Talk:Spaghetti-tree hoax

Other hoax
In the 1970s I remember seeing a television program about famous hoaxes. One was the spaghetti tree hoax and the other was a hoax involving the creation of a fraudulent citizens' organization (in the 1950s?) to promote the covering up of male dogs' hindquarters (and thus improving society's morals) by making them wear underwear. Many American citizens, hearing about this, clamored to join this organization (but were later saddened to find out that they'd "been had"). I have never subsequently been able to find information about the origin or perpetrator(s) of this hoax and am hoping that someone knows something about this. Badagnani 23:56, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Buck Henry AnonMoos 17:35, 31 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Or more directly: Society for Indecency to Naked Animals. GeeJo (t)⁄(c) &bull; 22:35, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Big thanks for this. I'd been looking for years. You guys are clearly experts on the subject of hoaxes! I see from the bibliography that Alan Abel has written a couple of books about his hoaxes. Badagnani 21:32, 23 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Not one (1) American inquired or asked to join this bogus organization and we both know it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.32.24.36 (talk) 19:34, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Delmonico Spaghetti
I have removed this from the article:

The Spaghetti tree myth was also used in a popular 1970s TV commercial for Delmonico spaghetti.

Because it did not cite a source, and all internet references to the Delmonico spaghetti TV commercial link in a circular manner back to this Wikipedia article.

Further any references to Delmonico as a producer of spaghetti are hard to find. --Drappel 14:58, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

What?
This could use a little better wording -> "At the time of the broadcast there were 7 million homes in Britain with television sets, out of a total of 15.8 million homes." — Preceding unsigned comment added by JayKeaton (talk • contribs) 15:30, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * ✅ Hertz1888 (talk) 19:47, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Balham: Gateway to the South
I believe the very funny short movie featuring narration by Peter Sellers, 'Balham: Gateway to the South' (see Plot at Britmovie) has a scene of peasant farmers harvesting spaghetti from trees in Italy. I cannot find confirmation of this on the Web. David (talk) 20:57, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Castiglione where?
Parts of the documentary were filmed at the (now closed) Pasta Foods factory on London Road, St Albans in Hertfordshire, and other parts at a hotel in Castiglione, Switzerland. The linked Castiglione page list over 20 such named places in Italy, and one in Corsica, but none in Switzerland. The nearest to the Swiss border is perhaps Castiglione Olona. --StefanoC (talk) 12:24, 19 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Have borders changed (I know nothing)?--ZayZayEM (talk) 02:56, 20 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Not since 1861 or thereabout. --StefanoC (talk) 09:54, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * AFAIK Swiss borders haven't changed since 1815, apart from minor local corrections of a few metres. But I think I have solved the problem. the reference comes from, which actually states "a hotel in Castiglione on the shore of Lake Lugano". There is a Castagnola on the lake, a suburb of Lugano. Lake Lugano is partially in Italy, so it could refer to somewhere in Italy, and there is Castiglione d'Intelvi which is not far from the lake TiffaF (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:19, 20 July 2010 (UTC).

Adventures of Captain Vrungel parallelism
Not sure quite what the appropriate editorial place might be for the new content regarding a pasta-growing antecedent  recounted in the novella Adventures of Captain Vrungel from 1937 -- 20 years before the BBC hoax. Googling hasn't helped me turn up any useful secondary sources. —MistyMorn (talk) 12:26, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

See Also - Rosenhan experiment
Is it ok if I include a link to the Rosenhan experiment in the see also section? It's easier for me to remember spaghetti tree than it is to remember Rosenhan experiment. --Xerographica (talk) 07:21, 10 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Hmmm... On the subject of hoaxes, would it be ok to include a link to Spag Bol? —MistyMorn (talk) 12:17, 10 November 2012 (UTC)
 * No way! Spaghetti isn't the subject of this article.  What about The War of the Worlds (radio drama)?  Can that be added to the see also section of this article?   --Xerographica (talk) 22:58, 10 November 2012 (UTC)
 * No it can't! At least, not until Spaghetti Bolognese can be duly added to the List of distasteful hoaxes... Btw, what to do with Captain Vrungel? —MistyMorn (talk) 23:10, 10 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I was tricked! Why aren't any of those hoaxes included in the see also section of this article?  Pretty much everything I've learned is from stuff I've found in see also sections.  I mean...it specifically says to "see also".  An empty see also section is like an educational dead end.  Regarding your unhealthy spaghetti obsession...I just don't get it.  I've read that section three times and completely failed to spot the hoax.  Where's the hoax?  --Xerographica (talk) 14:33, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Hoax, international conspiracy or whatever, no self-respecting Bolognese would dream of eating spaghetti with ragù alla bolognese. Lasagne, tagliatelle, tortellini, sure, but the idea of a heap of bare spaghetti with cooked mince spooned on top has zero to do with Bologna... Anyhow, List of hoaxes is now on the menu. —MistyMorn (talk) 16:34, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Does your spaghetti talk confuse me as much as my economics talk confuses you? Let's find out!  Either John Quiggin, or somebody pretending to be John Quiggin, told me that he is writing a book on the opportunity cost concept.  However, over at the Crooked Timber website...John Quiggin recently posted an entry on war but he didn't even once mention the opportunity cost concept.  Am I being pranked? Thanks for adding the link to the see also page.  Now the problem is...so many hoaxes to learn about but so little time!  Can we rate and sort all the hoaxes by awesomeness?  --Xerographica (talk) 23:40, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Video availability
The BBC website that is externally linked here gives only a 404 for its own links (at least when accessed from Australia). A search on the BBC website, to "Panorama", gets only "not currently available". However, the clip can still be found in various places, including YouTube from "MySwitzerland", but copyright permission from the BBC looks doubtful so I haven't added that link. Enjoy, al dente! Wikiain (talk) 06:41, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Cut-off time?
I see this sentence: "However, as the hoax was broadcast after 12 noon, the traditional cut-off time, the joke (in common with UK tradition) also teased the BBC itself." It doesn't scan. Could someone explain it a bit more? In particular, what is a "cut-off time" and why does broadcasting during that time tease the BBC? Is the "UK tradition" referred to about self-deprecating humor? I would have thought of that as a British tradition if anything—–am I wrong? — Mwatts15 (talk) 13:35, 27 November 2015 (UTC)


 * April Fools pranks are not supposed to be done after midday ZayZayEM (talk) 13:17, 29 November 2015 (UTC)


 * That should maybe be clarified in the article? 168.150.16.61 (talk) 19:45, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Spaghetti-tree hoax. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20100208063702/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm to http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 13:08, 28 February 2016 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 16:37, 9 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Spaghetti Harvest Hoax.ogv