About the Museum
The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoaxipedia (the museum's online encyclopedia of hoaxes), and the Hoax Forum.

The museum was created in 1997 by Alex Boese. He's assisted by a staff of deputy curators and docents. Alex is the author of three books, most recently Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (which has nothing to do with hoaxes). Check out the list of the Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time for a preview.



Web Hoax Museum

Prankplace.com
COVERT CLICKER
Secretly control the TV, anywhere, any time! This device is so small it is easily concealed in your pocket. It can control volume, change the channel or turn the TV on & off. It works on 90% of all TV's.

THE TOILET MONSTER
Your wife will never yell at you about leaving the seat up again! The Toilet Monster attaches to the inside of the toilet bowl by suction cups. As the unsuspecting person goes to use the bathroom, they'll scream as they lift the lid and are greeted by the Toilet Monster! Not recommended for the elderly or those with a weak heart.


#3: Instant Color TV
image1962: In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.
• Read the full article about Instant Color TV.

Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 4 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »
 Hahaha, I can't believe someone would fall for that. A nylon sock? Tch!
Posted by Ian  on  Sun Mar 14, 2004  at  07:11 PM
Hey.. anything is possible in Sweden. smile
Posted by d2s  in  Finland  on  Mon Mar 15, 2004  at  11:38 AM
Well, it only makes one wonder, "what has our world come to?" Although this practical joke fooled the population of Sweden, has one ever wondered that maybe they went along with the whole joke, and the joke might have actually been on the techinician... I wonder..
Posted by Enrique  on  Mon Mar 22, 2004  at  09:32 PM
Hehehe, this one is especially funny. It's hard to believe that people would fall for such a trick. But then again, back then, I guess most people didn't have common sense or they were too busy trying to get their TV set to show color.
Posted by Dragon  on  Mon Mar 22, 2004  at  10:02 PM
Pity they didn't use coloured stockings!! Oh well, at least it's one way to stretch the stockings.
Posted by Linda  in  Hull  on  Tue Mar 30, 2004  at  09:15 AM
It's all true. I should know. It was the very first time my dad got the nylons off my mother. Nine months later, I was born. Thanks Kjell.
Posted by Daniel R  in  Gothenburg, Sweden  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  01:43 AM
haha..my mother actually did fall for that trick..but she was just a kid,,smile
.can`t there be any more jokes like that one?...I heavent been fooled jet today..:(...
Posted by anna. /from Sweden.  in  sweden  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  07:45 AM
i fell for it but i used a potato instead of a stalking then it got wet and my TV was on so it electrocuted me and everyone in my family died.
Posted by dickus geegeroff  in  hoogy  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  07:58 AM
Swedes are stupid, as every Norwegian knows. One thing i sure: Sweden have a intelligent neighbour, Norway hasn't...
Posted by Norwegian  in  Norway  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  10:35 AM
The scary thing is getting the nylon stocking off the woman who is big enough that her nylon stocking fits around a television screen.
Posted by Louis A. Starr  in  Springville, N.Y.  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  11:18 AM
This one is really good....!!!!
SWEDES ARE NOT STUPID!...Actually,I think they are simply much more creative than their neighbours(i.e. Norway):-)
Posted by Alma-Yu  in  USA  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  03:02 PM
They are trustful good friends, the Swedes. An answer for all problems in this world. Love from your sister.
Posted by Tor  in  Norway  on  Thu Apr 01, 2004  at  06:42 PM
Well back then the people wanted to have colourTV so they should have tried anything i belive :D
Posted by Filip  in  Sweden  on  Sat Apr 03, 2004  at  04:17 AM
Well, while I think that this was a good joke the Norwegians had a similar one in the sixties:
It was told in the news on the only TV channel that if you turned of all powerconsuming devices in the house, except for the television set you would get color. The funny part was that if you were staning in your window you could see the "darkness" spreading while people turned of all lightsources to verify the claim.
Posted by Bj¿rn E. Hesthamar  in  T¿nbseg, Norway  on  Sat Apr 03, 2004  at  04:26 AM
Oh my, This Nylon thing really works!! I can't believe it.
Posted by Kapechni  on  Sat Apr 03, 2004  at  09:23 AM
My granny and aunt destroind one pair of nylon stocking to try it out. They of course found that it didn't work.

Dan
Posted by Dan  in  Sweden  on  Sat Apr 03, 2004  at  12:27 PM
In the early '60s some entrepeneur tried to sell sheets of colored plastic that you could tape over your B&W TV for "instant color TV". These were advertised on the back pages of comic books. I think one of my friends actually sent away for one, and was bitterly disappointed. I am sure that many of those poor Swedes who fell for the joke were young children.
Posted by Carl  in  Albuquerque, NM  on  Mon Apr 12, 2004  at  02:03 PM
Back when I was a kid in Fredericton, NB, Canada, my friend's mother bought one of those plastic sheets mentioned earlier. This was around 1959 - 60.

I just wanted to add that it was in three (3) equal sections horizontally. The top was blue, to colour sky areass, the middle was transparent, the bottom green for grass areas. Needless to say, it was rare taht a transmission woul damtch up so tha tthe colour smad e much sense!<G> Even I aged around 11 or 12, thoughtit was stupid! <G> It may have been that she knew she got scammed, but was too proud to admit it!

Dan
Posted by Dan  in  Toronto  on  Thu Apr 15, 2004  at  03:43 AM
I lived in Denmark during the late '60s and remember, while returning from a vacation in Sweden, racing across the countryside so our dad could find somewhere for his two sons to watch the british show "Thunderbirds." We found an inn that had a TV in the lounge and were pleasantly surprised to watch our favorite show in color! Since we moved to the UK in Sept '69 (where we also soon enjoyed color - oops, COLOUR), the above 1970 date must refer to full-time color broadcasts.
Posted by Finn  in  Orlando, FL, USA  on  Sat Apr 24, 2004  at  09:42 PM
I am to young to remember the sock, but once
my father came home with a coloured plastic
sheet that was attatched to the screen.
I worked o.k on landscape scenes but the
newsman looked really alien...
Posted by Raimo  on  Sat Jun 19, 2004  at  10:42 PM
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