Fargo once had its own ‘Onion’

FARGO — Americans have seen firsthand (especially in recent weeks) how comedy and news can overlap, whether through late-night monologues, satirical headlines, or parody websites. Humor often becomes a way to process the heavy and the absurd, offering relief when reality feels overwhelming. Nearly a century ago, Fargo readers had their own version of this delicate balance.

In 1926 and 1927, The Fargo Forum regularly carried a parody section called The Hotown Ordeal — a comic “newspaper within a newspaper” that promised “all the news as soon as it happens — and sometimes sooner.”

Looking much like a small-town weekly, the Ordeal offered absurd news stories, spoof ads, tongue-in-cheek editorials and even society columns about fictional locals. Its cheeky masthead also declared it the “Manu