HISTORY OF THE CREATIVE HOAX

Creative hoaxing has probably been with us since the day that pre-historic man

decided to provide some humor for his cave-mate and slipped a tiger skin

over his body pretending to be a marauding animal threatening his pal.

But this type of tomfoolery had its heyday in the early 1900's.

Newspapers were then in their infancy and news was scarce,

leaving lots of open reading space.

Editors were not opposed to reporters making up their own

sensational stories, so writers of that time took this opportunity to use

their creative juices in this manner. H.L. Mencken, Mark Twain,

Benjamin Franklin and Edgar Allan Poe are just a few of the many

well-known folks from that era who were into journalistic leg pulling.

Hollywood was once a hotbed of this activity and replete with famous people

who relished fun-filled flimflam. Alfred Hitchcock, John Barrymore,

Darryl Zanuck and Douglas Fairbanks are just a few of these Tensiltown tricksters.

Then there are the lesser-known but nevertheless accomplished

hoaxers such as Jim Moran, Hugh Troy and Harry Reichenbach.

Their spoofs were not only especially creative and humorous but often

served their individual purposes and business interests as well.

(Reichenbach was considered king of the publicity stunt.

A film, The Half-naked Truth, was made of his exploits in 1932.)

The results of their hoaxes are legendary. Hugh Troy, for example,

had the Washington military establishment demanding detailed reports

of dead flies captured on various fly paper strips hanging in

Army mess halls, while Reichenbach was responsible for the

popularity of the famous painting September Morn.

Although not as prevalent today, the humorous hoax thrives.

IAPH has some of the best contemporary hoaxers as members.

Hoax historians and aficionados generally agree that

the two most successful hoaxes of all time were Orson Wells

1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds* which created widespread panic

and Alan Abel's Society for Indecency to Naked Animals (SINA)

which began in the mid-50's and continued on for about five years.

IAPH members represent different facets of hoaxing from

the promotion of products and services to enlivening meetings

and conventions with this most hilarious form of humor.

They are all specialists in fiddling with funny bones.

*Because it was announced at the beginning of the broadcast

that it was fiction and repeated several times throughout,

some have questioned whether this was an authentic hoax.

                           N.B.

The term "creative hoax" would include scams such as

those used to swindle people. IAPH members are those

who develop and perform hoaxes for the purpose of

entertaining and sometimes educating people.

IAPH members are pledged to avoiding harmful pranks, and are

focused on good-natured mischief and harmless humorous activities.