Article April Fools Day - 1978
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoaxes.
Summary: Notable hoaxes perpetrated on April Fool’s Day, 1978.
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Table of Contents
The Sydney Iceberg
A barge appeared in Sydney Harbor towing a giant iceberg. Sydneysiders were expecting it. Dick Smith, a local adventurer and millionaire businessman (owner of Dick Smith’s Foods), had been loudly promoting his scheme to tow an iceberg from Antarctica for quite some time. Now he had apparently succeeded. He said that he was going to carve the berg into small ice cubes, which he would sell to the public for ten cents each. These well-traveled cubes, fresh from the pure waters of Antarctica, were promised to improve the flavor of any drink they cooled. Slowly the iceberg made its way into the harbor. Local radio stations provided excited blow-by-blow coverage of the scene. Only when the berg was well into the harbor was its secret revealed. It started to rain, and the firefighting foam and shaving cream that the berg was really made of washed away, uncovering the white plastic sheets beneath.
Superior Fishing Thread
Dave Heberle, a reporter for the Erie Times, wrote an article describing a type of fishing thread that was apparently so good that it didn’t give the fish a sporting chance. As a consequence it had been banned for use in trout fishing, and anyone caught using it would be fined. As a result of the story, sports stores were besieged by anglers searching for the thread. The Erie Times also received over 500 calls. Heberle was fired for the prank.
