What are Cottingley fairies?

Cottingley fairies are characters that appear in a set of five photos taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in 1917 and 1920. Today, Cottingley fairies are widely considered fraud. However, at the time they were taken, photographs had a number of believers, including Arthur Conan Doyl, creator of Sherlock Holmes. The adults in their family were naturally skeptical, but Elsie's father allowed the girls to borrow the camera to photograph fairies and confirm their story. When a picture of Frances, surrounded by dance fairies appeared in a dark room, the girls got mixed reactions. Elsie's father was not convinced, but the mothers of the girls were impressed by this obvious proof of the supernatural.

The girls took another photo of the same year, Frances with Gnome. In 1919, Elsie's mother brought Cottingley fairies to the attention of Bradford Theosophical society. Edward Gardner, a well -known Theosophist, was very impressed in the pictures and began to use them in his lectures.

Finally, in 1920, Cottingley fairy fairy took attention to Arthur Conan Doyl, who was very impressed by the photographs he believed was evidence of the existence of the fairy. Gardner supervised Elsie and Frances, while taking more photos, only three of which showed Cottingley fairies. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Cottingley Fairies in two articles for Strand , in 1920 and 1921, and published a book entitled The Coming of the Fairies in 1922.

Furor over the fairies Cottingley has disappeared over time, especially when improved versions of photographs have appeared in which fairies are similar to cardboard cutouts. In an interview from 1981, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths admitted that Cottingley Fairies were fraud. Frances, however, maintained until her death in 1986 that they had really seen fairies and that the last of the five pictures was right.