In some places in Berkeley, it’s April Fool’s Day every day. This is because an unknown someone—or someones—has been placing plaques honoring nonexistent events in sites around the city for years.
Most people have seen historical plaques on buildings or sidewalks in various cities, designed to call attention to places where famous people lived or momentous occurrences occurred. London, for example, has its well-known blue plaques, more than 1,000 of them, paying tribute to figures such as Florence Nightingale and Oscar Wilde.
Berkeley can celebrate its Non-Historical Plaque Project. For example, at 1250 Addison St., a plaque honoring the Berkeley Copywriters Guild reads: “On this site birthed in 1963 lays lain layed lies the location original whereabouts around here of the Berkeley Copywriter’s Guild, A place where word geeks were often found with their smug understanding of grammar and their tiny worn-down blue pencils marking up all the fun words for boring ones. So boring! founded in 1958.”
Or, how about this one at the intersection of Bancroft Way and Ellsworth Street: “On this spot, in part due to protest fatigue, Berkeley residents protested against the constant protesting. The irony was not lost, causing a particularly low turnout by many activists who decided as an act of protest to counter-protest the demonstration by not showing up at all. No one was arrested.”
Brita Dorfman maintains the unofficial website for the plaques. She has no direct connection with the plaque creators, she said, and finds the plaques herself or has their locations sent to her by other devoted plaque-seekers. “I stumbled across a couple of them in 2022,” she said in a phone interview. Her first sighting, she thinks, was of “Bow Wow,” a plaque located directly next to an official city plaque at 1800 Hearst Ave. Its inscription consists entirely of dog sounds. This one remains one of Dorfman’s favorites.
“If you aren’t on the lookout, you might completely miss it,” she said.
She makes no attempt to find out who is creating and placing the plaques. “It’s more fun if it’s a mystery,” she said.
As far as she knows there are currently around 60 plaques. Some have gone missing over the years, perhaps “collected” by an admirer. The plaques, she stated firmly, are not a hoax. “They 100% exist,” she said.
Besides “Bow Wow,” her other favorites include “The West Berkeley Train Horn Plaque” on West St., which reads: “On this spot, if you listen closely, you can hear the long horn blasts of passing trains in the distance. They sound their horn not out of safety or being required by law but because they deliberately want to keep everyone awake at night. It is their cruel joke on the neighborhood as they continue to their destination. Noisy buggers.”
She also particularly likes the “Museum Temporis” plaque at 2071 Addison St., which reads: “On this spot, the future location for the time machine historical museum. A shining exhibition of antique apparatus, ranging from the initial experimental chrononaut hobbyists, through iola-scutter bridging devices, and into the golden age of mass super-relativity. Plan your upcoming visit to the past today!”
Author’s note: Cal space scientists, looking at you on this one.
Dorfman enjoys the wacky community spirit of the plaques. “They bring delight to people’s day,” she said. She welcomes new contributions, and anyone finding a new one can send her a photo and description at ad***@*************es.net.
Which might be a great project for an April Fool’s Day expedition.
To see a full list of the plaques that have been discovered up till now, visit berkeleyplaques.net.
