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World of the Bizarre

Infamous giant grasshopper hoax still intrigues over 85 years later

By T.K. Randall
October 3, 2024 · Comment icon 3 comments
Hopper whopper
One of the more well known 'whopper hopper' hoax images. Image Credit: Frank D. Conard
Back in the 1930s, a photographer decided to create a series of fake images pertaining to an invasion of giant grasshoppers.
While these days fake photographs are extremely easy to create with modern software, back in the 1930s this was much more difficult to accomplish and people were a lot less likely to suspect that a photo wasn't real.

When the town of Garden City, Kansas became inundated by a swarm of grasshoppers in 1935, therefore, photographer Frank D. "Pop" Conard had an idea that would make him quite a lot of money.

Grabbing his camera, he took a series of photographs and then used his skills as a photographer to superimpose images of grasshoppers into the shots to make the insects appear enormous.

In one image, a hunter with a rifle could be seen holding a massive grasshopper in his hand. In another, a group of people could be seen attempting to catch one of the insects in a field (above).
His photographs proved highly popular as postcards, earning him both money and recognition.

Incredibly, though, many people believed that the giant grasshoppers were actually real.

"They say pictures don't lie," Conard said at the time. "But from the sale of these postcards - the fastest selling novelty cards on the market - it seems that Kansas people like a little funny, untruth."

The grasshopper postcards sold very well for years and Conard continued to print his "whopper hoppers" up until his retirement at the age of 63.

Source: Boing Boing | Comments (3)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by jethrofloyd 1 month ago
This is fun! Never heard of this story before. This is like a some horror B movie from 1930s. Grasshopper Godzilla.
Comment icon #2 Posted by sanchez710 1 month ago
Looks like something out of Quatermass and the Pit.
Comment icon #3 Posted by Kleng 28 days ago
Suddenly I want to begin collecting old post cards.


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