encountered Cheiro.

His Wikipedia page is here.

You can read his palmistry book here.





And luckily, in 1979, Cheiro (died 1936) conducted a long conversation with another medium. Read it here.







Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 27, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, New Age, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century

Electrical Frauds of 1916

Rather than try to reproduce the text that accompanies these illos as an illegible thumbnail here, I direct you to the source, where you can enlarge the image for readability.



Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 07, 2023 - Comments (6)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Technology, 1910s

The Barrett Eye Normalizer

Perfect vision through eyeball massage. At least, that was the claim.

Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan - Oct 1926



Source: American Artifacts



Boston Sunday Globe - Oct 8, 2017

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 23, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Eyes and Vision

The Cures of Albert Abrams

As his Wikipedia page tells us:

Albert Abrams (December 8, 1863 – January 13, 1924) was a controversial American physician, well known during his life for inventing machines, such as the "Oscilloclast" and the "Radioclast", which he falsely claimed could diagnose and cure almost any disease.[1] These claims were challenged from the outset. Towards the end of his life, and again shortly after his death, many of his machines and conclusions were demonstrated to be intentionally deceptive or false.[2]


He actually published a whole periodical devoted to his theories. Read an issue here.

Hugo Gernsback, the father of modern science fiction, was having none of this, running the expose below in a 1923 issue of his magazine SCIENCE AND INVENTION.





Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 14, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Medicine, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s

Fake Violin Scam

Police are describing people pretending to play the violin for money as a "nationwide issue."

More info: The CW7

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 02, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Music

Bebe Stanton, Telepathic Flapper

Source: The Courier (Waterloo, Iowa) 11 Apr 1929, Thu Page 13



Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 22, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Crime, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Human Marvels, 1920s

Head-Ticking Scam

Robert Sanders of Loogootee, Indiana would get a job with a railroad, fake an injury, and then claim that, as a result of the injury, he had developed a ticking noise in his head.

Doctors who examined him would confirm that he did, indeed, have a "peculiar ticking" like a "great big alarm clock" coming from inside his head. Sanders would then collect insurance money.

Sanders repeated this scam multiple times, collecting around $28,000 over the course of 12 years, until finally the Union Pacific Railroad charged him with fraud.

He was found guilty and sentenced to Wyoming's state penitentiary.

What I can't figure out is how Sanders managed to produce the ticking noise in his head, because the doctors who examined him seemed to hear something.

Billings Gazette - Feb 12, 1952

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 17, 2021 - Comments (6)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Noises and Other Public Disturbances of the Peace, 1950s

Banvard’s Folly

I am halfway thru reading this book and can testify to its greatness, and to its allure for all WU-vies. I have already learned about so many hoaxes, weirdos and charlatans I never knew about before.

Here's how the book opens:




Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 01, 2021 - Comments (8)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, History, Historical Figure, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Inventions, New Age, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Books, Goofs and Screw-ups

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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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