Radio Psychics

Mind Reading and Fortune Telling in American Broadcasting, 1920-1940

Häftad, Engelska, 2021

457 kr

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Beskrivning

When radio broadcasting began in the early 1920s, the radio was a magic box aglow with the future, drawing humanity into a new age. Some thought it would dissolve the distance between time and place, others that human minds would become transparent, one tuned to another. Performers claiming psychic powers turned radio broadcasting into a fabulous money machine. These "mentalists," born from vaudeville, circuses, sideshows, and the Spiritualist and New Thought movements of the mid-late 19th century, used the language of wireless technology to explain their ability to see the past, present, and future. Casting their mystical knowledge as a scientifically honed craft, these mentalists persuaded millions to pay for dubious advice until governmental and public pressures forced them off the air. This book is a history of over 25 performers who practiced their art behind studio microphones during the early years of radio broadcasting, from about 1920 to 1940. Here, laid out for the first time, is the tale of how they made cash rain from the heavens and harnessed the sensation of the radio in search of wealth, health, love, and success.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2021-09-02
Mått:178 x 254 x 22 mm
Vikt:744 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:432
Förlag:McFarland & Co Inc
ISBN:9781476684659

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Mer om författaren

John Benedict Buescher is the former chief of the Tibetan Broadcast Service of the Voice of America. He has authored articles on radio broadcasting to Tibet and books on the history of Buddhism and on the history of 19-century American Spiritualism. He is a co-director of the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals. He lives in Georgetown, Texas.

Recensioner i media

“Includes details of how powerful radio stations along the border helped former vaudeville actors...some of the most popular radio programs in the United States featured radio psychics...author John Buescher dove deep into this history”—Texas Standard, The National Daily News Show of Texas

Innehållsförteckning

Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction: Broadcasts from the BorderlandThe Mentalist Performance 7 delete• deleteMagicians, Mediums, Magnetists and Astrologers 9 delete• deleteWireless Millennium 23 delete• deleteHuman Radios 36 delete• deleteTransmitting Secrets 42 delete• deleteThe Rise and Fall of Radio Mentalism 451. First on the AirHope Eden 49 delete• deleteJulius Zancig 63 delete• deletePaul Kara 682. Front Yard BurialLeona Lamar 78 delete• deleteHamid Bey 863. Sex Secrets RevealedSigna Serene 934. Who Am We?Princess Wahletka 103 delete• deleteJoveddah De Rajah 1135. Hypnotized by RadioVishnu and Zinnia 119 delete• deleteCharles Harad 1246. The Long Blindfold DriveFrancill 1337. Persuaded by ShadowsNorman Baker 154 delete• deleteGayle Norman II 168 delete• deletePhenomena 1728. Spirits of the AirEthel Duncan 177 delete• deleteAlma and Zandra 1839. Across the BorderMel-Roy 197 delete• deleteRalph Richards 206 delete• deleteMarjah 21610. Bank on BeliefKoran and Rose Dawn 22111. A Family of TroupersAlburtus 24412. Wizards’ WarRajah Raboid 267 delete• deletePrincess Yvonne and Doc Irving 286 delete• deleteBob and Larry Nelson 29813. What the Audience Will BearGene Dennis 320 delete• deleteJoseph Dunninger 339CodaAppendix: Some Other Mentalists in Early RadioChapter NotesBibliographyIndex