Potato Hoax: Swan's Spud Trick

Joseph B. Swan, a Colorado farmer with a penchant for practical jokes, pulled off a simple yet effective hoax by claiming to grow 26,000 pounds of potatoes in a year on one acre of land with his special "Maggie Murphy" variety. Using a carved piece of wood, he posed in a photograph with a giant 86-pound potato, which became widely circulated. Despite the skepticism of experts who exposed the fake, Swan received numerous requests for his special potato seed until he eventually revealed the hoax, claiming the magnificent potato had been stolen and he was quitting the spud business.