Syracuse crowd revisits Upstate phenomenon
The Cardiff Giant is dug up in Syracuse on the 142nd anniversary of the original hoax near LaFayette.
The Cardiff Giant--all ten foot four inches and 2,990 pounds of him, as been unearthed, again.
Actually, Sunday morning's event, at Syracuse's Lipe Art Park, on West Fayette Street, was a 'recreation' of two well workers digging up the 'original' prehistoric man in Cardiff (near LaFayette) on this date, October 16th, in 1869. Stories about that electrified the nation and people came by the hundreds to see: the giant was sold to a Syracuse syndicate for $23,000 --huge money!--and the group turned down P T Barnum's attempt to buy in, so he sculpted his own---all before the hoax was revealed.
The 'modern' giant is made of hypertufa by artist Ty Marshall as part of a retrospect on the hoax. Check their website for events beyond today's afternoon-long celebration.
