In 1920 two English cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, produced a series of photos that seemed to show them cavorting with fairies and gnomes.
The images were published in The Strand and convinced Arthur Conan Doyle, among others. In The Coming of the Fairies (1922), he wrote: "It is hard for the mind to grasp what the ultimate results may be if we have actually proved the existence upon the surface of this planet of a population which may be as numerous as the human race, which pursues its own strange life in its own strange way, and which is only separated from ourselves by some difference of vibrations."
For 60 years, the cousins maintained that the photographs depicted real fairies and gnomes they'd encountered behind the family house near Bradford, England. Until, in 1981 they admitted that the creatures had been paper cutouts held up with hatpins.
For 60 years, the cousins maintained that the photographs depicted real fairies and gnomes they'd encountered behind the family house near Bradford, England. Until, in 1981 they admitted that the creatures had been paper cutouts held up with hatpins.
But Frances maintained until her death that the photo below was genuine.
From Futility Closet.
3 comments:
Bizarre! Too bad it's not real, eh? That would be kind of neat.
Hi Kathleen -- thanks so much for visiting my blog. It's always nice to find another writer to connect with. :)
I'm disappointed that they turned out fakes! Bet Conan Doyle, were he alive, would feel a bit foolish...
What an interesting post. How many people they must have fooled and convinced!
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