The Cardiff Giant

[My Good Babushka]

Workers digging a well in 1869 dug up a 10 ft man of stone. This “Cardiff Giant” had been carved from gypsum and buried by tobacconist George Hull. His $2600 investment sold for $37,500 when it was discovered. P.T. Barnum offered him $60,000 to display the giant for 3 months, but Hull rebuffed him. Barnum built his own statue and said the original was a fake, leading exhibitor David Hannum to grumble the famous words, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

By 1870, both carving were revealed to be fakes/publicity stunts, but the Cardiff Giant is still on display at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

[Tobin S.]

1. kick