The April Fool's Day ArchiveA catalog of April Fool's Day hoaxes, pranks, and related events throughout history, categorized by year and theme.
April Fool's Day Archive, Contents:
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. The Raystown River is only three feet deep in the Bedford area. [
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Apr 2, 1960.]
"School children, more than anyone else, live for the chance to 'get back at the teacher.' Most teachers went to school this morning alert for tacks on chairs, glue on desks and gently placed placards ordering to 'kick me' invitation.
Probably a few instructors in the city schools forgot to check the calendar this morning and fell victim to at least one of the pranks of the class. The only consolation the teacher has it that for once, she did what the class wanted her to do."
-Allen Sackmann, [
Lethbridge Herald - Apr 1, 1960]
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." [
Newark Advocate - Apr 2, 1960.]
[
Kittanning Leader-Times - Apr 1, 1960]
The national news in the Netherlands reported that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. The announcement caused widepread shock and mourning.
Residents of St. Joseph, Missouri who received a notice on April 1st informing them they had been selected for jury duty thought the notices were a joke and none of them showed up. Deputy sheriffs had to make a special trip to their homes to inform them that the summons were real. The Sheriff's Department later made a special plea to the circuit judges: "Please don't draw a panel of jurors on April Fool's Day again." [
The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune, Apr 3, 1959.]
An ad in the
Chicago Tribune for Carl Buddig Smoked Sliced Beef not only depicted beef, but smelled like it too. This was achieved by mixing "a 12 per cent concentrate of oil of cassia, oil of clove, and maple syrup — ingredients used in the beef curing process" with the printer's ink. Although the ad ran on April 1st, the
Tribune insisted there was "No fooling." It was a real smoked beef smell.
The Light of San Antonio, Texas reported that a huge army missile had accidentally escaped from Kelly Air Force Base during testing, "screamed over San Antonio," and crashed into a water tank near Trinity University. An accompanying picture showed the missile embedded in the ground as water from the tank poured over it. An Airforce Colonel was quoted as saying, "We're spending a great deal of money and much of this nation's international diplomacy is based on the armed strength this and other units like it achieve. So I hope you'll understand why I have no more time for this damned April Fool gag."
The Chicago
Daily Defender interviewed Otto Ebar, the man responsible for answering the phones at the Cook County Morgue on April 1st, the day when numerous calls are received for Mr. Stiff, Mr. K. Dever, Mr. Casket, Mr. Graves, Mr. Rigor, or Mr. Mortis. Ebar said, "he has to brace himself for when business executives and general office girls discover they have been tricked by some of their associates, some let their venom out on him. 'But the vast majority are terribly nice about it.'"
Ebar said the calls average about four or five a minute and that the men are more likely to berate him than the women who readily admit their embarrassment and refuse to give their name.
One important lawyer called, Ebar disclosed, and asked if he could speak to 'Mr. Stiff.' His secretary had left the message for him, he added.
When Ebar finally got around to telling him it was the County Morgue number his secretary had given him, but that for him to call any time he liked, the lawyer replied:
'Don't worry, you'll be hearing from me real soon because my secretary will be visiting you. Her name will be Mrs. Stiff.'
[
The Chicago Defender, Apr 2, 1959.]
The New York Times reported that "The Bronx Botanical and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens are awaiting, wearily, their usual calls for Messrs Astor, Bush and Flower, and the Planetarium the usual requests for Mr. McCloud or Mr. Starr." However, the employees of the Bronx Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium were given secret numbers to use, so that all calls to the regular numbers could be intercepted by the telephone company, "and the joke victims told the hard truth." The telephone company estimated that it intercepted well over 5000 prank calls. [
New York Times, Apr 1, 1959.]
At London's St. James' Club, on April 1, four perfect bridge hands (a full suit) were dealt at the same table. The odds of this happening were estimated to be 53,644,737,765,488,792,839,237,440,000 to 1. The players had to convince other club members that the perfect hands were not a hoax. The duke of Marlborough, with 13 spades, held the winning hand. [
Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr 3, 1959.]
Wire services reported a variety of April Fool's Day hoaxes perpetrated by the Polish media. One newspaper reported that a herd of thirty bison was marching on Warsaw; another that Buckingham Palace sentries were to be allowed to lick ice cream cones on duty. A third paper reported that gasoline stations were being converted into underground milk tanks in order to ensure a supply of cold milk during the summer.
The
Lawrence Daily Journal-World reported that a group of science students had launched Kansas University's World War II Memorial Tower into orbit:
"Those crazy college boys have done it again! In line with the current rocket and missile craze that has seized the world, a group of Kansas University science students Tuesday night sneaked up on Mt. Oread, equipped the Memorial Campanile with rockets and as APRIL 1 dawned today they ran their count-down and sent the famed 'singing silo' of Lawrence zooming toward orbit. There was some question today, however, as to whether Ronald Barnes, KU carilloneur, was allowed to get out of the tower before it was launched from its Jayhawk pad. When last heard from, Barnes was practicing at the carillon keyboard. He couldn't be located today. The KU Launching Society was not sure early this afternoon whether the Campanile had gone into orbit, but they were monitoring it carefully hoping at any time to hear a beeping of 'The Crimson and the Blue' from outer space. Oh, yes, if you haven't guessed it by now, this is all an April Fool joke. Nobody really launched the campanile and carilloneur Barnes wasn't out of this world today, having both feet solidly on Kansas soil as he went about his duties at KU. Journal-World photographer Leonard Bacon simply transposed a Campanile photo on that of a rocket leaving its pad at Cape Canaveral to create a bit of April tomfoolery."
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