Table of Contents

• Leaning Tower of Pisa Falls Over
• Stupid Safecracker
• There’s an elephant in my yard
• Atomic Sub in Bedford
• Fewer Fools
• “April Doesn’t Fool When It Comes To Rain!”
• April Fool Pig
• Late Format Change
• References

Leaning Tower of Pisa Falls Over

The national news in the Netherlands reported that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. The announcement caused widepread shock and mourning.

Stupid Safecracker

An attempted robbery was reported in El Rio, California. A burglar spent hours using an acetylene torch to try to cut open a safe in the Leonard Anderson Well Drilling Co. office. When he failed at this, he tried to guess the combination. Finally, he gave up and left. Fred Rush, manager of the company, commented, “He just wouldn’t believe the sign. We put it there because we don’t know the combination. Now the joke’s on us. When the yeggman tried to work the combination he set the lock and now we can’t open the safe ourselves.” The sign on the safe which the burglar ignored read, “This safe is not locked.” It wasn’t.

There’s an elephant in my yard

George Morris of Safford, Arizona woke to find a full-grown elephant eating lilies in his backyard. He assumed it had to be some kind of elaborate April Fool’s Day joke. It wasn’t. But when he called the police to report the animal to them, they initially refused to believe he was telling the truth. Finally they sent over some officers. It turned out that “Dumbo” had been accidentally left behind by a circus that had pulled up stakes the night before. The circus was notified and a van was sent to pick up Dumbo.

Atomic Sub in Bedford

The Pennsylvania Bedford Express ran a photograph on its front page of an atomic submarine floating in the Raystown River. The paper was subsequently flooded with calls from its readers: “Was there really a sub in the river? Where is it now? Has it left yet?” The image had been created by a Gazette photographer who superimposed a picture of the sub onto a picture of the river. In reality, the Raystown River is only three feet deep in the Bedford area.

Fewer Fools

The New York Telephone Company announced it had prepared for April Fools Day, as it had done so for the past thirty years, by assigning special operators to intercept all calls to the Bronx Zoo. Only legitimate calls would be allowed through. When the day came, it intercepted 2561 calls to the zoo from people seeking to speak with Mr. Lion, Mr. Fox, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Beaver, etc. This was only half the number of calls made the previous year.

“April Doesn’t Fool When It Comes To Rain!”

Advertisement for Alligator Raincoats.

April Fool Pig

Bill Taylor of Oklahoma City celebrated his birthday every year on April 1st. As a consequence, he noted, he always received an “off brand gift.” On April 1, 1960 he turned 40. He woke to find a large box on his front porch. Inside was a 40-pound pig wrapped in a pink ribbon and bow. He announced, “I’ll just have that porker barbecued.”

Late Format Change

KABL, an Oakland radio station which described itself as the “good music” station, placed ads in Bay area publications announcing “KABL changes to Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Its listeners were shocked. They had no reason to suspect an April Fool’s Day joke since the ads appeared in early May. However, small type at the bottom of the ad declared, “late April Fool.” Critics agreed that the mistimed joke made KABL the fool.

References

• “Safecracker refuses to believe sign.” (Apr 2, 1960). Los Angeles Times.
• “Atom sub was April Fool joke.” (Apr 2, 1960). Syracuse Herald-Journal.
• “Dumbo goes visiting, dines on flowers.” (Apr 3, 1960). The Ada Evening News.
• “Phone company is set for pranksters today.” (Apr 1, 1960). New York Times.
• “Fewer April Fools.” (Apr 2, 1960). Chicago Daily Tribune.
• “TV Screenings.” (May 3, 1960). San Mateo Times.
• “Plans to have his April Fool’s gift barbecued.” (Apr 2, 1960). Newark Advocate.

Categories

• April Fools Day
• Era
  • 1950-1976