The spaghetti harvest documentary

I should have posted this a few months back, in this the sixtieth anniversary year, but I've only just re-discovered it (I was looking for something else).


The same presenter also commentated on the Queen's coronation and Winston Churchill's funeral. Obviously a good, sound, reliable man. See for yourself;

a reply to: DISRAELI

This actually caused years of damage with many people actually believing that spaghetti grew on tree's, it was cruel but also incredibly funny, remember many people in the UK lived on poor diet and exotic thing's like Spaghetti were not yet really a staple in the country, also if you had asked them who Marco Polo was they would likely not have had any idea, sadly these day's they would assume he was a celebrity chef or a race driver.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I shouldn't laugh because I fell for the 'left handed screwdriver' gag before.

The best 'gag' I pulled was on a friend, I kept calling him 'old bean' or 'old chap' and I repeated this over and over and he parroted me and that's when I stopped. After that whenever he met someone he opened with 'how's it going old bean?' or would say something like 'where is old chap?' and fun was had by all, and when I say 'all' I mean myself.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Actually Marco Polo is an Italian clothing designer!
Just kidding.
Another one that was supposed to be broadcast on April 1st was Alternative 3. That caused a bit of a fuss with some people.
I dare say some still believe it was true.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie
I once had a vacation job in a popular catering establishment, and somebody tried to send me to ask the kitchen supervisor for a bucket of steam. They failed that time.

a reply to: Tulpa

Ha I knew I had something wrong, actually it is only a legend that he brought pasta to Italy but a good one.
www.culinarylore.com...:marco-polo-and-chinese-pasta

Sorry that url wont' display it is just a food site that point's out Italian's do not believe that myth, also the ingredient's for Pasta and Noodles are quite different.

a reply to: DISRAELI

That was probably the greatest ever mass April fools joke , pure brilliance and so well done.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
I once had a vacation job in a popular catering establishment, and somebody tried to send me to ask the kitchen supervisor for a bucket of steam. They failed that time.

When I had my restaurants we used to make the new people go in the storage area for the cans of dehydrated water.

a reply to: gortex
People were taken by surprise, because that kind of prank was not common at the time(it was even a little controversial), and the "straight face" approach helped put people off their guard.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Another good one is gluing a coin to a sidewalk.

Put superglue on a quarter or a penny and make sure the coin sticks. Then grab a beer on a Saturday afternoon and enjoy the show.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I remember one that was a documentary on Mars , I believe it was meant as an April fool but had been rescheduled.
It was an interesting doumentary for a kid with a keen interest in the planets and life out there so when the documentary ended with a shot of the Martian surface and something apparently moving beneath it I and about everybody else who saw it were blown away.

A few days later the story was revealed and disappointment ensued.


Anybody else remember it ?

The flying penguins was awesome, I remember showing that to a few family members and watching their reaction
Can't remember the narrator but he was seen as trustworthy,

a reply to: gortex

That was Alternative 3. There was an alleged brain drain where important people were disappearing so "Science Report" did an investigation and found out they were going to a colony on Mars to escape the polluted and overpopulated Earth.

a reply to: DISRAELI

When I was a kid a local news station broadcast an April 1 report that Blue Hill, which is the highest hill in the Boston area, had volcanically erupted. This was shortly after St. Helena's had erupted. It caused much panic and consternation.

About 10 years or so ago some idiot shock jocks, Ollie and Anthony, broadcast that the then mayor of Boston, Tom Menino, had died. Some of his family members actually heard it. Quite a flop.

Oh, trolling from the past.

I can see how people could have fallen for it then.

a reply to: TobyFlenderson
Sounds like the Orson Welles broadcast on a smaller scale.
Actually people who make this kind of joke do have a responsibilty to make sure it can be detected fairly easily, and doesn't cause any major problems.

a reply to: Tulpa

Thanks for the info Tulpa
My memory of the program was sketchy but thanks to modern technology ...

a reply to: gortex

Excellent. Can't do that with my phone...or my level of computer ineptitude!
Its a classic. I'm sure its been discussed here in the past but I apologise for assuming everyone knew what I meant in the earlier post.