Trumpets, Slates, Tables, and Cabinets

Jackie brought four "Spirit Trumpets" with her to one of our recent Florida sessions.  They resembled this one:

During the latter half of the 19th century, a number of Spiritualist mediums began to advocate the use of specialized tools for conducting séances, particularly in leader-assisted sessions conducted in darkened rooms. "Spirit trumpets" were horn-shaped speaking tubes that were said to magnify the whispered voices of spirits to an audible range. "Spirit slates" consisted of two chalkboards bound together that, when opened, were said to reveal messages written by spirits. "Séance tables" were special lightweight tables which were said to rotate, float, or levitate when spirits were present. "Spirit cabinets" were portable closets into which mediums were placed, often bound with ropes, in order to prevent them from manipulating the various aforementioned tools.

Spirit trumpets, like the tin model shown above, would often "float" about the darkened room (sometimes luminous bands were affixed to the trumpet so the effect could be visualized), and "spirit" voices would issue from it. There were many trumpet tricks. If the medium's hands were not controlled (a practice intended to prevent trickery) he or she could simply move the trumpet about, with a rubber tube being attached through which the medium spoke.

The spirit trumpet pictured above collapses into five sections and fits into the oil cloth bag pictured next to it. The trumpet has an inscription towards the bottom reading "Anna" with a line drawing of a bell connected to the last letter. This could mean that the medium's name was Annabell, or it could have been the name of the medium's spirit guide.

The trumpet is about 30 1/2 inches high and the outside diameter is about 7 inches. The trumpet has a glow-in-the-dark ring painted on the inside of its mouth so that it can be seen if it was floating in mid air.

This is how the trumpet would look when collapsed for traveling:

Here is an example of a more modern trumpet:

And here is a boxed version: