Popular Science: This gadget from 1930 let people ‘talk’ to the dead—with a magic trick

How a Popular Science tutorial for building a ‘spiritphone’ tuned into the hype of the Golden Age of Magic.

MAGIC FIRST TOOK SHAPE from the occult—from unseen forces once more popularly believed to flow from the spirit world to alter the course of mortal events. Throughout history, magicians were seen as aloof figures mysteriously granted secret knowledge...

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This gadget from 1930 let people ‘talk’ to the dead—with a magic trick

Many thanks to Marina Galperina, Popular Science Managing Editor.