WEBVTT - 9 Extra-Spicy Facts About Atomic Fireballs 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:12.480 and iHeartRadio. Guess what will? 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:13.280 What's that mango? 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.360 Do you know that NASA Mission Control actually has its 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:17.680 own official candy? 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.000 And is I'm guessing the ice cream, like the astronaut 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:23.040 ice cream doesn't count? Is that right? 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.520 You know? I think no one wants that stop, so 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:30.560 that's right, You're right, sadly. But apparently the big board 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.559 where you see all the scientists sitting at, like you know, 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.199 the one where they're watching to see if anyone's going 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:37.919 to call in with a problem, that's called the console 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:41.839 and the quote console candy of choice is the atomic 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.440 fireball nice you know, is also the official candy of 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.400 Part Time Genius. Now, NASA has embraced the candy for 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:50.800 a little longer than our show, And I just assumed 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.320 it made sense because it's science y and nerdy and 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.800 it kind of feels like, you know, the flames of 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.400 a blast off, But that actually isn't why. There was 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.400 apparently an an admin assistant named Karen who used to 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.080 make copies, and when she'd drop off papers to the 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.880 folks working in the Console and Mission Control, she'd drop 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.880 off an atomic fireball with the copies as kind of 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.200 this little treat, and the scientists found it really helpful 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.959 for that midnight to seven am shift when it kind 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.560 of added a little extra pep to their otherwise sleepy stuffs. 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.000 And that's how the atomic fireball became this permanent fixture 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.399 of NASA and Mission control. They actually began ordering boxes 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.640 of the candy to the office starting in nineteen eighty nine. 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.520 That is just one of nine spicy facts for all 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.720 of you about atomic fireballs. I can't wait to dig in. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.240 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome a part time genius. I'm 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.600 Will Pearson and as always, I've got my good friend 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:05.880 mangesh I ticket out here with me and on the 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.760 other side of the soundproof glass lining up a whole 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.799 bunch of different types of milk. He's got almond milk, 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.200 oat and milk two percent whole. Also got a little 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.880 soy milk over there. He was waiting to cool our 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.080 mouths off in case we eat too many fireballs for 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.440 this episode. That is our very thoughtful pal, Dylan Fagan. 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.040 He is just so considered. I am sorry that he 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.079 doesn't have any chocolate milk or any crazy straws. For us, 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:34.200 but I do like that he's taking the initiative, all right. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.120 Mega, So we've obviously been talking about atomic fireballs a 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.560 lot recently. So when we started the show, we had 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.160 a little debate about whether the official candy of Part 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:46.000 Time Genius was going to be Smarties or Nerds. I 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.600 was team Smarties, you were team Nerds, and it got 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.000 pretty heated, unfortunately, and we had to just sort of 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.600 put that conversation aside for a little bit, and then 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.639 just this year we decided to revisit the conversation. We've 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.320 both grown a lot as people, I think, and it 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.160 really helped us come together, and we both decided atomic 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.760 fireballs were the perfect choice. But I'm curious, do you 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.240 remember the first time you had an atomic fireball? 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.839 Yeah? Kind of, like you know, there are all sorts 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.959 of candies that were so novel and of a specific 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.280 era for me right now and later as I really 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.920 associated with like one of my cousin's weddings from when 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.160 I was in third grade, I remember when kids started 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:29.240 selling airheads at school and then orhoids. But I think 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:30.880 it was at this summer camp when I was like 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.400 five or six and we were playing kickball and this 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:35.640 one kid just had this bag of candy from like 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.920 a corner store, and I put an atomic fireball in 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.480 my mouth and I just could not believe this was candy, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:47.120 Like it was so hot and unbelievable, also sweet, and 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.440 it just blew my mind. And then I don't think 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:51.560 I saw them again for like years. They weren't really 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.640 a Halloween candy where I was, Like in my neighborhood 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.520 we had lemonheads at the store and other variations, like 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.760 there was an Alexander the grape candy that the same 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.560 time used to make, but not really atomic fireballs. But 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.720 that moment really stands out to me. What about you, Like, 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.080 I know you've had this somewhat recent renaissance with the candy. 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:09.960 When did that start? 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.800 Well, so the recent renaissance started, I'm trying to remember 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.560 because it had been years since i'd had I had 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.400 really gotten my fix of atomic fire balls, which I'd 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.480 also loved since I was a kid. I don't actually 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.320 remember how it happened, but when it happened, it was 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:27.520 all over, Like I was definitely going back to it. 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.360 And as we've talked about before, when I get hooked 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.520 on a candy, I go big and so, as you know, 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:35.839 we have this place that we know as the center 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:37.840 of excellence in our home where we store a lot 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.279 of my favorite candies that I end up ordering in bulk. 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.720 And there are no joke, hundreds of atomic fireballs sitting 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:45.440 in a bucket in there for me to stop buy 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:47.640 and grab some. But it won't be long before we 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.159 have to refill. They go faster than you think. But 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.400 we should talk about fireballs. Get to the whole history, 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.560 the whole everything here. So where do you want to start. 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.839 How about with the makers of atomic fireballs, uh Farepan, 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.880 who gave the candy the somewhat frightening slogan burns so good. 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.080 It's one of my favorite candy companies. They also called 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.360 a candy quote a spicy hot ball of sweet, burning 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:16.839 cinnamony deliciousness. But what is amazing about these little red 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.760 balls of wonder is that none of that drives people away. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.159 In fact, atomic Fireballs have been one of the most 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.520 popular candies in the country since their debut in the 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.720 nineteen fifties. Now, what's interesting to note is that the 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.680 candies really were of a time when the atom baumb 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.080 was on everyone's mind, and this slipped into kid culture 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.880 as well. So according to a book called Atomic Tunes quote, 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:42.240 children's toys in the nineteen forties through the nineteen sixties 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.000 were rife with atomic age themes, and this is something 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.880 I totally had forgotten. But there were board games like 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.719 Uranium Rush and Air Raid. Kids sucked on atomic fireball 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.840 candies while reading atomic comics like Atomic Man, Captain Adam 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:01.160 and Nukla. There were atomic disintegrating pistols, we hid Geiger counters, 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.920 and zero scale model train sets that transported nuclear weapons 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:08.400 and waste. There was a fallout Shelter paper doll cutout book. 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:11.520 In nineteen fifty one, the Bowman Gum Company created a 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.599 series of forty eight Red Menace trading cards, some of 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.280 which were titled Fleeing the Reds, Atomic Doom and war 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:23.200 Maker which was mause a donks card. And all of 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.520 this contact had sort of escaped me, Like for us, 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.240 the candy has just always been around. But at the 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.960 time I guess atomic fireballs were in some way kind 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.760 of the most pleasant and fun version of atomic culture 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:37.080 you could be interacting with. And now today they are 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.080 so popular that there was a recent scare about the 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.880 shortage of these atomic fireballs. But seeing as the company 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:46.960 behind them, for a pen, makes over fifteen million fireballs 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.080 a week, I think we're all gonna be okay. 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:51.080 I do want to just go ahead and apologize in 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.920 case I had anything to do with that shortage sence 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.080 I'm clearly hoarding them here. But all right, Well, because 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.200 we're talking hot stuff, I do think we need to 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.159 take a minute to talk about Wilbur Scoville, and I 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.479 think we've talked about Scoville before, is of course the 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.800 inventor of the Scoville scale, which you probably know measures 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.640 just how hot something is, and so you know, like 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:14.360 when you're at a Thai restaurant and you have to 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.960 wonder whether the five peppers next to the curry means 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.920 you're probably going to die after eating it. The Scoville 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:24.280 scale is like a scientific objective answer to that question. 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.280 So in terms of the scale, a bell pepper is 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.320 a zero. A banana pepper, you know, like you might 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.040 have on an Italian sub or something like that, that 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.080 notches up to five hundred, which sounds like a lot 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:39.000 until you realize the scale goes all the way up 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.560 to two million, six hundred and ninety three thousand with 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.760 pepper X that's the Guinness Book World record holder for 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.160 the hottest pepper on Earth. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.720 I'm sure that's a pepper that might actually kill you. 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.880 But where does the atomic fireball rate on the Scovill Well. 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.520 That's what's so cool here. So other spicy candy like 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.520 red hots, another Ferrera pan tree and something I also enjoy, 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.040 those don't even rate on the scale. Meanwhile, the atomic 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.560 fireball weighs in at thirty five hundred Scovil units, which 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:12.640 puts it above seracha and below the Serrano pepper and 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.160 a good bit below at bird's eye chili. So for you, mango, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.120 that means it's hotter than nachos with jalapinos, but not 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.560 as hot as drunken noodles. So does that register there? 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:24.640 Yes? I get it now. Yeah. 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.480 I can give seventeen more examples. But one more thing 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.840 about Wilbur Scoville. Before he invented the Scoville scale for 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.600 rating spiciness of food, he wrote a book on compounding 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:39.080 for pharmacies that went through many additions, and actually, amazingly, 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.560 it was that book that it was first reported in 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.760 print that milk is an antidote to spice so when 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.280 we chug those glasses of milk that Dylan's got laid 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.120 out here for us after setting our mouths on fire 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.319 for this episode, he is actually the one to thank. 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.840 So interesting stuff in there related to Scoville. But I'm curious, 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:57.600 what do you have next. 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.840 It's kind of perfect that you were talking about, because 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.840 my next fact is about why the atomic fireball is 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:07.360 so spicy. So I usually see fireballs in the same 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.200 category with red hots and hot tamales, and it turns 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.800 out atomic fireballs aren't just hotter versions of those candies, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.600 because unlike those other red hot treats, atomic fireballs don't 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.080 really run on cinnamon. They actually have something else to 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.520 thank for their flaming hotness, and that's cap saysan, which 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.960 is why they actually rank on that Scoville scale. So 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.120 cap sasan is the chemical and peppers that makes it spicy, 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.800 and it's also used in medicines to treat pain and 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.480 swelling and cause numbing. It's in all of those peppers 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.320 on the Scoville scale as well. Generally speaking, the more 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.679 cap saysan you have, the higher the Scoville rating. Now, 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.000 the other candies I mentioned, red hots, hot tamales. They 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:51.160 get their hotness from something called cinnamaldehyde, which I know 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.439 it sounds like something I'm making up, but really it's 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.880 the chemical and cinnamon that makes things more cinnamony. It's 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:58.960 known for that tingly feeling on your tongue and it 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.480 works on the same recept that other similar spicy but 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.320 not chili hot flavors do. So, like think about things 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:09.000 like horsefraddish or withsabi. Definitely spicy, but it's a different 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:09.600 type of heat. 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.280 And so what about capsation, Like what part of your 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:13.760 tongue is that actually triggering? 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.920 So, according to the Brooklyn brainery, capsaicin gets picked up 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:22.160 on by something called TRPV one, and this is a 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.960 spiciness receptor, but it doesn't exactly detect the chemicals so 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.200 much as take the temperature, and when it senses that 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.000 things are getting super hot, it sounds this sort of 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.959 alarm in your brain. So when you're eating pizza that's 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.960 too hot, it's this receptor that's telling you quick, put 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.800 the slice down and glugs some soda. But it works 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.040 on capsasin too, and when you eat something with capsaicin 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.240 in it, the receptor tells your brain that it's something 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:48.160 like one hundred and ten degrees in your mouth. It's 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:49.240 like a five alarm fire. 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:51.640 You know, I actually got curious about how they get 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.200 all that heat into this sugary sweet thing, because you know, 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.400 it's an interesting science there. And that gets us to 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.680 my next fact. So you know, the proverb a journey 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.720 of one thousand miles begins with a single step, right, 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.280 you love proverbs, proverbs, And actually it has no relation 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:09.840 to this episode. I just wanted to. I just like 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.280 to test you every once in a while. So that 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.280 was a pause for our proverb test of the day. Well, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.040 now this is relevant here. So the same thing is 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.640 kind of true for the atomic fireball. That journey begins 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.360 with a single grain of sugar, literally, like they make 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.520 the candy using the hot panned process as it's non Now, 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.000 this hot doesn't refer to spice, but rather to the 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.800 fact that the pan the candy is cooked in stays 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.600 hot throughout a two week process. So this is a 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:39.280 long process. An atomic fireball starts with a single grain 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.800 of sugar and nearly equal amounts of flavor and syrup 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.000 that coat that single grain, and then once the coating 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.800 is complete, there's a little more sugar added, and again 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.320 nearly equal amounts of flavor and syrup and so on 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.120 and so on. And the process is actually pretty intense, 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.080 where the candy maker builds up layers in these concentric 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.079 spheres around that initial grain of sugar. It's also how 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.360 other suckers like lemon heads and things like that are made, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.440 and it's what makes this consistent flavor as you work 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.880 your way through the candy over time. So now that 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.480 you know the process, guess how many layers are in 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.520 a single atomic fireball? 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.160 I feel like a kindly owl once tatas that takes 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.160 three licks to get to the center of a tipsy pop. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:27.120 But this is obviously atomic, so maybe like thirty layers. 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.120 You're almost a third of the way there. It's one hundred, 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:34.600 one hundred layers like sugar and spiciness over that original 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.600 single piece of sugar. There's a lot of science that 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.320 goes into the making of this deliciousness. 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.720 That is incredible. I feel like I can have to 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:43.760 count the layers as I eat one the next time. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.240 But why don't we talk about the invention of the 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.480 atomic fireball, which was first created back in nineteen fifty four. 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:53.959 Something must have been in the air for spicy candy 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.640 at the time because another cinnamon retreat, the Hot Tamale, 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.720 first debuted four years earlier in nineteen fifty. And what's 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.040 wild is that the creators of these two spicy candies, 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:08.440 they almost have lives that mimic one another. So let's 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.320 actually start with the Hot Tamale. Bob Bourne had just 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.560 come back from fighting in the US Navy in World 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.600 War Two. He actually had been accepted into medical school, 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.360 but the family business needed a little bit of attention. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:23.160 His father, Sam Boorne, was this former rabbinical student from 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:27.319 Ukraine who had started just born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.000 most people know for making peeps, But another candy they 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.960 are famous for is the Mike and Ike. Now, Mike 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.640 and Ikes had a problem at the time. Apparently a 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.840 bunch of misshapen candies would come off the line that 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.640 never could make their way into the candy box. But 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.080 Bob Bourne actually came up with solution. So what if 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.360 you took all these misshapen Mike and Ikes, added cinnamon 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.559 syrup to mask their original flavor, and then packaged them 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.720 together as their own thing. And that is how the 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.880 Hot Tamali got it start. It was kind of like 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.200 this fix for a mis steak, almost the way baby 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.640 carrots started out as a snack that was made from 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.240 a stack of misshapen carrots that was going to be 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.360 thrown away. That's kind of what hot Tomalas were. And 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.480 they were such a success that Bob actually set aside 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.120 his bed school to focus on the family business and 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:18.280 he ran Just. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.520 Born Candies for nearly four decades. 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.800 Now, like I was saying, Bob and Nello Ferrara end 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.240 up having these parallel lives. The Ferrara Pan company was 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:31.720 also a family business. Salvator Ferrara immigrated from Naples, Italy 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.240 in nineteen hundred and by nineteen oh eight he'd made 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.920 his way to Chicago, where he opened this bakery in 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.560 little Italy. But it wasn't the big goods that kept 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:42.520 people coming back. It was the Jordan amends he was making, 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:45.880 which are those pastel colored candy treats made by coating 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.800 the nut and layers of sugar. And that's when he 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.440 started a company focused on making what they did best, candy. Now, 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.120 Ferrara Pan had actually been making red Hot since nineteen 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.240 thirty two, so they weren't new to the hot candy trend, 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.080 but Sal's son, nell is the one who took it 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.600 to the next level. Nello, like Bob Bourne, served in 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.800 World War Two. He was in the army and he 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.760 had a degree from DePaul Law School, and he was 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.840 actually about to start his life as a lawyer. He 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.280 was even admitted to the bar, but then he got 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:18.160 the candy bug and nineteen fifty four he had this 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.400 idea for the atomic fireball and there was really no 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:22.880 looking back after he put that out. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.080 I mean, is that true? Was it obvious right away 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.520 that he was better sticking to candy than starting off 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:28.360 on this law career. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.160 I mean, what's amazing is that the atomic fireball really 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.520 took off immediately, Like within the first weeks they were 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.520 selling fifty thousand pieces a week. That's just enormous hit 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.120 for the candy business. And he's the one who later 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.480 invents the lemonhead and then all the other flavors that 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.600 are kind of similarly made. And for the lemonheads, he 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.320 used real coatings of citric acid between layers of sugar 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.840 to get that super puckery taste, so it kind of 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.160 mimics that process. You were talking about. 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:56.680 All right, well, mango, I've been waiting on this one 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:58.440 here because it's not too often that you get to 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:03.280 talk about consumer advocacy see Ralph Nader and atomic fireballs 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.640 all at the same time. So I am pleased to 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.200 have this opportunity to share my next fact. 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.400 This sounds really special. So let's hear it. 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.800 You're ready, Okay, here we go. So Ralph Nator has 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.080 sometimes been known as the nation's nag and has spent 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.280 much of his life as a political activist, and in fact, 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:21.880 he's a huge part of the reason that we have 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.120 seat belts in cars today. But at one time he 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.600 was also focused on getting Americans to consume less sugar. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.040 That's so funny. I always think about him and cars 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:32.960 and like Pinto and stuff like that, but I didn't 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:34.160 realize he was focused on sugar. 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.640 Yep, No, that's exactly right. And he disparaged sugar whenever 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.560 he could. And this really stuck in Nello for ours 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.640 craw So, according to an interview his son sal gave 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.880 with NPR, Nello challenged Natter to quote a teeth fight. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:50.280 What's a teeth fight? 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.000 You don't know a teeth fighters? I think it's just 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:55.960 comparing teeth. I don't know at the time he wrote 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.040 Natter's saying quote, I eat candy every day and I 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.760 have all my teeth. That's such an amazing way to brag. 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.560 But I guess he thought he was pretty convincing, and 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:09.919 apparently not convincing enough though, because Nello Ferar went further. 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.120 He decided to prove the strength of his teeth by 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:17.320 lifting a one hundred pound bag of sugar with his teeth. 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.399 I love the idea that he thinks this just like 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.360 proves his points somehow. 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:23.680 And I love that like Ralph Nader is like, Nope, 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:28.959 he's right, you won the nice teeth. I'd be so 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.920 afraid of like chipping my tooth or like cracking mine 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.439 like a hundred pounds of sugar is no joke. We 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.000 have got to pause for some commercials, but we've got 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.960 more atomic fireball facts right after the break. Please don't 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:42.120 go anywhere. 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:00.600 Welcome back to Part Time Genius. We're talking about atomic fireballs, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.399 and man, our mouths are on fire with facts, of course, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.200 So mengo, where do you want to go next? 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.240 How about burning men? Okay, So, in addition to Part 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:14.040 Time Genius and NASA it turns out that Burning Men 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.960 is also known for sending out atomic fireballs with their tickets. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.760 And of course there's a whole heat, fire and fun 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.320 component that sort of overlaps between the candy and the 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:28.160 Desert festival. But there's also another reason that they mail 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.879 out candy with the tickets, and this comes from this 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.680 guy named Nimbus, who was the former head of ticketing. 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:36.760 He says, quote, as the event was growing, so were 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.200 our operations, and some unexpected challenges were introduced. Among them, 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.919 ticket deliveries were being mishandled by the postal service, and 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.160 so they're trying to figure out how to like improve 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.679 their ticketing system and they get this advice from a 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.840 local postbuster. He advises two things. One manually highlight the 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:56.960 label with the green highlighter to call out that it 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:01.320 was a signature confirmation. And two, include something small more 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.040 than half an inch thick to make the package uneven, 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.679 so that it has to be hands sorted and couldn't 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:10.000 be machine sorted. And so that's basically how the atomic 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.200 fireball gets stuffed into these packages. Years later, they were 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.199 told that they didn't have to include the fireballs to 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.080 get the tickets handled with care, but by that time 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.240 it was already a tradition. And Nimbus actually has these 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.000 two other funny stories about the fireballs. One was that 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.200 there was actually a year where there was a shortage 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:31.120 and apparently fans were both really confused and also livid 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.600 that they received lemonheads and other treats instead of fireballs, 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.439 and as this puts it, he was just happy that 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:39.680 they didn't go with dumb dums, which had been their 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.000 backup choice. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:42.760 That's pretty great. 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.119 And also for years, apparently the guy who did the 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.640 fulfillment used to have to store about thirty thousand fireballs 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:51.639 in his office every year, and what they didn't know 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.640 at the time was that he hated the smell of cinnamon. 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.640 So this poor guy just had to endure it without 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:58.960 complaining as part of the job. 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:03.199 But is wild, I will say, I mean, I know, 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:05.560 I'd much rather have a fireball than a lemonhead or 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:07.760 a dumb dumb, but you know, if somebody sent me one, 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:09.159 I'd still eat it. I'm not going to say no 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:12.080 to a dumb dumb, especially when it's the mystery flavor. 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:13.800 You know, screw it, I'm not going to burning menus. 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.400 No, exactly, Yeah, forget it. They're sending me a dumb 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.879 dumb All right, Well, let's get back to the hot 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.520 candies again here. And I was actually curious why anyone 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.920 wanted to make a candy that was hotter than a 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.040 jalapano in the first place, and why did that happen 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.760 when it did, like in the nineteen fifties. Well, it 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:33.160 turns out that until that time, Halloween had no particular 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.439 connection to candy. But the fifties were the time of 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:40.159 the baby boom, and an American particular, the great expansion 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.560 of suburbs. Trick or treating took off with waves of 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.119