Source: Futility Closet
In 1869, two well diggers in Cardiff, N.Y., unearthed an enormous figure made of stone. More than 600,000 people flocked to see the mysterious giant, but even as its fame grew, its real origins were coming to light. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of the Cardiff giant, one of greatest hoaxes of the 19th century.
We’ll also ponder the effects of pink and puzzle over a potentially painful treatment.
Intro:
Edgar Rice Burroughs invented a variant of chess for a book set on Mars.
Due to an unfortunate edict, a ladder in Jerusalem has remained unmoved for 200 years.
Sources for our feature on the Cardiff giant:
Scott Tribble, A Colossal Hoax, 2008.
Nate Hendley, The Big Con, 2016.
Magnus Magnusson, Fakers, Forgers and Phoneys, 2007.
Brian Innes, Fakes & Forgeries, 2005.
Mark Rose, “When Giants Roamed the Earth,” Archaeology 58:6 (2005), 30-35.
Barbara Franco, “The Cardiff Giant: A Hundred Year Old Hoax,” New York History 50:4 (October 1969), 420-440.
James Taylor Dunn, “The Cardiff Giant Hoax,” New York History 29:3 (July 1948), 367-377.
Michael Pettit, “‘The Joy in Believing’: The Cardiff Giant, Commercial Deceptions, and Styles of Observation in Gilded Age America,” Isis 97:4 (December 2006), 659-677.
Julian D. Corrington, “Nature Fakes,” Bios 27:3 (October 1956), 159-169.
Kat Eschner, “The Cardiff Giant Was Just a Big Hoax,” Smithsonian.com, Oct. 16, 2017.
Jessie Szalay, “Cardiff Giant: ‘America’s Biggest Hoax,’” Live Science, Aug. 16, 2016.
Ruth Mosalski, “Cardiff Giant Turned Out to Be Really Big US Hoax,” South Wales Echo, Jan. 21, 2017, 24.
Gerald Smith and George Basler, “Hull Earned a Spot in ‘Con Man’s Hall of Fame,’” [Binghamton, N.Y.] Press & Sun-Bulletin, Oct. 6, 2014, 4.
Ed Kemmick, “‘Petrified’ Man Was Big Attraction in Turn-of-the-Last-Century Montana,” Billings Gazette, March 13, 2009.
Bill White, “Cardiff Giant, Piltdown Man — And Now Heydt Man,” [Allentown, Pa.] Morning Call, March 10, 2001, B3.
“It Was a Giant Joke, Now Largely Forgotten,” Associated Press, Nov. 14, 1999, L3.
Roger Munns, “19th Century Hoax Now Just an Interesting Relic,” Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1997, 11.
Harvey Berman, “Prehistoric Giant Was a Hoax,” [Montreal] Gazette, May 18, 1991, J8.
Bob Hughes, “The Cardiff Giant: How a Great Hoax Came to Life in a North Side Barn,” Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1985, 10.
“Cardiff Giant in Suit,” New York Times, April 18, 1949.
Louis C. Jones and James Taylor Dunn, “Cardiff Giant Again,” New York Times, May 23, 1948.
“‘Cardiff Giant’ Sale Barred by Fort Dodge,” Associated Press, Aug. 4, 1934.
“Syracuse Plea Fails to Get Cardiff Giant,” Associated Press, Dec. 6, 1930.
Ruth A. Gallaher,
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