Sewing Machines Contain Red Mercury (Saudi Arabia)

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE53D48H20090414

Reuters
14 April 2009

Sewing machine frenzy in red mercury hoax

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi police are investigating the origins of a hoax that had hundreds of people believing that old sewing machines may bring fortune because they contained an elusive, and probably mythical, substance known as red mercury. [...]

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009041435015

Saudi Gazette
14 April 2009

Red mercury’ rumors gain ground

By Abdullah Al-Maqati

DHULUM – Rumors that Singer sewing machines contain the so-called “red mercury” substance has sent prices skyrocketing around the Kingdom, with individuals flocking to markets to pay up to SR200,000 for a single machine. [...]

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009041635223

Saudi Gazette
16 April 2009

Paying the price for red mercury mania

By Abdullah Al-Maqati

[...] Financial losses have not been the only upshot of the rumors. Friendships have also fallen by the wayside, and fights over sewing machines have sparked family disputes. [...]

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=121632&d=17&m=4&y=2009&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom~

Arab News [Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]
17 April 2009

Source of Singer hoax remains a mystery

Arab News

JEDDAH: The feverish search for Singer sewing machines driven by a superstitious notion that they possessed mysterious powers to fulfill every human wish has lost its tempo as the common man is slowly realizing that it is another ploy to dupe the naive public, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. [...]

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009041935510

Saudi Gazette
19 April 2009

Divorce and bounced check is what they got

By Khalid Al-Jabri and Abdullah Al-Qarni

MADINA/AL-KHARJ – Even as the red mercury in Singer sewing machines rumors are dying down, the effects on the country’s social fabric are coming to light, though slowly. [...]

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=24&section=0&article=121770&d=22&m=4&y=2009

Arab News
22 April 2009

MP calls for anti-swindle law as ‘Singermania’ hits Bahrain

Arab News

MANAMA: Umm Ghanim is a 57-year-old grandmother who plans to say goodbye to her old, faithful Singer sewing machine now that “Singermania” has crossed the border from Saudi Arabia into Bahrain. [...]