A Sucker Every Minute


Most of us do get fooled at times, mostly by friends during pranks or sometimes by conmen. I used to think that the only time anyone wants to be fooled is when going to see magic tricks: after all, you watch those tricks knowing you are going to be fooled.

So I was surprised to learn about this incident in 1869 where people went in to see a hoax while knowing that it was a hoax! A factory owner, George Hull, in the US had a giant’s body created to prove how easy it is fool people. He had his cousin, William Newell, bury the body at Cardiff (in the US, not Wales) who then asked some workmen to dig at that exact spot for a well. No surprise then that the workers “found” the giant’s body. Newell set up a tent, put the Cardiff Giant there and charged entry fees to people who wanted to see it. When the crowds swelled out of control, Newell sold the giant to a group of businessmen. At which point, a group of archaeologists declared the giant to be a fake.

This is where Stage 1 of the weirdness happened: despite knowing it was a fake, the crowds kept coming! Seeing the unabated rush, a museum curator, P. T. Barnum, who specialized in displaying fake mermaids, mummies and the sort, offered to buy the giant. His offer was rejected.

And now Stage 2 of the weirdness happened: a furious Barnum commissioned a replica of the giant to be built. And pasted ads claiming that his Cardiff Giant was the real one and the original was the fake! The claim had enough impact for the “real” giant’s owners to sue Barnum!

Makes me wonder whether people wanted to be fooled in these ridiculous ways only in the pre-TV, pre-cable, pre-Internet era when sources of entertainment and amusement were few? Or are there still people like this even today?

Comments

  1. KumarAugust 16, 2012 at 3:37 PM

    Makes one laugh as one reads! Any clever fellow in India can use this method to complete advantage. He can bury some idols made with due care and consideration along with some other supportive stuff to strengthen the 'value of the finding' under the sea near Dwaraka, in Gujarat. Then he can induce private people - i.e. his own gang - with induced publicity too, to search for the 'precious archaeological find'. Once they find, some makeshift temple with the Krishna idols emerging from the original Dwapara Yuga will churn out a lot of interest and money will start pouring in. In India, it is very easy to dismiss the voice of rationality, once the feverish religiosity takes over. :-)

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