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), the Hoax Forum, and the Top 100 April Fools' Day Hoaxes.

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

I totaly agree with you! By the way where the fuck do you put the star.. in your hand... and how do you water the damn tree?? And why are they so riculousy expensive $ 499.00 a pop? Shit i'd burn that tree up and make fire camp wood out of it!!!!! So I guess next year the next tradition is to put the star upside down then that would totally represent satan lovers! Oh forgot the damn christmas presents they need to be put upside down as well! Hahahaha....!

who in the hell thought of this shit this is the stupidest thing i've heard or seen since the ice age please tell me who in their right damn mind will purchase this bullshit excuse my profanity but you'll are making me react this way because you'll are just trying to make money any kind of way possible and then you want to charge an arm and a leg for it when you can take your own tree and turn it upside down and look stupid at no cost.

When CNN first ran the story on the Upside Down Christmas Tree, I asked for verifications from several of our email groups.

I did get many verifications that the upside down tree is a real tradition.

Visit http://www.iarelative.com/xmas/upside.htm for more on this strange Christmas Tradition.

Greg Kopchak
It's All Relative

A P.S. to Tim:

I did get 10 verifications on the upside down tree last week. 7 of the 10 were from trusted sources.

Also check out

http://www.stcharleschristmas.com/christmashistory.htm

We started hanging our Christmas tree upside down about 25 years ago. We had a dog with a long tail and she would knock the ornaments off a regular tree getting to the window to look out. We either had to change to a table top tree or think of something different. Hanging it upside down took care of the problem and we could still use the many ornaments we had collected over the years. It became a tradition for us to hang our tree that way and we have done it ever since. You can see our tree at http://www.thesnellings.com

I think they are FABULOUS!!!! I do not celebrate christmas so i dont have a tree in my house anyway...but i sure like this...and i am not satanic in anyway...I like to think God and I are close...but what does that have to do with a tree turned upsidedown...one thing i cant understand though is "Why didnt I think of that First?"..I could just kick myself....haha

well in response to the Satanists.. Appartently you have no imaginagtion. I am a 32 year old woman who has grown up with a UPSIDE DOWN Christmas tree. If done correctly and all it can be a BEAUTIFUL tree. My family tradition was to hang the tree and yes i said hang as we used a REAL LIVE christmas tree. Decortate as normal with all the ornamants we wanted tinsel and ices to be included. Some people are so narrow minded. The tree is what you make it and UPSIDE DOWN or RIGHT SIDE UP it can be as BEAUTIFUL as you make it.

Debbie, dear, it isn't a live tree after you cut it from the earth.

Ok, what would you call a tree that was cut from the earth that didn't have WIRES for LIMBS then.. Duh.. Everyone has to have something to argue about the point was that a REAL NOT ARTIFICIAL tree can be put however your family wants it and to make such a big deal over the fact that the tree is upside down is just so you people who have no imagination can argue with those people who do..

Different decorating that's all. Trying to make a fashion statement. Must be a left-wing, national socialist thing to try to anger God fearing Christians calling it a right wing thing. Of course only the most ignorant would think Christians or Republicans are "Right Wing" as they are not "Anarchists". Upside-down firs were hung to emphasize the three points are to remind us of the holy trinity. The firs were evergreens to remind us that God's love is everlasting.
The Satanic thing must be from other God hating, satan worshipping, hate mongering liberals that think they are gods, trying to stir up dissention among those who know that if God didn't send his son to redeem our sins, we would wind up like the liberals as worms in the lake of fire with the fallen angel for eternity.

Once again Christ is being misrepresented and Satan exalted. That is okay because Jesus Christ and the God the Father will have the final say during the Great White Throne Judgment! If not before--you ain't seen nothin' yet All those who come against my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They will both show the world who is in control.

Keisha Roberson said:

"That is okay because Jesus Christ and the God the Father will have the final say during the Great White Throne Judgment!"

Can you ask your two boys to hurry the Final Judgment up? It would help me save a TON of money on Christmas presents.

Christians should learn to embrace 'Xmas' and the 'upside-down Christmas tree'. The only reason this is even a topic is because of narrow minded Christians

This is in response to the comment posted by bottle--Dec 12. That is the problem we as Christians have embraced to much of the world. W And thats why there are so many weak-minded Christians today. If we can't stand now for Christ-how are we going to stand when the Great Tribulation comes? Satan of course is having a comedy showlooking at how we latch on to him through the things he promotes. I don't recall when Christ went to the cross on behalf of us the cross being upside down.

I don't recall when Christ went to the cross on behalf of us the cross being upside down. - Keisha

Oh, you were there?

Nobody knows what crosses used for crucifixion looked like. It's possible there was no one fixed shape in use. They may have used X shaped ones, T shaped ones, or + in addition to the † adopted by Christians. As for Christ, the Bible doesn't state what shape was used.

Additionally, the tree/cross symbolism is meaningless. Trees don't have anything to do with Christ, they're a pagan symbol. Anything the Church says otherwise was tacked on to de-emphasize Christmas' pagan roots. So hang your Christmas Tree any damn way you like, you're still going to Hell for creating and worshipping idols.

Keisha Roberson said:

"I don't recall when Christ went to the cross on behalf of us the cross being upside down."

As a matter of fact, one of the saints was allegedly crucified upside-down because he said he wasn't worthy of dying the same way as Christ. You Jeezo-worshipper really need to know your fairy tale better than you do. I don't even believe this nonsense and I know the story better than you do. Sheesh.

This is in response to Cranky Media Guy. Thats right I am a JESUS WORSHIPPER!And proud to be one! Saint Who? Check your facts--All the saints were of paganism origin. I don't recall any saints alongside Jesus when he hung from the rugged cross. Since you think the Bible is such a fairy tale--why dont you try going beyond your ignorance and begin reading the 4 Gospels--in the New Testatment--maybe you will learn something that a fairytale can't tell you!!!!!!

Keisha Roberson said:

"This is in response to Cranky Media Guy. Thats right I am a JESUS WORSHIPPER!And proud to be one! Saint Who? Check your facts--All the saints were of paganism origin."

Oh? That's fascinating. Gee, the Catholic Church sure seems to be under the impression that saints are Christian. You, of course, know better. *laugh*

"I don't recall any saints alongside Jesus when he hung from the rugged cross."

Where did I say that the saint who was crucified upside-down was alongside Jesus? If I remember my Catholic school teaching, the two other guys on crosses alongside Jesus were supposedly thieves, one of whom accepted Christ's divinity while dying and is therefore known as the "good thief."

"Since you think the Bible is such a fairy tale--why dont you try going beyond your ignorance and begin reading the 4 Gospels--in the New Testatment--maybe you will learn something that a fairytale can't tell you!!!!!!"

Well, I HAVE read the Gospels. The Gospels are PART OF THE BIBLE as is the entire New Testament so I don't get your point here. It's all a fairytale, in my opinion.

Like I said, I'm not a believer and I seem to know your book better than you do.

According to many internet sites I've seen these upside down trees originated in early German Christianity because the more Pagan Yule traditions used rightside up trees and they wanted to distinguish the Christian from the Pagan, and also because 17th century monks used triangular fir trees to explain the Trinity (don't exactly see how that one fits in) but who really knows for sure. I bet they are Satanists marking their homes so the devil will know which homes are truly Christain.

I think Keisha Roberson should not say anything else about this. You claim to be a "Christian" and rudely defend its truth, yet your actions do not give any indication that you truly believe it. Doesn't the Bible say "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and "a meek answer turns away wrath"? Instead of trying to show others what you believe through your actions, you make obnoxious, arrogant, condescending comments informing others of their flaws. I think you should take the log out of your own eye before pointing out the speck in someone else's.

Yule is the holiest of all the Germanic feasts. The name is too old for its meaning to be easily traced, but the most common guesses derive it from a root meaning 'wheel', perhaps related to the wheel of the Sun herself, as seen by the sun-wheels which were sometimes burnt in Germany as part of folk-festivities at this time. Yule is the season at which the gods and goddesses are closest to Midgard: our deities were called 'Yule-Beings' by the Norse, a title which survived among the Lapps at least until 1674; and Odin himself is called 'Jólnir', 'Yule-One'. Yule is also the season during which the dead return to earth and share the feasts of the living. Elves, trolls, and other magical beings roam freely at this time, and must either be warded off or invited to come in friendship and peace. Yule is the time of the year at which the Wild Hunt - Wodan's host of the restless dead - rides most fiercely; it is dangerous to meet them, but gifts of food and drink are left out for them, for they can also bring blessing and fruitfulness.

Yule is also the border-time between years at which fates are set. It was the practice in Norse Heathen times to swear oaths on a hallowed boar (the living emblem of Frey and/or Freya). This survived in Swedish folk-custom; a large boar-shaped bread or block of wood covered with pigskin was brought forth at Yule for this purpose through the beginning of this century, and boar-cakes are used for Yule-oaths by most Heathens today. Especially meaningful oaths were also sworn on the horn or cup while drinking at the Yule-feast. The 'New Year's Resolution' is probably a somewhat diminished form of the holy Yule-oath.

The fir- or pine-tree which is carried into the house and decorated is a German custom, brought to America by German immigrants, England by its German royal house, and reaching Scandinavia only at the end of the last century. The tree on which holy gifts are hung was Heathen in origin; in Germany, those who kept the old custom hid it inside lest their neighbors notice, but in England and Scandinavia, the trees and various wights got their gifts outside. In those latter countries, it was a candlelit and ribbon-bedecked wreath, the ring of which may have reflected the holy oath-ring or the Yule sun-wheel, that was traditionally brought in to decorate the home.

The Yule-log is also an old Heathen custom. This log was supposed to burn all night during the longest night of the year to symbolize life lasting even in the time of greatest darkness, its fire rekindling the Sun in the morning. Its ashes or pieces were used as protective amulets during the rest of the year.

The first night of Yule is called Mothernights, according to the Anglo-Saxon chronicler Bede, and Frigga and the disir (female ancestral spirits) are especially worshipped on this night. At the end of the Yule season, trolls and other such beings are ritually chased out of the house to mark the return to ordinary life.