The national news in the Netherlands reported that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. The announcement caused widepread shock and mourning.
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. [
Los Angeles Times, Apr 2, 1960.]
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. [
The Ada Evening News, Apr 3, 1960.]
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. [
San Mateo Times, May 3, 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.]
Advertisement for Alligator Raincoats.
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. [
Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr 2, 1960.]
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. [
Syracuse Herald-Journal, Apr 2, 1960.]
Allen Sackmann, staff writer for the
Lethbridge Herald, observed:
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" inviting.
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 is that for once, she did what the class wanted her to do.
[
Lethbridge Herald, Apr 1, 1960.]
