The 1957 “Spaghetti-Grows-on-Trees” Hoax

(openculture.com)

9 points | by PaulHoule 11 days ago

4 comments

  • NaOH 1 hour ago
    Related:

    Spaghetti-Tree Hoax - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34572174 - Jan 2023 (95 comments)

    Spaghetti-Tree Hoax - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30962453 - April 2022 (1 comment)

    Spaghetti-Tree Hoax - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25383763 - Dec 2020 (2 comments)

  • Jedd 1 hour ago
    Reminds me of a) the breathtaking vox pop done by the BBC [0] in 1978 as metric adoption nipped at their imperial heels, and some spectacularly bewildered misunderstandings manifested -- the first citizen here inventing the word kilomileometres and (I wish she were joking) asserting that your car's mileage is reduced because you'll be using litres,

    and b) the comedy radio show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, running since the 1970's but includes a game called Mornington Crescent [1] (since season 6) wherein the panel take it in turns to 'get to Mornington Crescent' using the London Underground map as a playing board. Many rules and variations are cited and vaguely explained, but it's all just made up -- nonetheless there has been an abundance of people who've listened to this madness, and then written to the BBC to demand a rulebook.

    The point? Not sure. Does this reflect positively upon the some style of comedy favoured by the Brits, or negatively about their credulity? As a nominal Brit, I can't comment with any impartiality.

    [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykthWUdkhu0

    [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game)

  • tlarkworthy 1 hour ago
    My grandfather was still talking of this in the 90s. A very good joke!
  • TheCraiggers 1 hour ago
    I miss British humor. This doesn't seem like something that would ever happen today.