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 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. A lot of us 7 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 2: probably grew up with childhood pets, dogs, cats, goldfish, hamsters, 8 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 2: maybe a lizard or a snake. If you were the 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 2: adventurous type, that is, and if you're anything like me, 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 2: your pets were more than just animals. They were friends, 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 2: They were parts of the family. And that's how it 12 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 2: was for the person at the center of this story too. 13 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 2: Her name was Mary Sawyer. She was born on her 14 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 2: family's farm in Sterling, massachuse It's in eighteen oh six, 15 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 2: and at ten years old, she developed a curiously close 16 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 2: relationship with one of the farm animals. One afternoon in 17 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 2: eighteen sixteen, Mary was out doing chores with her father 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: when she stumbled on a tiny white figure laying in 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 2: the grass. It was a baby lamb. It had been 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 2: abandoned by its mother, and now it was curled up 21 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 2: there sick, frail, and helpless, Mary begged her father to 22 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 2: let her bring the lamb home and try to nurse 23 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: it back to health. He said okay, so she scooped 24 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 2: up the animal off the ground and carried it into 25 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 2: the house. There, she wrapped the lamb in a piece 26 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 2: of old clothing and sat with it in front of 27 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 2: the fireplace all night long. By the time the sun rose, 28 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 2: the lamb was strong enough to stand up on its own. 29 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 2: For the next few days, Mary fed at milk from 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 2: their family's sheep. Mary grew to love that lamb, and 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 2: it loved her too. As soon as it could walk, 32 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 2: it started following her everywhere, which was, you know, cute, 33 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 2: until the ten year old had to go to school. 34 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: That is, One morning, as Mary and her brother Nat 35 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 2: walked to the red Stone School, Mary heard a faint 36 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 2: bleeding sound behind her. She turned around and saw the 37 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 2: lamb trotting up the street. Nat suggested that they bring 38 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 2: the animal to school. The kids got to class before 39 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 2: their teacher, Miss Kimball. Mary put her lamb underneath her 40 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,119 Speaker 2: desk and covered it with a basket, hoping that she'd 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 2: be able to keep it hidden. Miss Kimball arrived the 42 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 2: lesson began, and for a while everything seemed to be 43 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 2: going according to plan. But then the teacher called on 44 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,839 Speaker 2: Mary to stand up and read something out loud. When 45 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 2: Mary got up from her seat, the lamb jumped out 46 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 2: from beneath the basket. It bleeded super loudly, and just 47 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,959 Speaker 2: like that, the ruse was up. Mary turned bright red. 48 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 2: She was worried that she was going to get in trouble, 49 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 2: but Miss Kimball didn't look angry. She was doubled over laughing. 50 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 2: So were all of Mary's classmates. Apparently, the image of 51 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 2: Mary being followed around by a lamb who was so 52 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:56,119 Speaker 2: clearly obsessed with her was hilarious. Still, Miss Kimball told 53 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 2: Mary that she couldn't bring the pet back to school 54 00:02:58,520 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 2: in the future. 55 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,799 Speaker 1: The animal home and it stayed there. However, the lamb's 56 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: story was far from over. The Next day at school, 57 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: an older student named John Rolson handed Mary a piece 58 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 1: of paper. On it was a poem he had written. 59 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: It said, Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was 60 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb 61 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: was sure to go. And thus an immortal nursery rhyme 62 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: was born. Well sort of There's actually some debate about 63 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: how Mary had a Little Lamb became such a popular rhyme. 64 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: The story that I just told you is Mary Sawyer's 65 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: version of the events. However, the poem wasn't actually published 66 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: until fourteen years later in a book written by Sarah 67 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: Josepha Hale. When Mary saw the poem in print, she 68 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: was confused. Sarah's version included three extra stanzas which talked 69 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: about the lamb being caught in the classroom, but Mary 70 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: had no idea how Sarah knew the story or how 71 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: she got the lines that John Rollstone had written. According 72 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: to Sarah, she didn't know the Stone and she hadn't 73 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: taken any lines from John. She claimed that she made 74 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: up the entire poem on her own. By this point, 75 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: John Rollstone was dead and the slip of paper that 76 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: he'd given to Mary was long gone, without any proof 77 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: that he had penned the poem. Mary and Sarah's literary 78 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: feud continued for years. Finally, they both agreed to sign 79 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: a statement saying that the other was not lying, which 80 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: was pretty confusing. It meant that Mary conceded that Sarah's 81 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: poem was original, while Sarah conceded that she hadn't plagiarized 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: the first stanza, and the story itself both couldn't be 83 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: true at the same time. But there you are. Even 84 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: after Mary Sarah and that Little Lamb passed away, people 85 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: still argued over the nursery rhyme's true origin. In nineteen 86 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: twenty seven, over one hundred years later, a book titled 87 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: The Story of Mary and Her Little Lamb was published. 88 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: The author argued that John Rollstone should get credit for 89 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: writing the famous rhyme. As for that author's name, it 90 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: was a guy named Henry Ford. He'd become so obsessed 91 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: with the legendary lamb that he not only wrote a 92 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: book about it, but he also purchased the Redstone School 93 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 1: where the entire saga had begun. These days, Sarah Josepha 94 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: Hale is usually credited as the author of Mary Had 95 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: a Little Lamb, But now you know that the real 96 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: story is far more complicated and a lot more curious. 97 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: When discussing how he built his entertainment empire, Walt Disney 98 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: once said, if you can dream it, you can do it, 99 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: which certainly sounds nice, right, And if it were true, 100 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: the world would be a much simpler place. But Disney's 101 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: advice ignores the more practical aspects of business. Just take 102 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: the story of one of his contemporaries, the automobile mogul 103 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: Henry Ford, for example. Ford had no shortage of dreams. 104 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: Born in eighteen sixty three in a Michigan farming town, 105 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: he moved to Detroit at sixteen to begin working as 106 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: a machine operator's apprentice. In the late eighteen hundreds, he 107 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: started toying around with the idea of a so called 108 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: gasoline powered horseless carriage. Over ten years later, his rudimentary 109 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,119 Speaker 1: designs evolved into the world's first manufactured automobile, the Ford 110 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: Model T. It was a hit from the moment that 111 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: it went on the market in nineteen oh eight. Ford 112 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: had to innovate to meet the ever growing demand for cars. 113 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: You probably know that he invented the assembly line, which 114 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: made the production of vehicles cheaper and more efficient, So 115 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: finding labor wasn't necessarily the problem finding materials was. You see, 116 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: by the late nineteen twenties, other car companies had sprung up. 117 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: The production of vehicles was at at all time high. 118 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: Sourcing materials became a challenge, and it was especially difficult 119 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: and expensive to get rubber, which at the time was 120 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: created from the sap of the rubber tree. While other 121 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: companies might have tried to strike deals with rubber manufacturing plants, Ford, ever, 122 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: the dreamer, went a different routes and I'm very different. 123 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: Ford set a meeting with representatives from the Brazilian government. 124 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: By the end of the conversation, he had purchased two 125 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: point five million acres of land in the Amazon rainforest. 126 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: He called his new property Fordlandia, and he planned to 127 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: turn it into a self sufficient utopian city where he 128 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: could farm an endless supply of rubber. Construction began immediately. 129 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: Ford had a huge water tower installed. Cape Cod's style 130 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,239 Speaker 1: homes were built behind white picket fences. There were swimming pools, 131 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: a tennis court, a golf course, and the most important 132 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: part of all, miles upon miles of rubber trees were 133 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: planted in Fordlandia. As for who actually did the planting, well, 134 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: Ford hired native Brazilians. However, for all his lofty ideals 135 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: about having a self sufficient utopian community, Ford put a 136 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: lot of restrictions on what his living employees could do. 137 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: No one was allowed to drink alcohol. Food was provided, 138 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: but the menu consisted of brown rice, whole wheat, bread, oatmeal, 139 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: and canned peaches. As you might imagine, this didn't do 140 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: much to raise morale. Beyond the abysmal dining conditions ford 141 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: Landia was dangerous. Sure. Ford had put in homes and 142 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,119 Speaker 1: luxury amenities, but he didn't really know anything about living 143 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: in the Amazon. Deadly snakes prowled the area, scaring the employees. 144 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: Malaria ran rampant because Ford didn't provide mosquito nets. After 145 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: a while, employees started calling Henry Ford's utopia Inferno verde 146 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: or green Hell. In nineteen thirty, they staged a rebellion 147 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: that got so extreme that Brazilian military had to intervene. 148 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: On top of all of this, Ford's rubber trees, the 149 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: whole reason that he had started for Landia to begin with, 150 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: weren't thriving the way he hoped. He brought in a 151 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: botanist to figure out the problem. It turned out pretty 152 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: much everything was wrong. You see, when rubber trees grow 153 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: in the wild, they're usually pretty far away from one another, 154 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: so they have ample room to expand. But Ford had 155 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: put his trees in a tight grid, essentially suffocating them. 156 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: Plus the soil quality in Fordlandia was so poor that 157 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,839 Speaker 1: even if the trees had been planted further apart, they 158 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't have grown anyway. By nineteen forty two, the 159 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: Fordlandia farm was producing about seven hundred and fifty tons 160 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: of latex each year, but in order for Ford's huge 161 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: investment to break even, he needed to be producing fifty 162 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: times that much thirty eight thousand tons, that is. But 163 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: if Ford thought that it couldn't get any worse, his 164 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: Amazonian utopia was soon plagued by fungus caterpillars and a 165 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: blight on the rubber trees themselves. In nineteen forty five, 166 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: he had to face the facts he could not do 167 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: it simply because he had dreamed it. Fordlandia was an 168 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: utter failure. So Ford sold the land back to the 169 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: Brazilian government at a loss of about twenty million dollars. 170 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: And get this, not a single drop of rubber produced 171 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: in Fordlandia ever made it into a Ford vehicle. It 172 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: didn't need to. Synthetic rubber became widely available in the 173 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: nineteen forties, rendering Henry Ford's entire project useless. Of course, 174 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:00,599 Speaker 1: he still went down in his as one of the 175 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: most savvy businessmen who ever lived These days, most people 176 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: don't know about his Amazonian disaster, which is why I 177 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: consider it my duty to bring the curious Tale of 178 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: Fordlandia straight to your ears. I hope you've enjoyed today's 179 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 180 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 181 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 182 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 183 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 184 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 185 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 186 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.