A malignant species of wit
November 26, 2013 2:32 PM   Subscribe

The Berners Street Hoax - On November 26th, 1810, at 5 o’clock in the morning, a chimney sweep appeared at Mrs. Tottenham’s door.
posted by unliteral (10 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, that makes the five pizzas I had sent to a high school enemy look a mite puny.
posted by thebrokedown at 2:58 PM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]


Neat blog!
posted by Iridic at 3:07 PM on November 26, 2013


It's like a work of fiction, except it really happened. Seldom in real life will you find someone willing to put in that amount of sheer effort for a prank.
posted by Kevin Street at 3:14 PM on November 26, 2013


That's just made me want to read The Day the Dam Broke again.
posted by Monkeymoo at 3:19 PM on November 26, 2013


But was the hoax a hoax?
posted by rongorongo at 3:20 PM on November 26, 2013 [1 favorite]


^ In the comments of that historian's blog, alex (the "Pretend Curator" of the Museum of Hoaxes) says that the Berners Street Hoax actually happened. Here's the post from his blog.

There's a hotel on the spot where No. 54 once stood, so it's harder to visualize the crowded, narrow street today.
posted by Kevin Street at 3:33 PM on November 26, 2013


The Lulz -- do it for them.
posted by mosk at 5:17 PM on November 26, 2013


This was a topic on QI: How do you make a house the most famous house in London?
posted by lazaruslong at 5:29 PM on November 26, 2013


It's interesting to me that, like classic cons such as the Spanish Prisoner, this hoax exploits a sort of bug in the system of social trust that was entrenched at the time. Even in my town I don't think I'd be able to summon the city manager to my home with a simple note (telecommunications notwithstanding), although the police chief might come (I know him by name). Surely there would be a footman or someone to deliver a note of regret, or a request for further information. As for the merchants, social class was obviously a big factor here, and a lesser address would likely have received much less thorough delivery service.
posted by dhartung at 11:24 PM on November 26, 2013


Samuel Beazley is a war hero, play write, author and architect and is know for some prank played by an embezzling newspaper man.

Thomas Hook, fights his way up and has the rug repeatedly yanked out from beneath him. Despite overwhelming odds, with his wits alone, he keeps himself out of jail and starts his own paper. He pulls off the greatest hoax to date and it's named after a street.

The owner or the house, who was most inconvenienced by the whole affair, is completely forgotten. We don't even know how she spelled her name (Mrs. Tottenham or Mrs. Tottingham).
posted by flyingfox at 11:00 AM on November 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


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