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...according to 'The Museum of Hoaxes' website :
On April 1, 1957 the British news show, Panorama, broadcast a segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets...
Dimbleby anticipated some questions viewers might have. For instance, why, if spaghetti grows on trees, does it always come in uniform lengths? The answer was that 'this is the result of many years of patient endeavor by past breeders who succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.'
And apparently the life of a spaghetti farmer was not free of worries: 'The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There's always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavor and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets.'
But finally, Dimbleby assured the audience that, 'For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.'
Of course, the broadcast was just an April Fool's Day joke. But soon after the broadcast ended, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from puzzled viewers. Did spaghetti really grow on trees, they wanted to know. Others were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC reportedly replied that they should 'place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'
Dimbleby anticipated some questions viewers might have. For instance, why, if spaghetti grows on trees, does it always come in uniform lengths? The answer was that 'this is the result of many years of patient endeavor by past breeders who succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.'
And apparently the life of a spaghetti farmer was not free of worries: 'The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There's always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavor and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets.'
But finally, Dimbleby assured the audience that, 'For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.'
Of course, the broadcast was just an April Fool's Day joke. But soon after the broadcast ended, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from puzzled viewers. Did spaghetti really grow on trees, they wanted to know. Others were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC reportedly replied that they should 'place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'
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