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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 Hoax Photo Database, the Hoax Forum, and the Hoaxipedia.
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 Hoax Photo Database, the Hoax Forum, and the Hoaxipedia.
RUDE ROVERThe Christmas dog with no class! He sings and toots Jingle Bells.
INFLATABLE TREEWho needs the hassle of a real Christmas tree?
FARTING SANTAGo ahead and pull his finger!
The Bunny Ears Prank: A History
Status: Classic prank
Making 'Bunny Ears' behind someone's head has to be the most ubiquitous prank of all time. I can't think of anything that would rival it. In fact, it's so pervasive, so taken-for-granted, that I had never given it a second thought until I read this article by Rachel Sauer in which she attempts to trace a brief history of the bunny-ears prank. She writes: Way back in the early history of photography, back when people had metal rods strapped to their backs and clamped to their necks so they could sit still for the 30 minutes required for exposure, there were no bunny ears. In fact, in those portraits, there were no smiles. It was a very severe time, as though everyone had just received terrible news... It is impossible to pinpoint exactly when bunny ears first showed up in photographs behind someone’s head, though it started happening often in the ’50s. And, oh, to know why they did. ... Why a rabbit? Why not a Statue of Liberty crown with all five fingers? Why not a single antenna? Why not devil horns, with the index finger and pinkie?
So she assumes that the prank only came into existence when people started to pose for photographs. Which makes sense, I guess. Nowadays it's rare for someone to make bunny ears except when a photo is being taken. Though maybe, back in the middle ages, making bunny ears during formal occasions (perhaps as the priest was saying mass) was a popular jest. Who knows? Obviously this is a subject crying out for further research.Sauer also points out that the more formal the occasion, the funnier bunny ears become:
It’s funny when George H.W. Bush makes bunny ears on his wife, Barbara. It would be knee-slapping if someone did bunny ears on the pope, say, or Osama bin Laden. Incongruity makes them funny. But then, it’s not so funny when your idiot roommate ruins every picture.
Since I evidently have nothing better to do, I spent half-an-hour finding interesting bunny-ear photos on the web. Here's what I came up with. (A few of them I could only find in thumbnail size.) They are, from the top left: George H.W. Bush giving his wife bunny ears (from Sauer's article); Muhammad Ali giving them to Billy Crystal; George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg; A British schoolboy gives Charles Clarke, the UK's education secretary, bunny ears during his official visit to the school (this photo caused a bit of controversy as it soon appeared in many British papers, amid allegations that the photographer had egged on the boy to do it); Crosy Stills and Nash giving each other bunny ears; George Lucas earing a stormtrooper; Gloria Steinem bunny-earing herself... a reference to her past as a Playboy bunny, I assume; a nurse bunny-earing a skeleton; Ted Case of AOL giving Ted Turner some ears; Paul Newman being eared by his wife, Joanne Woodward; and finally, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon. |
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If any of you have interesting bunny-ear photos, email them to me. If I get enough good ones, I might consider adding a gallery of bunny-ear photos to the museum.
Posted By: Alex | Date: Mon Jul 10, 2006 | Permalink |
Total Comments: 25
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Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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So we know from literature that the bunny ears/cuckold horns/donkey ears/Devil's horns existed long before photography in Europe. What about in other supercultures, anyone recall any reference to it (in any of it's various forms) in either far, mid, or near eastern literature?
Posted by TWM in US kinda on Wed Jul 12, 2006 at 06:02 AMI know it was common in Sumer, according to what writings they left behind. Other than that, I'm not sure, but I'll look into it.
Posted by Magnus in NY on Wed Jul 12, 2006 at 01:35 PMThere is no connection with the gesture shown in the photos, I am sure, but just for interest, in Japan brides wear a headress on their wedding day. When I asked my Japanese friends about this tradition they jokingly said that it is to hide the brides horns from her prospective husband. Her horns (on her forehead) are, I understand, a sign of her angry nature, her potential shrewishness. That is why she would want to hide them on her wedding day, so hubby doesn't know until it is too late.
Posted by Pixie in Germany on Mon Jul 17, 2006 at 08:05 AMIn Italy it is done with the index and small finger, and this gesture means horns. Either as a luck charm, or as a sign of cuckledom. If you do it behind someone's head, it means the latter. Anyway, it is regarded as childish.
Our former prime minister did it to the prime minister of spain on an official photo.
He wasn't reelected.
Posted by gino on Tue Jul 25, 2006 at 02:24 PMOur former prime minister did it to the prime minister of spain on an official photo.
He wasn't reelected.
Anyone who's ever seen a picture taken knows about the bunny ears thing. Because of this common knowledge, I've often found that I can actually HELP random people on the street get a better group photo by doing something completely unexpected.
When I see someone pointing a camara at a group of friends and concentrating hard on framing their shot, I casually saunter up BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHER and give THEM the bunny ears!
You have to get your timing just so in order to achieve the right effect, but when you do, you find that at the critical moment when the shutterbug clicks off the shot the whole group they're shooting is grinning from ear to ear.
-=trickyelf>
Posted by Trickyelf in outta space on Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 04:36 PMWhen I see someone pointing a camara at a group of friends and concentrating hard on framing their shot, I casually saunter up BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHER and give THEM the bunny ears!
You have to get your timing just so in order to achieve the right effect, but when you do, you find that at the critical moment when the shutterbug clicks off the shot the whole group they're shooting is grinning from ear to ear.
-=trickyelf>
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