Hoax Museum Blog: Folklore/Tall Tales

Record-Breaking Snowflake — Was the 15 inch snowflake that was recorded to have fallen in eastern Montana on Jan. 28, 1887 a tall tale? It was either that or a bunch of snowflakes frozen together.

Does Santa Exist? — A Florida elementary school teacher made the mistake of telling her kids that Santa doesn't exist. Now Santa himself is making a special trip down from the North Pole to visit the classroom just to prove that he really does exist. I'm sure the teacher feels appropriately remorseful, but at least she didn't tell her kids that Santa was dead as a British vicar did last year.

An Email from Mystic Merlin — I got an angry email from Mystic Merlin, creator of the Crop Circles Mystery Board Game that I linked to below. He demanded that I remove all mention of his game from my site because, in his words, 'THIS BOARDGAME IS NOT A HOAX AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOAXING AT ALL' (caps are his). Of course! How could I have been so foolish as to presume that crop circles have anything to do with hoaxes? My mistake entirely. And yet, I just can't bring myself to remove the link. Sorry, Mystic Merlin.

Hoax-Themed Board Games — Some board games with hoaxy themes: First, the Crop Circles Mystery Board Game, it's the Game With Healing Energies (via liquito). Next we have Tall Tales, the Game of Legends, Humdingers, and Creative One-Upmanship.

Baron Munchausen Trading Cards — A cool set of Baron Munchausen trading cards. I'm sure it would cost a lot of money to buy the complete set.

Update 8/14/03: I didn't intend to suggest that these cards are a hoax, as a few people queried me about. I linked to them because Munchausen (the fictional character) was a famous teller of tall tales, so the cards appealed to me as an example of hoax memorabilia.

Master of the Unexplained — He has no fear. He has no limits. He has no common sense. He is Pierre Dubeaumont, Master of the Unexplained. And definitely check out his Questions That Have No Answers.

It’s Jackalope Hunting Season — June 31 (which was yesterday, or maybe today, or maybe neither) is the only day of the year on which it's legal to hunt jackalopes in the state of Wyoming. You can get your own Jackalope hunting license from the Douglas, Wyoming Chamber of Commerce.

Big Roosters — A visitor named 'AJ' wrote in with this question:
Awhile back there was a picture of a Very Big Rooster with a guy
in a cowboy hat and a rope tied around the neck of the rooster, where Can I
find that picture?
Here's the picture, plus a look at some other big roosters of yesteryear.

Czar of the Bizarre — The Czar of Bizarre: sideshow-related art, prose, and links.

Wacky Postcards — Nice collection of 'Wacky Postcards' (also referred to as tall tale postcards, or freak postcards) at the UCM Museum's site. UCM stands for Unusual Collections and Miniature Town. The Museum is located in Louisiana. I've never been to Louisiana, but I'd love to get there someday.