Cardiff Giant
Encyclopedia
The Cardiff Giant was one of the most famous hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
es in United States history. It was a 10 feet (3 m) tall purported "petrified man" uncovered on October 16, 1869 by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardiff, New York
Cardiff, New York
Cardiff, New York is a small hamlet in Onondaga County, New York, located south of Syracuse. It was the site of the William C. "Stub" Newell farm where the "Cardiff Giant", a famous hoax, was "discovered" on October 16, 1869....
. Both it and an unauthorized copy made by P.T. Barnum are still on display.
Creation and discovery
The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconistTobacconist
A tobacconist is an expert dealer in tobacco in various forms and the related accoutrements .Such accoutrements include pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, pipe tampers, ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones...
named George Hull. Hull, an atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, decided to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
revival meeting about the passage in Genesis 6:4 stating that there were giants who once lived on Earth.
The idea of a petrified man did not originate with Hull, however. In 1858 the newspaper Alta California had published a bogus letter claiming that a prospector had been petrified when he had drunk a liquid within a geode
Geode
Geodes are geological secondary sedimentary structures which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks. Geodes are essentially spherical masses of mineral matter that were deposited sygenetically within the rock formations they are found in. Geodes have a Chalcedony shell containing...
. Some other newspapers also had published stories of supposedly petrified people.
Hull hired men to carve out a 10 feet (3 m) long, 4.5-inch block of gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
in Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
, telling them it was intended for a monument to Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in New York. He shipped the block to Chicago, where he hired Edward Burghardt, a German stonecutter, to carve it into the likeness of a man and swore him to secrecy.
Various stains and acids were used to make the giant appear to be old and weathered, and the giant's surface was beaten with steel knitting needles embedded in a board to simulate pores. In November 1868 Hull transported the giant by rail to the farm of William Newell, his cousin. By then, he had spent US$2,600 on the hoax.
Nearly a year later, Newell hired Gideon Emmons and Henry Nichols, ostensibly to dig a well, and on October 16, 1869 they found the giant. One of the men reportedly exclaimed, "I declare, some old Indian has been buried here!"
Exhibition and exposure as fraud
Newell set up a tent over the giant and charged 25 cents for people who wanted to see it. Two days later he increased the price to 50 cents. People came by the wagon load.Archaeological scholars pronounced the giant a fake, and some geologists even noticed that there was no good reason to try to dig a well in the exact spot the giant had been found. Yale palaeontologist Othniel C. Marsh called it "a most decided humbug". Some Christian fundamentalists and preachers, however, defended its authenticity.
Eventually, Hull sold his part-interest for $23,000 to a syndicate of five men headed by David Hannum. They moved it to Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
for exhibition. The giant drew such crowds that showman P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
offered $50,000 for the giant. When the syndicate turned him down he hired a man to model the giant's shape covertly in wax and create a plaster replica. He put his giant on display in New York, claiming that his was the real giant and the Cardiff Giant was a fake.
As the newspapers reported Barnum's version of the story, David Hannum was quoted as saying, "There's a sucker born every minute
There's a sucker born every minute
"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase often credited to P. T. Barnum , an American showman. It is generally taken to mean that there will always be many gullible people in the world.-Attribution to Barnum:...
" in reference to spectators paying to see Barnum's giant. Over time, the quotation has been misattributed to Barnum himself.
Hannum sued Barnum for calling his giant a fake, but the judge told him to get his giant to swear on his own genuineness in court if he wanted a favorable injunction.
On December 10, Hull confessed to the press. On February 2, 1870 both giants were revealed as fakes in court. The judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for calling a fake giant a fake.
Current resting place
The Cardiff Giant appeared in the 1901 Pan-American ExpositionPan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is present day Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Ave. to Elmwood Ave and northward to Great Arrow...
, but did not attract much attention.
An Iowa publisher bought it later to adorn his basement rumpus room as a coffee table and conversation piece. In 1947 he sold it to the Farmers' Museum
Farmers' Museum
The Farmers' Museum is located in Cooperstown, New York, and is probably the second-best-known attraction in the town, after the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum....
in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
, where it is still on display.
The Farmer's Museum booklet about its artifact used to tease the public by citing an authority who questioned the conclusion that it was a fraud.
The owner of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is Tally Hall's debut studio album. Their previous recordings were all independently produced and distributed demos. All of the tracks on the album are fleshed-out, finished versions of their demo tracks, with the exception of "Haiku," which is a completely new...
, a coin-operated game arcade and museum of oddities in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...
, claims that the replica on display there is Barnum's replica.
Imitators
The Cardiff Giant has inspired a number of similar hoaxes.- In 1876 The Solid MuldoonSolid MuldoonThe Solid Muldoon was a "prehistoric human body" unearthed in 1877, near Beulah, Colorado. Named after either the legendary wrestler William Muldoon or the location of its discovery, Muldoon Hill, the figure enjoyed a brief tour of the United States before it was revealed to be a hoax.The Solid...
emerged in Beulah, ColoradoBeulah, ColoradoBeulah is an unincorporated town and U.S. Post Office in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Beulah Post Office is 81023.-History:...
and was exhibited at 50 cents a ticket. There was also a rumor that Barnum had offered to buy it for $20,000. One employer later revealed that this was also a creation of George Hull, aided by Willian Conant. The Solid Muldoon was made of clay, ground bones, meat, rock dust, and plaster. - In 1877, the owner of Taughannock House hotel on Cayuga LakeCayuga LakeCayuga Lake is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and second largest in volume. It is just under 40 miles long. Its average width is 1.7 miles , and it is at its widest point near Aurora...
, New York, hired men to create a fake petrified man and place it where the workers who were expanding the hotel would dig it up. One of the men who had buried the giant later revealed the truth when drunk. - In 1892 Jefferson "Soapy" SmithSoapy SmithJefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado; Creede, Colorado; and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898. He was killed in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf...
, de facto ruler of the town of Creede, ColoradoCreede, ColoradoThe historic town of Creede is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Mineral County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 377 at the U.S. Census 2000.-History:...
, purchased a petrified man for $3,000 and exhibited it for 10 cents a peek. Soapy's profits did not come from displaying "McGinty," as he named it, but rather from distractions, such as the shell gameShell gameThe shell game is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud...
set up to entertain the crowds as they waited in line. He also profited by selling interests in the exhibition. This was a real human body, intentionally injected with chemicals for preservation and petrification. Soapy displayed McGinty from 1892 to 1895 throughout ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and the northwest United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - In 1897, a petrified man found downriver from Fort Benton, MontanaFort Benton, MontanaFort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. A portion of the city was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961. Established a full generation beforethe U.S...
was claimed by promoters to be the remains of former territorial governor and U.S. Civil War General Thomas Francis MeagherThomas Francis Meagher-Young Ireland:Meagher returned to Ireland in 1843, with undecided plans for a career in the Austrian army, a tradition among a number of Irish families. In 1844 he traveled to Dublin with the intention of studying for the bar. He became involved in the Repeal Association, which worked for repeal...
. Meagher had drowned in the Missouri RiverMissouri RiverThe Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
in 1867. The petrified man was displayed across the Montana as a novelty and even exhibited in New York and Chicago.
In popular culture
- In 1870, Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
wrote "A Ghost Story" in which the ghost of the Cardiff Giant appears in the hotel room in ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to demand that he be reburied. The giant is so confused that he haunts Barnum's plaster copy of himself. - In 1871, L. Frank BaumL. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
published a poem titled "The True Origin of the Cardiff Giant" in his private newspaper, The Rose Lawn Home Journal, vol. 1, #3. - George Auger, a Ringling BrothersRingling Brothers CircusThe Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert , August , Otto , Alfred T. , Charles , John , and Henry...
circus giant, used the stage name "Cardiff Giant". He was to act in Harold LloydHarold LloydHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
's 19231923 in film-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A...
comedy film Why Worry?Why Worry?Why Worry? is a 1923 American comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd. It was made shortly after and within the same year as Lloyd's most well-known film today, Safety Last!.- Plot :...
, but died shortly after filming started, sparking a nationwide search for a replacement. - H.P. Lovecraft's short story "Out of the AeonsOut of the Aeons"Out of the Aeons" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. It focuses around a Boston museum that has found an ancient mummy from a past-sunken island to be put on display.-Plot summary:...
" mentions the Cardiff Giant, contrasting it with the real mummies on display in the fictional Cabot Museum of Archaeology, Boston, Massachusetts. - In 2011, artist Ty Marshal created a full sized Cardiff Giant replica made of hypertufaHypertufaHypertufa is an anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement.Hypertufa is intended as a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock; being very porous, it is favorable for plant growth.Hypertufa is popular for making...
for an event to be hosted by the City of Syracuse, NY on the 142nd anniversary of the discovery of the Cardiff GiantCardiff GiantThe Cardiff Giant was one of the most famous hoaxes in United States history. It was a tall purported "petrified man" uncovered on October 16, 1869 by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardiff, New York. Both it and an unauthorized copy made by P.T...
on (October 16, 2011). Titled "There's A Sucker Born Every Minute" (a famous quote from one of the original Cardiff Giant owners of 1869), the project involves the burial/unearthing of the replica Cardiff Giant at a large public event at Lipe Art ParkLipe Art ParkLipe Art Park is a public art project and outdoor art venue, and a public recreation space, comprising approximately of vacant greenspace located on West Fayette Street in Syracuse, New York in the Warehouse District...
in which local politicians, news media, contributing artists and the public will work together to re-enact the original Cardiff Giant discovery.
