Episode 50: Scientific American’s Proof of the Paranormal

In the end Margery Crandon had in fact shared conclusive proof of psychic phenomenon, whether Harry Houdini liked it or not…

Episode Transcript

The term fraud is constantly used when speaking in terms of spiritualism and mediumship. Of course, this is not to say that psychic mediums and spiritualism as a whole are fraudulent by nature. It’s just that it’s nearly impossible to separate the truly gifted from the extravagant yet mundane. 

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Take, for instance, the story of the Fox Sisters—two young mediums whose work marked the beginnings of the spiritualism movement here in the United States. Now it’s worth mentioning that these sisters were in fact gifted, just not in the way you might think. 

You see, after years of traveling the country, holding seances in front of countless crowds, it was discovered that the Fox sisters built their careers on misdirection. I guess, instead of second sight, these girls were blessed with a few double joints and a propensity for sleight-of-hand. 

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Suffice it to say, the field of mediumship is riddled with performers just like the Fox sisters. Sure they are entertaining and talented in their own right, but at the end of the day, the vast majority are just ordinary people who hope to one day accomplish extraordinary things. 

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Notoriety was likely the driving force behind these theatrics. I mean, the pursuit of fortune and fame would have almost certainly blurred the lines between what’s normal and what’s paranormal. Which in turn gave legitimate mediums somewhat of a bad name.

But what happens if the roles are reversed? If untold riches and public interest were offered in return for proof of the paranormal? It’s an interesting concept, don’t you think? 

Well back in the 1920s scientific American certainly did. Which is why they ultimately decided to put the idea to the test. In exchange for $2500, this publication was asking for proof of psychic phenomenon. Oh and at least according to Margery Crandon, proof is exactly what they found. 

I know, it’s a bold claim to make, but it was made nonetheless. So let’s take a closer a Margery’s story to see if she could in fact put her money where her mouth was. 

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned… 

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As we discovered back in episodes 17 and 18, Harry Houdini spent the last years of his life engrossed in a bitter feud. At the time, Harry was a staunch skeptic when it came to the spiritualism movement. 

In fact, he often equated the concept of mediumship to his own line of work. As far as Harry was concerned, spirit mediums were simply just illusionists and nothing more. 

So in 1922, when Scientific American offered up thousands of dollars in prize money for conclusive proof of psychic manifestations under what they called test conditions, well, as you can imagine this concept didn’t sit right with Mr. Harry Houdini. Evidently, he like many of us felt that financial incentives would never produce an objective outcome in a study such as this.

Perhaps he was right. Although, not everyone agreed with Houdini. In fact, his own rival, Mina "Margery" Crandon was quite excited about this contest seeing as she was in the running for the $2500 prize.

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So by now, you’re probably wondering who exactly is Margery Crandon. And for that matter, why did she and Harry Houdini have it out for one another? 

Well in order to answer that question, we need to travel back in time about a hundred years. It was the fall of 1918, and after years of bloodshed, a world at war was finally returning to some semblance of peace. 

Well, that is until a new virus gained a foothold out in the Midwest. Apparently, things had started out like any other cold and flu season, but by the end of that year, roughly 1/3 of the world’s population had been infected with influenza. 

I know, it was a volatile time, to say the least. Especially, for people like Mina Crandon who were finding themselves caught in the middle. 

You see, Mina spent the latter half of her 20s holding the line on two fronts. During the First World War, she worked as a civilian ambulance driver for Navel Hospital in New England.

Then after the war was over, Mina married Dr. Le Roi Goddard Crandon. And given their occupations at the time, well, it’s likely that the couple understood the gravity when it came to the budding pandemic.

In other words, the Crandons had been subjected to a great deal of tragedy throughout the early years of their marriage. So, as did many at the time, they turned to spiritualism as it means to connect with those dearly departed. And to Mina’s surprise, she found that she had quite the talent for spirit communication. 

Now it was that very talent that propelled Mina into a very successful career as a psychic medium. Operating under the name Margery Crandon, she actually became one of the few mediums to stump any non-believers. 

Well, all except one. Ye old skeptic himself: Harry Houdini. 

As dry as it may sound, Margery Crandon’s legendary career began in a crowded lecture hall. It was the spring of 1923, and surprisingly at the time, Mina and her husband, Le Roi, were relatively skeptical of the spiritualism movement. 

But even still, Dr. Crandon harbored a morbid sort of curiosity for the subject. So, when a lecture covering the topics of mediumship and seances was scheduled in Boston, the couple decided to attend.

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The lecture itself focused on the mediumistic interactions between a man named Oliver Lodge and his son who was lost in the war. Evidently, the evidence that Lodge presented throughout the course of that lecture was quite compelling, because, by the end of the presentation, Dr. Crandon was a full-blown believer in the supernatural.

Now in the weeks that followed, Le Roi’s fascination began to grow. So for Mina, it really wasn’t a surprise when her husband suggested that they hold a seance in their home. They invited over a handful of friends and built their own seance table—complete with candles for added ambiance. 

I’m sure that this posse didn’t expect anything to happen at first. After all, none of them were trained mediums and they had very little experience when it came to the paranormal. So you can imagine their surprise when the table began to levitate and tilt. 

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While the group was taken aback by the success of their first seance, they were nonetheless curious as to what they owed the pleasure. I mean, like I said, none of them were trained mediums, and yet one of them had seemingly conjured a spirit into their midst.

So they began the process of elimination—with each attendee leaving the circle one at a time. As each turn past the table, continued to tilt and turn. Well, that is until it was time for Mina to leave the circle. So it would seem that Mina Crandon was in fact a skilled psychic medium, whether she knew it or not.

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Now in the year that followed, Mina took up the stage name Margery Crandon and developed her own signature approach to spirit communication. One that involved a cabinet and a spirit named Walter. 

I should explain. Evidently, in the days leading up to that initial séance, Margery Crandon had paid a visit to a psychic herself. According to that medium, Marjorie was being followed by the spirit of a young man. After a bit of back-and-forth, the pair discovered that this ghost was that of Margery‘s brother, Walter, who had died in a train accident back in 1911.

So that accounts for who Walter is, but what about this cabinet that I touched on earlier? Well throughout her career, Margery utilized a device called a "spirit cabinet." Which was more or less a wooden armoire that supposedly had the ability to conjure the dead.

Now Marjorie would travel with this cabinet—using it as a means to contact her late brother during public demonstrations. Of course, that claim does seem a bit out there, but it’s worth mentioning that these demonstrations came with a slew of eyewitness accounts.

You see, those who attended Margery's seances reported hearing sounds emanating from the cabinet. The noises included everything from wrapping to music and even the disembodied voice of a man who claimed to be Walter.

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Needless to say, Margery and her spirit cabinet gained a great deal of public interest during the first year of her career. That fact became doubly true in the spring of 1924 when she entered into a contest calling for psychic mediums to share proof of their abilities. 

And for a while there, it seemed that Margery Crandon was the real deal. In fact, up until July of that year, she was Scientific American’s front-runner for being the world’s first bona fide psychic medium. However, this is not to say that Margery didn’t face a great deal of scrutiny. And in the end, she did ultimately miss out on that cash prize—but more on that in a moment. 

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Now as a quick aside here, I’d like to take a moment to discuss the contest itself. Because while the approach may have been a bit unorthodox it’s worth noting that the contest was also quite stringent. 

You see, scientific American wasn’t exactly chopping at the bit to part ways with $2500. So the proof that they were looking for needed to come on their terms. Meaning that any psychic medium who entered into this contest would only be considered if they could showcase their abilities under "scientific controls."

In other words, those who participated in the study were basically examined under a microscope. And Margery Crandon, of course, was no exception to that rule. In fact, between the months of April and July 1924, Crandon demonstrated her abilities in front of the judging committee on 90 different occasions. 

Oh and for what it’s worth, they were pretty much convinced. Well, that is until Harry Houdini planted a seed of doubt in their minds. 

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So let’s circle back to this feud between Margery Crandon and Harry Houdini. As many of you are likely aware, Houdini dedicated the latter years of his life to debunking claims of psychic phenomena. So when Margery started making waves within the world of spiritualism, Harry couldn’t help but investigate her so-called abilities for himself. 

It was towards the end of Margery’s participation in the contest, that Harry started attending her public demonstrations. In total, he was only present for 5 of these sceanes. However, that was really all he needed to dissuade the judges from crowning Margery Crandon as their winner. 

You see, at each of these demonstrations, Harry came prepared with his own tests for Margery and Walter to undergo. On one occasion, for instance, he constructed an elaborate box for Margery to stand in throughout the entire seance. This box would then greatly restrict Margery’s movement. And by that logic, prevent her from faking any psychic phenomenon that may or may not follow. 

I know, like I said, the test was elaborate on Harry’s part. But it’s worth mentioning that Margery passed with flying colors. In fact, the box itself broke while she was confined within it, and according to Margery, Walter had been to blame. 

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Now even in spite of her success with these assessments, Houdini's efforts had nonetheless cast doubt on Margery’s overall facade. So in July of 1924, Marjorie Crandon was ultimately eliminated from the contest, and Scientific American was forced to rule her case as inconclusive.

However, this is not to say that the scrutiny was over for the renowned medium. In fact, between 1923 and 1927, Margery participated in 9 independent studies in an effort to substantiate her mediumistic abilities. 

During each of these investigations, Margery was able to manifest an array of kinetic and seemingly paranormal incidents. Spectators heard knocking and disembodied voices, they witnessed furniture moving on its own accord, and on a few occasions, they even discovered that Margery had the keen ability to produce ectoplasm from various orifices of her body.

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Now for what it’s worth all nine of these studies were either inconclusive or even favorable. Meaning that none of them could say beyond a reasonable doubt that Margey had been a fraud. So I guess in the end Margery Crandon had in fact shared conclusive proof of psychic phenomenon, whether Harry Houdini liked it or not.

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Credits

Sources

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-vs-the-supernatural/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/houdini-margery-pamphlet/

https://irepod.com/podcast/dark-histories/mina-crandon-scientific-american-the-5000-psychica

https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/margery-mina-stinson-crandon#Conditions_and_Phenomena

https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/margery

https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/sites/default/files/ebook/article/crandon_mina_margery-890.pdf