Fake News: How to Talk with Kids
Reports of a Sea Monster!
In August, 1937 newspapers across the nation reported that a sea monster had been sighted off Nantucket Island. It was actually a balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and the whole thing was a publicity stunt. Amazingly, the newspapermen knew it was fake, and yet went along with it.
On August 7, 1937–exactly 80 years ago–the Nantucket Island Inquirer and Mirror newspaper led with a startling headline:
A Sea Monster | Bill Manville Says He Saw One Off Nantucket. Insists He was Not Dreaming. Hopes I Appears Again to Verify His Story.
See the digital copy of the article here.
Planning a Hoax
This was an elaborate hoax in which the newspapermen knew that the story was fake. It took a long time to prepare for, but no one knows exactly how long.
Here’s what we know about the sea monster
Tony Sarg was a master puppeteer and ran a local Curiosity Shop on Nantucket. He was responsible for the original design for the massive balloons that flew in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He saw them as upside down puppets or marionette. If you’ve ever watched the balloon handlers, you can understand how apt this analogy was.
For the 1937 Parade, Sarg designed a massive sea monster balloon. Some time that spring or early summer, Sarg and Macy’s officials agreed to do a publicity stunt and float the balloon off Nantucket Island. They talked with the newspaper editor of the Nantucket Island Inquirer and Mirror, who agreed to go along and to print articles, even though he knew they were fake. Another newspaperman who worked for a wire service agreed to reprint the story and send it out on the wires.
To make the hoax a reality, the Akron Rubber and Tire Company, the makers of the balloons, shipped the balloon, along with several thousand pounds of compressed air to fill up the balloon.
For two weeks, newspapers printed stories about the sea monster. The story itself spread from Cape Cod to California. Finally, on August 18, 1937, word went around that the sea monster had been caught by Tony Sarg. People flooded the beach to see it–only to discover that it was a rubber balloon.
Researching the Book
To research the book, I went to Nantucket Island in 2011. We rode bicycles across the island, stopping at cranberry bogs, and visiting Madaket Beach and the beach where the balloon was pulled out. The historical museum had an interesting archive of material. However, they mentioned to me that another author, Melissa Sweet, was researching Tony Sarg. When I went home, I contacted her and learned that she had a contract for a book. That was Balloons Over Broadway, which was awarded the 2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal, and the 2012 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award.
After emailing with Melissa, I knew my story was dead in the water.
But here’s the thing: I was never interested in the same thing as Melissa. As an artist herself, she was interested in Tony Sarg’s art and life. I was only interested in the sea monster hoax. Still, no one would touch my story after her brilliant book.
Non-Political Fake New Story
But time moves along. In 2017, after a grueling election process in 2016, I began to hear teachers, parents, and librarians ask for a particular kind of book: a non-political fake-news story. I pulled out the research and looked at it again. Yes, this was a non-political story. And it was definitely a fake news story. Whether you call it a hoax, a fake new story or a publicity stunt matters not. The fact is that newspapermen knew the story was false when they published it.
One of the fascinating things about this event are the photographic records. The Nantucket Historical Society has many b/w photos in the public domain that were invaluable to illustrator Peter Wills as he worked on illustrations for the book.
IMAGES OF TONY SARG'S SEA MONSTER
See the length of the sea monster (135 feet) and compare the size to people.
Measuring the sea monster footprints on the beach.
Tony Sarg and spectators pose in front of the sea monster’s mouth.
Teaching kids about politics is tricky.
So, we decided to NOT teach them about politics.
Instead, we found a story that emphasized good citizenship. This story talks about the importance of a Free Press in our society.
As Thomas Jefferson put it like this:
"Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”
However, he also knew the danger of a free press was the possibility of fake news. He wrote: “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.”
Click the image to learn more.
- Junior Library Guild selection
- NCTE Notable Children’s Book in Language Arts
It’s our passion to put excellent books into the hands of teachers and students so they can engage in discussions. It’s always the discussion that matters. We honor and rejoice in the intelligence of young readers as they consider facts. And we respect and hope to encourage teachers as they help the kids learn about life.
