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The spaghetti-tree hoax was a three-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current-affairs programme Panorama, purportedly showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from a "spaghetti tree". At the time of the report's broadcast, spaghetti was relatively unknown in the United Kingdom, and a number of viewers contacted the BBC afterwards for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. Decades later, CNN called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled".^[1]

Broadcast

The news report was produced as an April Fools' Day joke in 1957, and presented a family in the canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland gathering a bumper spaghetti harvest after a mild winter and "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil". Footage of a traditional "Harvest Festival" was aired along with a discussion of the breeding necessary to develop a strain to produce the perfect length of spaghetti. Some scenes were filmed at the (now closed) Pasta Foods factory on London Road, St Albans, in Hertfordshire, and at a hotel in Castagnola, Switzerland.

Panorama cameraman Charles de Jaeger dreamed up the story after remembering how teachers at his school in Austria teased his classmates for being so stupid that if they were told that spaghetti grew on trees, they would believe it. The editor of Panorama, Michael Peacock, told the BBC in 2014 how he gave de Jaeger a budget of £100 and sent him off. The report was made more believable through its voice-over by respected broadcaster Richard Dimbleby. Peacock said Dimbleby knew they were using his authority to make the joke work, and that Dimbleby loved the idea and went at it eagerly.^[2]

At the time, 7 million of the 15.8 million homes (about 44%) in Britain had television receivers.^[3] Pasta was not an everyday food in 1950s Britain, and it was known mainly from tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce and considered by many to be an exotic delicacy.^[4] An estimated eight million people watched the programme on 1 April 1957, and hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees; the BBC told them to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best".^[5]

References

^ Ahmed, Saeed (1 April 2009). "A nod and a link: April Fools' Day pranks abound in the news". CNN. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
^ Peacock, Michael (1 April 2014). "BBC News Interview" (Interview). BBC TV News.
^ "Television Ownership in Private Domestic Households 1956-2009 (Millions)". Barb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
^ "1957: BBC fools the nation". BBC On This Day. BBC News. 1 April 1957. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
^ Andy Bloxham (1 April 2011). "Greatest April fool stories – from spaghetti trees to Alabama changing Pi". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

External links

Listen to this article (1 minute)

This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 25 June 2005, and does not reflect subsequent edits.

The Spaghetti "Harvest" – San Giorgio Spaghetti ad (1978) on YouTube
BBC: Spaghetti-Harvest in Ticino on YouTube
"1957: BBC fools the nation". BBC News, On This Day: 1 April 1957. April 1957. Retrieved 1 April 2017. Video link on that page is dead.
"The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest". hoaxes.org. Retrieved 29 December 2014. With transcript and background.
"Is this the best April Fool's ever?". BBC News. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
"Still a good joke – 47 years on". BBC News. 1 April 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
Elen, Richard G. (1 April 2007). "Spaghetti Fool | Aspidistra". Transdiffusion.org. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2014.

[1] Ahmed, Saeed (1 April 2009). "A nod and a link: April Fools' Day pranks abound in the news". CNN. Retrieved 25 January 2010.

[2] Peacock, Michael (1 April 2014). "BBC News Interview" (Interview). BBC TV News.

[3] "Television Ownership in Private Domestic Households 1956-2009 (Millions)". Barb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.

[on_this_day-4] "1957: BBC fools the nation". BBC On This Day. BBC News. 1 April 1957. Retrieved 25 January 2010.

[5] Andy Bloxham (1 April 2011). "Greatest April fool stories – from spaghetti trees to Alabama changing Pi". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|1957 April Fool's hoax report broadcast on BBC}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
+<!-- You are being reminded that according to consensus (see WP:FOOLR), all article pages (with the exception of most parts of the Main Page excluding current events) shall not be edited solely due to April Fool's celebrations. Any such edits will be treated as vandalism, and you may be blocked if you repetitively edit in such manner. -->
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
 {{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
-[[File:Spaghetti harvest.jpg|thumb|300px|Photograph of a woman harvesting spaghetti in the BBC programme]]
+[[File:Sunny april morning spaghetti tree harvest (7036208493).jpg|thumb|A recreation of a scene from the report, showing a woman harvesting cooked spaghetti from the branches of a tree]]
-The '''spaghetti-tree hoax''' was a three-minute [[hoax]] report broadcast on [[April Fools' Day]] 1957 by the [[BBC]] current-affairs programme ''[[Panorama (TV series)|Panorama]]'', purportedly showing a family in southern [[Switzerland]] harvesting [[spaghetti]] from the family "spaghetti tree". At the time spaghetti was relatively little-known in the UK, so that many Britons were unaware that spaghetti is made from wheat flour and water; a number of viewers afterwards contacted the BBC for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. Decades later [[CNN]] called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled".<ref>{{cite web|first= Saeed |last= Ahmed | title= A nod and a link: April Fools' Day pranks abound in the news |publisher=CNN.com |date= 1 April 2009 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/01/april.fools.pranks/index.html |accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref>
+The '''spaghetti-tree hoax''' was a three-minute [[hoax]] report broadcast on [[April Fools' Day]] 1957 by the [[BBC]] current-affairs programme ''[[Panorama (British TV programme)|Panorama]]'', purportedly showing a family in southern [[Switzerland]] harvesting [[spaghetti]] from a "spaghetti tree". At the time of the report's broadcast, spaghetti was relatively unknown in the United Kingdom, and a number of viewers contacted the BBC afterwards for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. Decades later, [[CNN]] called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled".<ref>{{cite web|first= Saeed |last= Ahmed | title= A nod and a link: April Fools' Day pranks abound in the news |publisher=CNN|date= 1 April 2009 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/01/april.fools.pranks/index.html |accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref>
 ==Broadcast==
-The report was produced as an April Fools' Day joke in 1957, showing a family in the canton of [[Ticino]] in southern [[Switzerland]] as they gathered a bumper spaghetti harvest after a mild winter and "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti [[weevil]]". Footage of a traditional "Harvest Festival" was aired along with a discussion of the breeding necessary to develop a strain to produce the perfect length. Some scenes were filmed at the (now closed) Pasta Foods factory on London Road, [[St Albans]], in [[Hertfordshire]], and at a hotel in [[Castagnola]], [[Switzerland]].
+The news report was produced as an [[April Fools' Day]] joke in 1957, and presented a family in the canton of [[Ticino]] in southern Switzerland gathering a bumper spaghetti harvest after a mild winter and "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti [[weevil]]". Footage of a traditional "Harvest Festival" was aired along with a discussion of the breeding necessary to develop a strain to produce the perfect length of spaghetti. Some scenes were filmed at the (now closed) Pasta Foods factory on London Road, [[St Albans]], in [[Hertfordshire]], and at a hotel in [[Castagnola, Switzerland|Castagnola]], [[Switzerland]].
-''Panorama'' cameraman [[Charles de Jaeger]] dreamed up the story after remembering how teachers at his school in [[Austria]] teased his classmates for being so stupid that if they were told that spaghetti grew on trees, they would believe it. The editor of ''Panorama'' [[Michael Peacock (television executive)|Michael Peacock]] told the BBC in 2014 how he gave de Jaeger a budget of £100 and sent him off. The report was made more believable through its [[voiceover]] by respected [[Presenter|broadcaster]] [[Richard Dimbleby]]. Peacock said Dimbleby knew they were using his authority to make the joke work, and that Dimbleby loved the idea and went at it with relish.<ref>{{cite interview| title= BBC News Interview | author-link= Michael Peacock (television executive)|publisher=BBC TV News |first= Michael |last= Peacock |date= 1 April 2014}}</ref>
+''Panorama'' cameraman [[Charles de Jaeger]] dreamed up the story after remembering how teachers at his school in [[Austria]] teased his classmates for being so stupid that if they were told that spaghetti grew on trees, they would believe it. The editor of ''Panorama'', [[Michael Peacock (television executive)|Michael Peacock]], told the BBC in 2014 how he gave de Jaeger a budget of £100 and sent him off. The report was made more believable through its [[voice-over]] by respected [[Television presenter|broadcaster]] [[Richard Dimbleby]]. Peacock said Dimbleby knew they were using his authority to make the joke work, and that Dimbleby loved the idea and went at it eagerly.<ref>{{cite interview| title= BBC News Interview | author-link= Michael Peacock (television executive)|publisher=BBC TV News |first= Michael |last= Peacock |date= 1 April 2014}}</ref>
-At the time, seven million of the 15.8 million homes in [[UK|Britain]] had television sets (about 44%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barb.co.uk/resources/tv-facts/tv-ownership?_s=4 |title=Television Ownership in Private Domestic Households 1956-2009 (Millions) |publisher=Barb.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2016-01-26}}</ref> [[Pasta]] was not an everyday food in 1950s Britain, and it was known mainly from [[tin can|tinned]] spaghetti in tomato sauce and considered by many to be an exotic delicacy.<ref name= "on this day">{{cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm |work= BBC On This Day |title= 1957: BBC fools the nation |publisher=BBC News |date=1957-04-01 |accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref> An estimated eight million people watched the programme on 1 April, and hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. The BBC reportedly told them to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/article479948.ece |title=Fool's gold |publisher=Times Online |date=10 September 2004 |first=Louisa | last = McLennan |accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref>  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.
+At the time, 7 million of the 15.8 million homes (about 44%) in Britain had television receivers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barb.co.uk/resources/tv-facts/tv-ownership?_s=4 |title=Television Ownership in Private Domestic Households 1956-2009 (Millions) |publisher=Barb.co.uk |accessdate=2016-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209141716/http://www.barb.co.uk/resources/tv-facts/tv-ownership?_s=4 |archive-date=9 February 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Pasta was not an everyday food in 1950s Britain, and it was known mainly from tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce and considered by many to be an exotic delicacy.<ref name= "on this day">{{cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm |work= BBC On This Day |title= 1957: BBC fools the nation |publisher=BBC News |date=1957-04-01 |accessdate=2010-01-25}}</ref> An estimated eight million people watched the programme on 1 April 1957, and hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees; the BBC told them to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8420133/Greatest-April-fool-stories-from-spaghetti-trees-to-Alabama-changing-Pi.html |title=Greatest April fool stories – from spaghetti trees to Alabama changing Pi |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date= 1 April 2011 |author=Andy Bloxham |accessdate= 18 May 2019}}</ref>
 ==See also==
-* [[List of hoaxes]]
+* [[Agriculture in Switzerland]]
+* [[List of April Fools' Day jokes]]
+* [[Pacific Northwest tree octopus]]
+* [[Lenin was a mushroom]]
 * [[Mockumentary]]
 ==References==
-{{Reflist|2}}
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
-{{spoken Wikipedia|en-Spaghetti_tree.ogg|2005-06-25}}
+{{spoken Wikipedia|en-Spaghetti_tree.ogg|date=2005-06-25}}
+* {{YouTube | q-ZtGoXkI58 | The Spaghetti "Harvest" – San Giorgio Spaghetti ad (1978)}}
-* YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU
+* {{YouTube | tVo_wkxH9dU | BBC: Spaghetti-Harvest in Ticino}}
-* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm BBC website with the original video]{{dead link|date=December 2014}}
-* {{cite web|url=http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_swiss_spaghetti_harvest/ |title=The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest |publisher=hoaxes.org |date= |accessdate=29 December 2014}} With transcript and background.
+* {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm | title=1957: BBC fools the nation | date=April 1957 |publisher=[[BBC News]], On This Day: 1 April 1957  |accessdate=1 April 2017}} Video link on that page is dead.
-* {{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26723188 |title=Is this the best April Fool's ever? |publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=1 April 2014 |accessdate=29 December 2014}}
+* {{cite web|url=http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_swiss_spaghetti_harvest/ |title=The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest |publisher=hoaxes.org |accessdate=29 December 2014}} With transcript and background.
-* {{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/3591687.stm |title=Still a good joke - 47 years on |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=1 April 2004 |accessdate=29 December 2014}}
+* {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26723188 |title=Is this the best April Fool's ever? |publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=1 April 2014 |accessdate=29 December 2014}}
-* {{cite web|last=Elen |first=Richard G. |url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/aspidistra/spaghetti_fool.php |title=Spaghetti Fool &#124; Aspidistra |publisher=Transdiffusion.org |date=1 April 2007 |accessdate=29 December 2014}}
+* {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/3591687.stm |title=Still a good joke – 47 years on |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=1 April 2004 |accessdate=29 December 2014}}
+* {{cite web |last=Elen |first=Richard G. |url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/aspidistra/spaghetti_fool.php |title=Spaghetti Fool &#124; Aspidistra |publisher=Transdiffusion.org |date=1 April 2007 |accessdate=29 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613042901/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/aspidistra/spaghetti_fool.php |archivedate=13 June 2012 }}
-[[Category:April Fools' Day]]
+[[Category:April Fools' Day jokes]]
 [[Category:Performance hoaxes]]
-[[Category:BBC history]]
+[[Category:BBC controversies]]
 [[Category:Fictional trees]]
 [[Category:1957 in the United Kingdom]]
@@ Line 37: / Line 43: @@
 [[Category:Hoaxes in the United Kingdom]]
 [[Category:Journalistic hoaxes]]
-[[Category:20th-century hoaxes]]
+[[Category:1950s hoaxes]]
+[[Category:Spaghetti]]
+[[Category:Television episodes set in Switzerland]]
+[[Category:Panorama (British TV programme)]]