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The Cardiff Giant

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Oddity

The Resume

    (October 16, 1869- )
    Born in Cardiff, New York
    Ten foot tall 'petrified man'
    Discovered by workers digging a well on the farm of William 'Stub' Newell
    On display at the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, New York

Why The Cardiff Giant might be annoying:

    The whole thing was (surprise!) a hoax.
    Newell's cousin, George Hull, secretly had a statue carved, artificially aged it, then had it buried on the farm.
    It still had visible chisel marks, proving: (1) it was a statue, not a petrified man; (2) it had not been in the ground all that long.
    Several fundamentalist preachers endorsed its legitimacy.
    Newell began charging curiosity seekers 25 cents for a look, then doubled the price just two days later.

Why The Cardiff Giant might not be annoying:

    Hull, an atheist, created it after an argument with a fundamentalist preacher over the 'There were giants in the earth those days' passage in Genesis.
    Hull spent $2,600 creating the Giant and sold it to a five-man syndicate for $37,500.
    P.T. Barnum attempted to lease it from the syndicate for three months for $60,000.
    When the owners refused, Barnum had a replica built, put it on display, and was soon drawing larger crowds than the original.
    The owners of the original Giant sued Barnum, but lost with the judge ruling both to be equally fake.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 79 Votes: 53.16% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 61 Votes: 49.18% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 49 Votes: 65.31% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 19 Votes: 68.42% Annoying