World's Greatest Con

From Cautionary Tales: Fairies or Fakes?

Apr 8, 2022
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

The Cottingley Fairies

  • Two young girls, Elsie and Frances, captured photos of alleged fairies in their garden.
  • These photos baffled experts and fueled public fascination, even convincing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
ANECDOTE

The Girls' Deception

  • Elsie and Frances used Elsie's father's camera to photograph "fairies" after Frances's mother scolded her for claiming to play with them.
  • Elsie's father, Arthur Wright, remained skeptical, dismissing the images as paper cutouts.
ANECDOTE

Gaining Traction

  • Elsie's mother, Polly Wright, shared the photographs with a spiritualist society, leading to their wider recognition.
  • Edward Gardner, a prominent spiritualist, showed the photos to Harold Snelling, a photo expert, who deemed them genuine.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app