1. The Giant of Cardiff of Takes on a Life of Its Own
Archaeologists, scientists, and other scholars who saw the Cardiff Giant declared it a fraud almost as soon as they saw. However, many theologians and preachers stepped forth and passionately defended its authenticity, and crowds of the curious and faithful kept coming in ever greater numbers. Hull, who had spent the equivalent of about $60,000 in current dollars, sold his share in the Cardiff Giant to a syndicate for about half a million in today’s money. The Giant was then moved to Syracuse, where it drew ever larger crowds.
Eventually, huckster P. T. Barnum offered the equivalent of a million dollars for the find. When the owners refused to sell, Barnum commissioned his own plaster copy and exhibited it in New York City. He declared his to be the authentic Cardiff Giant, and that the one in Syracuse was a fake. That brazenness worked, giving rise to the phrase, coined in reference to those paying to see Barnum’s copy, that “there’s a sucker born every minute“. Lawsuits about authenticity followed, and in the subsequent litigation, Hull finally confessed to the hoax. The court declared both Giants fakes, and ruled that Barnum could not be sued for calling a fake giant a fake.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Head Stuff – William Chaloner, Master Counterfeiter
IO9 – This May Be the Longest Con in Pseudoscience
Listvrese – 10 of History’s Most Prolific Con Artists and Their Famous Cons
Live Science, June 25th, 2008 – A Savage Hoax: The Cave Men Who Never Existed
Money Inc. – The 20 Most Notorious Con Artists of All Time
Museum of Hoaxes – Lord Gordon-Gordon
Natural History Museum – Piltdown Man
New York Herald, July 8th, 1849 – Arrest of the Confidence Man
Smithsonian Magazine, December 15th, 2009 – Crop Circles: The Art of the Hoax