Lincoln's birthday and ghosts

This is a famous "spirit photo" supposedly showing the ghost of Abraham Lincoln standing behind his widow, Mary Todd Lincoln. You may have to look closely to see the face hovering over her head, slightly to the right, but the hands are quite clear. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Spirit photography became popular during the Victorian era. In the photos, shadowy spirits seem to hover or loom around living people. This was all trickery done with double exposures and darkroom techniques, but that didn’t stop it from being touted as real. The photographer Wiliam Mumler founded the movement in 1862; it became wildly popular and was promoted by Mumler and other portrait photographers creating mementos for bereaved family members.

I mention this because part of the back story of Wacky in WhoVille is a course Damien is teaching on hoaxes and frauds. And the story will (at least as now planned) involve Abraham Lincoln and a ghostly appearance.

When I was a child and dinosaurs roamed the Texas plains, we celebrated Lincoln's Birthday on February 12 and Washington's Birthday on February 22. Those holidays got mashed into something called Presidents' Day, supposedly to honor all presidents but actually just an excuse for a marketing blitz in the bleak days of February.

Perhaps this is just a ghost holiday ...