The Innocent Fairy Photo Hoax That Made Two Young Girls Famous
The story of two young girls and the photographs that created controversy, hope and curiosity for over 63 years.
Elsie Wright was 16 and her cousin, Frances Griffiths, was 10 in 1917 when the first two photographs of the famous Cottingley Fairies were taken with a borrowed camera in Yorkshire. The girls truly believed in the existence of fairies and decided to show their skeptics photographic evidence as proof that they indeed spent time in the company of their tiny winged friends.
There were a total of five photographs in the series. When the first two photographs were developed by Elsie's father he assumed the photos were fake. Elsie's mother believed the photos were genuine.
How the Fairy Photographs Gained Public Interest
In 1920 the photos then became of interest to Theosophist, Edward Gardner who believed the fairy pictures were authentic.
In 1922 a letter that Frances wrote to her friend Johanna Parvin, dated November 9, 1918, was discovered and published in an article called "Cape Town Link In World Controversy".
"Dear Joe [Johanna], I hope you are quite well. I wrote a letter before, only I lost it or it got mislaid. Do you play with Elsie and Nora Biddles? I am learning French, Geometry, Cookery and Algebra at school now. Dad came home from France the other week after being there ten months, and we all think the war will be over in a few days. We are going to get our flags to hang upstairs in our bedroom. I am sending two photos, both of me, one of me in a bathing costume in our back yard, Uncle Arthur took that, while the other is me with some fairies up the beck, Elsie took that one. Rosebud is as fat as ever and I have made her some new clothes. How are Teddy and dolly? Elsie and I are very friendly with the beck Fairies." On the back of the photograph Frances wrote "It is funny I never used to see them in Africa. It must be too hot for them there."
The letter was considered evidence because Frances wrote about the fairies in her letter as if they were real and just a part of her everyday life.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Believed the Photographs to Be Genuine
The first two photographs were printed in the Strand magazine and Conan Doyle scheduled a tour about Spiritualism in Australia.
The photographs were causing a lot of controversy and the girls had their critics, but there were also those who wanted to believe the photos were real. Conan Doyle was among those who believed the photographs were genuine. He published a second article when the girls took 3 new photographs of the fairies and made the girls famous. He published The Coming of the Fairies in 1922 which told the story of the Cottingley Fairy photographs and the existence of the spirit world.
The Confession
In a 1982 TV interview on Arthur C. Clarke's "World of Strange Powers", Elsie Wright stated that they were too embarrassed to admit the truth after fooling the author of Sherlock Holmes.
"Two village kids and a brilliant man like Conan Doyle, well, we could only keep quiet".
In the same interview they also stated:
"I never even thought of it as being a fraud - it was just Elsie and I having a bit of fun and I can't understand to this day why they were taken in - they wanted to be taken in."
The cousins stated that the last, fifth photograph, of the fairies alone in the sunbath, was genuine and there really were fairies at Cottingley.
Elsie Wright & Frances Griffiths Talk About the Cottingley Fairy Photographs
Fadas de Cottingley - Confissão
Elsie Wright e Frances Griffiths contam como criaram as fotografias, e a repercussão do episódio em que enganaram um mundo de crentes com suas fotos de fadas. De "Arthur C Clarke's World Of Strange Powers - Fairies, Phantoms and Fantastic Photographs" http://www.ceticismoaberto.com/
Elsie Wright
- Born in 1901 to Arthur Wright and Polly Wright
- She was a very talented artist who used watercolors to paint landscapes and portraits.
- She had attended Bradford Art College at the age of 13.
- She worked in a photographic lab during WW1 where she worked in a darkroom with plate cameras.
- She later married Frank Hill who she met in the US.
- She was a captain in the WRVS working in military hospitals in Calcutta during World War 2.
- She lived in India with her husband until 1949 and later moved back to England after the declaration of independence.
- She had a son and daughter.
- Elsie died in 1988 at the age of 87.
Frances Griffith
- Born in 1907 to Sergeant Major Arthur Griffith and Annie Griffith.
- She moved from South Africa to live with her cousin in Cottingley.
- Frances married a soldier, Sydney Way in 1928.
- She settled in Ramsgate.
- She had at least two children, a son and a daughter.
- Frances died in 1986 at the age of 78.
The Cottingley Fairy Photograph Hoax Explained by James Randi
James Randi and the Cottingley Fairies
James Randi explains the Cottingley Fairies. More information from the JREF site here: http://www.randi.org/library/cottingley/index.html
Cottingley Fairies Art Styles Framed Photographic Poster Print by Elsie Wright, 30x24
Amazon Price: $144.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
Cottingley Fairies Photographic Poster Prints by Elsie Wright
Cottingley Fairies Art Styles Framed Photographic Poster Print by Elsie Wright, 21x17
Amazon Price: $99.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
Cottingley Fairies Photographic Poster Print by Elsie Wright, 16x12
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
Cottingley Fairies Photographic Poster Print by Elsie Wright, 24x18
Amazon Price: $39.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
Cottingley Fairies Photographic Print by Elsie Wright, 32" x 24"
Amazon Price: $49.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
Cottingley Fairies Photographic Print by Elsie Wright, 40" x 30"
Amazon Price: $69.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
The Movie Inspired by Elsie & Frances' Story
Fairy Tale - A True Story
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 10/08/2008)
This movie is beautifully made! The young girls who portray Elsie and Frances are so charming and innocent as they play in Cottingley Glen with the fairies.
Fairy Tale: A True Story Movie Storybook (Cottingley Glen)
Amazon Price: (as of 10/08/2008)
Photographing Fairies is an Adult Movie and a Much Darker Version of the Cottingley Fairy Photographs
Photographing Fairies
Amazon Price: (as of 10/08/2008)
Lady Cottington Was Much Like Elsie & Frances Except She Squashed Fairies in Her Journal Instead of Photographing Them
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Lady Cottington and Her Pressed Fairies
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Angelica Cottington had a remarkable and unusual talent for pressing fairies between the pages of her journal and writing about the unfortunate incidents alongside the splat. In her journals, albums and letters she tells of her technique for pressin...
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ChristiannaGarrett-Martin
A delightful tale and beautifully presented. Though I do actually believe in the existence of fairies. Clever hoax though. :) Posted September 16, 2008 |
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rms
Thanks for adding this great lens to the Gothic Tempations group! Posted August 31, 2008 |
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Snowfarie
Interesting Read :) Posted August 25, 2008 |
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Excellent Lens. 5 stars and favourited! Posted August 09, 2008 |
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Janet21
Welcome to the Everything Photography group. :) Posted August 05, 2008 |
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Photo Credits:
You Tube Video Credits:
ceticismoaberto
The Cottingley Faeries Explained by James Randi:
777Skeptic and James Randi.
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