Greetings From the Land of the Make-Believe Species
Postcards provided proof of lake serpents, jackalopes and assorted curious monsters
![monster-big-alkali.jpg](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/UsFOze63Pa9wxEgxUEGj5f6mujw=/1000x750/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/5f/91/5f91af4c-caa5-4602-8ffb-f8860530b8b9/monster-big-alkali.jpg)
The Serpent of Silver Lake, New York
![Serpent of Silver Lake](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/3HlL6ZSibnHkorLt3QErZF4MJZY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-silverlake-1.jpg)
A Kansas Air Ship
![Kansas Air Ship](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/ldnvAbddfckQdxgf7buMY5Y7mhM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-kansas-air-ship-2.jpg)
But no one in 1909 could have expected this giant insect, or rather, “A Kansas Air Ship,” to reappear and loft a baby girl in an American flag-clad basket high above the plains. Imagined by Marion W. Bailey, a photographer based in Hutchinson, Kansas, this illustration was similar to other “exaggeration” or “tall-tale” post cards that proliferated across the region. The images of giant insects doing battle with humans provided both a thinly veiled analogy and some levity in dealing with disaster.
Giant Rabbits
![Giant rabbits](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/QtWa1wrvVyXHwpZSgyn5Plm3FWc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-rabbits-3.jpg)
Ice Worms
![Ice worms](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/7iAvD39hufuRUvTRlCXvP0DIkFE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-iceworm-4.jpg)
Fur Herring in Rice Lake, Wisconsin
![Fur herring](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/TTsq2h18dQeRx2h_Pu6RHOuL5eA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-herring-5.jpg)
Capture of the Hodag at Rhinelander, Wisconsin
![Hodag](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/_eVH3phnYXafhfDptcqpTCmwPAw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-hodag-6.jpg)
The Monster of Big Alkali, Nebraska
![The monster of Big Alkali Nebraska](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/k-8ngIK81YyNNmcE0yxM9b0T7bA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-monster-big-alkali-7.jpg)
Jackalope
![Jackalope](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/on3uLhvAuMpOkBnZxWwzsK1QDJo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-jackalope-8.jpg)
The Sea Serpent of Nantucket
![Sea serpent of Nantucket](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/wxojAW0kN_BQmz-OheSEfg5BMiI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-sea-serpent-of-nantucket-9.jpg)
The Geoduck, Puget Sound
![Geoduck](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/ntbTPxcift5Yi19EFru-PXdvyhU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/hoax-animals-geoduck-10.jpg)