Lulu Hurst

Lula Hurst Atkinson (1869 – May 13, 1950) was an American stage magician. She was born Lula Hurst and her professional name was Lulu Hurst. Her stage names were "Wonder", "Georgia Wonder", "Electric Girl", "Magnetic Girl", and "Laughing Lulu Hurst". Her performances, such as The Heavy Weight Lifting Test, Umbrella Test, and The Balance Test, were stage tricks accomplished by force deflection.

Early life Lulu Hurst was born in Polk County, Georgia in 1869 as Lula Hurst, but was more often called Lulu. Mr. W.E. Hurst, her father, enlisted in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, a divided state, when he was seventeen. He was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Her uncle enlisted in the Union Army of Tennessee, and the two faced one another in Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Once the war was over, her father returned to Athens, in East Tennessee, where he found that his house was burn down. He moved to Polk County, Georgia, where he met Hurst's mother in Cedar Valley.

Lulu Hurst was homeschooled by her mother, a Mary Sharp College alumna, until the age of ten when she moved to Cedartown to attend the public schools in Rome, Georgia. The Hurst family invited over twenty neighbors to listen to the sounds the following night. Many believed the noise was a mysterious force.

The Hurst Family received visitors from Rome, Cartersville, and Atlanta to witness her occult powers. Hurst made objects shake uncontrollably with her hands.

The Hurst Family home entertained hundreds of visitors. Her Baptist father, W.E., disliked the idea of her performing on stage.

Career + Stage Demonstrations Chair Force Tests The Heavy Weight Lifting Test Attempt of Two+ Men to Force Chair to the Floor While Hurst Placed Hands on Top Attempt to Hold Chair while Hurst Hands are on it Billiard Cue or Cane The Balance Test Force to Floor Across Open Palm Attempt to Hold Direct Object while Hurst's Hand is on it Other Tests Umbrella Test Weird Table Rapping or Spirit Rapping Attempt to Hold Direct Object while Hurst's Hand is on it Hurst emerged in 1884 as the second electric girl. In her first public exhibition, the venue reached capacity, and she earned the title "Wonder." Hurst provided the strong men with innate objects such as a cane, chair, and umbrella. The chair began to vibrate with the pent-up force. The umbrella would gyrate and dart around the room with more force than the chair. Under the stage name the "Georgia Wonder" or "Laughing Lulu", the teenage Hurst specialised in demonstrations of great physical strength.

Hurst meet her future husband and manager Paul M Atkinson during her performance in Madison, Georgia. Atkinson introduced her to audiences as the "Electric Maid". Hurst's examination at the age of fifteen results found she was of normal intelligence, five feet four inches, one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and of normal muscular strength. Hurst broke umbrellas and walking sticks with her hands according to newspapers reports. Hurst placed two fingers and a thumb on his hands while he attempted to lift a chair off the floor, but he was unable to get it a foot off the stage. Laflin held a billiard cue in his hands, with his muscle engaged, he began to sway, stagger, and then move violently around the stage. and Chicago. Her last performance was in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Hurst left the stage at the age of eighteen. Soon after her retirement, she married her former manager. file: Figure 2 The Test of Attempting to Force a Cane or Billard Cue to the Floor Across My Open Palm.jpg|A person holds the cue or cane with their body weight and Hurst places rest an open palm against its underside between his hands. file: Figure 4 The Attempt of One. Two. Three or More Men to Force a Chair to the Floor While My Hands are Upon It.jpg|People hold a press the chair firmly downwards with intense pressure while Hurst places her hands on top of the chair. file: Figure 5 The Umbrella Test.jpg|A person stands under and forcefully holds an umbrella while Hurst stands under it and places her hands on it. file: Figure 7 The Attempt to Hold A Chair with my Hands Upon It.jpg|A person must stay on their feet while holding an the object after Hurst places her hands on it. file:Figure 8 The Weird Table Rapping Test Commonly Termed "Spirit Rapping".jpg|Hurst produced mysterious popping sounds in and on a table.

Known Performance Locations Source:

A person must stay on their feet while holding an the object after Hurst places her hands on it. Cedartown, Georgia Rome, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia: Two Exhibitions at DeGive's Opera House Chattanooga, Tennessee Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Private Exhibition to Faculty Augusta, Georgia: State Medical College Private Entertainment for Faculty and Students Athens, Georgia: The State University Madison, Georgia Augusta, Georgia Americus, Georgia Columbus, Georgia Montgomery, Alabama Jacksonville, Florida Savannah, Georgia: Pulaski House Private Exhibition Charleston, South Carolina: Hibernian Hall Charleston, South Carolina: Medical College Private Exhibition to Faculty and Students Columbia, South Carolina North Carolina Washington, DC: Metropolitan Hotel Washington, DC: Volta Laboratory Private Exhibition & Examination

Popular Mechanics claimed she exercised the "pivot-and-fulcrum theorem of physics."

Joe Nickell investigated Hurst and found her use of force deflection was a common use of "physical principles and tricks." Nickell believed she embraced herself as a powerful medium.

Publication

Lulu Hurst (the Georgia Wonder) Writes Her Autobiography, and for the First Time Explains and Demonstrates the Great Secret of Her Marvelous Power (1897)

In Fiction The Magnetic Girl: A Novel (2019) by Jessica Handler.