Ira Erastus and William Henry Davenport had a huge influence on 19th century magic and society. From the mid- 1850s they toured America, and later the world, with their spirit cabinet routine. They were tied within a box with musical instruments, the doors were closed, and the instruments could be heard by the audience. When the doors were opened, the brothers were in the same position. The Davenports quickly became associated with spiritualism, which was becoming more popular in both America and Britain. The performance was presented as being a genuine supernatural phenomenon. The Davenports’ spirit effects were repeatedly exposed as trickery, including by magicians John Henry Anderson, Jean-Eugène Robert- Houdin and John Neville Maskelyne but they continued to tour until William Henry’s death in 1877. Many magicians in the 19th century introduced spirit phenomena into their acts, reflecting the popularity of the Davenports and a growing interest in spiritualism.