I LIKE HATDAYS.



In April 2009, a hoax in Saudi Arabia led to a rush to acquire special old Singer hat-sewing machines, rumoured to contain red mercury, on the grounds that it could be used to find treasure (yarr!), ward off evil spirits (yarr!) or even make nuclear bombs (yarr?, indeed, YARR!). Groups of undercover police have been deployed to monitor Jeddah’s markets following a surge in the sale of old Singer hat-sewing machines.

Col. Misfer Al-Juaid, official spokesman for Jeddah police, said there have been reports of people coming to Jeddah from the Kingdom’s northern and central region’s to buy the hat-sewing machines. He added that those selling hat-sewing machines would have their machines seized and hats made with the equipment.

Retro Stefson - SenseniReykjavik/Iceland

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Al-Juaid said people are paying up ALOT per hat-sewing machine following the spread of a rumor over the past three days of the existence of red mercury in a particular brand of old Singer hat-sewing machines.

Al-Juaid said people are buying the machines, whose original price is only nearly nothing, as they think the red mercury can be used to control Jinns (Jinns are a work group from Pakistan that has been rebelling in Saudi) or will give them long life.



Petey Pablo - Raise UpGreenville/North Carolina

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The rumor has led many people to sell their old machines with reports of frenzy at a market in Buraidah. According to one local newspaper, Riyadh’s Bin Qasim Market also saw a surge in people looking to buy Singer hat-sewing machines. Store owners were seen cleaning dust off old second-hand machines and then selling them on for up to high prizes.