I remember visiting the local library at the tender age of 13 and borrowing a book titled "The Compleat Practical Joker" and found it to be very entertaining. I just did a google search and that wasn't published until 1966 so it must have been a similar title with the same spelling of "compleat".
Anyway (am I rambling now?)
I found this website interesting.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/