The Club of Queer Trades In honor of Labor Day, we present some peculiar professions of the past. We can take prostitution, bodysnatching, and murder as read, but what about a professional Ray of Sunshine? A professional suicide? A professional Scandal-monger? A dog’s tailor? A parrot’s linguist? Or (you think you hate YOUR job) a woman who is paid to be fired?
he Featureless Horror, the Skeleton Driver, and a Faceless Hitchhiker A faceless hitchhiker, a featureless creature, and a phantom automobile with a skeletal driver–more sinister road ghosts.
When an Irish magistrate was shot, he clearly saw his attacker: a man named Molony, who had a grudge against him. Despite the positive ID by the victim, Molony provided an unbreakable alibi and, released, went on with his life without a qualm. Until the anniversary of the cleverly planned murder rolled around….
Touching the Corpse: Late Examples of Cruentation It was long believed that a corpse would bleed at its murderer’s touch. The idea survived for a surprisingly long time in the 19th century. Here are some gruesome examples.
Corpse Contracts: People who Sold Their Own Dead Bodies It is a sinister fact that, before the passage of the various Anatomy Acts, the doctors of the past paid for stolen corpses for their dissecting rooms. What is less well-known is that various individuals in what might be termed the “pre-corpse stage” might sell their own bodies to the anatomists.
Current Events: Electric Ladies: Interesting People #6 An illuminating look at three 19th-century Electric Ladies, two of whom do not fit the usual profile of PK experiencer.
A Table Tipped by the Messiah Himself: The Geneva Enthusiasts What made a group of intelligent, religious, and wealthy people turn their destiny over to a table-tipping charlatan? Daniel Dunglas Home calls the kettle black.
The State Geologist of Indiana, John Collett, was said to possess a watch chain made entirely of meteoric materials. Could this possibly be true? Or was it like the aerolite that had killed Leonidas Grover, then on display in Collett’s museum?
