Supernatural Friday: The Myths and Story Behind Candy Canes

I am reposting this as I saw a post about a principal in Nebraska (the state I was born in) who banned candy canes from his school as claiming they represent Jesus Christ. I posted the blog in 2014, so people (and maybe that principal) can see where t=candy canes might have come from and why. 

It is said that the candy cane came by a candy maker in Indiana who wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas candy cane. He took several symbols from the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy, which symbolized the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, It had to be hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God. He formed the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious name of Jesus. It could also represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd.” 


Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes, using three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross.
  

These Jesus celebrating candies were then, the story goes, handed out to good children in the church or used as a form of identification among Christians when they were persecuted. But none of this is true! Candy canes were not invented in Indiana since the first reports of hard candy sticks (the precursor to candy canes) come from the 17th century.

 

Actually, white candy sticks were actually quite common at Christmas. One story says that they turned into J’s because one choirmaster bent them to look like a shepherd’s staff for children during the nativity scene. But there is no evidence that that’s true either. 

 

In America’s introduction to Christmas candy canes can be traced to August Imgard, a German immigrant who’s credited with introducing the Christmas tree to Ohio in 1847. The National Confectioners Association makes a claim that Imgard “decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes.” But an article from 1938 points out a ceremony that a different kind of sweet was used.

 

Ornaments were made of paper, festooned in long chains by the younger members of the pioneer community. Kuchen baked according to a recipe sent from Bavaria by Imgard’s mother, hung upon the tree and served both as ornaments and tidbits. The cookies were colored with brown sugar and the family spent weeks baking them in quantities for the guests. Gilded nuts were other ornaments and inside the gilded shells were warm messages of greeting.

Red-and-white striped candy didn’t show up until around the turn of the century in America. 

 

Other myths concerning the candy cane:
A sweet treat made for children who behaved in church.
A way for Christians to identify each other during a time of persecution.

Whether how the candy cane came to be, now they are as much a part of the holidays as Santa Claus. 

So, please, quit stressing where they or songs came from or why, and just enjoy the holidays, whether you believe in Christmas, Hannakuh, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Los Posadas, Diwali, etc....  The only thing you might worry about candy canes are cavities and if you're diabetic.

Supernatural Friday: History of Witchcraft

The word ‘Witchcraft’ has been derived from the word ‘Wicca’ meaning ‘the wise one’. Witchcraft has been seen as a magical phenomenon, a pagan worship or religion, sorcery, devil worship, and others, at different periods in our world history.

Thousands of years ago, people lived much more primitive lives than we have in our technological society today.  Without the luxury of modern medicine and treatments, when a person was sick, ill or in pain there was little that could be done about it.  Becoming ill was much more dangerous in those ancient days, and the ramifications of any sickness were frequently much more serious.  But some women and even men learned the value of healing herbs, and other types of homeopathic treatments.  These people were actually very wise when it came to their knowledge of herbal remedies.  These astute women, skilled in the art of natural medicine, also sometimes functioned as midwives and assisted in the delivery of babies, using various plant-based medicines to ease the pain and suffering experienced during childbirth.

The earliest records of the concept and practice of witchcraft can be traced to the early days of humankind when witchcraft was seen as magical a phenomenon that was invoked for magical rites which ensured good luck, protection against diseases, and other reasons.

However, it was not until 1000 AD that the practice of Witchcraft and witches invoked the wrath of priests, Christianity, and members of the society. Witchcraft, seen as a religion of the ancient and traditional pagan religion which worships the feminine, earthly, and masculine aspects of God, was considered as anti-Christian and a heresy.

Held to be against the declarations and beliefs of the Church, witches were considered as evil, making pacts and connections with the Devil. It was even believed that witches engaged in practices such as flying, invisibility, killing, taming black wolves and cats to spy on people, and others.  The belief in the existence of witches was strengthened particularly after Pope Innocent VIII issued a declaration in the 1498 confirming their existence in society, and inquisition increased, although in 1200, killing of witches had already become authorized by Pope Gregory IX. The Inquisition thus began after 1200 on orders of the Church to discover the witches or heretics who were believed to be evil and against the Church. Full-fledged killing of witches was, however, recorded in the 1500s and 1600s.  The first crusade against witches was held in 1022 AD when a witch was burned to death.

In Salem in 1692, 150 people were tried as suspects of practicing witchcraft. Unlike Europe, where those tried and convicted of witchcraft (those that survived being piled on with the increasing weight of stones or dunked in a river to see if they swam or sank), in Salem, those convicted of witchcraft and executed, were done so by hanging.

People suspected as witches were usually burned at stakes, and those pleading their innocence were either stoned to death or even sometimes thrown in water to prove their innocence. Witches usually faced severe and painful deaths or punishments.

Unlike the cases in Salem, Massachusetts, where women had been accused unjustly and declared guilty, then hung, another commonwealth, Virginia handled the witchcraft thing much better. To curb runaway charges of witchcraft like in New England, the Virginia General Assembly passed in 1662, “An Act for Punishment of Scandalous Persons.” It stated that women who acted peculiar and scandalous and caused their husbands to bring suits against those accusing their wives of witchcraft, after judgment had been passed, the woman would be punished by ducking. If the slander was enormous, the damages were adjusted at a greater amount then five hundred pounds of tobacco.

So except for Witches are as much a part of Virginia’s history and folklore as anywhere else. There were homes in Virginia that have witch doors—crosses carved on the paneled doors to keep the witches away—and people made witch bottles to protect them against witches—though the bottles were used mainly in the Tidewater area. An Indian idol, “Okee,” was considered to be a “devil-witch” by John Smith himself after the colonists landed at Jamestown and settled it. In 1654, according to author and historian Richard Beale Davis, there was a conviction of witchcraft in Virginia that resulted in an execution on a ship bound for Jamestown. This would have been long before the witchcraft trials at Salem. At that time, witches were believed to conjure up storms at sea, along with causing widespread illness among the passengers. When a severe storm happened and threatened the vessel commanded by Captain Bennett, he ordered the death of a woman named Catherine Grady, all because she was a “witch at sea.”

Today, no one is hung or burned at the stake for witchcraft. In the United States people can do whatever religion they want to believe in, long as they don’t do harm to others. We’ve came a long way from our tribal ancestors who sat around a campfire or a bonfire and huddled in fears of evil spirits, demons and witches.

Paranormal Day Party: Lore and History of the "Talking Board"

Lore of the Ouija:

Never play alone!

Never let the spirits count down through the numbers or go through the alphabet as they can get out of the board this way.

If the planchette goes to the four corners of the board it means that you have contacted an evil spirit.

If the planchette falls from a Ouija board, a spirit will get loose.

If the planchette repeatedly makes a figure eight, it means that an evil spirit is in control of the board.

If you should get an evil spirit, quickly turn the planchette upside down and use it that way.

The board must be "closed" properly or evil spirits will remain behind to haunt the operator.

Never use the Ouija when you are ill or in a weakened condition since this may make you vulnerable to possession.

The spirit of the Ouija board creates "wins" for the user, causing him to become more and more dependent on the board. Addiction follows. This is called "progressive entrapment."

Evil spirits contacted through the Ouija board will try to win your confidence with false flattery and lies.

Always be respectful and never upset the spirits.

Never use the Ouija in a graveyard or place where a terrible death has occurred or you will bring forth malevolent entities.

Witchboards are so named because witches use them to summon demons.

The very first Ouija boards were made from the wood of coffins. A coffin nail in the center of the planchette window served as the pointer.

Sometimes an evil spirit can permanently "inhabit" a board. When this happens, no other spirits will be able to use it.

When using a glass as a message indicator, you must always cleanse it first by holding it over a burning candle.

Ouija boards that are disposed of improperly, come back to haunt the owner.

A Ouija Board will scream if you try to burn it. People who hear the scream have less than thirty-six hours to live. There is only one proper way to dispose of it: break the board into seven pieces, sprinkle it with Holy Water then bury it.

If you must use a Ouija board, make your own. Arrange the letters and numbers, into a circle so whatever is trapped within that circle can't escape.

If you place a pure silver coin on the board, no evil spirits will be able to come through.

NEVER leave the planchette on the board if you aren't using it.

Lecherous spirits from the Ouija board will sometimes ask young women to do rather . . . ah, odd things. Ignore them and always remember that your Ouija partner (i.e. boyfriend) has nothing to do with this.

Three things never to ask a Ouija board:

Never ask about God.

Never ask when you are going to die.

Never ask where the gold is buried.

History of the Board:

Ouija boards appeared to have been around for forever it seems, but it really hasn’t.

In the year 1848, something unusual happened in a Hydesville, New York cabin. Two sisters, Kate and Margaret Fox, contacted the spirit of a dead peddler, became instant celebrities, and sparked a national obsession that spread all across the United States and Europe. It was the birth of modern Spiritualism.

Spiritualist churches sprang up everywhere and persons with the special gift or "pipeline" to the "other side" were in great demand. These unique individuals, designated "mediums" because they acted as intermediaries between spirits and humans, invented a variety of interesting ways to communicate with the spirit world. Table turning (tilting or tipping) was one of these. The medium and attending sitters would rest their fingers lightly on a table and wait for spiritual contact. Soon, the table would tilt and move, and knock on the floor to letters called from the alphabet. Entire messages from the spirits were spelled out in this way.

A less noisy technique used a small basket with a pencil attached to one end. The medium simply had to touch the basket, establish contact, and the spirit would take over, writing the message from the Great Beyond. This pencil basket evolved into the heart-shaped planchette, a more sophisticated tool with two rotating casters underneath and a pencil at the tip, forming the third leg. Spiritualists immediately discovered that in addition to writing messages, the planchette could perform as a pointer, setting the stage for the talking boards to come. It was said by some writers, that the inventor of the planchette was a well-known French medium named M. Planchette. Not likely, as there has never been any information discovered in this individual. The French word "planchette" translates to English as "little plank."

Problem with table turning, it took far too long to spell out messages. Planchette writing was often a challenge just keeping the instrument centered on the paper long enough to get a decipherable message. Eventually, most mediums dispensed with the spiritual apparatuses altogether and mentally in an altered state of consciousness with the spirit world to something called "trance." Others eliminated the planchette but kept the pencil, finding the hand a less troublesome writing instrument. Others though felt need for equipment to communicate with ghosts. These resourceful individuals built weird alphanumeric gadgets and odd-looking table contraptions with moving needles and letter wheels. These early machines suffered from over engineering if not lack of imagination. Called dial plate instruments or psychographs, a few of these devices appeared in the marketplace under various names and incarnations. 

American and European toy companies peddled the planchette. It became popular. Dial plate devices, although more sophisticated, were largely ignored. Planchettes were easier to make and market inexpensively as novelties. But both took a back seat in 1886 when an exciting new "talking board" sensation hit the newsstands. It was even mentioned in the March 28, 1886 Sunday supplement of the New York Tribune, the story quickly spread across the country.

This "new" message board was simple to make. It required absolutely no understanding, skill, or mediumistic training to do—or so people were led to understand. The message indicator "moved by itself" from letter to letter to spell out a message, This amazed people. Was it new, or not, though? At about the same time, one of the nation's largest toy makers, W. S. Reed Toy Company of Leominster, Massachusetts, put out a device strikingly similar to the "new planchette." Dubbed the "witch board," its description went like this: "Upon the four corners of the board are respectively "Yes," "No," "Good-by" and "Good-day," while the alphabet occupies the center of the board. A miniature standard rests upon four legs and stands upon the "witch board." Those place their hands on it, and then the spirits begin their work. Should an answer be "Yes" or "No," and communications are spelled out by the diminutive table resting over such letters to spell out the message. 

Reed's short-lived "witch board" might have been completely forgotten had it not been for an amusing incident. Charles S. Dresser, Reed's treasurer, sent President Grover Cleveland one as a wedding gift with the wish that "it may be of service." And no, the president did not use it on matters of state!

Reed wouldn't trademark another similar item, the Espirito, until 1891. But others leapt on the ‘board” bandwagon. The first patent for "improvements," filed on May 28, 1890 and granted on February 10, 1891, lists Elijah J. Bond as the inventor and the assignees as Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin of Baltimore, Maryland. It is wondered if Bond or his Baltimore cronies knew about Reed's earlier "witch board,” but they were the first to heavily promote the board as a novelty. 

Charles Kennard stated that he named the new board Ouija (pronounced wE-ja) after a session with Miss Peters, Elijah Bond's sister-in-law: "I remarked that we had not yet settled upon a name, and as the board had helped us in other ways, we would ask it to propose one. It spelled out O-U-I-J-A. When I asked the meaning of the word it said 'Good Luck.' Miss Peters there upon drew upon her neck a chain which had at the end a locket, on it a figure of a woman and at the top the word 'Ouija'. We asked her if she had thought of the name, and she said she had not. We then adopted the word. There were present Mr. Bond, his wife, his son, Miss Peters and myself." Kennard and Bond, doing business as Kennard Novelty Company, wasted no time advertising in local periodicals, calling it even the “wonder of the Nineteenth Century.” 

Charles Kennard left the company after fourteen months to found Northwestern Toy Company in Chicago, Illinois. His ex-financial partners, headed by powerful Baltimore capitalist Washington Bowie, who was also manager, secretary, and treasurer of Kennard Novelty, changed the name of the firm to Ouija Novelty Company. This didn't concern Kennard who made another board as his flagship product, the Volo board—a Ouija replica. Bowie immediately filed suit for patent infringement forcing the end of the Volo along with an apology. Unrepentant, Charles Kennard continued in real estate and other business ventures and produced one more talking board, the Igili, in 1897. 

Kennard claimed that he was the sole inventor, having in 1886 (the year of the talking board craze) put together a crude board, using a cake board and a table with four legs and a pointer, marking in pencil the alphabet and numerals. Next to his office was a cabinetmaker by the name of E.C. Reiche who, at Kennard's request, made several copies of the board. Asked to make them in numbers for market, Reiche refused, complaining of a heavy workload. After shopping the idea around Baltimore and finding no takers, Kennard met Elijah Bond who made several improvements including the semi-circular alphabet pattern and the addition of felt cushions on the indicator legs, and had those improvements patented. Bond then joined with Kennard as manufacturers under the Kennard Novelty Company name. 

Washington Bowie disputed Kennard on several counts. He said that the inventor of the Ouija was not Charles Kennard but Mr. E. C. Reiche, of Chestertown, Maryland. He further stated that Kennard Novelty paid Reiche in stock for "using his invention without compensation" and that this happened, not once but twice. E. C. Reiche's son, W. Mack Reiche, backed Washington Bowie and said that Kennard may have named the Ouija, he did not invent it. W. Mack Reiche was adamant that the Ouija "came into existence through the brains and hands of father alone." 

Whatever the story, Washington Bowie remained the powerhouse behind the Ouija Novelty Company making most of the corporate decisions and installing his son, Washington Bowie Jr., as manager of the Chicago factory. Early on, he took 20 year old William Fuld under his wing and taught him everything he could about the business. Fuld rose quickly to position of foreman and became one of the original company stockholders. In 1897, Washington Bowie leased the rights to manufacture the Ouija board to William and his brother Isaac. With that single stroke of fate, William and Isaac Fuld embarked successfully on their new venture and manufactured Ouija boards in record numbers. This business partnership didn’t last. Ouija Novelty’s contract with the Fulds was for three years only. At the end of this period, William formed his own company—ended the partnership. Isaac’s rights to produce the Ouija board ended. A legal battle ensued. The acrimony created a bitter family feud that was to last for generations. Isaac worked from his home workshop and produced and sold Ouija facsimiles, called Oriole talking boards, along with pool and smoking tables. Ouija Novelty collected revenues on the Ouija name from Willam Fuld and then in 1919 relinquished the remaining rights. William sold millions of Ouija boards, toys, and other games and kept a job as a US customs inspector. Later in life he became a member of Baltimore's General Assembly.

For twenty-six years William Fuld ran the company through good times and bad. He was a Presbyterian, didn't believe that it was a medium of communication with departed spirits, but at the same time still thought that the Ouija a reliable advisor in matters of business and personal life. He explained a type of magnetism or some kind of psychological phenomenon controlled the hands and led to the right answers. He offered personal anecdotes to illustrate. The board told him to "prepare for big business" and he did, building a new factory to support huge demands. When a large shipment consigned to St. Paul, Minnesota got lost, and a search by railroad officials failed to find it, Fuld asked the Ouija board and it directed him to Ohio, right where it had been misdirected. 

Fuld said. "We didn't know what to name it, so put the question up to the board and it spelled out O-U-I-J-A. We hadn't any idea what it meant and scratched a long time before we found any clue, until discovered the word a close approximation of an Egyptian word meaning good luck." Although he had "inventor" printed on the back of every board, he didn’t claim to be the originator, but credited E. C. Reiche. He just beat him to the patent office.
William Fuld climbed to the roof of his Harford Street factory in Baltimore to supervise the replacement of a flagpole, but a support post that he held on to, gave way and he fell backwards to his death. This happened in February 1927. Following his death, William's children took over and marketed many interesting Ouija versions of their own, including the rare and marvelous Art Deco Electric Mystifying Oracle. In 1966, they retired and sold the business to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers produced an accurate Fuld reproduction and briefly even made a Deluxe Wooden Edition Ouija. They still own the trademarks and patents to this day. 

In early 1999, Parker Brothers stopped manufacturing the classic Fuld Ouija board and switched to a smaller less detailed glow in the dark version. No longer is the faux bird's eye maple lithograph and also gone is the name William Fuld. 
Today, as in the past, there are companies that produce interesting variants of the talking board. It may be accurate to say that there is a renaissance afoot. Hasbro, who currently owns Parker Brothers, has introduced two new limited edition versions of the Ouija board within the past few years. Other manufacturers have also joined in with imaginatively styled, contemporary talking boards. Online auction sites allow artists, who formerly would not have had the opportunity, to display and sell their handcrafted creations to a worldwide audience. Talking board enthusiasts are creating websites, sponsoring public shows and events, and connecting with other collectors in an entirely new way. At this period in time, the Wonderful Talking Board has never been more popular. 

Parker Brothers motto: "It's only a game—isn't it?"

 



Find the other blogs posting today at http://www.hauntjaunts.net/paranormal-day-party-invite/

1. Haunt Jaunts	2. Mike Ricksecker Author and Ghostorian Blog
3. Courtney Mroch, author	4. Why would you want to be normal when you could be
5. Fantastic Dreams of Pamela K. Kinney	6. Southern Spirit Guide
7. Emerian Rich's Blog	8. Chris Verstraete - Haunting of Lizzie Borden
9. World's Scariest Places	10. Ghost in the Closet
11. Paranormal Witness: Trumbull County UFO	12. Phantoms & Monsters
13. A Haunting at the Lake Club	14. Celebrity Ghost Stories: Dee Wallace & Della Reese
15. Haunt Jaunt #ParaDayParT	16. Silent Screams- A Short Poem
17. Darcy Coates Horror Author Facebook Page

Supernatural Friday: Seventeen Haunted Restaurants in America

 Being this is summer and many people take vacations, I will blog about 17 haunted restaurants and bars that maybe on one of your trips you can stop by for a bite to eat and maybe even a bit of paranormal activity. I am sure there is pleny more out there, but this is some to begin with. 

 

      1. The Bistro at Market and Grove, Petersburg, Virginia. A restaurant  in Old Town Petersburg where good food can be found, it is also haunted. A female spirit has been seen and even photographed dancing in the dining room. A male spirit has been heard cussing and anther female spirit of a friend of the owner still hangs around—seen, heard, and even odor from marijuana smelled she used to like to smoke in life.  Paranormal investigators have investigated it, even filmed and investigated for episode on DVD for Paranormal World Seekers. It will be a chapter in an upcoming ghost book too.    https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bistro-at-Market-and-Grove/99642348471

          2, Poogan’s Porch, Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston police have received so many calls about a distressed woman dressed in black trapped inside this upscale Southern restaurant that authorities disregard new reports. Zoe St. Amand, a spinster schoolteacher, is who supposedly haunts the building. She owned the house in the early 1900s and went mad after the death of her sister, her only friend. Legend has it that Zoe fell down the stairs to her death while fruitlessly searching for her sister one night. She likes to move place settings around the tables and mess with food orders. She also hurls bar stools at the staff and throws open doors when she's upset. The restaurant's namesake was a Wheaton Terrier named Poogan who died in 1979. It is also said that the dog still runs through the dining room, claims made by children. who say they feel Poogan running under the table. poogansporch.com

          3. Old Town Pizza, Portland Oregon. Old Town Pizza was founded in 1974 when the Accuardi family opened the doors of a legendary Portland landmark, the Merchant Hotel, the spot Old Town Pizza now stands atop the city's infamous Shanghai Tunnels. The lobby of the Merchant Hotel was transformed into the hippest pizza joint in town. Generations of Old Town Pizza loyalists remember the restaurant as a bustling hang-out for leaders in Portland’s counterculture scene of the 70s. Actor Willem Dafoe was a regular at the time and could usually be found lounging on a couch on the mezzanine. Today the Milne family keeps the Old Town Pizza legacy alive, nurturing a little piece of Portland’s past for the next generation. On the haunting front, legend tells of one of the young “working women” sold into a thriving white slavery market and in an effort to clean up the neighborhood, traveling missionaries convinced her to share information in exchange for freeing her from a fate she did not choose. Nina cooperated but soon afterward was found dead in the Merchant Hotel. That woman was Naina and she has hung around the place for a century. She supposedly scratched her name into a brick on that elevator shaft, which is now part of a booth. Nina is often seen in a black dress observing diners and wandering the basement below. Any faint perfume smelled or a presence felt behind, but when you turned to see and no one is there, you've just met Nina. http://www.oldtownpizza.com/

 

           

      4. Muriel’s, New Orleans, Louisiana. In a city like NOLA, haunted    
buildings are a dime-a-dozen. And while Muriel's doesn't boast the most      horrific backstory, it's seen some dark deeds. In the late 1700s, Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan bought the burned-out mansion and restored it to its old charms. Then, in a classic future-ghost move, he bet the entire house in a poker game, which he lost. Because he couldn't bear to leave the place, he killed himself on the second floor, right around where the Seance Lounges stand today. Jourdan spends most of his time there -- he pops up as a shimmery light rather than a complete ghostly form, but he still knocks on the brick wall with the gusto of a full-fledged apparition. And he's got company. Paranormal investigators picked up the voice of a woman in the Seance Lounges, and there's definitely another poltergeist in the Courtyard Bar who's big on smashing glasses. There is one unavailable table at this Jackson Square restaurant. It's freshly set every night with bread and wine for a previous owner of the property, Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, whose ghost has a standing reservation. Gambling ruined Jourdan in 1814, when he lost his house in a poker game. Inconsolable at having to vacate, he committed suicide on the second floor. The appropriately named Séance Lounges upstairs are where Mr. Jourdan is said to spend most of his time knocking on walls, but the staff claim that glasses have flown from behind the bar and shattered against the far brick wall three times since 2001. muriels.com

         5. Brennan’s Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana. Chef Paul Blangé created many of this restaurant's iconic dishes, like bananas Foster flambéed tableside, and staff says he never leaves the kitchen—even though Blangé died in 1977. The chef was so dedicated that he was buried with the restaurant's menu and a knife and fork across his chest, and he is said to mark the end of a night's shift by banging pots and pans as the restaurant's doors are locked. In the wine cellar, the ghost of sommelier Herman Funk—who helped build the restaurant's legendary collection of wine and spirits—now signals his selections to servers by clinking bottles. brennansneworleans.com

      6. Wabi Sabi, Petersburg, Virginia.  Located in Old Town Petersburg on the first floor of the former National Friend house. They serve food, particularly sushi, there is two bars, have live music and art gallery.  The place also has ghosts. From a black Confederate soldier to maybe a former lady of the evening that might still be plying her ample charms (the building also was rumored to be a brothel at one point), and even the ghost of a little boy, the living are not the only beings in the place.  http://www.eatwabisabi.com/

      7. Crab Louie’s, Midlothian, Virginia. Once called Midlothian and owned by a family named Wooldridge, the place changed hands and names over the years. It was once a stop for the Lynchburg-Richmond stage, and it's also been a boarding school, a nursery and finally a restaurant. Notice of the ghostly phenomena started in the 1980s and continues to this very day. The main ghosts are a man dressed in clothing from the 19th century and a little girl, though one past owner thought it might be several that haunted the place. But it is "Rachel," the little girl ghost, that most of the phenomena is attributed to. This includes glasses coming off bar racks (many times flying), plates disappearing and apparitions of the little girl near table 10. Children have also been heard singing around table 10, and a calculator once turned itself on. Next time you go to Crab Louie's, ask for table 10 - if you dare. http://crablouies.com/

         8. White Horse Tavern, Newport, Rhode Island. Considered America’s oldest tavern, it opened in 1673. The White Horse was a regular haunt for Colonists, British soldiers, Hessian mercenaries, pirates, sailors, founding fathers and all manner of early American folk. By 1954, the structure showed years of use and neglect. Through the generosity of the Van Beuren family the property was acquired by The Preservation Society of Newport County and meticulously restored. It re-opened as The White Horse Tavern in 1957. O.L. Pitts of Fort Worth, Texas, along with three partners, purchased the White Horse Tavern in 1981. Infamous participants in the revelry of the America’s Cup races, they continued the tradition of good fellowship, good food and good cheer. On his ninetieth birthday, O.L. Pitts turned stewardship of the Tavern over to Paul Hogan, a Newport native and only the sixth owner in three hundred and fifty years. The story behind the hauntings was that two men showed up at the tavern in the 1720s looking for a room for the night. The next day, the owners found one dead by the fireplace and the other completely vanished. A specter now chills by the fireplace, daring people to solve his freak death. There have also been encounters with a colonial-looking dude in the upstairs bathroom, and mysterious footsteps all over the place. Coincidentally, there's another White Horse Tavern in New York City with high ghost-hunter interest. It's where poet Dylan Thomas drank himself to death, and he still hasn't learned his lesson, as he occasionally pops up at his regular table.  http://www.whitehorsenewport.com/

      9. Casey Moore’s Oyster House, Tempre, Arizona. Casey Moore's has several different stories on the poltergeists that spook the grounds. One account goes that a coed named Sarah, who was strangled by her crazy boyfriend on-site, sulks around the dining room tables. Another says the spirit of a little boy, whose photograph was unearthed years ago amid renovations -- prowls the halls. Either way -- you might actually have to believe your buddy when he insists half your shrimp cocktail "just disappeared" when you went to the bathroom. http://www.caseymoores.com/Home.html

     10. Stone’s Public House, Ashland, Massachusetts. John Stone, the original owner of this inn-turned-gastropub, had a secret. A psychic who visited in 1984 claims resident spirits told him that in 1845, Mr. Stone killed a New York boarder named Michael during a fight, after Stone accused the man of cheating in a card game in which Michael won $3,000. Witnesses to the crime aided Stone in burying the body. Now the staff dreads Stone and other spirits placing ghostly hands on customers' necks and throwing glasses from the shelves. www.stonespublichouse.com

          11 Catfish Plantation, Waxahachie, Texas. Known as "the most haunted    
          restaurant in Texas," this Cajun restaurant occupies a Victorian house and
         boasts the presence of multiple specters. Caroline, a former resident who 
        died in 1970, seems to be under the impression that she still runs the kitchen. 
       The restaurant's owners in the 1980s, Tom and Melissa Baker, reported 
       finding a pot of coffee brewing one morning and teacups stacked in the 
       middle of the floor another morning—though no one else had keys to the 
       restaurant. Since then, others have witnessed the apparition of a bride 
        standing by the window. catfishplantation.com

12. Beardslee Castle, Little Falls, New York . This restaurant is in a faux Irish castle in the Mohawk Valley. It was in an episode of Ghost Hunters. There are tales of ghosts shattering glasses, moving objects and closing doors. In 1983, Norm Gauthier, a ghost hunter from the New Hampshire Institute for Paranormal Research, surveyed the property and concluded that there were definitely two spirits present in the castle. While one legend says that Native Americans were killed on the property in the 1700s, the ghosts in residence are believed to be younger: Anton "Pop"; Christensen, the former owner who hung himself in the ladies' room in the 1950s to put an end to his failing health; and a bride-to-be named Abigail who died the night before her wedding. (Weddings are still held on the property.) In 1989, a fire broke out in the castle and destroyed the kitchens without harming the original structure. Some believe that this was the ghosts' way of rebelling against all the attention. Not all of the ghosts' activity is destructive; some say they also reset tables. beardsleecastle.com

  13. Patrick’s Roadhouse, Santa Monica, California. Known for celebrity sightings, overstuffed omelets and a funky, shamrock-adorned exterior, this narrow roadhouse has ghosts from the building's former incarnations as a motel, hot dog stand, brothel and trolley station. But the most vibrant ghoul is the Roadhouse's last owner, Bill Fischler, who was known to publicly ridicule customers who complained about food. He occasionally pops in to check on his restaurant and its employees. One chef even quit after seeing Fischler's ghost appear at the back of the restaurant, glaring at him with dissatisfaction. patricksroadhouse.info

14. Blue Willow Tea Room, Petersburg, Virginia. Located in Historic Old Towne Petersburg and situated adjacent to Penniston's Alley Antiques and Collectibles, you can enjoy “a spot of tea", as you sit "amongst the antiques" in this c.1815 Federal townhouse. They offer a traditional English tea service consisting of a cream tea, luncheon tea, Victorian tea or full afternoon tea.  They also have homemade desserts, soups and salads. Though it is mainly the second and third floors above the tea room and Penniston’s next door that has the bulk of the hauntings, whose to say that the spirits might not come downstairs to check out the people. While it is thought that the first mayor of Petersburg stalks the second floor, the third floor is haunted by slaves fleeing slavery by the Underground Railroad, though obviously, they never left the place. At one point, the ghostly slaves frightened off some ghost hunters one night.  http://www.bluewillowtearoom.com/

 15. Manhattan Bistro, New York City, New York. On December 22, 1799, when Soho was still a sloping meadow, Julia Elmore Sands was murdered by her fiancé and thrown into the Manhattan Well at 129 Spring Street. Marks on her neck suggested she had been strangled. Handbills distributed to the public implied that Weeks had impregnated Sands before killing her, and the woman's family later displayed her corpse outside their boarding house to encourage speculation. Weeks was arrested and tried for murder on March 31, 1800. It was the first murder trial in American history to be fully documented by a court stenographer. He was found innocent, thanks to his lawyers (who happened to include future dueling opponents Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton). Weeks fled the city due to pinlic outrage. Many years later, the well still exists in the basement of the now-shuttered Manhattan Bistro. History buffs are always eager to view the basement. Former owner Martia DaGrossa who had run the restaurant in the Spring Street building her family has owned since 1954 recalls two incidents when bottles of red wine flew off the wall and crashed onto the floor. The Travel Channel has named it one of the 10 most haunted places in America.

16. Succotash, Kansas City, Missouri. Before being rechristened as local brunch favorite, this 100-year-old saloon was the Dutch Hill Bar & Grill. One of its old regulars still haunts the bar. Succotash owner Beth Barden first encountered the visitor while renovating the abandoned restaurant. "We would smell cigars," Barden recalls. "I spoke to one of the old neighbors and some of the old staff, who said there was a gentleman named Radar who was there all the time. He used to sit at the end of the bar and smoke these cigarillos." To this day, after closing up the restaurant, the staff will smell the distinct musk of a cigar. "I guess this was his home away from home," Barden says, "He was a barfly who spent many, many days here, and when he died, he just stayed." succotashkc.com

17.  Ruth's Chris Steak House, Richmond, Virginia. Another restaurant with spirits beyond the alcoholic kind is Ruth's Chris Steak House at Bellgrade Plantation. The story behind the haunting has all the makings of an Edgar Allen Poe tale. In 1840, the Friend family sold the plantation to an older Frenchman named RBeardslee Castle, Little Falls, New York. This restaurant is in a faux Irish castle in the Mohawk Valley. It was in an episode of Ghost Hunters. There are tales of ghosts shattering glasses, moving objects and closing doors. In 1983, Norm Gauthier, a ghost hunter from the New Hampshire Institute for Paranormal Research, surveyed the property and concluded that there were definitely two spirits present in the castle. While one legend says that Native Americans were killed on the property in the 1700s, the ghosts in residence are believed to be younger: Anton "Pop"; Christensen, the former owner who hung himself in the ladies' room in the 1950s to put an end to his failing health; and a bride-to-be named Abigail who died the night before her wedding. (Weddings are still held on the property.) In 1989, a fire broke out in the castle and destroyed the kitchens without harming the original structure. Some believe that this was the ghosts' way of rebelling against all the attention. Not all of the ghosts' activity is destructive; some say they also reset tables. beardsleecastle.com

18.  Patrick’s Roadhouse, Santa Monica, California.  Known for celebrity sightings, overstuffed omelets and a funky, shamrock-adorned exterior, this narrow roadhouse has ghosts from the building's former incarnations as a motel, hot dog stand, brothel and trolley station. But the most vibrant ghoul is the Roadhouse's last owner, Bill Fischler, who was known to publicly ridicule customers who complained about food. He occasionally pops in to check on his restaurant and its employees. One chef even quit after seeing Fischler's ghost appear in the back of the restaurant, glaring at him with dissatisfaction. patricksroadhouse.info

Blue Willow Tea Room, Petersburg, Virginia. Located in Historic Old Towne Petersburg and situated adjacent to Penniston's Alley Antiques and Collectibles, you can enjoy “a spot of tea", as you sit "amongst the antiques" in this c.1815 Federal townhouse. They offer a traditional English tea service consisting of a cream tea, luncheon tea, Victorian tea or full afternoon tea.  They also have homemade desserts, soups and salads. Though it is mainly the second and third floors above the tea room and Penniston’s next door that has the bulk of the hauntings, whose to say that the spirits might not come downstairs to check out the people. While it is thought that the first mayor of Petersburg stalks the second floor, the third floor is haunted by slaves fleeing slavery by the Underground Railroad, though obviously, they never left the place. At one point, the ghostly slaves frightened off some ghost hunters one night.  http://www.bluewillowtearoom.com/

 Manhattan Bistro, New York City, New York. On December 22, 1799, when Soho was still a sloping meadow, Julia Elmore Sands was murdered by her fiancé and thrown into the Manhattan Well at 129 Spring Street. Marks on her neck suggested she had been strangled. Handbills distributed to the public implied that Weeks had impregnated Sands before killing her, and the woman's family later displayed her corpse outside their boarding house to encourage speculation. Weeks was arrested and tried for murder on March 31, 1800. It was the first murder trial in American history to be fully documented by a court stenographer. He was found innocent, thanks to his lawyers (who happened to include future dueling opponents Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton). Weeks fled the city due to pinlic outrage. Many years later, the well still exists in the basement of the now-shuttered Manhattan Bistro. History buffs are always eager to view the basement. Former owner Martia DaGrossa who had run the restaurant in the Spring Street building her family has owned since 1954 recalls two incidents when bottles of red wine flew off the wall and crashed onto the floor. The Travel Channel has named it one of the 10 most haunted places in America.
19. Succotash, Kansas City, Missouri. Before being rechristened as local brunch favorite, this 100-year-old saloon was the Dutch Hill Bar & Grill. One of its old regulars still haunts the bar. Succotash owner Beth Barden first encountered the visitor while renovating the abandoned restaurant. "We would smell cigars," Barden recalls. "I spoke to one of the old neighbors and some of the old staff, who said there was a gentleman named Radar who was there all the time. He used to sit at the end of the bar and smoke these cigarillos." To this day, after closing up the restaurant, the staff will smell the distinct musk of a cigar. "I guess this was his home away from home," Barden says, "He was a barfly who spent many, many days here, and when he died, he just stayed." succotashkc.com

20. Ruth's Chris Steak House, Richmond, Virginia. Another restaurant with spirits beyond the alcoholic kind is Ruth's Chris Steak House at Bellgrade Plantation. The story behind the haunting has all the makings of an Edgar Allen Poe tale. In 1840, the Friend family sold the plantation to an older Frenchman named Robiou. He met and became enamored with the 14-year-old daughter of a neighbor, Wormley, and was granted her hand in marriage. One day, he returned home and found her with a former boyfriend, Reid. He demanded a divorce, which didn't sit well with the father. The father convinced his daughter's lover to help him retaliate against Robiou. What happened next was horrible. Wormley shot Robiou, and both he and Reid were arrested. Reid got off - as it was said he had been coerced into the plot - but not Wormley. Eventually, he was hung at the county courthouse. Within two weeks of her father's hanging, Robiou's widow fell down the front stairs of the plantation house and died. Since that time, both she and her murdered husband's spirits have been seen, mainly in the boxwood gardens behind the place. And sometimes, inside the building, too.
During the Civil War, Bellgrade was used by General A.P. Hill as his headquarters while engaged in a campaign located between Richmond and Petersburg. It was also utilized as a hospital for southern soldiers. General Hill was killed during this campaign. There was an attempt to take his body to Hollywood Cemetery, but there was no way to get it across the James River because of bridge damage and Union troops. Hill’s body was then taken to Bellgrade and buried in the Friend family cemetery. In his last will and testament, he had requested to be buried standing up at Bellgrade. After the war had ended, his body was moved to Hollywood Cemetery and buried standing up. When the statue in his honor was created, his body was supposedly moved for the last time. But later, an administrator at Hollywood revealed the statue, his body, and coffin were removed to another location, at the intersection of Hermitage and Laburnum,  and again he was buried standing up. http://www.sizzlingsteak.com/ruths-chris-richmond


obiou. He met and became enamored with the 14-year-old daughter of a neighbor, Wormley, and was granted her hand in marriage. One day, he returned home and found her with a former boyfriend, Reid. He demanded a divorce, which didn't sit well with the father. The father convinced his daughter's lover to help him retaliate against Robiou. What happened next was horrible. Wormley shot Robiou, and both he and Reid were arrested. Reid got off - as it was said he had been coerced into the plot - but not Wormley. Eventually, he was hung at the county courthouse. Within two weeks of her father's hanging, Robiou's widow fell down the front stairs of the plantation house and died. Since that time, both she and her murdered husband's spirits have been seen, mainly in the boxwood gardens behind the place. And sometimes, inside the building, too.
During the Civil War, Bellgrade was used by General A.P. Hill as his headquarters while engaged in a campaign located between Richmond and Petersburg. It was also utilized as a hospital for southern soldiers. General Hill was killed during this campaign. There was an attempt to take his body to Hollywood Cemetery, but there was no way to get it across the James River because of bridge damage and Union troops. Hill’s body was then taken to Bellgrade and buried in the Friend family cemetery. In his last will and testament, he had requested to be buried standing up at Bellgrade. After the war had ended, his body was moved to Hollywood Cemetery and buried standing up. When the statue in his honor was created, his body was supposedly moved for the last time. But later, an administrator at Hollywood revealed the statue, his body, and coffin were removed to another location, at the intersection of Hermitage and Laburnum,  and again he was buried standing up. http://www.sizzlingsteak.com/ruths-chris-richmond

Next time you decide to eat at a haunted eatery and feel someone watching you eat, it’s not the waiter or waitress. It just might be the ghost that must now live vicariously through the living as they can no longer eat or drink. Happy haunting...I meant, happy eating......