2010-11-30, 12:24 AM
Page 304 Wrote:[SIZE="6"]MORE LEGENDARY BETS[/SIZE]
Some bets achieve the status of legends because of the unexpected
results they produce. Here are two classic examples of
bets that got out of hand... and became folklore.
THE BOTTLE HOAX OF 1749
The Wager: In the first week of 1749, the Duke of Port-
land bet the Earl of Chesterfield that if he were to adver-
tise the public performance of something obviously impossible,
"there'd be enough fools in London to fill the theater and pay
handsomely for it." Chesterfield took him up on it.
The Duke then placed this ad in the London papers:
[INDENT][SIZE="2"]At the New Theater in the Haymarket, on Monday next, is to
be seen a Person who performs most surprising things....He
presents you with a common Wine Bottle, which any of the
spectators may first examine; this Bottle is placed on a Table in
the midst of the Stage, and he (without any equivocation) goes
into it, in the sight of all the Spectators, and sings in it. During
his stay in the bottle, any person may handle it, and see plainly
that it does not exceed a common Tavern Bottle.[/SIZE][/INDENT]
The Result: The Duke won. Soon all London was talking about
the upcoming event. The theater was sold out well in advance of
the day--with people paying as much as 7 shillings, 6 pence a seat
to see it. BUt, obviously, there wasn't anything to see and things
got ugly quickly. After about 20 minutes, when it became appar-
ent that they'd been had, the audience rioted...they destroyed the
theater, stealing everything in it...and then they burned the build-
ing down. The Duke had covered his tracks, and the true story of
the bet didn't leak out until several years later.
THE BERNERS STREET HOAX OF 1809
The Wager: A well-known practical joker of his day, THomas
Hook, was walking in a quiet residential neighborhood near
London with a friend. He pointed to a particularly quiet-looking
house on Berners Street, No. 54, and bet that "within a month,
that house will be the talk of London." His friend took him up on it.
According to one account: "Hook went into action. No. 54,
[SIZE="1"]Nickname for Leisure World, a city for seniors in Orange County California: "Heaven on hold."[/SIZE]
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