This was an Ebay find that a coworker recommended to me. About a year and a half ago. If I recall correctly, the auction stated that the corset was from the Civil War Era, but the seller didn’t know much about it. Looking at the pictures, I thought it would make a beautiful thing to do a a shoot with. I think I paid something like $150 for it.

The corset was very stiff – too stiff to fold or wear. The leather was once much softer, but now it felt like wood. It was almost like a sculpture of a corset. And it was tiny – suggesting that it had been built for a child or a really petite woman. It had holes all over it, for the skin to breathe through, which suggested that that it was intended to be worn for long periods of time.

But the thing is, this corset just terrified me. Any time I was close to it, I felt a really, really creepy vibe – like the person who wore it really suffered in it, so much that the corset was just soaked with that energy. And, you know, I’m actually very pragmatic… I like computers and TV dinners… as an adult, I’ve never been obsessed with “the supernatural world,” lighting candles, making contact with ghosts, etc.

But this corset! I didn’t even want to sleep in the same room with it. It seriously made me uneasy.

Mildred loved this corset from the start, and didn’t feel any creepy vibe from it whatsoever. “I’ll hold on to that corset for you! If a ghost comes out and says ‘Woo,” I’ll just keep it company.” So I gave her the corset, which she hung on a lamp. But every time I came over, no matter how well-lit the room was, I’d still see it and feel a chill. Mildred owns it now, and that’s how it ended up in this shoot.

Eventually we found an old photo of a storefront that had similar corsets, and, like we suspected, it was some sort of medical corset.

I want to hear more about The Haunted Corset, though…

A little while back, some friends and I discovered that of all inventor’s names, Tesla’s is by far the most satisfyingly screamable. Shouting “TESSSSSLAAAAA!” while adopting a suitably mad science pose should work even better in a great environ like the Edison and I have to say that I’m very, very envious.

Hmm, for the rest of us, I wonder if anyone’s yet concocted a suitable drink in Tesla’s honor. It probably should involve the hardest of liquors and electricity (or, in a pinch, fire).

Also those images are absolutely stunning.

http://flyingmoose.org/truthfic/edison.htm