1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: We've all had to make them at some point in 7 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: our lives. We grab a shoebox, some glue and construction 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: paper and we build a little tableau inside for a 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: school project. Maybe it depicts a particular scene from a 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: book that we've read, or an important moment in history. 11 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: And when we're done, we stand in front of the 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: class and tell everyone about what we've made. And honestly, 13 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: it can't be over fast enough. Kennet, there is little 14 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: l that's more awkward than telling your classmates about the 15 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: action figures and paper trees that you've glued inside of 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: a shoe box. But from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: people used to make a living with their tiny dioramas. 18 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: Folks would flock to their stands in the streets to 19 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: have a look for themselves, but they weren't called dioramas. 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: Back then, they were called raris. The origin of the 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: word rarey most likely stems from the word rarity. They were, 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: in a sense, tiny cabinets of curiosities, but these weren't 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: collections of disparate objects. Those who operated them back then 24 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: called them peep shows, long before that term gained a 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: more risque definition. During the fourteen hundreds, Italian artist Leon 26 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Battista Alberti painted beautiful pictures which he placed inside a box. 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: The viewers would look through a small aperture on the 28 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: outside and see sunny day scenes turn into night scenes 29 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: with the moon and stars in the sky. Scholars today 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: believe the images may have been partially transparent, whereas certain 31 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: parts of the pictures would appear while others would be hidden, 32 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: depending on how they were lit inside the box. In fact, 33 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: it's also possible that Alberti's box is one of the 34 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: earliest types of projectors or magic lanterns, which would shine 35 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: light through a lens onto a glass slide with a 36 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: picture on it in order to project it onto the wall. 37 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: But raries were a little different. They were comprised of 38 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: ornate wooden boxes which were subdivided into compartments inside and 39 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: within each little box was a scene. Sometimes it was 40 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: an illustrated picture of a landscape or a notable event. 41 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: Other times the cell held a three dimensional tableau constructed 42 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: of paper and other materials. On the exterior of the boxes, 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: there were viewing holes through which spectators could watch as 44 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: the rarey operator would pull a string and move the 45 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: pictures around. He also told stories to breathe life into 46 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: these static images. Before we had nickelodeons and motion pictures, 47 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: we had rares. These kinds of peep shows actually became 48 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: most popular in Holland during the sixteen hundreds. Some artists 49 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: went so far as to place biconvex lenses over the 50 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: viewing holes to exis exaggerate the depth of the images inside. Eventually, 51 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: glass slides and translucent illustrations were melded with candlelight. Suddenly, 52 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: scenes set during the day could change tonight simply by 53 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: moving the candle in a certain way. This was how 54 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: raris gave way to magic lantern shows. Later on, during 55 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds, Japan even got in on the 56 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: rarey craze with boxes they called appropriately Holland machines. Rare's 57 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: had actually been in Japan since these sixteen forties, after 58 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: the Dutch had gifted one to the showgun of the time, 59 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: but they didn't gain steam with the Japanese artists until 60 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: around the eighteenth century, after the Chinese had started working 61 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: with them as well. But not everybody enjoyed the whimsy 62 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: of the rari. According to an article in a British 63 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: newspaper from eighteen oh three, a soldier had paid a 64 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: halfpenny to take a peek inside a rareri that had 65 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: been set up on a Lancaster bridge in Stockport. As 66 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: he gazed upon pictures of beautiful cities from all over 67 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: the world, the showman explained what he was seeing. He said, 68 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: there is the famous city of Paris. You can see 69 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: the gray Bonaparte haranguing his troops for the invasion of England. 70 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: The soldier was incensed. He loathed Napoleon and his men. 71 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: In a fit of anger, he hoisted the rary box 72 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: and hurled it over the bridge. The showman, though, did 73 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: not skip a beat and continued to say, there and 74 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: now you see Bonaparte and his troops drowning, and be 75 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 1: damned to them. I guess everyone's a critic curious, isn't 76 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: it It's hard to know what a job is going 77 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: to be like until you start working there. An interview 78 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: isn't enough, and either is reading online reviews. To really 79 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: get a feel for a company and its culture, you 80 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: have to punch the clock. In eighteen sixty one, a 81 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: young man named Sam thought that he had found a 82 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: job that would fulfill him and give him purpose. Instead, 83 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: he quickly realized that it was nothing but a waste 84 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: of time and a death sentence. Sam was from Missouri, 85 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: a border state that facilitated both sides of the Civil War, 86 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: but it was also a slave state, and its governor, 87 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: Claiborne Fox Jackson, was decidedly pro slavery. He'd been born 88 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: into a wealthy family of slaveholders and had worked to 89 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: push Missouri towards a session against the Union. As for Sam, well, 90 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: he hadn't planned on taking any part in the Civil War. 91 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,919 Speaker 1: At first. He been a riverboat captain navigating the Mississippi 92 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: until Union forces eventually shut it down. With no job, 93 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: he went back home to figure out what was next 94 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: for him. He was almost drafted by the Union one day, 95 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,160 Speaker 1: while he and his friends had been relaxing near their hometown, Levy. 96 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: They had been stopped by Union soldiers who brought them 97 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: to Saint Louis for the purpose of piloting ships up 98 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: the Missouri River. The district commander had been giving the 99 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: boys the rundown when he suddenly left to attend to 100 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: two young ladies who were waiting nearby. Sam and his 101 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 1: friends snuck outs while nobody was looking and ran straight 102 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: back to their hometown of Hannibal. Now at home and safe, 103 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: Sam soon read the governor's call for volunteers in his 104 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: local paper. Fox wanted young men to join the Confederate 105 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: army and take on the Union forces that were invading 106 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: Missouri and that included Sam's hometown, and so Sam signed 107 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: up along with fourteen other men looking to support their 108 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: governor and their state from the Union invasion. In the 109 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: summer of eighteen sixty one, Sam loaded up a mule 110 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: with a valleys, two blankets, a carpet bag, a quilt, 111 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: a rifle, twenty yards of rope, a frying pan, and 112 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: an umbrella before heading out to meet Colonel John Rawls, 113 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: a veteran of the Mexican American War. Rawls was a 114 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: true and tried Confederate who gave Sam and his companions 115 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: an impassioned speech about duty and honor, and then made 116 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: them swear on a bible to defend Missouri to the death. 117 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: But his words fell on deaf ears. These were kids 118 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: barely in their twenties who had signed up thinking that 119 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,239 Speaker 1: they would be heroes. Instead, they were more like college freshmen, 120 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: let loose on their own for the first time in 121 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: their lives. They shunned responsibility and flought over chores. Whenever 122 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: they heard that Union troops might be in the area, 123 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: they hid from battle. One night, when they finally got 124 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: the killer instinct Colonel Rowles had been hoping for. A 125 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: stranger had come into their camp, hidden by the darkness, 126 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: Sam shot him. His fellow troops soon followed. When the 127 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: gunpowder had cleared, they realized that they hadn't killed a 128 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: Union soldier. They'd murdered an innocent, unarmed man. The boys 129 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: continued to camp and patrol the area, almost coming face 130 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: to face with a formidable regiment commanded by none other 131 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: than Ulysses S. Grant, but they quickly retreated and decided 132 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: that war just wasn't for them. Sam ran off to 133 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: Saint Louis, where his sister lived, and stayed there until 134 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: his brother came calling with the job opportunity out west. 135 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: He needed someone to help him with his new duties 136 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: as Secretary to the Governor of the Nevada Territory, a 137 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: position that had been appointed by President Lincoln himself. Sam 138 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: jumped at the chance and high tailed it out of 139 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: Missouri until the end of the war. By then, he'd 140 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: been long forgotten, at least under his given name of 141 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: Samuel Clemons. Soon everybody would know him as humorist and 142 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: author Mark Twain, but they wouldn't know that for two 143 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: fu awful weeks in eighteen sixty one, the beloved writer 144 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: from Missouri had coseplayed as a Confederate soldier. I hope 145 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 146 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 147 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 148 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 149 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 150 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 151 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 152 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.