Wayback Wednesday #2

Ectoplasm on the Rotunda

The above article appeared on the front page of the Tacoma News Tribune on December 14, 1947. It seems like something out of the Ghostbusters movie franchise. I was surprised to see such a thing in a mainstream newspaper even of that time. But apparently it wasn’t just modern audiences surprised by this because this was not the end of this topic in the Tacoma News Tribune.

Two weeks later they printed the following article debunking the earlier assertions and mentioning readers angry that the story had appeared at all.

Reading old newspapers I find that the further back I go, the more it seems that populace was willing to believe in magic a tiny bit more than we do these days. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a good or a bad thing.

---

Tacoma Stories is always free.

If you’d like to support our work at Tacoma Stories please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your financial support maintains the website and pays for research and other costs. Also 1.5% of all revenue is donated to a Stop Climate Change Charity.

-          Jack Cameron