ksmith | Apropos of nothing

I used to read--and should start reading again--Gilded Age and Victorian era biographies and histories. Over at Daily Kos, Devilstower posts about the later days of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the not-so-ex-prostitute sisters who befriended him, their lives, and the growth of spiritualism.

From the time when spiritualism first took hold in the United States during the 1840's, its popularity was based among the upper classes and upper crust of American society. The informal religion emerged (as had so many others) from the "Burned-over District" in upstate New York. It borrowed from sources as diverse as Franz Mesmer's hypnotism and offshoots of radical Quakerism to form a anything-goes hotbed for scholarly religious dissent, simply odd ideas, and certified nut cases. It was also a rich feeding ground for hucksters of all sorts.

So, read Parlor Tricks if you have a mind to. Meanwhile, I shall add a few books to the wish list.