1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. It is a beautiful summer 3 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: afternoon here in Atlanta in nineteen in the midst of 4 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: what many economists call the gig economy. We're going somewhere 5 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: with this. I promise my name is Bett. You would 6 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: not believe your eyes. Nate Milion fo your flies, some 7 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: young It sounds just like the Postal Service, but it's 8 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: a band called Owl City. Are they on wherever that 9 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: record label was in the Midwest? Saddle Creek, Saddle Creek. Yes, 10 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: I'm trying to okay, I don't think I don't think so, 11 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: just felt like they would be well. No, they literally 12 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: are like a one to one rip off of the 13 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: Postal Service. But they have the song called Fireflies that 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: was very popular and grocery stores across the country. Wait, 15 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: who are you? I'm no great good, You're in the 16 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: right place. A resident music snarker who was responsible for 17 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: those lovely dulcet tones we heard just a second ago. 18 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: Why that was super producer Casey Pegram And you may 19 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: be asking yourself, gig economy, fireflies? Are you guys finally 20 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: doing that? Weird experiment where you both do one half 21 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: of a completely different show. The answer is no, though 22 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: that would be fun. Yeah. Have we discussed this, Uh 23 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: in my head, we have. I love it my and 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: we also we also discussed the Nixon episode. Whatever happened 25 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: to that? I think it's just sort of a terrible idea. 26 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: You thought it was a great idea. I think it 27 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: would wear thin very quickly. It would have to be 28 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: like its twelve to fifteen minute episode. I think you 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: would wear thin after about three minutes. Really for me personally, okay, 30 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: like as you experience it as I experience it. Oh okay, 31 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: But it's not about us. It's about the audience. It's 32 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: not you, guys. How do you really feel about it? 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: All Nix and Impression episodes? And how do you feel 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: about fireflies? Do you what do you call them? Fireflies? 35 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: Lightning bugs, torch bugs? Yeah, little glowy boys, bright butts, uh, 36 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: flashlight locusts. I'm just making things up here, uh, strobe skeeters. 37 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: These are all very good then? Thanks still? Thanks? So 38 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,679 Speaker 1: fireflies are actually beatles, which I think would surprise a 39 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: lot of people, and they are the subject of today's episode. 40 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: I think anybody who's grown up around these amazing creatures 41 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,079 Speaker 1: has at least a few nostalgic memories of seeing them 42 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: come out. You know, as as the sun is western 43 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: and the night begins, you can start to see them 44 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: pop up. And you can because they're very easy to catch. 45 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: You can get one in a jar, old in your hand, 46 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: squish them and take that bioluminescent juice that drips forth 47 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: from their tiny broken bodies and you rub it on 48 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: your hands or your face like some sort of weird 49 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: ferald jungle child or future makeup artists. Yeah, exactly. Um, 50 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: you know, not not not necessarily a nice thing to do, 51 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: much nicer to just like hold them and look at 52 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: the cupped hand and then release them. But you know, 53 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: we all knew those kids that would that would give 54 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: them a good squish. And it turns out in nineteen 55 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: sixty through the mid nineties, uh, there were a lot 56 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: of firefly squishers in the Midwest round about Missouri. Yes, yes, 57 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: due to something called the Sigma Fireflies Scientists Club, tens 58 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: of millions of fireflies were caught in areas across twenty 59 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: five states and shipped into containers not just to have 60 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: some got to collect them all pokemon esque thing. But 61 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: because there was a big business about let's let's talk 62 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: real quickly about what the let's call it the lantern, right, 63 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: what makes fireflies glow? It's an enzyme called lucifer as, 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: and under the conditions this stuff produces that, as you 65 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: described it, no bioluminescent gleam. And for this gleam to occur, 66 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: the bug has to use a kind of energy called 67 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: a t P. So if the bugs but is a lamp, 68 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: then a t P would be the fuel and the 69 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: enzyme would be like the match of the lighter that 70 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: lights it. Scientists figured out how this all worked in 71 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: the late nineteen forties, and pretty soon after that biochemists said, 72 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: how can we apply this amazing substance? What can does 73 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: this have industrial applications? And that's where Sigma comes into play. Yeah, 74 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: and Sigma for our purposes today are sort of like 75 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: the man, you know, the man that wants to squash uh, 76 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: these beautiful creatures on a mass scale because they just 77 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: need that sweet sweet enzyme. You know. Because they actually 78 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: had developed uh an entire kind of slate of chemicals 79 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: that were able to use this bioluminescent stuff to light 80 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: things up, right, And here's the thing Sigma for our 81 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: purposes today. Um, they're sort of like the big the 82 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: big bad of this story. I mean, they didn't necessarily 83 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: weren't all bad, but they were definitely the enemy of 84 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: fireflies everywhere because they figured out that that enzyme could 85 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: actually be used to detect bacteria in environments that were 86 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: meant to be sterile. So it was something that really 87 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: came in handy and was valuable to make sure there 88 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: was no contamination in labs for example. Right. Yeah. Additionally, 89 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: these chemicals can detect contamination and milk and water, and 90 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: they can determine how much cancer is in a tissue. 91 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: This next one reminds me of the old school Adam 92 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: West Batman because people even attempted to use it as 93 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: a shark repellent, and according to Sue Hartwick, a supervisor 94 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: at Sigma, it was once sent into outer space as 95 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: a way to test for extraterrestrial life. We're getting a 96 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: lot of this information from an author named Sarah Was, 97 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: who was a firefly expert at Tufts University. She wrote 98 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: a book called Silent Sparks The Wondrous World of Fireflies. 99 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: I love the title and The story is worth an 100 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: entire book here because, as we said, Sigma realizes there's 101 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 1: tremendous potential in capturing all these all these bright butts, right, 102 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: And their problem is that you only get a little 103 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: bit of this enzyme per bug, and you have to 104 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: gather a massive amount of them, when we say earlier, 105 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: tens of millions. And so they said, how can we 106 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: collect these We can't necessarily get all the fireflies together 107 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: in one place, so we have to we have to 108 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: enlist the help of people who are around fireflies when 109 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: they occur. They literally needed to establish a supply chain, 110 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: and they did so in the form of I don't know, 111 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: it's some really clever marketing, that's for sure. I would 112 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: almost argue they are tricking kids into doing this. But 113 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:58,359 Speaker 1: they formed this thing we talked about the top of 114 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: the show, which was the Sigma Firefly Scientists Club. Doesn't 115 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: that sound fun and nerdy? It sounds like a good, 116 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: healthy summer for a growing tyke. And here's what they did. 117 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: They started publishing advertisements and then articles that were really 118 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: just longer advertisements disguised as news in local papers all 119 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: across the Midwestern United States. These would be classified ads 120 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: with all cap lines like catch lightning bugs and then hey, 121 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: kids join the Sigma Firefly Scientists Club. It's fun, it's profitable, 122 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: handed opportunity to make a valuable contribution to science. And 123 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: so they say, you know, we're appealing to youngsters throughout St. Louis, 124 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: for example, and you get thirty cents in cash for 125 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: every one bugs you catch, or one dollar in ride 126 00:07:55,400 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: tickets at three local amusement parks. It's genius. And I 127 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: maybe mischaracterized earlier on the show saying they were tricking 128 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: the kids, but it was definitely, uh a way of 129 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: getting pretty cheap labor, right, Oh sure, absolutely, thirty cents 130 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: per hundred. I mean that's I don't know, what is it? 131 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: What is that like good money for kids? Like, I 132 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: don't know. I think definitely the company is saving a 133 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: lot in their supply chain, right because it's not like 134 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: they're only making thirty five cents in cash, thinking how 135 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: we're going to keep this operation afloat. They did, however, 136 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: form a pretty effective community. People were writing into Boys 137 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: Life the boy Scout magazine about how this was a 138 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: great way to have fun, get outdoors and make money. 139 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: Adults approved of it because they said, you know, these 140 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: kids are getting exercise, they're having fun, they're learning the 141 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,719 Speaker 1: value of hard work. And Sigma kept all these all 142 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: these kids that were collecting fireflies for them in the loop. 143 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: They would send out news. You know, you would get 144 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: these collection kids, but then you would also get information 145 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: on what Sigma was doing with what they were catching, 146 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So it wasn't a black box. 147 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: You weren't just sending fireflies off into the void and 148 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: getting a dollar's worth of rides at an amusement park. Yeah. 149 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: But they also like they really built a culture around this. 150 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: They had all kinds of swag like T shirts and 151 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: the special catching nets or whatever, and they had buttons 152 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: UM and of course you got that kind of candy money. 153 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: I guess you could call it UM. And it absolutely thrived. 154 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: Eventually it had thousands of members and it wasn't just 155 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,719 Speaker 1: in the Midwest. It was across twenty five different states UM. 156 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: And actually we don't really have exact data on you know, 157 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: where they were dispersed, UM. But what we do know 158 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: is that the club members brought in over three million 159 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: fireflies each year UM. And this really was quite a 160 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: massive operation that was pretty loosely run. At first, it 161 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: was right yeah for a while, and then they said, okay, 162 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: this sustainable, this is growing into a national phenomenon. Now 163 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: we need to we need to invest a little in 164 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: our communities. So that is why by the middle of 165 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, club members could pay a small deposit 166 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: and then they would get their official firefly hunting kit. 167 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: The firefly hunting kit was pretty neat. It's the kind 168 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: of thing that I would be into as a kid, 169 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: and probably a lot of us listening would be as well. 170 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,559 Speaker 1: You would get a pamphlet telling you what a firefly is, 171 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: what you're supposed to do, how you catch them, custom 172 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,440 Speaker 1: shipping canisters that were lined with desecant a net that 173 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: get This had some branding and it was silk screened 174 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: with the official insignia of the Sigma Club. It was 175 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: a bug with a bow tie and white gloves. And 176 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: then they also got buttons with a little glow in 177 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: the dark paint where the fireflies but would be. He 178 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: was made of fireflight guts. They probably had to use 179 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: all that stuff just for the cancer research. They didn't 180 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: want to waste. That's an interesting question. And of course, 181 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: although it's I'm having a great time saying the word, 182 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 1: but repeatedly on the air. We should point out that 183 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: the fireflies light emitting organs are in most of most cases, 184 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,719 Speaker 1: they're on the lower abdom so the rot where like 185 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: your lower abs. Dirty V would be Can I say 186 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: dirty V on the air? I don't know what that is. 187 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: It's not like a happy trail. It's kind of it's 188 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: happy trail adjacent. It's where like, Casey, you know what 189 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: I'm talking about. I mean, I do, but I've never 190 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: heard the term before. Maybe I actidually made it up 191 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: possible Casey. On the case. They also had some pretty 192 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: clear standards about how they preferred the fireflies to be shipped. 193 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: They said, look, we'll take them dead or alive, but 194 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: we prefer them refrigerated and sent to us within five 195 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: days of capture because the chemicals that were after are 196 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: more active if we get them alive. And these kids 197 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: were I mean cutthroat in the way that they competed 198 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: with one another. Um. Sure, this was kind of just 199 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: like a fun thing to do, like as a hobby 200 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: or whatever, but it for some people it was a 201 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: serious business, right, and Sigma actually had a sliding scale system, 202 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: so you would actually get paid proportionately more um as 203 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: you know, you sent them bigger loads, So you would 204 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: start at fifty cents for a hundred flies. I think 205 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: we said thirty yearlier was somewhere between thirty and fifty cents, 206 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: but once you reached twenty thousand, you were up to 207 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: one cent per bug, right um. And so there were 208 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: these like almost factions that would emerge where entire towns 209 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: where groups of kids would pool of their resources to 210 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: maximize right Uh. The Allison Firefly Club in Iowa actually 211 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: brought in one million fireflies over the course of five 212 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,440 Speaker 1: years and they used that money to build a pool 213 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: for their community, which is great. And there were other 214 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,200 Speaker 1: things that we could we could kind of describe as 215 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: firefly Mafia's still in Iowa and vent in Iowa there 216 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: was a kingpin and a queen pin of of the 217 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: firefly game. One kid, it was, it was not identified, 218 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: it was ten or eleven years old. He said, instead 219 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 1: of going straight to Sigma as a single operator, I'm 220 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: gonna rent a ton of firefly nets, I'm gonna hire 221 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: a bunch of kids who work for me at a 222 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: lower rate, and I'll take their bugs and I'll give 223 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: them to Sigma and he was making about a penny 224 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: apiece according to experts. But remember I said there were 225 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:02,359 Speaker 1: two dons. Venton was home to another quite successful young entrepreneur, 226 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: Judy Would, also known as the Lightning Bug Lady. Such 227 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: a cool nickname. So the Lightning Bug Lady. Uh, she 228 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: spent um an entire school year by her teacher's side, 229 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: and she used her free summers and this network of 230 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: kids that she was kind of controlling and turned it 231 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: into this like bug kind of like industry. I guess 232 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: you could say she had over four hundred kids that 233 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: brought her their spoils every night from like as far 234 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: as forty five miles away. I mean, this is like 235 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: a serious operation. She's almost like the marm Mandel Bomb, 236 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: which we did an episode on on stuff that it 237 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: wants you to know recently, the first mob boss of 238 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: New York who acted as like a fence. But this 239 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: is exclusively one product and she it's absolutely fense. I mean, 240 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: it's not illegal, but she's like this kind of go 241 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: between um with all of these folks that are going 242 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: out and doing the actual work. Yeah. So when Judy 243 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: Wood wrote to the Chicago Tribune. She said that she 244 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: was bringing in about thirty five thousand fireflies to St. 245 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: Louis every other day, and she did this every summer 246 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: for over twenty five years. Her firefly money put her 247 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: kids through college. Jeez, that is commitment right there. That 248 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: is a real racket. I love it. I gotta respect 249 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: that entrepreneurial spirit. Um, it's true, twenty five years enough 250 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: to put her kids through college. So we have uh, 251 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: folks improving their local communities, building pools, fun stuff. We 252 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: have someone actually putting their kids through college. Um. But 253 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: here's the thing. It wasn't so good for everyone in 254 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: this equation. And by that, I'm referring to the fireflies themselves. 255 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: So this is a firefly expert from Toughs University, Sarah 256 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: Lewis calculated the Sigma Firefly Scientists Club probably killed in 257 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: the name borhood of one hundred million fireflies during its time, 258 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: and firefly population data, according to Louis, is pretty sparse. 259 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: And you know, little kids with nets probably isn't their 260 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: biggest predator. I mean, they've got other problems to deal with. 261 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: But uh, Louis says, a hundred million fireflies is nothing 262 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: to sneeze at and it's really, in her estimation, kind 263 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: of the principle of it, right, Yeah, it's sort of 264 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: the tragedy of the commons, or at least tangentially related 265 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: to that concept. If we consider these fireflies and the 266 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: beauty they provide the world to share natural resource, then 267 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: according to Louis, it should be for everyone, and it 268 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to her that people would go out 269 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: and harvest vast numbers of this, you know, especially for 270 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: personal gain. And as you said, like these insects are 271 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: facing a ton of other issues habitat loss, light, pollution, 272 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: pesticides everywhere. But despite the misgivings of of of some folks, 273 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: some folks who did have a problem with this, the 274 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: industry was booming until the nineteen nineties. And here's a 275 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: bit of a mystery. We don't know why, but the 276 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: Sigma Firefly Scientists Club closed down, you know, they're in 277 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: the nineties for undisclosed reasons. And people people guessed at 278 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: a couple of different things. They said, well, maybe the 279 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: world is more environmentally minded, or the U s is 280 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: maybe child wages are too inflated for this to be profitable. 281 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: Maybe the patent on synthetic lucifer as expired. Write a 282 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: company named am Gin had control of that patent for 283 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 1: a long time. The company responsible for the firefly harvesting 284 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,959 Speaker 1: craze is now known as Sigma Aldrich and they're valued 285 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: at seventeen billion dollars. That's a lot of dollars. Company 286 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: built on the backs of on the butts. That's that's 287 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: that's good. Then built on the butts of a little 288 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: glowy boys um. And thankfully they came up with a 289 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: synthetic version of this stuff. They didn't have to keep 290 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: doing that anymore, right, right, with a patent on it expired, 291 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: so they didn't have to collect the natural stuff. But 292 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: still that speculation there is a synthetic You're right, there 293 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: is a synthetic version of this. Uh. You can, still, however, 294 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:26,640 Speaker 1: buy a whole jar of fireflies from Sigma, pulled from 295 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: the huge amount of fireflies they caught over the decades. 296 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: You can write to them today and buy a jara 297 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: jar fireflies. Let's see up, let me correct that I 298 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: was looking for fireflies whole desiccated. That product has been discontinued, 299 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: so until recently you could buy a whole jar of fireflies. However, 300 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: you can buy firefly lantern extract. It's the powder. It's 301 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,399 Speaker 1: just the powdered version of the glowing chemical, and it 302 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:00,160 Speaker 1: will set you back two hundred and twenty four dollars US, 303 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: which seems kind of expensive. But I am not uh, 304 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 1: you know, I'm not an expert in that market, you 305 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: know what I mean. I think that kind of sets 306 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: up the story part of this. It was sort of 307 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: a happy ending for the creatures. Didn't decimate their entire population. 308 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: You can still go out on a on a twilight 309 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: night in the woods and see little glowy boys sparkling 310 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: everywhere like tiny, tiny fairies. But Ben, we haven't answered 311 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: the most important question in all of this. Is there 312 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: a difference between a firefly and a lightning bugs? Of 313 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: the two? You know, we added some other names in 314 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: the mix there, but these two are the ones that 315 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: have always stuck for me. Are they its regional names 316 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: for the same thing? Are there scientific differences? Yeah? I 317 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: was wondering about that too, knowl It's it's to rephrase 318 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: the question. It's sort of like our our lightning bugs 319 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: a distinct species or just this distinctly different thing from 320 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: a firefly? Or is it more like the way people 321 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: in different parts of the country described soda, right. Is 322 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: it a pop? Is it a coke? Is it I 323 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: don't know what the other slang names for soda are. 324 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: But there are over two thousand species of fireflies that 325 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: we know of, and according to Bert vox H, University 326 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: of Cambridge linguistics professor, the answer is probably something more 327 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: along the lines of regional terms. Most people in the 328 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: US use both terms interchangeably firefly and lightning bug. So 329 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: thirty nine point eight percent of us in the United 330 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,399 Speaker 1: States will use both of them. Thirty something percent, thirty 331 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 1: four say firefly exclusively and twenty nine point one percent 332 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: say lightning bug exclusively. And I'm wondering, Uh, I'm wondering 333 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: if that Southern lightning bug feels like a Southern thing 334 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: to me. Here's one. This is the weirdest one in 335 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: this study. Again, ten thousand people point zero to two 336 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: percent or two people total in the study called these 337 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: bioluminescent bugs peeny wally? Did they know each other? Was 338 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,120 Speaker 1: it the same guy? That's very strange. Nobody called him 339 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,199 Speaker 1: little glory boys No, no, glory boy and bright But 340 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: those are those are things that I think we discovered today. 341 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: That's unfortunately, it could be a great T shirt. I 342 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: think it could. Well, I guess that at no, we 343 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: got soft. It's time, gentleman Jonathan Strickland, a k a. 344 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: The quister you got. You've got a lot of nerve 345 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: come in here, mr. Yeah, I mean you had plenty 346 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: of advanced warning today. That's true. We did hang out 347 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:47,880 Speaker 1: and talking about this earlier on base camp. We're talking 348 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 1: about it. You also totally tipped your hand on the 349 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: message board. I did. Yeah, no, well, I mean they 350 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: I didn't tell anybody what I was going to talk about. 351 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: Watch that. I think I thought I out. It was great. 352 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: We got to dual old school shout out to our 353 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: companies continuing deep seated beef with Wikipedia. Yes, yes, the 354 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: ongoing rivalry. No, there's no rivalry there. It's just we 355 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 1: aren't allowed to We were never allowed to use it 356 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: as a source. But are Yeah, so now back to 357 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 1: back to my my nemesis. Yeah, that's right against you guys. Yeah, 358 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: you're you're speaking of rivals there. Well, you are not 359 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: here today to give any of us a gift, ne necessarily, 360 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 1: or to to wish this happy birthday or pay a 361 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 1: social call you're not here to borrow a cup of sugar. Europe. 362 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,959 Speaker 1: You're up to your old tricks again. I am up 363 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: to my old tricks. We are going to have another 364 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: attempt to see if you guys can determine whether or 365 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: not the the scenario I present you as real or 366 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: if I made it up seas as as is always 367 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: the case for those of you who are not familiar, Yes, 368 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: this is the most cringe worthy segment at all the podcasting, 369 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: where I come in and I present our beloved hosts 370 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: a scenario. They have to figure out if it is 371 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 1: a true thing or a fake thing. They get three 372 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: minutes to do it, and they also can ask me 373 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: a question if they follow an arbitrary rule of my choosing. 374 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: And uh so, I'm going to read out the scenario 375 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,479 Speaker 1: for you. I will give you the rule, and then 376 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: we will start the clock. So here's the scenario. Now, First, 377 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: the following is absolutely true. I'm establishing a prologue. This 378 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 1: is something I never ever do, so be grateful for it. 379 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy four, the Great Plains the United States 380 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: was devastated by a plague of grasshoppers, or more accurately, 381 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: the Rocky Mountain locust. There were literally trillions of the bugs, 382 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: and they ate pretty much everything except peas. There were 383 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: stories of them eating wool off of sheep in the 384 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: fields or the clothes off farmers backs. All of that 385 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: is true, but is this part true. Different communities tried 386 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: battling these things in various ways. They put together hopper dozers, 387 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: which were essentially pals that would scoop up locusts by 388 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: the thousands. They would set fires to try and discourage 389 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,360 Speaker 1: the bugs, which the locusts would simply extinguish by landing 390 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: on the burning heaps and smothering the fire. One way 391 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: communities tried to deal with it locusts was to offer 392 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: bounties for dead grasshoppers. For example, in Nicolett County, Minnesota, 393 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: the county government offered one dollar for every bushel of 394 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: locusts brought in. The final total came in at twenty 395 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: five thousand, fifty three dollars, and it didn't even put 396 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: a dent in the problem. On top of that, John S. Hillsbury, 397 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 1: governor of Minnesota at the time, passed laws stating that 398 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 1: every able bodied man would have to spend one day 399 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 1: a week for five weeks destroying grasshopper eggs. Now, if 400 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: you want to ask a question, you must proceed it 401 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: with the phrase, what's the buzz? Tell me what's happening? Okay, 402 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: hang on, I have to write the clock. Oh man, 403 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: one day this clock is going to be worth it. Okay, 404 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: and begin, Hey, Hey, what's the buzz? What's that happening? Why? Shoot? 405 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: Do you want to go ahead? Tell me? Okay? Okay. 406 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: So the part that is established is true is the 407 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: fact that there was a locus plague in the Great Planes, 408 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: plague of locusts in the Great Plains. And what we're 409 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: attempting to determine the veracity of is whether or not 410 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: the methods of trying to uh to attack these locusts 411 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: are true. Exactly, buzz buzz, what's happening? What was this 412 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: area of the country known for sinful? I mean it's 413 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: the Great Planes. It's a flyover states. I never pay 414 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,479 Speaker 1: attention to them. Wow, that's that's a hot take from 415 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: No No, But for serious, I have no clue. I mean, 416 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: it's eight it's a plague of locust that just kind 417 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: of made a figure. They had it coming amblically, be fair. 418 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 1: I mean, the whole nation in eighteen seventy four was 419 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: sort of in a kind of healing pattern. That's true. Hey, hey, 420 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: what's the buzz? What's that happening? Uh? Not big Android 421 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: Webber fans here and there from Jesus Christ Superstar go ahead, 422 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,479 Speaker 1: So yeah, hey, hey, what's buzz? What's that happening? Is 423 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: this is scenario where in most of this could be true, 424 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: but one thing could be untrue. And sink us I'm 425 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: asking because I'm not doing something where out of all 426 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: the stuff I told you, one little thing has been changed. 427 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: I think. I think what's in question here is whether 428 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: or not the bounty existed. And you know, the response 429 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,880 Speaker 1: to the locals how much the bounty was. It's it's 430 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: either it's either all true or it's all I made 431 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: it all okay because I didn't want us to get 432 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: pink on something where it's like ha ha it was 433 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: dollar Yeah that's what that's what think? You know, Ben, 434 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: I'm going true. I'm going big time true on this. 435 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: All right? Well it in block it in three to 436 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:28,440 Speaker 1: one true curses, Casey, can we get some celebratory music. Yeah, 437 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: it's been a hot minute. We were reaching out to 438 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: the internet to see if someone was keeping track, maybe 439 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: because we certainly aren't, but I'm pretty sure we are 440 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: miles behind. You managed to make up a little bit 441 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:41,640 Speaker 1: of territory. Here. We'll let me give you a little 442 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: bit more insight, at least because this is exact. So, Yes, 443 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: there was a grasshopper plague a locust plague in eighteen 444 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: seventy four. Yes, people made hopper dozers, which were essentially 445 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: these plows that had been adjusted to collect locusts in 446 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: various ways. People did issue bounties for bushels of dead grasshoppers. 447 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: A bushel, by the way, in case you're curious, is 448 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: a about equivalent to nine point two gallons. So one 449 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,120 Speaker 1: bushel of dead grasshoppers is about ten gallons of dead grasshoppers. 450 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: And so you get a dollar for that, and I 451 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: also adjusted for inflation, just for the heck of it, 452 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: that's about twenty two dollars fifty cents perfect up top. 453 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: And it also means that that the entire payout from 454 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: that one county in Minnesota was nearly was slightly more 455 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: than half a million dollars total just for bushels of 456 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: dead grasshoppers. Uh, there were multiple places that would issue 457 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: these sort of bounties. Uh, Missouri had a dollar bushel 458 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: bounty that started in March of eighteen seventy five, I believe, 459 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: and then it went down to fifty cents the next month. 460 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: Then it went down to the next month, and it 461 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: went down to ten cents next month. So diminishing returns 462 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: for your dead grasshoppers. I'd like to point out something 463 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: for the listening to audience. Uh, the quister is wearing 464 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 1: his own T shirt. AM. He's like one of those 465 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:06,239 Speaker 1: guys in the band which you you know what, I 466 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: really I still really like that T shirt. And to 467 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: be fair, you did say that you were going to 468 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 1: wear that for anybody on ridiculous his stories. Really, yeah, 469 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: I committed interestingly. John S. Pillsbury, the governor of Minnesota, 470 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: was also co founder of the Pillsbury Company, named after 471 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: his nephew, Charles Alfred Pillsbury. So the two of them 472 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: were the co founders of the company. Where's the dough 473 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: boy thing come from? I mean it was whenever you 474 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: pushed John Pillsbury's tummy, he went he and then locus 475 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: would fly out of his mouth and swallow you hole. 476 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: You know this guy sounds like a good time. That 477 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: might have been a lie. Also, interesting fact, something that's 478 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: truly the stories of these locusts is something that will 479 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: make your your blood just chill in your veins. They 480 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: talk about the sun going dark because of clouds of 481 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: these things, and that they literally were eating the clothes 482 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: of people's backs as they were trying to get inside. 483 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: They ruined the economy to two hundred million dollars worth 484 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: of damage in the Great Plain States. There was actually 485 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: a Missourian scientist who recommended eating them, and a lot 486 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: of people said you gross, and they didn't. But it 487 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. You never could have eaten 488 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: as many as we're out there. Interesting fact, though, despite 489 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: the fact that there were trillions of these things devastating 490 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: the middle of the United States, today they're extinct and 491 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: there's not really a good scientific explanation for exactly what happened. 492 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: There are a lot of hypotheses, but we don't actually 493 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: know what led to them going to extinct. I mean, 494 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: did they serve a purpose other than just decimating crops? 495 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: And do humans serve a purpose apart from flying over 496 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: the Great Plain States? We make all sorts of snacks. 497 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: Also true, we we all also are the only creatures 498 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: that seemed to hold abstract, at times contradictory belief systems. No, 499 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: have you ever talked about to a grasshopper about like 500 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: any like really deep philosophical question, because they will will 501 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: fle waffle all over. It always goes back to grass though. 502 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: With them, that's the thing. It's probably that they could 503 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 1: constantly jump to conclusions. Also, I feel like hopper dozer 504 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: is a cool, fake, anachronistic insult. I I when I 505 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: came across that line, as did I write this hopper 506 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: dosers this me that wrote this thing? No, it was, 507 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 1: But it is interesting that this was a problem that 508 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: was devastating the United States. Uh, there were real efforts 509 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: to send disaster relief to those states from other parts 510 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,479 Speaker 1: of the US because there were entire economies that were 511 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: completely devastated. It sounds like literal hell on Earth swarmed 512 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 1: and like having your clothes eaten off of your body. 513 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 1: They're eating the wool off of sheep in the fields. 514 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: And they said that you could actually hear them choo wing, 515 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: and that it could reduce acres of corn in just 516 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: three hours, which to nothing, just chew it all the 517 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: way down to the ground. The still, the most insane 518 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: part to me is this mysterious extinction. You know what 519 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: makes you think this country. I I don't want to 520 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 1: sound like a performative environmentalist or something, but that's the 521 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: most chilling part, the fact that this, this entire life 522 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: form disappeared. Like the passenger pigeons that also used to 523 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: blot out the sky right, yes, yes, yes, they would 524 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: also pick the clothes off of people's backs when they 525 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 1: were trying to run into the farmhouses. That can hear 526 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: the picks in the distance, that's the other thing, because 527 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: you could probably hear the swarm coming. Oh yes, no, 528 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: they said that it sounded like a really terrible storm 529 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: because they were just they're just hitting against the walls 530 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:51,640 Speaker 1: and rooftops. And yes, apparently the the Rocky Mountains area 531 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: where the grasshoppers when they're by the way, when they're individuals, 532 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: they're crasshoppers. It's only when they're in mass that you 533 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: call them locusts, which is also kind of interesting. So 534 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 1: they but they apparently had a just a very good 535 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: year for their for all the eggs survived, more eggs 536 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,120 Speaker 1: survived than normal, but there was a food shortage in 537 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: their native habitats. So then they migrated down from the 538 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: Rocky Mountain area across the Great Plains, and it was 539 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: from the Dakota's down through Texas that was just absolutely 540 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: affected by this. Kansas was really hit hard. Missouri was 541 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: hit hard. Today I learned something I had no idea 542 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 1: that grasshopper by itself is a grasshopper, a grasshopper, and 543 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: mass its locust. People don't have anything that cool yet. 544 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: You know where you got like a one one dufus. 545 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: It's just a dufus and a whole bunch of dufaces 546 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: is Congress. Okay, here we go, there we go. We 547 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: got the button, we got, we got there. Jonathan Strictly 548 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: a k the Quister, thank you so much for coming 549 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 1: onto the show. It's been too long. You know. We 550 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: had a in the audience who were asking us, uh 551 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: they were they were asking us where the heck you 552 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 1: were at? And then we read, uh, you actually showed 553 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,399 Speaker 1: up in some of the reviews that we foolishly read 554 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: on our listener mail episode. Sorry about that guy, true, No, 555 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,879 Speaker 1: we uh we took How bad was it? Like? Boy? 556 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: When the Quister comes on, I just have to hidn't 557 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,439 Speaker 1: even name you by name. They just referred to some 558 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 1: annoying component of the show, and that's fair. We knew 559 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: which one was. I knew it when I pitched it. Well, 560 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: we were pretty sure that we were the annoying components 561 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 1: of the show. No, no, no, it was it was. 562 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 1: It was very specifically. Other than us, we were also 563 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,839 Speaker 1: identified as annoying components, but it was the third comp 564 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: am somewhat consoled by the fact that at least one 565 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: person said they think that the Quister should start showing 566 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: up on other shows too. But I have I like that, 567 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: I like the in universe tie in. Let's let's talk 568 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: about this. Let's talk about this offline. Let's see we 569 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: can figure out a way to have you appear and 570 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,879 Speaker 1: like crash some one else's podcast. We have to figure 571 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: out someone would be a good sport about it. Let 572 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: us know what podcast do you think the Quisters should 573 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: crash next. You can tell us at Facebook. You can 574 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: let us know on Instagram, you can let us know 575 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: on Twitter. We highly recommend our Facebook page Ridiculous Historians, 576 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:19,919 Speaker 1: where you can meet our favorite part of the show, 577 00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: your fellow listeners. Also let us know if you have 578 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,759 Speaker 1: ever been in the firefly catching business. Just interested I 579 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:29,759 Speaker 1: would say, let us know if you live through that 580 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: uh locust swarm in the locust plague in the eighteen hundreds, 581 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 1: But if you have lived that long, I think you 582 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,240 Speaker 1: probably won't confess it, just honestly. So thanks as always 583 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 1: to the part of the show we all love to 584 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: hate but mostly just love to love, Jonathan Strickland, the 585 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: the Notorious Quister. I gotta give you props for finding 586 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 1: such a similar story to the story that we talked 587 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,720 Speaker 1: about today. That was very well done. I really wanted 588 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 1: to do that, you know. The original story I picked 589 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:00,880 Speaker 1: was one that you guys have already covered in a 590 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: previous episode. It was using fleas as weapons in World 591 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:07,720 Speaker 1: War Two. But then you guys did a full episode 592 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: we did. We also uh did another episode about a 593 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: similar situation where uh school kids were encouraged to shoot 594 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:18,240 Speaker 1: squirrels and send their severed tales to the governor's office, 595 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: almost like cereal box tops. Golly that I I'm going 596 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,879 Speaker 1: to have to listen to that show. Uh. So thanks 597 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,240 Speaker 1: as always to our super producer Casey Pegram, Alex Williams, 598 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: who composed our theme research associates Gave Luzier and Ryan 599 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: Barrish yes, thanks of course as well to Eve's Jeff 600 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,840 Speaker 1: Coat and Christopher Hasciotis, friends of the show and friends 601 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: of ours. Thank you for tuning in, and thanks to 602 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,279 Speaker 1: uh all the bright butts, all the glowy boys out there, 603 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 1: and no, thank you to you for for yet another wonderful, whimsical, 604 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,200 Speaker 1: ridiculous journey through history, and you as well, sir. We'll 605 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: see you next time, folks. Yeah. For more podcasts from 606 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, 607 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.