Chewing the Rag: Antique Mounted "Ectoplasm" Spirit Photo with Two Women. late 19th/early 20th c. New York artist Both measure 5" in diameter

Both measure 5" in diameter

It’s quite a rare deck

which came into popular use in the 1870s

but they are pretty subtle

Chewing the Rag: Antique Mounted "Ectoplasm" Spirit Photo with Two Women. late 19th/early 20th c. New York artist Both measure 5" in diameterA very curious one, which I think one could write a whole book about! I am no expert on "spirit " photograph, but this seems to be an example though perhaps a very self aware or even tongue in cheek one specifically portraying (via a length of what I presume is cheesecloth stretching between the mouths of these two women) an "ectoplasmic" event. And then above the mounted photo, written in ink: "chewing the rag," an expression, English in origin and