The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest*
In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”
*It was not a true story. It’s was a hoax.
A Pondering Mind 
4 responses to “The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest”
I remember this happening. I was but a small boy, but even I didn’t fall for that one. Anyway, it aired on the evening news, and as we all know pranks after midday don’t count, and you can give the prankster a chinese burn for their trouble.
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I never knew this happened, until I saw this in my email.
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OMG! This is TOO funny. My daughters best friend (here in switz.) once told me that spag. grew on trees. I laughed…ooops…looks like she really DID catch that and the hoax still lives at the expense of young children!!! 🙂
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Indeed, it is funny…
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