I ran across an intance of this from a few years ago ... 1892: the J.P. Morgan and the Bankers' Manifesto hoax.
This turned up as a meme, but it seemed a litle too good to be true.
Still, the story had legs, getting passed around progressive-party newspapers of the late 19th centuries (or at least the ones with snoozing or unscrupulous editors who didn't denounce the author), in books, and by Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. (father of the aviator) on the House floor in Washington, D.C.
And in contemporary Internet memes 125 years later.
The denunciations are piquant. This from The advocate and Topeka tribune. (Topeka, Kan.), 14 Sept. 1892:
In an editorial note last week calling attention of editors of reform to the so-called Wall street circular fake first published in the Chicago Daily Press, we wrote that "the thing originated in the fertile brain of T. W. Gilruth, who held a position for a time on the editorial staff of the Press." The compositor transformed the name into Gilmore. We desire to make this correction lest there be somebody named Gilmore who might object to the charge, and because the fraud should be placed where it belongs. Gilruth is a snide, and if anyone who knows him has not yet found it out, he is liable to do so to his sorrow.
That corrects an earlier account which misstated Gilruth's name:
The Great West and one or two other exchanges reproduce the Chicago Daily Press fake purporting to be a Wall street circular. The thing originated in the fertile brain of F. W. Gilmore [sic: should be T. W. Gilruth], who held a position for a time at the Press. He has been challenged time and again to produce the original if it is genuine, and has failed to do so. The thing is a fraud and so is its author, and neither of them is worthy of the confidence of the people.
This turned up as a meme, but it seemed a litle too good to be true.
Still, the story had legs, getting passed around progressive-party newspapers of the late 19th centuries (or at least the ones with snoozing or unscrupulous editors who didn't denounce the author), in books, and by Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. (father of the aviator) on the House floor in Washington, D.C.
And in contemporary Internet memes 125 years later.
The denunciations are piquant. This from The advocate and Topeka tribune. (Topeka, Kan.), 14 Sept. 1892:
In an editorial note last week calling attention of editors of reform to the so-called Wall street circular fake first published in the Chicago Daily Press, we wrote that "the thing originated in the fertile brain of T. W. Gilruth, who held a position for a time on the editorial staff of the Press." The compositor transformed the name into Gilmore. We desire to make this correction lest there be somebody named Gilmore who might object to the charge, and because the fraud should be placed where it belongs. Gilruth is a snide, and if anyone who knows him has not yet found it out, he is liable to do so to his sorrow.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85031982/1892-09-14...
That corrects an earlier account which misstated Gilruth's name:
The Great West and one or two other exchanges reproduce the Chicago Daily Press fake purporting to be a Wall street circular. The thing originated in the fertile brain of F. W. Gilmore [sic: should be T. W. Gilruth], who held a position for a time at the Press. He has been challenged time and again to produce the original if it is genuine, and has failed to do so. The thing is a fraud and so is its author, and neither of them is worthy of the confidence of the people.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85031982/1892-09-07...
I've not found another substantial examination of the particulars, so I wrote one myself.
https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/39w8u4/jp_morg...