"Spaghetti-Grows-on-Trees" Hoax: One of TV's First April Fools' Pranks
12 days ago
- #April Fools
- #Hoax
- #BBC
- In 1957, the BBC program Panorama aired a famous April Fools’ Day hoax about spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland.
- The spoof was narrated by respected journalist Richard Dimbleby and showed Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees.
- The idea came from a cameraman, Charles de Jaeger, recalling a childhood teacher's joke about spaghetti growing on trees.
- Many viewers believed the hoax, with some discussing it as a real news story the next day.
- The broadcast reached an estimated eight million people and was later called 'the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled' by CNN.
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