A ghost trumpet is a device used by mediums in the Victorian era to amplify the voices of the dead during séances 1. It is essentially a skinny cone that supposedly amplified the voices of the dead 1. The spirit trumpet was invented by Nahum Koons, the son of spiritualist medium Jonathan Koons 1. The trumpet was used to break down linguistic barriers between the living and the dead, allowing the dead to speak directly with the living 1.
According to mediums who used these tools, the spirit could speak by possessing the vocal cords of the person speaking into the trumpet 1. The trumpet was used to amplify the voice of the medium, who would then speak on behalf of the spirit 1. The spirit trumpet was designed to break down linguistic barriers between the living and the dead, allowing the dead to speak directly with the living 1.
The first spirit trumpets were homemade, either out of metal or cardboard, and resembled simple narrow cones 1. Later, they became fancier, leading to steel trumpets that could extend or contract via sliding segments that slotted into one another like tubes in a jointed telescope 1. Some even sported glow-in-the-dark rings at the end 1. While in use, these trumpets would supposedly float around the air, buoyed by the power of psychic energy 1
