1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,719 Speaker 1: Jerry's here for Dave, and this is short stuff. We're 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: talking about one of the greatest Americans to ever fiss earth. 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 2: That's right, a food scientist named William A. Mitchell who 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 2: was a research chemist for thirty five years at General Foods. 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 2: And this is a great guy. He seems like it. 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: There was an interview with a guy named Marv Rudolph 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 2: who worked with Mitchell, that said he just knew how 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 2: to amplify flavors in food. He knew what colors to 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 2: make something to make it more attractive, and if you 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 2: had a problem, he was a guy to go to. 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 3: He could figure it out. 13 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: The other great thing was, and this is also from 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 2: the same interviews, they tried to promote him at General 15 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 2: Foods to management many many times, but he didn't want 16 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 2: to do that. He was a lab guy and wanted 17 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 2: to stay in the lab. 18 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: Yes, and that is the sign of a true artiste. Yeah, 19 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: because I think we talked about our Peter Prince full 20 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: episode appropriately enough, because that's what we're talking about here. 21 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: You can very easily get raised. I guess promoted, thank 22 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: you out of your field of expertise and suddenly you're 23 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: a manager and not everybody's a manager. We can tell 24 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: you for sure. 25 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've done that job. I'm okay at it. I 26 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: don't love it. 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: I'm terrible at it. Just screaming, pounding my fists on desks. 28 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: It doesn't work. 29 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 2: But Mitchell, and we'll get to the things he invented 30 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 2: after this, maybe because that'll be a nice little teaser. 31 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 2: But he has more than seventy food patents that he 32 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 2: invented from nineteen forty one to nineteen seventy six. But 33 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 2: this was a guy that was born to very very 34 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 2: hard work in a Minnesota farm family, or to a 35 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 2: Minnesota farm family in nineteen eleven, isn't it right? 36 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, because his dad died while he was in elementary school. 37 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: Although I suspect if you're born to a Minnesota farm 38 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: family in nineteen eleven, you're gonna work regardless. But I 39 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: think the pressure was on William Mitchell even more than 40 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: the average Minnesota farm child born in nineteen eleven because 41 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: of his father's death. So Bill Mitchell had to harvest 42 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: peas and beans for other farmers to help supplement the 43 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,119 Speaker 1: income of their family by the time he was a teenager, 44 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: the family was living in Colorado and he was trapping 45 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: muskrat and I guess selling them at the local muskrat 46 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: market and harvesting melons for other farmers too. So he 47 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: did a lot of work that probably the average person didn't. 48 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: But he also worked his way through college too, I 49 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: guess as a carpenter. 50 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 3: Yeah. 51 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 2: Before that, though, he got a job that would kind 52 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 2: of come in handy later on as a food scientist 53 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 2: because he worked the overnight shift at the sugar crystallization 54 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 2: tank room for the American Beat Sugar Company. So that 55 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 2: work with sugar just sort of put a pin in 56 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:51,679 Speaker 2: that because that'll come back. 57 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, you can kind of imagine that's probably where he 58 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: started to develop his love of food science, right. 59 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know one going only guess he 60 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 2: was around all that sugar. 61 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, he really hyped him up. Well. I say that 62 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: because pretty early on after he graduated with a master's 63 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: degree in chemistry, he went into research chemistry with a 64 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: I guess a lean toward food. Because it was at 65 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: the Agricultural Experiment Station in Lincoln, Nebraska. I'm guessing he 66 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: worked a lot with corn and so that was his 67 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: first career was essentially in food science, or he started 68 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: working with food as a scientist. How about that? 69 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:29,239 Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. 70 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:31,959 Speaker 2: And as you will see, he was not a person 71 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 2: to be deterred because not long after he started that job, 72 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 2: that was a pretty bad explosion from heating a cracked 73 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: beaker with alcohol in it, and he got second third 74 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 2: degree burns over eighty percent of his body. Took some 75 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 2: time off to recover a few months, and then that 76 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 2: is when he landed his job and moved to White Plains, 77 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: New York with the general food foods excuse me, more 78 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 2: than one food corporation. 79 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: Don't say it. Don't say any names yet, I won't, okay, 80 00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: because we're going to take a break real quick, and 81 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: we're come back and talk about some of the great 82 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: things that Bill Mitchell did with his life later after this, so, Chuck, 83 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: we talked about Bill Mitchell being an amazing person. And 84 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why is because he developed some 85 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: of the best foods that came out of the twentieth century. 86 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: Not the best for you foods, right, the best? 87 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I wondered. 88 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 2: After I did this research, I was like, Man, are 89 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 2: we gonna get people writing in because we're like celebrating 90 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 2: this guy for creating junk food. 91 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: Well, they just can soak their heads. 92 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 3: Great. I like that term. That's a nice way to 93 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 3: say other things. 94 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,720 Speaker 2: So one of the first things was in nineteen fifty seven, 95 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 2: he was like, how about a powdered drink that tastes 96 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 2: sort of like sort of citrusy and people might I 97 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 2: think it's good. 98 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: For you, but it's a ninety eight percent sugar. 99 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is primarily sugar. Got a little bit of 100 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 2: vitamin C in there. Oh, and those flavor crystals happening. 101 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 2: You're gonna mix that together with water. You're gonna get 102 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 2: a bright, very bright, almost unsettlingly bright orange color, tangerine 103 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 2: color drink. 104 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 3: And it's called tang Yeah. 105 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: And you said flavor crystals. That was a big one 106 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: because William Mitchell was known in the food science industry 107 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: is the master of disaster. Yeah, and in parentheses they 108 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: would put disaster being flavor crystals. That just couldn't find 109 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: anything that rhymed with it. 110 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. 111 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 2: Tank wasn't a big hit right away though, it took 112 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 2: a little while to catch on, but one of the 113 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 2: big things that helped, you know, helped launch it. No, 114 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 2: I guess pun intended was when it went into outer 115 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 2: space in nineteen sixty two. It was on board John 116 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 2: Glenn's Mercury spaceflight because he was like, Man, we're storing 117 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 2: this drinking water in metal cans and metal vats and 118 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 2: it tastes great. So he's like, just throw some tang 119 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 2: powder in there and you're all good. 120 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. So yeah, I mean this was the time when 121 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: America was just totally fascinated with space. You know, you 122 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: could have put an old leather boot in space and 123 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: solder his tang and people would have drank it. 124 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 3: Yeah. 125 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: So you talked about John Glenn saying it was gross 126 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: to drink metallic water. Later on, buzz Aldrin said tang 127 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: is gross. As a matter of fact, he said tang sucks. 128 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: And he said it while he was doing the most 129 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen thing you could possibly be doing. He was 130 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: presenting a Spike TV Guy's Choice Award to Felix bombgartnerm. 131 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 2: I was Hee the parachute Guy. Yeah, yeah, that jumped 132 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 2: from space. Yeah yeah, sponsored by Red Bullet. 133 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. And I don't know how it came up. I 134 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: didn't see the clip, but that was what made the 135 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: rounds of the media. Tang sucks in quotes. 136 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 2: Oh good for you buzz speaking of being sponsored though, 137 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 2: by the time Apollo eight rolled around, Tang was such 138 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 2: a thing for space flights that the televised event was 139 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 2: sponsored by Tang. 140 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 3: They were like, we got we got to get in 141 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 3: on this thing. 142 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: Did you drink Tang when you were a kid? 143 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 3: A little bit? But we I drank a lot of water. 144 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 2: My mom was you know, we couldn't afford a lot 145 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: of stuff, even though Tang was like super cheap, and 146 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 2: I think my mom also didn't want us just having 147 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 2: a ton of junk. It wasn't like super health food 148 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 2: family or anything, but it was just one of the 149 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 2: things like I'm not going to waste my money on 150 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 2: that garbage. 151 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: I guess you probably didn't drink kool aid either. 152 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 3: A little bit here and there. 153 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 2: Those were treats I usually got at other kids' houses. 154 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, kool Aid was the best. 155 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 3: Did you just drink all that stuff? 156 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: I drank so much kool aid. Cherry lime was really good, 157 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: grape was probably the best. 158 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 3: Oh my god, good freezer pops too. 159 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: Yes, But if you ever made it chuck, you would 160 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: put the kool Aid powder in a pitcher and it 161 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: would be like a couple of tablespoons maybe pops and 162 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: did you report literal cups of sugar on top of it, 163 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: add water, stir and just thank me later. 164 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, hey too, lad. 165 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: It was it was nuts, Like, looking back, it was 166 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: insane that that's what kids drank. 167 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 3: Pretty great, God bless the seventies. 168 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 2: Bill Mitchell was trying to solve a lot of problems 169 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 2: often when he came up with these inventions for food, 170 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 2: try to save people time in the kitchen at the time, 171 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 2: you know, trying to save moms time in the kitchen. 172 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 2: And in nineteen sixty seven he was like, jello takes 173 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 2: way too long to make because you have to use 174 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 2: this hot water boiling water to dissolve that stuff. So 175 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 2: he came up with a and got a patent for 176 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 2: a quick set form of jello using cold water. He 177 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 2: was like, look at that, everybody, Yeah, presto chaninjo you 178 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 2: got cold jello and no time flat. 179 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: No time flat. So what's interesting is jello is very 180 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: famous for making some really weird being a part of 181 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: some really weird mid century recipes. So Bill Mitchell had 182 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: his hand in jello. He also had his hand in 183 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: another ingredient some really weird recipes from century, which was 184 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: cool whip, which was total and still is almost totally 185 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: artificial whipped cream. It's made with water, hydrogenated vegetable oil, 186 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: high fruit toast, corn syrup, corn syrup, and then skim milk. 187 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: And the skim milk is a modern addition. There used 188 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: to be nothing that was a milk product in cool whip, 189 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: which meant you could freeze it, which was a huge 190 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: boon to general foods. 191 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, but I think you missed one ingredient, love 192 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 2: the hand of God. 193 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: So you're a cool whip dude, huh. 194 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 2: I mean, we don't get it because it's just, you know, 195 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 2: it's garbage. But you know when we pumpkin pine and 196 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 2: pecan pine and stuff like that around Thanksgiving and Christmas, 197 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 2: we will get cool whip. I don't like the shake 198 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 2: of can ready whip stuff. 199 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 3: We're a cool whip family. 200 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 2: And it does not last long on our house because 201 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 2: it just gets eaten out of the container with a 202 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: spoon by all three of us. 203 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: Same with ready whip, though, you just turn it up 204 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: and spray it right in your mouth and then when 205 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: it's out you it gives you a pretty good bat. 206 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, but I like that cool it better. I like 207 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 3: the taste. 208 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with you. 209 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: I like it frozen too. I like it both ways. 210 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 2: But it's really good frozen as well. 211 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. I think I told you before cool. Yeah, we 212 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: talked about it was cool whipping peanut butter. It's a 213 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: dangerous combination. 214 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 3: Oh, I still didn't try that. I forgot. I'll have 215 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 3: to try that this Thanksgiving. 216 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: You know, you probably just shouldn't. I don't think you should. 217 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: It's like you might as well have just said I 218 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: think I'll start smoking cigarettes. 219 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good point. 220 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: So the granddaddy of them all, Bill Mitchell, had a 221 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: hand in in that. He kind of laid the groundwork 222 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: for the product to come. But back in nineteen fifty six, 223 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,719 Speaker 1: William Mitchell was trying to figure out ways to carbonate 224 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: kool aid to basically create instant soda. Yeah, and he 225 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: was like, let me just figure out how to add 226 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide to flavor crystals, because again he was the 227 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: flavor crystal king. Yeah, and I guess he did enough 228 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: so that, like he created a legacy process of adding 229 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: CO two to two flavor crystals. It just wasn't creating 230 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: the soda that he was looking for, so he shelved it, 231 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: and then somebody else came along and picked it up. Right. 232 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, twenty years later, somebody else tweaked it just a bit, 233 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:20,479 Speaker 2: and thankfully the world, the United States and the world. 234 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 3: Over got pop rocks. 235 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: Yeah. 236 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 2: Can you describe pop rocks if people don't know what 237 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 2: those are? 238 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 1: Oh, they're a little very tiny candy on the kind 239 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: of like this size and shape of nerds. And if 240 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: you don't know what nerds are, we're just totally lost here. 241 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: Not quite as codd if they are at all. But 242 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: when they touch your tongue, that co two that's inside 243 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: just like starts to get released, and it makes the 244 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: candy crackle. So not only does it make a cool sound, 245 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: fizzing sound just like the top of like when you 246 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: pour a sprite, it like you can feel it on 247 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: your tongue too. It's very delightful. 248 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 3: Yeah. 249 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 2: So, I mean the idea was you would take a 250 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 2: scoop of this and add water. So in this case 251 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 2: the water is just your saliva and the moisture from 252 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 2: your mouth and your tongue. 253 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,439 Speaker 3: Yeah, And I. 254 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 2: Gave Ruby some when she was like four or five. 255 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 2: I was like, you've never had pop rocks, kiddo, you 256 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 2: got to try this out, and she was. It was 257 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 2: sort of one of those great mind blowing moments. As apparent, 258 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,599 Speaker 2: She's like more no, not really, She's not one of 259 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 2: those kids that it's weird. She loves the thing, but 260 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 2: maybe it's the ADHD shees. She kind of forgets about 261 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 2: it after that. 262 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 1: Usually ADHD laser focuses on something like a big sugar rush, 263 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: so she's fortunate. Yeah. So there was a myth. I 264 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: think some people probably still believe this if they've heard 265 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: it Chuck, that if you drink soda and pop rocks 266 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: eat pop rocks at the same time, you're at risk 267 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: of blowing your stomach up from all of the carbon dioxide. 268 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: And that is just not true. But it was persistent 269 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: enough that General Foods had to take out a full 270 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: page ad back in the seventies. And I looked it up. 271 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: It's an open letter to parents talking about pop rocks 272 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: and how it's safe, and it was written by Bill Mitchell. 273 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 3: Oh that's great. 274 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, So they trotted him out and they were like, 275 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: tell everybody Bill, because we don't understand how they work. 276 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: You explain it. 277 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, they stood next to him with a knife gently 278 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 2: pressed into the side. 279 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 3: Of his neck. So we salute you. William A. 280 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 2: Mitchell, he retired from General Foods in nineteen seventy six. 281 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 2: Tried to find out some dirt on this guy, but 282 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 2: he seems like just a pretty great person. He was 283 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 2: a father of seven, he's married for sixty years, and 284 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 2: when he passed away in two thousand and four, his 285 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,839 Speaker 2: obituary said he was devoted, stimulating and loving parent and 286 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 2: made a pretty big impact on, you know, the diet 287 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 2: of American kids. 288 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, we should say one of those seven children is 289 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,559 Speaker 1: Cheryl Mitchell, his daughter. She became a food scientist as well, 290 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: followed in her father's footsteps. And if you like rice 291 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: dream you can thank Cheryl Mitchell or Elmhurst nut grain 292 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: and seed milk you can thank her as well. And 293 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: she's known as a quote world authority on sweetener's rice 294 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 1: processing and the extraction and metabolism of. 295 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 3: Anulin parentheses, but not flavor crystals. 296 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: No, that was her dad's jam. 297 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, I love the legacy continues, so pretty cool. 298 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: Same here, all right, Well, thank you and thank you 299 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: for signing off as a salute to William Mitchell to Chuck, 300 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: I appreciate it, and I think that also means short 301 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: stuff is out. 302 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 3: Stuff you should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. 303 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 2: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 304 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.