Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 14 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
63 stories matching prank
- The Ballard Ghost Case
A morbid prank involving a 'dummy corpse' in Ballard sends the local coroner on a wild goose chase, leaving the town laughing at his indignation.
- The Library Hatchet Prank
An unknown intruder bypassed the Kennewick public library's security, but left with nothing to show for it.
- An April Fool’s Joke Gone Wrong
A local office prank involving 'hard-boiled' eggs and croton oil turns into a bitter lesson in Seattle workplace etiquette.
- The Good Templars' Uninvited Guest
A mischievous prank involving a ladder, a window, and a large black dog sent the River Park Good Templars' meeting into chaos.
- The Salmon Fishing Prank
A Tacoma society woman finds herself at the center of a Sunday prank involving a 27-pound skatefish.
- The Tragedy of Martin Ware
A quiet citizen driven to suicide by the relentless taunts and cruel pranks of his social circle.
- The Garden Prank That Sour-Ed a Marriage
A husband’s elaborate scheme to fool his wife with gilded pebbles backfires, leaving the household in a state of icy tension.
- Dormitory Pranks and Faculty Feuds at Pullman
Agricultural college students torment their professor with snow-filled beds and carpet tacks while an editorial war over college management brews.
- A Giant Among the Yakima Hops
A tall man's visit to the Tacoma Exposition leads to an irrigation marketing prank.
- The Terrors of Belltown: Youth Gangs and Civic Chaos in 1870
Before it was a bustling neighborhood, Belltown was a site of 'villainous' youth pranks and neighborhood disturbances that left residents clamoring for order.
- A Dangerous Practical Joke
A man is hospitalized after a prank turns into a violent confrontation, landing his three attackers in legal trouble.
- Halloween Mischief Causes Chaos in North Yakima
A night of Hallowe'en pranks spiraled into dangerous territory, leaving residents missing carriage wheels and a local man injured after a run-in with a wire trap.
- A Dangerous Train Prank Near Ritzville
A rock hurled at a passenger train nearly strikes a woman, sparking an unsuccessful manhunt.
- The Night the Billings Hall Boys Stacked a Professor’s Room
A dorm prank at Whitman College turned into a discipline case after beds were overturned, lights broken, and a bureau jammed against the door.
- The Great 'Chicken Hunt' Hoax Exposed
A reported runaway incident during a chicken hunt near Eureka Flat turned out to be a manufactured prank on a local reporter.
- A Soggy Fourth of July at the Ballpark
Rain and firecrackers dampen the spirits at a lackluster match between the Maroons and Bellingham Bay.
- The Schoolhouse Mutiny
When an empty Seattle schoolhouse became a playground for neighborhood boys, a mild prank turned into a local spectacle of adolescent mischief.
- The Telephone Dust Prank
A creative hoax in a small town fooled local housewives into wrapping their telephones in rags to 'blow out the dust.'
- The 'Bear of Third Street' Prank
A group of rowdy boys in 1880s Seattle found a cruel way to terrorize women walking home alone at night.
- A Dangerous New Year's Prank
Drunken revelers lure firefighters to a ghost blaze, nearly wrecking the department's equipment in the chaos.
- The Prize Apple Was Stuffed With Shot
A judge's suspicion at the Spokane fair exposed a prank that briefly put a Wilbur exhibitor's reputation on the line.
- The Great Tidal Wave Prank of 1893
A fake official weather warning triggers panic and sends nervous citizens scurrying to the hills of Aberdeen.
- The Prank Gone Wrong
A festive church fair collection turns into a masked highway robbery—or does it?
- Thanksgiving Prank Turns Violent in North Seattle
A holiday game involving neighborhood boys resulted in a knifing and an arrest after a scuffle broke out on Battery Street.
- The Great Butter Hoax of 1859
A classic tall tale of rancid butter, two tipsy pioneers, and an elaborate prank on a local tavern keeper in Olympia.