1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry, I'm Tracy Vie Wilson, and we recently 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: finished the West Coast leg of our tour UH that 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: had a different show than the East Coast dates which 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: has already aired, which was about and royal UH. And 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,159 Speaker 1: since we were traveling to Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: San Francisco in October, my favorite month, we decided to 9 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: make it a creepy episode, and that is actually how 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: we're closing out our Halloween programming for the year sort of. 11 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: We recorded one about a classic horror actor, which has 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: become our tradition, that's going to come out in November 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: for logistical calendar reasons and also because it turned out 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,599 Speaker 1: it was not really that Halloween. Yeah. When we when 15 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: we had our unexpected switcheroo in the calendar, we went 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: through it and I said, Okay, of these Halloween episodes 17 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: already recorded, this is the one that's not tied to 18 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: a specific date and is slightly less halloweeny, so you 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: can look forward to that in November, And without further ado, 20 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: here is one of the shows we recorded during this tour. Hello, 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I am Holly Fry and 22 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and you guys already win the 23 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: prize for best Tour audience so far. That was, like, 24 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: I don't know if anybody listens to saw Bones. That 25 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: was a Sydney McElroy level of sering, you're so good. 26 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: So the idea of premature burial and our collective fear 27 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: of it has of course been written about for centuries, 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: and the fear of being buried alive is called tafa 29 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: phobia in case you did not know, which for some 30 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: reason makes me think about the Bob's Burgers episode where 31 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: Um Louise makes a friend out of a man made 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: of taffy. I don't it's a whole different thing. But 33 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: tafa phobia is alive and well today. But there was 34 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: a period from the eighteenth and into the twentieth century 35 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: where it reached this fever pitch in Europe and the 36 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: United States. So we're gonna break down today a little 37 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: bit where that phobia really came from, at least in 38 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: terms of that period of time and how people tried 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: to deal with it. Uh, and really just how real 40 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: a possibility of a live burial actually was or was not. 41 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: That there's a lot of emphasis on them was not 42 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: part just as a spoiler. Uh. Theologian John Dunnes Scotus, 43 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: the first of many delightful names we have in this episode, 44 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: was said to have been buried alive in eight so, 45 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: according to a pretty widely accepted story, he had experienced 46 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: some kind of an attack that left him completely unresponsive. 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: He was buried in Cologne, and then when his servant, 48 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: who had been away when this all happened, came back, 49 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: he insisted that the body be exhumed, and so when 50 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: the tomb opened, Dune Scottis's hands were bloodied and worn down, 51 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: indicating that he had been trying to fight his way 52 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: out of the tomb, which is horrifying. However, Uh, that 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: account did not actually show up until Francis Bacon wrote 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: about it in Historia Vitae at mortis and that's the 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: history of life and death, and he wrote that in 56 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: the early seventeenth century, so three hundred years after done 57 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: Scotus died, and it is completely unclear. We have no 58 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: idea where he got this information, because it didn't seem 59 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: to exist before then, I have an idea. He made 60 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: it a fevered imagination when he first put out the story, 61 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: though it didn't really cause any kind of a panic. 62 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: But by the late eighteenth century, leading right through the 63 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: Victorian era Europe and the United States in particular, we're 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: just fascinated with and terrified of the thought of live burial. 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: And there were a lot of factors that contributed to 66 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: this huge cultural anxiety. So, for one thing, there was 67 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: this thesis that was written in seventeen forty by Um, 68 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: a Danish born anatomist whose name was Yaka Benin Winslow, 69 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: and it was titled Morte and surte Signa or Death 70 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: Uncertainty Standards, So it really sounds like a page turner um. 71 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: And in it he wrote about the pitfalls of how 72 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: the medical community was applying its methodology to determine that 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: someone was or was not in fact dead. Uh. And 74 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: he referenced as an example this John Done Scottish story 75 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: as though it were a verified fact. I like how 76 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: I pronounced his name totally different from me. I don't, 77 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: I don't. I'd never found a consistent pronunciation. So if 78 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: I horrified anyone, sorry, Uh, that's just a bonus. So 79 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: Winslow's ideas were pretty sound. Though he thought that a 80 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: lack of a pulse and the appearance that respiration had ceased, 81 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: he thought that was probably not enough to conclusively and 82 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: confidently declare someone to be dead, which man is pretty 83 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: reasonable conclusion, but for him, the only way he thought 84 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: to be sure was to wait and see if the 85 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: body started decomposing, which, like, that's an abundance of caution. Yes. 86 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: I feel like if Winslow were watching modern TV and film, 87 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: he would be that guy in the audience going, that's 88 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: not how you're doing at all, because all they do 89 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: is look at him for like a second, do the 90 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: eye clothes, and they're out of there. Um, And that 91 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: would not be nearly enough for him. But then another physician, 92 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: Jean Jacques Boullier Dablancour, he was French, y'all um. He 93 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: took Winslow's writing and he kind of ran with it 94 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: because winslows thesis had been written in Latin, and so 95 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: Brullier translated it into French, and to kind of illustrate 96 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: the points that were being made, he added in anecdotes 97 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: of people who had been buried alive as a sort 98 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: of commentary, and he published this as a two volume work, 99 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: and the first volume was published in seven in ten 100 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: forty two, it was titled Discertitude de senor de la 101 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: mare or The Uncertainty of Signs of Death. So riz 102 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: ah I said it badly. His translation didn't rely on 103 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: any kind of verified information when it came to adding 104 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: in these anecdotes. He relied on folklore and rumor in 105 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: legend to fill out this whole version of his book. 106 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: And that really sensationalized adaptation of Winslow's earlier work became 107 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: incredibly successful. It was translated and republished in Europe and 108 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: in the United States, and then some of these translations 109 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: then added their own flourish with all kinds of other stories, 110 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: uh the beyond what had been supplied. So to lay people, 111 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: this came off as incredibly credible. It was written by 112 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: a doctor, two doctors, depending on the attribution and the translation. 113 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,559 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna name any names. I feel like there's 114 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: still a doctor out there who's saying stuff from people 115 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: are believing it because he's a doctor. Um. But of 116 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: course the doctor said that premature burial was a real 117 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: and common danger that must be true, So he made 118 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: a lot of money off of this work. Yeah, they 119 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: all wanted to be ready and understand this whole situation. 120 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: And even though other medical professionals eventually wrote their own 121 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: critiques of Bruyer's work, pointing out how much of it 122 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: was really speculative and in fact quite fanciful, the damage 123 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: was already done in so many ways. People had already 124 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: latched onto it, and so many people had grown terrified 125 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: that they were going to be misidentified as dead that 126 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: there was absolutely no walking back dis belief. It's kind 127 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: of like that thing where once you believe it, even 128 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: when credible evidence is presented, you just think it's a 129 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: double arc. Right. No, it's real and you're hiding it. 130 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: You're working for big coffin. Um So. So there was 131 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: no way that was going to get fixed. Um But 132 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: on the plus side, this book and its popularity and 133 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: the public consciousness of about the possibility of live burial 134 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: did make physicians a lot more careful about declaring their 135 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: patients did. This is like the opposite of Virginia Apgar 136 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: needing to look at the babies. Um So. The case 137 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: of Hannah Bestwick is this clear indicator of how deeply. 138 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: People were starting to fear being buried alive in the 139 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: second half of the eighteenth century. Hannah was a wealthy woman. 140 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: She was unmarried, and because her brother had allegedly been 141 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: almost buried alive, she was really, really completely terrified of 142 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: premature burial, so much so that she made a deal 143 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: with her Manchester doctor Charles White to keep her body 144 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: from burial indefinitely an even bigger abundance of caution, for 145 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: the sum of twenty thousand guineas. So some retellings say 146 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: that he inherited the entirety of her fortune. Others say 147 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: that he merely had this one lumpsome pay out. But 148 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: the important thing is that he really did keep her 149 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: from being buried for a very long time. So after 150 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: Ms Beswick died in seventeen fifty eight, Dr White embalmed her. 151 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: He kept her in his home for years and years 152 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: and years. He would check on her annually with a 153 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: witness standing by to make sure everything was cool and 154 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: that she was in fact well preserved. Um. I read 155 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 1: one thing that said that he eventually moved her from 156 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: like kind of an out in the open thing to 157 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: like putting her in a clock. But I'm not sure 158 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: if that's true. Is that not where you keep your bodies? 159 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: I don't. I got a house full of grandfather clocks 160 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: I gotta open once a year. UM, I don't really 161 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: don't anybody come for me. I so expect police at 162 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: my hotel later. Um. So he totally kept his promise 163 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: and and went through with what this deal had entailed. 164 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: But then when Dr White died in eighteen thirteen, the 165 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: executive the executors of her of his estate were like, 166 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: I don't know what I don't want to do with 167 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: his dead body. Uh So they gave it to the 168 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: museum of the Manchester Society of Natural History and she 169 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: went on display, just probably not what she had in mind. Um. 170 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: She was finally buried in eighteen sixty eight, and that 171 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: was a hundred years after she died. So this led 172 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: to rumors that that had been the timeline that was 173 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: specified with her doctor. But I don't think that's actually 174 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: the case. And while she was on display at the museum, 175 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: she took on the nickname the Manchester Mummy. If I 176 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: had a time machine in our series of Ridiculous Things 177 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: we would do with time machines, I would I would 178 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: go back in time and reassure her honey once once 179 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: they embalm you. If you weren't dead before, you are 180 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: super definitely are now. In eighteen seventeen, a man named 181 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: John Snart This is Gonna Get Better published a book 182 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: called The Saris of Horror, Yeah, in which he recounted 183 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: a number of sentence of alleged live burials, and one 184 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: such story reads quote, about forty years ago, a man 185 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: well known about the streets of London and its environs 186 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: as an itinerant vendor of handkerchiefs, etcetera, was not only 187 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: supposed dead, but partly buried alive. However, he was happily 188 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: rescued from the above horrible fate by some providential accident 189 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: of delay in totally filling up the grave, and before 190 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: the grave diggers had left the spot, he was heard 191 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:35,439 Speaker 1: to groan and was instantaneously relieved from his perilous situation. 192 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: The particulars of where it happened have escaped the author's recollection, 193 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: but the awful substance is not obliterated in the least. 194 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: So Snart described this man. I know that name, dude, 195 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: change it up. Um described this man as quote a 196 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: living witness of the horrible temerity of immature interment, and 197 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: he wrote that while this nameless handkerchief vendor went on 198 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: to live a really long life, it wasn't a great 199 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: life because he was taunted and made fun of for 200 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: being the dude that got buried alive. Um. And this 201 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: whole tale, though, I mean, you guys are smart, you 202 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: heard it. It has all of the trademarks of a 203 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: tall tale that is told to stir up fear and 204 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: probably sell books in the process. Um. So it's very 205 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: convenient that the man in question, who has no name, 206 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: also has no ties to anyone else and any sort 207 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: of records. He was just an itinerant salesman, y'all. We 208 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: don't know. Um, But he lived through this horrible near 209 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: burial and then suffered the jokes of insensitive jerks for 210 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: the rest of his life. So it's kind of this 211 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,319 Speaker 1: double whammy of sad stories, and we all love those. 212 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: So that's why it sold a lot of books. Yeah. 213 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: So Smart went on to suggest that for every near 214 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: misslike that, a thousand other people were buried before their time. 215 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: He is not alone in this totally made up statistic. 216 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: Numerous writers are publishing their opinions and their warnings on 217 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,439 Speaker 1: the matter of being buried alive, with a whole array 218 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: of unsubstantiated and very scary statistics. Everything from one false 219 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: burial a week to two out of every one hundred 220 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: burials being premature were reported. Yeah, and that one was 221 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,839 Speaker 1: completely made up. There was like some of these would 222 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: describe like how they came to those figures, but it 223 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: was always based on like weird supposition and not not 224 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: really anything scientifically sound. And that topic of this potential 225 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: to be buried alive remained really popular with readers throughout 226 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds. As we said, it sold a lot 227 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: of books. In eighteen ninety, more than seventy years after 228 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 1: Snarts publication, doctor Moore Russell Fletcher wrote a book titled 229 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: Our Home Doctor, Domestic and Botanical Remedies Simplified and Explained 230 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: for Family Treatment, with a treatise upon Suspended Animation, the 231 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: Danger of Burying Alive, and Directions for Restoration um, which 232 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 1: I kind of love. I mean you want the antidote right, uh, 233 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: And it ran with a secondary title of one thousand 234 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: Persons Buried Alive by their best friends. So text your 235 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: best friend after the show and be like, check on 236 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: me make sure it doesn't happen. As the eighteen hundreds 237 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: went on, a number of other influences raised more cultural 238 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: anxiety about premature burial, and one of those was the 239 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: fiction of the time. In July of eighteen forty four, 240 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 1: Edgar Allan pose the Premature Burial was published in Dollar newspaper. 241 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: And this story, in case you haven't read it, features 242 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: a narrator who has catalepsy, and that is medical condition 243 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: in which the person falls into a deathlike state of unconsciousness. Us. 244 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: I think we talked about it in that episode we 245 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: did on narcolepsy um. And because of it, the narrator 246 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: of the story is afraid for his whole life of 247 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: being buried alive. Uh. And we won't give the whole 248 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: plot away. In case you haven't read it, it's a 249 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: really lovely discovery because step Pop kind of knew what 250 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: he was doing. But the narrator cites examples in the 251 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: Book of Premature Burials to give his concerned credence, and 252 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: he describes all of the many, many ways in which 253 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: he has carefully prepared his own tomb to escape from 254 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: in case he suffers. The quote true wretchedness of being 255 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: buried alive, and this story was of course sensational, and 256 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: it preyed on this idea and fear that was already 257 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: really taking hold in the culture at the time. He'd 258 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: also already touched on premature burial in his short story Baronice, 259 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: which was published in The Southern Literary Messenger in eighteen 260 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: thirty five, and post story Cask of a Man Seato 261 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: also played on the fear of live burial in a 262 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: revenge plot. I remember that one from school, premature. I 263 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: lost my place on my paper. I think it's because 264 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: I left a word out of this paragraph, because that's 265 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: what I like to do to bury, said Jack, with 266 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: her a little bit keeper on her toes. It's fine. 267 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: Pretymature bury old figured into the nine nine Burton's Gentleman's 268 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: Magazine debut of The Fall of the House of Usher. 269 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: Another thing we read in school. We read a lot 270 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: of poss um. So Poe was certainly fascinated with this 271 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: idea of being buried alive, which is probably not a 272 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: surprise to anybody, and also recognized the potentially lucrative nature 273 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: of these tales that prayed on the reader's fears. I 274 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: feel like I should have an aside and go, I 275 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: know we talked about Poe a lot, but I am 276 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: a woman with a framed portrait of a girl and 277 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: Poe in her dining room, so clearly I have a 278 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: little bit of a focused situation. There used to apparently 279 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: be a lot more Poe in this outline, and then 280 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: it was pulled back. There was a whole lot more 281 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: Poe because I just want to talk about his work 282 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: all time, because I uh. And all of these stories 283 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: though about premature burial that he wrote came before his 284 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: really rapid rise to fame in eighty five with the 285 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: publication of The Raven. But once he became popular and 286 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: The Raven became popular, his other stories were reprinted to 287 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: capitalize on that fame, and so his work continued to 288 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: gain new readers and become more famous and build on 289 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: the already common fear of awakening in a tomb or 290 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,400 Speaker 1: grave that had just been, you know, already kind of 291 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: bubbling up in the US and Europe. So keep in 292 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: mind that while embalming had been practiced all the way 293 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: back to ancient Egypt, it really wasn't all that common 294 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: in the United States or Europe at this point. Embalming 295 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,439 Speaker 1: isn't necessary. A lot of cultures and religions look on 296 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: it as a defacement of the body, and it really 297 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: became more popular during the United States Civil War when Dr. 298 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: Thomas Homes started embodying embalming bodies so that there would 299 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,479 Speaker 1: be some time to ship the bodies of soldiers who 300 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 1: had been killed in the battle home to their families. 301 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: Holmes had been experimenting with embalming practices before that. He 302 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: claimed to have embalmed more than four thousand bodies during 303 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: the war, making himself a whole lot of money in 304 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,360 Speaker 1: that process. And then after that, embalming became a business 305 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: that was offered to the general population, and it gave 306 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: funeral professionals away to give grieving families more time to 307 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: make their their funeral arrangements rather than needing to bury 308 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: the body pretty much immediately. Yeah, that four thousand bodies 309 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: number gets really big when you consider that at the 310 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: time he was apparently charging a hundred dollars per body, 311 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: So during the Civil War that was a loado cast. 312 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,239 Speaker 1: That is like a huge amount of money. Uh. And 313 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: as the twentieth century approached, discussion of premature burial became 314 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: even more common in public discourse. And we're going to 315 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: get into that a little bit, but right now we're 316 00:18:50,520 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: gonna pause. So in eighteen ninety six, a British businessman 317 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: and activist named William teb formed the London Association for 318 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,400 Speaker 1: the Prevention of Premature Burial. He wanted to ensure I mean, 319 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: they had a mission. He wanted to make sure that 320 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: steps were taken to minimize the likelihood of anyone suffering 321 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: this fate, and he worked with doctors and survivals of 322 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: near burial to develop the ideas that the group formed together. 323 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: So in ve tab tab published a book. It was 324 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: titled Premature Burial and How It May Prevented with special 325 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: reference to trance, catalepsy and other forms of suspended animation. 326 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,679 Speaker 1: And this book had a bunch of different methods, building 327 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,120 Speaker 1: on the work of the writers that came before, that 328 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: the medical community would be able to be very very 329 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: certain that a person was really dead before declaring them 330 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 1: to be dead. These are not pleasant methods, no, just 331 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: to warn you brace if you're squeamish. Um. These included 332 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: holding fire to their hands, um and applying hot irons 333 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: to the body and injecting them with various substances, some 334 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 1: of which would have killed them. Um. But the idea 335 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: here was that people in trance like states that were 336 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 1: causing these false death declarations could perhaps be jolted to 337 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: consciousness by some form of shock to the body. Um, 338 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: like the I guess slapping was too nice. I don't 339 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: know what that's about. Why they're like, let's burn them. Um. 340 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: But this book also offered up some really pretty cool 341 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: new ideas for the time. So uh. It mentioned attempts 342 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,479 Speaker 1: at resuscitation through electric shock or artificial respiration, and this 343 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 1: is a very new idea. Chest compression was super new 344 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: at this point. It had been discussed and practiced in 345 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 1: some form or another, although not commonly, for about ten years, 346 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,520 Speaker 1: and mouth to mouth resuscitation was still fifty years off, 347 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: So in that regard, it was really ahead of its time. 348 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: So you may have noticed that trans states have come 349 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 1: up a lot. You might wonder why were there so 350 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: many people in comas and trances during this time. That 351 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: seems odd. There were a couple of things going on, 352 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: and one big problem was cholera, and in the nineteenth century, 353 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: cholera pandemics were pretty common, and global trade was helping 354 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: to carry contaminated food and water basically everywhere. Uh. But 355 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,439 Speaker 1: one of the advanced states of the illness was a 356 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,400 Speaker 1: coma that presented very much like death, and there were 357 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,920 Speaker 1: cases where a person was determined to be deceased when 358 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: they were in fact not. Additionally, just knowing that it 359 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: was possible to get so sick that you looked dead, 360 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: even to a physician, really helped spread a public sense 361 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 1: of fear that that might happen. Another problem was what 362 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: came to be called lucid hysterical lethargy, or more casually, 363 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: death trance. I continue to be really curious about what 364 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: was really going on here, but there were numerous cases 365 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century of people who confronted with certain 366 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 1: topics or situations would experience this highly elevated heart rate 367 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: followed by a drop into a death a death trance. 368 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: And it was actually Dr George did Tourette the Tourette 369 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that really not the way anyone should 370 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: say this word. How does this go? Holly? Uh? Dctor 371 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: George gil de Latorette, that guy for whom Tourette's syndrome 372 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: is named, who came to this conclusion that it was 373 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: a mental disorder and not a contagion or a medical issue. Yeah, 374 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: that's one of those things that um it sometimes gets 375 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: written off under the category of hysterical women. Um. But 376 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: there were actually instances where they were recording this, like 377 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: they were taking these people's pulses and they were rising 378 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: rapidly and then dropping to almost nothing. So if that 379 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: was a case of someone kind of working themselves into it, 380 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: like their body was definitely responding to their mental state, 381 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: I'm just like, what was it? Thought it was fashionable maybe, 382 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: But here's the thing that kept all of this panic 383 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: and hysteria going. There absolutely have been people who were 384 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 1: buried prematurely, um, which stinks, But there were a lot 385 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: more that were mistakenly identified as having buried having been 386 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: buried prematurely, and because of the improved communications that were 387 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 1: happening in the late nineteenth century industry was causing great 388 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,359 Speaker 1: communication advances, these horror stories would get picked up and 389 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: spread like wildfire, and they were largely at the result 390 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: of people not understanding science and how the human body decomposed. 391 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: For example, a lot of these stories hinged on this 392 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: evidence and air quotes that the person was heard to 393 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: cry out after having been buried. But this is actually 394 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: a phenomenon that's known as total loud, which is German 395 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: for dead loud. And it were first to the way 396 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: that the gas is built up in the body during 397 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: decomposition and they eventually cause the throat to open and 398 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: the air rushes like it would if you were speaking. 399 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: It causes some kind of cry for help. It's not 400 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,639 Speaker 1: a cry for help, it's a cry made by gas 401 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: in your decomposing body. You just have gas. Um, yeah, 402 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: there's a lot of it's just gas. It's just gas. Though, 403 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: Ever since I was doing this research and I told 404 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: it to my husband, every time we belch in the house, 405 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: we go total loud. We think we're high hilarious. That 406 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: is the best new euphemism. Oh my total louds acting up. Uh. So. Similarly, 407 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: some of the most shocking and brace because it's kind 408 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: of gross upsetting stories of premature burial are attributed to 409 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: women who died while pregnant and then, for some reason 410 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: or another, we're later exhumed to discover what appeared to 411 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: have been an in coffin delivery. Um, it's super gross 412 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: and it's very sad, but it's not quite the that's 413 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: not what was. People would presume that, oh, my gosh, 414 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:05,920 Speaker 1: she woke up and gave birth to her baby in 415 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: a coffin. That's not what happened at all. Uh. There 416 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 1: is always a German word for everything. Uh. And this 417 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: phenomenon is called saga birch, which simply means coffin birth. 418 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,200 Speaker 1: So discoveries of coffin births and histories, which like they 419 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: continue to happen when we're doing our Unearthed episodes at 420 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,919 Speaker 1: the end of the year. Sometimes there are you know, 421 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: somebody that did an archaeological dig and here's it is 422 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: another one right there. But it could lead to really 423 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: steep penalties and punishments for the doctors who were involved. 424 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: When it's something that was discovered pretty quickly, the doctors 425 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: would be accused of neglect. But once again, the real 426 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: culprit here is just decomposition and gas like gas filling 427 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: the abdominal cavity creating pressure like that's it's not it's 428 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: not at all that the person was still living in 429 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: some way. Um, a thing that that is not is 430 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: not noted here, but that like I heard about in 431 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: this in my teen tween fascination with death years, UM, 432 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: was people thinking that people's hair and nails were continuing 433 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: to grow, and um, like some of it was people 434 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: thought that people's hair and nails continued to grow after 435 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,719 Speaker 1: they died, which they don't, or they were like, oh, 436 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: they must have been buried alive because their hair is 437 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: so much longer. No, it's just that, like your skin recedes. 438 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something scary. Um. There was one 439 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: thing that came up in some of the research I 440 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: was doing that no one's been able to explain, which 441 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: is that in cases where bodies have been exhumed, there 442 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: have been times where they have found clutches of hair 443 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: in clinched hands, and they can't explain that. We don't 444 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: know if, like, as part of decomposition, you try to 445 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: comb your hair so you look pretty. I don't. I 446 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 1: don't know what happens. But that's a scary thing that 447 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: came up. And because there's no explanation, I was like, man, 448 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: this one's running long. That doesn't seem like something that 449 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: a person might do if they really did regain consciousness 450 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: in the coffin. Oh, the first thing I would do. Okay, 451 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 1: that's the first thing I would do. Where's my lipstick? 452 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: And I would turn into Beatrix kiddo and start punching 453 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: the tank it from me. Okay, yeah. All of this 454 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: concern about being trapped in an early grave naturally sparked 455 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: human innovation, uh, and starting in the late eighteenth century, 456 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: people started coming up with some pretty fantastic coffins that 457 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: would help ease their fears of waking up six ft 458 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: under with no means of escape. Thus, the so called 459 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 1: safety coffin was born. So Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick is 460 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: usually cited as the first person to commission a safety coffin, 461 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: and that was a project he initiated in the early 462 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 1: seventeen nineties, so in the early years of all of 463 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:50,199 Speaker 1: it's happening. This was a custom built coffin and he 464 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,679 Speaker 1: had a window installed. There was a tube so that 465 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: if he if he awoke in, if he awoke entombed, 466 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,719 Speaker 1: he could still breathe. And then importantly, the coffin had 467 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,639 Speaker 1: a locking lid, and it wasn't supposed to be nailed 468 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: in place. The lock could be opened from inside. So 469 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 1: he also had a special set of keys made this 470 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:12,360 Speaker 1: is just more complicated, and had these keys that were 471 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,120 Speaker 1: tucked into a pocket in his death shroud, so if 472 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 1: by some misfortune, he had been buried alive when he 473 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: woke up, he could use those keys to open up 474 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: his coffin and then open the family tomb from inside. 475 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: If I woke up in a coffin, I would not 476 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: have my wits about me. I would not other than 477 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: the lipstick, which I would totally do um. But then 478 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: I'd be like, I don't know, I would do the 479 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: Beatrix kiddo thing like and really hurt myself before I 480 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: was like, hey, I had some keys made. I forgot 481 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: about those keys. But here's the thing, right, Not everybody 482 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: had a family tomb, so you couldn't just give yourself 483 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: a set of keys. Most folks were buried in the 484 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: ground with no way to see themselves out. Uh So, 485 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: a few years after Duke Ferdinand's idea, a German priest 486 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: named p J. Pessler came up with an idea that 487 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: every coffin should have a ward installed that could be 488 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: pulled from the inside, and should the person wake up 489 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: inside and pull said cord, the local church bells would 490 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: ring so that everyone would know that the recently buried 491 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: person was in fact alive. I gotta come dig him 492 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: up in the eighteen twenties, inventor and showman at Off 493 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: gut Smith put his own spin onto this whole idea 494 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: of a safety coffin. His coffin features included the ones 495 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: and the other models at the time, so there was 496 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 1: an air tube and an alarm, but the tube on 497 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: his design was big enough that if the person inside 498 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: woke up, food could be sent down to give them 499 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: enough sustenance while the whole digging up process happened. So 500 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: gut Smith himself tested his his inventions a lot of times, 501 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: and on one occasion he ate a full meal of 502 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 1: sausages and soup and washed it all down with beer, 503 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: all while buried one inside one of his coffins that 504 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: I'm just I'm sorry, this was like a very gassy 505 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: plan for your test. It also seems like a restaurant 506 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: concept that is going to take off, Like you know, 507 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: someone's gonna hear this and be like, I'm gonna call 508 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: investors in a minute. Two coffins um and tubes full 509 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: of sausage. Um. I just had to say, I gotta 510 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: admire eating a sausage in a tube, and I wonder 511 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: if the tube got greasy on the way. I have 512 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,959 Speaker 1: many questions. I have questions like you don't really have 513 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: a lot of room to sit up in a closed coffin, 514 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: so I'm like, are you how are you drinking your? 515 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: Is it? I would die because I would open my 516 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: mouth to be ready and the food would go in 517 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: and I would choke. Okay, that's how that would play in. 518 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: They'd be like leave her there, Um trying to think 519 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: how you have the second funeral at that point. Um. 520 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: A really complex and fairly thorough of coach was devised 521 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty nine by Dr Johann Gottfried Taverner, and 522 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: this German inventor designed again a system of strings to 523 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: attach to the probably deceased slims, which ran to an 524 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: above ground bell, and to avoid any false alarms, the 525 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: bell had its own little housing to prevent it from 526 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: being triggered by the elements of it got rained on, 527 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: or if wind came, it wouldn't go off, and should 528 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: the bell rang, a watchman was trained to spring into 529 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: action an insert a tube into a specific slot so 530 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: that breathable air could be pumped down to the undeceased UH. 531 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty eight, Franz vest of Newark, New Jersey 532 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: filed a patent for an improved burial case. I had 533 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: a book with this exact patent drawing when I was 534 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: a team and this I don't It wasn't even like 535 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: I was particularly got the or anything. I was just 536 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: like really fascinated by I could see you being super 537 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: into it from the scientific angle, whereas I was like, oh, couthy, Yeah, 538 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: what kind of lining is in that coffin? Yeah, That's 539 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: what I was at. Can it receives sausages? Uh? So. 540 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: The patent application described how this would all work. Quote 541 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: the supposed corpse being laid in the body A of 542 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: the coffin and the cord K placed in the hand 543 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: of the corpse. The cord is next drawn through the 544 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: tube C and attached to the bell I, and the 545 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: tube C is placed in the base D on the 546 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: lid of the coffin. The coffin is now lowered into 547 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: the grave and the grave filled up to the air 548 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 1: inlets F. Now, should the person laid in the coffin, 549 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: on returning to life, desire to ascend from the coffin 550 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: and the grave to the surface, he can do so 551 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: by means of the ladder H. But if too weak 552 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: to ascend by the ladder. He can pull the cord 553 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: in his and and ring the bell I giving the 554 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: desired alarm for help. I like that. He's like if 555 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: you want to get out, he doesn't want to lay there. 556 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: Maybe cozy, Maybe it had a good lining. UM. So 557 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: Franz's coffin design would be buried only up to a 558 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: certain point, as Tracy said, so the air inlets would 559 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:20,040 Speaker 1: still let air come in uh an oxygen to the 560 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: may be deceased, and then after a certain period of 561 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: time had passed without the coffin's passenger which was the 562 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: only word I could come up with, their um making 563 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: any moves to leave, then the burial could be completed. 564 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: This I imagine um. Grave diggers in the like found 565 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: this very irritating as a concept, like thanks for double 566 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,719 Speaker 1: in my workload. You're really making the job of an 567 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 1: already very labor intensive job harder. So then in five 568 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: inventors Charles Sieber and Frederick H. Bornon Trigger of Waterloo, 569 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: Illinois came up with a casket that offered quote certain 570 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: new and useful improvement and lifeguards signals for people buried 571 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: in a rance. And this invention had an above ground 572 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: bell that could be wrung from the person buried in 573 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: the coffin, as others before it had, but it also 574 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: had a mechanism that could activate a blast of air 575 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: into the coffin once again from above ground to avoid suffocation. 576 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:23,240 Speaker 1: Was fancy, yeah. Uh. When Vermont Dr. Timothy Clark Smith died, 577 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: he was not or he was rather interred in a 578 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:29,279 Speaker 1: grave that he had designed specifically for himself to stave 579 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,879 Speaker 1: off the likelihood of accidentally dying underground. So he first 580 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 1: arranged for the space next to his plot to also 581 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 1: be his, and he had a set of stairs built 582 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,240 Speaker 1: into it. UM, and he rigged his own breathing tube 583 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,760 Speaker 1: and bell system to alert anyone in case he awoke entombed. 584 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,920 Speaker 1: But he also added another touch, and this is a 585 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:54,359 Speaker 1: window above ground that sees down Today. You can still 586 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:58,760 Speaker 1: see the window over his face in Evergreen Cemetery UH 587 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:01,800 Speaker 1: in New Haven, Vermont. But the glass which was intended 588 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: to give passers by or uh someone who was maybe 589 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: concerned a chance to just check in on him and 590 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: see like, hey, are you actually deceased or you um 591 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 1: maybe waking up? UM that has unfortunately become clouded. So 592 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: if you are feeling a little bit morbid and you 593 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 1: want to go look. You won't see anything gross, but 594 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: you can say that you went and looked at a 595 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: corpse through a window. Yeah. I don't know if that's unfortunate. 596 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:29,279 Speaker 1: I think that might be a blessing. Uh. Count Michelle 597 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: the Carnis Carnickie came up with his own solution to 598 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: this whole premature burial problem. In he was a chamberlain 599 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: to Zar Nicholas A second of Russia, and he presented 600 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: this idea at a conference organized by the French Society 601 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,360 Speaker 1: of Hygiene at the sore Bun. There were doctors and 602 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: diplomats and the press. The Czar had given him the 603 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:55,279 Speaker 1: leeway and his duties to focus exclusively on developing the 604 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: idea for this coffin, and he had put all the 605 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: bells and whistles into it. So he called his device 606 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,279 Speaker 1: lock Out nice after himself, like you would uh. And 607 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,960 Speaker 1: like similar inventions, it was intended to alert someone if 608 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: the person in the coffin was alive. This version was 609 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: also intended to give even an unconscious but a live 610 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: person a shot at being rescued. So you'll notice some 611 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 1: of those others involved, like you gotta wake up and 612 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 1: pull a string and do a thing. But this had 613 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: a glass ball that hung over the chest of the 614 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,359 Speaker 1: probably dead person and if the ball was in any 615 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 1: way disturbed, it would trigger this spring loaded mechanism that 616 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,960 Speaker 1: opened a container that sat above the grave, and when 617 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: the container opened, air would rush into the coffin via 618 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 1: a tube. These people love their tubes. UM. A chime 619 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: would sound and a flag would deploy, so it was like, 620 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 1: whoa alive? UM. I feel like if this were a 621 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 1: real functioning type thing. Little Richard had this um and 622 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:02,040 Speaker 1: this air tube also allowed light into the coffin because 623 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: he thought like, if you had been buried and you 624 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: woke up, you might want to actually have some daylight. 625 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: And it also had a tiny electric light inside the 626 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 1: coffin as a backup solution in case you woke up 627 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: on an overcast day or at night. So this was 628 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:19,839 Speaker 1: incredibly well received. Somehow it was affordable. Uh, it had 629 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: been developed over the years of research, and it probably 630 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 1: helped that it had the Russians are behind it. That 631 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: was a lot of clout. The press raved that it 632 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:33,399 Speaker 1: had solved the problem of premature burial. The London Association 633 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,359 Speaker 1: for the Prevention of premature burial endorsed it, and soon 634 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: he took this thing on tour to promote it. It 635 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: didn't didn't go well. It didn't go as bad as 636 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: you're thinking, but there was a problem. So on tour 637 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: the count would stand there and extol the virtues of 638 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 1: this invention, while an assistant who was buried in Lackarnie's 639 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,839 Speaker 1: would provide a very real demonstration of just how well 640 00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 1: it worked. But on one of the stops on the tour, 641 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,600 Speaker 1: the bell failed to sound and the flag did not deploy, 642 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,800 Speaker 1: and time was going by, and the audience started getting 643 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,879 Speaker 1: progressively more concerned. Uh, and so did Carney's Carnickie. And 644 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,440 Speaker 1: so the inventor then got several men and was kind 645 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 1: of like he called it, and uh, they all started 646 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 1: digging very quickly, and they were very happy when the 647 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,400 Speaker 1: assistant turned out to be alive. He had triggered the 648 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:25,879 Speaker 1: device and it worked enough to get air to him. 649 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: But those alarm systems did not work. Um, and the 650 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,799 Speaker 1: press actually skewered lock Arne's after this. It was a 651 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: big public failure. It was super embarrassing, and even the 652 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 1: favor that it had briefly enjoyed from the medical professionals 653 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 1: and high profile enthusiasts that had initially embraced it quickly retracted. 654 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: So Karneis Carnickie continued to market his device in an 655 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,840 Speaker 1: effort to try to regain the public's lost trust, and 656 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:55,880 Speaker 1: a man named Farappo Lorenzo, who was seventy eight, demonstrated 657 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,520 Speaker 1: the device for the count in Turin, Italy. He was 658 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 1: buried in it for nine days before being dug up again, 659 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 1: he wrote Carney's Carneckie wrote in promotional material, hyping up 660 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,839 Speaker 1: how real the danger of premature burial was and trying 661 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,480 Speaker 1: to counteract all of his critics. And he took his 662 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: safety coffin to the United States, where it was once 663 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 1: again really well received, but not well enough that he 664 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 1: ever managed to really sell many of them. Yeah, allegedly 665 00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: it sat in like showrooms at funeral homes and it 666 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,080 Speaker 1: was like you could have this if he would be 667 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 1: like that's okay, I don't think so. I'm not little Richard. Um. 668 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 1: There were at least two designs for safety coffins that 669 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,560 Speaker 1: I really like. They really simplified this whole concept of 670 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:41,320 Speaker 1: alerting people that you might need out. Um Hubert Devot 671 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:43,760 Speaker 1: of New York came up with his version in eighteen 672 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,840 Speaker 1: ninety four, and then Marie Constant Hippolyte Nicole of France 673 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,320 Speaker 1: came up with hers in eight and both of these 674 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:54,440 Speaker 1: made use of natural movement to set the cycle in 675 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,680 Speaker 1: motion to alert someone above ground and get air pumped 676 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:01,080 Speaker 1: into the coffin. Both of them realized that rather than 677 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,320 Speaker 1: having a cord that somebody had to remember to pull 678 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:08,600 Speaker 1: upon waking, it would be a lot more elegant to 679 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:11,240 Speaker 1: just have a lever above the head of the body. 680 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,320 Speaker 1: So the first thing a person would do upon waking 681 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:17,399 Speaker 1: up in a coffin would probably be to raise their head. 682 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:20,640 Speaker 1: So both of these designs were triggered by that motion 683 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,040 Speaker 1: of sitting up in the coffin, but what happened after 684 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: the trigger was a little different. So in Devot's design, 685 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 1: the raising of the head would raise and open a 686 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,520 Speaker 1: valve above ground that would admit air into the coffin, 687 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,080 Speaker 1: and that valve, as per Devose patent right up quote, 688 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: should be made of some bright color so that it 689 00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: could be readily seen, and so it would alert grave 690 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 1: watchers that movement was underway in the coffin that was 691 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:49,200 Speaker 1: buried below. Nicole's design featured an elaborate hook and counterweight 692 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,719 Speaker 1: apparatus that broke a glass when the person lifted their head, 693 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: which let air come in, and then the noise of 694 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 1: the glass breaking was supposed to provide the alert outside 695 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:02,800 Speaker 1: world that something was a this but as the inventor wrote, quote, 696 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,000 Speaker 1: I can also buy the breaking of the glass set 697 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,960 Speaker 1: in motion any convenient apparatus for sounding an alarm. So 698 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 1: this particular design was intended for coffins that would be 699 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:16,440 Speaker 1: kept above ground until the living were completely certain that 700 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: the person in it was dead, and then the window 701 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 1: area would be sealed up with some kind of plate, 702 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,160 Speaker 1: and then the coffin would be buried. Yeah. I have 703 00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:28,439 Speaker 1: to wonder these designs that feature buy in from other people, Like, 704 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:30,759 Speaker 1: you can buy the coffin, but you also got to 705 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,799 Speaker 1: find someone willing to either only bury you part way 706 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,080 Speaker 1: or hang out and wait till they're sure you're dead 707 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 1: and seal this thing up before it goes in. Like, 708 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,919 Speaker 1: I mean, how do you approach a friend with that? Um? Hi, 709 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: I love you and I need to talk about my 710 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 1: final arrangements. Um. Eventually, electricity actually made its way into 711 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: some of these safety coffin designs. In nineteen hundred, Walter J. 712 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,880 Speaker 1: McKnight of Buffalo, New York, filed a patent for an 713 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: electric device for indicating the awakening of persons buried a lie, 714 00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:04,320 Speaker 1: And in McKnight's design, movement within the coffin would close 715 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,480 Speaker 1: a circuit, like he had all these levers that were 716 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,000 Speaker 1: metal when they would close circuits if you moved and 717 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: it was attached to an electric signal above ground. And 718 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,800 Speaker 1: one section of his design even included an arm similar 719 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,040 Speaker 1: to that glass ball we talked about earlier that just 720 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:21,719 Speaker 1: sat above the chest of the person that was probably deceased, 721 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 1: so that even if they breathed and we're not conscious, 722 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:27,040 Speaker 1: it would close that circuit and start the whole process. 723 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,839 Speaker 1: So those are all novel and creative ideas. That does not, though, 724 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:36,160 Speaker 1: make them good, and we are going to discuss why 725 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:40,560 Speaker 1: that is in just a moment, but first we will 726 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:43,279 Speaker 1: leave a place for an ad for listeners at home 727 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: later on. There is, of course, some pretty flawed logic 728 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:56,759 Speaker 1: in most of these safety coffin designs that we've been 729 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:59,360 Speaker 1: talking about. So, as we mentioned in the first segment, 730 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:02,920 Speaker 1: corpses twist and turn a lot in a lot of 731 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,080 Speaker 1: bizarre ways as they decomposed. So almost all of these 732 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:10,359 Speaker 1: designs that featured some movement in the coffin setting them 733 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:14,880 Speaker 1: off were open to the possibility of false positive alarms 734 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:19,560 Speaker 1: being activated. The obvious solution, at least if you asked 735 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 1: uh Fran's Vestore in eighteen sixty eight, was to include 736 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,880 Speaker 1: a viewing tube, so that again it's a tube so 737 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 1: that other people could then just like peek in on 738 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:31,160 Speaker 1: the recently buried and see if they were trying to 739 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,400 Speaker 1: get help or if they were just decomposing and setting 740 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: the alarm off. Yeah. So in addition to that, unless 741 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:41,799 Speaker 1: the provided air supply we're being pumped in continually, the 742 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,320 Speaker 1: person inside would really still only be able to survive 743 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: for a very brief amount of time, maybe even as 744 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:51,720 Speaker 1: little as an hour. So the idea of waking up 745 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:54,839 Speaker 1: and then activating the air tube so like that this 746 00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:58,680 Speaker 1: was just not really a workable solution. But even though 747 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,200 Speaker 1: the fields of medicine and preparation of the dead have 748 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: both evolved, there is still an ongoing fear of being 749 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 1: buried alive that persists today because some religions we mentioned 750 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,759 Speaker 1: this earlier forego embalming or require that a body be 751 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,799 Speaker 1: put in the ground very quickly. There is still this 752 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 1: possibility in the minds of some people that this could 753 00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:23,839 Speaker 1: actually be a real concern, and so um As I 754 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:27,480 Speaker 1: was digging through the Patent Office listings of safety coffins, 755 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,800 Speaker 1: the most recent one that I found was actually designed 756 00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:34,720 Speaker 1: in um and it is called a Portable Alarm System 757 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:39,200 Speaker 1: for Coffins UM and it was It featured quote a 758 00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:43,320 Speaker 1: signal transmitting structure removably secured in the coffin or tomb. 759 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: So if someone were to wake up inside this coffin, 760 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,120 Speaker 1: they could press a button, a visual signal above the 761 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:51,000 Speaker 1: ground would be triggered, and then the whole thing. Here's 762 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,200 Speaker 1: the part that I really like. It's designed with conservation 763 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,319 Speaker 1: in mind, because when it's determined that enough time has 764 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:59,880 Speaker 1: gone by that the person within is really and truly deceased, 765 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,719 Speaker 1: then this whole device can be removed and used again 766 00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:06,200 Speaker 1: on another coffin, which is kind of cool. Recycling. Yeah. 767 00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:14,080 Speaker 1: Uh So, even before safety coffin's really became so popular, 768 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:17,760 Speaker 1: another way to avoid premature burial had a brief heyday, 769 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,120 Speaker 1: and that was the waiting mortuary. This was basically a 770 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: place where bodies could be placed and observed for a 771 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,319 Speaker 1: period of time to make sure they were really, definitely 772 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,840 Speaker 1: truly dead before being interred, and the composition was the 773 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:36,359 Speaker 1: only benchmark for determining that the death was real with 774 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:41,160 Speaker 1: any kind of confidence. So Bruier, that fearmongering doctor who 775 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:43,279 Speaker 1: stirred up all this panic over waking up in a 776 00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,680 Speaker 1: tumor grave, had actually proposed this concept way back in 777 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:50,440 Speaker 1: the seventeen forties, but it didn't manage to gain traction. Initially, 778 00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:54,000 Speaker 1: there were some um heads of royal houses who were like, 779 00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:56,240 Speaker 1: we should do that, and then the funding never happened, 780 00:45:56,640 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 1: um because probably they realized uh um. But the idea 781 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,279 Speaker 1: came up again in the late seventeen eighties because a 782 00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:09,080 Speaker 1: number of other doctors at that point who had read 783 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:14,040 Speaker 1: Bruier's work started reiterating it and rewriting their own ideas 784 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,120 Speaker 1: about this and saying that this is really something we 785 00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 1: should consider. So obviously it would be optimal to keep 786 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,879 Speaker 1: somebody who appeared to be dead somewhere that if they 787 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:25,759 Speaker 1: did wake up, they could just be seen to buy 788 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:29,360 Speaker 1: a physician immediately and given whatever care they needed to 789 00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:33,799 Speaker 1: continue to not be dead. But it's hard to tell 790 00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:37,440 Speaker 1: people to keep their deceased loved ones around their houses 791 00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:41,680 Speaker 1: for prolonged periods, just in case they happen to wake up. Yeah, 792 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:43,720 Speaker 1: I know you're dealing with grieving and some other stuff, 793 00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:45,399 Speaker 1: but could you just hang onto this for a few days. 794 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,319 Speaker 1: It's not cool. So Germany in particular picked up this 795 00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:52,640 Speaker 1: idea that special facility should be built to house the 796 00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:56,200 Speaker 1: newly probably did, where they could be looked after and 797 00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: checked on in an environment that was specially prepared for 798 00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:03,720 Speaker 1: any surprise awakenings. One of the proponents of this idea 799 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:08,120 Speaker 1: was a physician named Christoph Wilhelm Ufland, who wrote very 800 00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,080 Speaker 1: plainly about the corpse house that he was building in 801 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:16,799 Speaker 1: sev Hooflan. Did not embellish or tell frightening stories to 802 00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:19,800 Speaker 1: support this writing. He wasn't, uh, you know, prone to 803 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,239 Speaker 1: try to like stir up further about it. He was 804 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:24,600 Speaker 1: really matter of fact, and he described all of these 805 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:29,000 Speaker 1: functions very simply and very clearly in Uflan's lin House, 806 00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:37,440 Speaker 1: which was named the Asylum for Doubtful Life. Yeah, the 807 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:41,120 Speaker 1: names in this are so good. Uh. There were eight 808 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:44,600 Speaker 1: beds or stretchers for the corpses, and then an attendant 809 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:46,640 Speaker 1: captain I on all the charges. And this was at 810 00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:50,719 Speaker 1: the time normally a woman, but Hoofalon thought that women 811 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,200 Speaker 1: were too flighty and stupid to do a really good job, 812 00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:56,280 Speaker 1: so he thought that this should become a trained profession 813 00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:59,920 Speaker 1: for young men. Thanks, dude, glad to have your confident. 814 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,080 Speaker 1: There were also quarters to keep the place running basically 815 00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:05,520 Speaker 1: like a home, keeping fires going and seeing to the 816 00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:08,440 Speaker 1: general tidiness of the place, and a doctor was on 817 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:12,120 Speaker 1: call at all hours. And hoof Alan's waiting mortuary was 818 00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:16,440 Speaker 1: built in Weimar, but before long similar facilities had popped 819 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:20,040 Speaker 1: up in Berlin, Frankfort, Augsburg, and a lot of other 820 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:23,240 Speaker 1: cities throughout Germany. It's sort of like the saying nature 821 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:26,160 Speaker 1: finds a way. Uh. You could also say that free 822 00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:31,440 Speaker 1: enterprise does as well. Uh. Because one lichinghouse in Munich 823 00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:34,200 Speaker 1: figured out a way to make extra cash, and that 824 00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:38,720 Speaker 1: was that this establishment charged a visitor's fee that, once paid, 825 00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:42,000 Speaker 1: entitled the guests to just explore the facility. They were 826 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:45,279 Speaker 1: welcome to see all of the beautiful lounges and waiting rooms, 827 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:46,880 Speaker 1: but they all just wanted to go walk in the 828 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:50,960 Speaker 1: corpse room. Um. And the lichinghouse in Frankfort also started 829 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:54,840 Speaker 1: taking visitors who wanted to indulge their macab Curiosity was 830 00:48:54,920 --> 00:48:58,600 Speaker 1: like a precursor to the Mooder Museum kind of. So 831 00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:01,600 Speaker 1: that Munich facility some other problems in terms of how 832 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:04,920 Speaker 1: it was run. The staff, as a matter of procedure, 833 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:09,600 Speaker 1: tied strings to the extremities of the patients, which if 834 00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:12,799 Speaker 1: they moved, would trigger a harmonium to the pump organ, 835 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:15,279 Speaker 1: and the harmonium was played once a day to make 836 00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:17,319 Speaker 1: sure that it still worked, it was in good working order. 837 00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:20,280 Speaker 1: But as we mentioned in the case of the safety comments, 838 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:25,600 Speaker 1: dead people move a lot. It's pretty common, and so 839 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:29,279 Speaker 1: this was basically just a constant false alarm situation. I 840 00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:32,120 Speaker 1: can't imagine being the person whose job it is to 841 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:34,480 Speaker 1: sit with the dead bodies to make sure they're really dead, 842 00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:37,279 Speaker 1: and they're constantly moving and making noise. But it's a 843 00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:44,960 Speaker 1: harmonium and harmonium noise. Uh. That harmonium is poorly tuned. 844 00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:50,560 Speaker 1: Don't don't be like me, harmonium. Uh. Waiting for mortuaries 845 00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:53,319 Speaker 1: persisted well into the nineteenth century. There were even a 846 00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:56,240 Speaker 1: few in the twentieth century that had not yet shut down, 847 00:49:56,800 --> 00:49:59,440 Speaker 1: and proprietors started to hope that they could mold this 848 00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:04,000 Speaker 1: into a luxury industry by building progressively more ornamental and 849 00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:07,400 Speaker 1: fashionable homes for these businesses. They looked like beautiful houses, 850 00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:12,120 Speaker 1: but they didn't last forever because despite the fancier ones 851 00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:14,279 Speaker 1: being built, people just started to think of them as 852 00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:17,040 Speaker 1: really gross places. And like, I mean, they kind of were. 853 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:20,120 Speaker 1: They just were like little And also, let's say my 854 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:22,160 Speaker 1: loved one wakes up, I don't want them to wake 855 00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:25,440 Speaker 1: up in a room full of corpses. Uh So, so 856 00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:28,000 Speaker 1: they kind of started to fall out of favor. People 857 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,360 Speaker 1: started to question what it would be like for somebody 858 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:33,880 Speaker 1: falsely assumed to be dead to wake up, wake up 859 00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,680 Speaker 1: in a place like this, just surrounded by these decomposing bodies, 860 00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:39,759 Speaker 1: and they just didn't want that. And then there was 861 00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:44,320 Speaker 1: this very tricky fact there's no record of anyone ever 862 00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:49,359 Speaker 1: waking up in one. Uh that cast doubt on the 863 00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:54,280 Speaker 1: entire idea of premature burial as this you know, total 864 00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:58,759 Speaker 1: scourge of living people. And then as people started to 865 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:02,200 Speaker 1: realize that it was really pretty unusual to be buried alive, 866 00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:04,160 Speaker 1: it became apparent that there was not need for a 867 00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:08,480 Speaker 1: service like this, and waiting more to mortuaries slowly died out. 868 00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:11,920 Speaker 1: I'm so sorry I wrote that pun and I don't 869 00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:15,520 Speaker 1: even like puns. I promise I punched myself and the 870 00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:18,399 Speaker 1: I'm the person who named an episode of our show 871 00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:21,480 Speaker 1: a brief history of air conditioning, no way, a condensed 872 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:24,319 Speaker 1: history of air conditioning. And I don't like puns either, 873 00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,200 Speaker 1: But I was like, I can't call it anything. Be 874 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:28,440 Speaker 1: up the side that. Yeah, I'm not a fan of 875 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:30,440 Speaker 1: the puns. I don't know why I can't say it 876 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:32,920 Speaker 1: wrong in front of a live audience. Okay, it's okay, 877 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:35,319 Speaker 1: everything's cool. Uh. If you have listened to our other 878 00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:38,920 Speaker 1: live shows, and as Tracy mentioned earlier, we have a 879 00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:40,960 Speaker 1: no bummer policy for them, and you might know that. 880 00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,560 Speaker 1: So we're talking about really morbid and sometimes gross things here. 881 00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:48,080 Speaker 1: So in the interest of ending in a bit of 882 00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:52,120 Speaker 1: a happier place, I had this goofy idea, uh that 883 00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:55,280 Speaker 1: I would write a silly poem about the final wishes 884 00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:58,480 Speaker 1: of famous historical people that were designed to make sure 885 00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:00,120 Speaker 1: that they did not go to their graves but were 886 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,400 Speaker 1: their time. Is probably the best thing that ever happened 887 00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:06,560 Speaker 1: on our show. Don't over sell it, because now I'm 888 00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:10,120 Speaker 1: gonna choke. Um. So I called this how to make 889 00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:12,680 Speaker 1: sure you won't be buried alive or weird advice from 890 00:52:12,680 --> 00:52:15,239 Speaker 1: famous people. Okay, there's a buy in. You have to 891 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,319 Speaker 1: do with me here. There is a moment where I'm 892 00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:19,120 Speaker 1: going to say the word veins, and what I mean 893 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,440 Speaker 1: is the word arteries. But the word arteries takes up 894 00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:23,400 Speaker 1: a lot of syllables and it's hard to rhyme in 895 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:27,840 Speaker 1: a rhyming couplet. So um, please do not pedant this poem. 896 00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:32,640 Speaker 1: So I know it's arteries, but here we go. George 897 00:52:32,680 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: Washington asked to be held for three days before he 898 00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:40,080 Speaker 1: was placed in his Mount Vernon grave. Alfred Nobel bade, 899 00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:44,359 Speaker 1: please open my veins. Hans Christian Anderson wanted the same. 900 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:50,080 Speaker 1: Frederic Chopin wished his body cut open. Schoppenhauer for putrefaction 901 00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:55,680 Speaker 1: to set in Auguste Renoir's dearest wish simply said, whatever happens, 902 00:52:55,760 --> 00:53:00,279 Speaker 1: my son, please just make sure I'm dead. That is that. 903 00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,960 Speaker 1: We want to thank so many people for making our 904 00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:11,239 Speaker 1: first tour a delight on both coasts. Uh From all 905 00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:13,600 Speaker 1: of the venue staff that took great care of us 906 00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:16,400 Speaker 1: and made the show's happen, to all of the people 907 00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:18,880 Speaker 1: that came out to see us. You were all amazing, 908 00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:21,080 Speaker 1: and we are so so grateful for your support and 909 00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:23,560 Speaker 1: your warmth and for chatting with us and just making 910 00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:26,040 Speaker 1: it a really delightful time. And we hope everybody who 911 00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:29,600 Speaker 1: celebrates Halloween has a wonderful and safe time. And I 912 00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:32,600 Speaker 1: actually have a little bit of listener mail which is 913 00:53:32,640 --> 00:53:36,000 Speaker 1: related to one of our Halloween episodes. It's actually two 914 00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,040 Speaker 1: pieces of mail because they are related. They are both 915 00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:41,319 Speaker 1: about our Charles Adams episode. So the first one is 916 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:44,080 Speaker 1: um from our listener Megan. I hope she's a Megan 917 00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:46,080 Speaker 1: and not a Megan, and that I'm not mispronouncing it, 918 00:53:46,120 --> 00:53:48,880 Speaker 1: but either way, you know I meant well. Uh, she writes, 919 00:53:48,960 --> 00:53:51,520 Speaker 1: longtime listener, first time writing in thank you both for 920 00:53:51,560 --> 00:53:53,920 Speaker 1: your lovely and engaging podcast. I learned so much with 921 00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:56,759 Speaker 1: each episode. I was even more delighted than a bit 922 00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:59,320 Speaker 1: of the second part of the Charles Adam story grazed 923 00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,480 Speaker 1: my life, if only by a minute fraction. I am 924 00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:05,400 Speaker 1: a PSU alum and never knew my alma mater had 925 00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:08,000 Speaker 1: such a piece of art. Although to be fair, the 926 00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:11,360 Speaker 1: library system for Penn State is huge. If you recall, 927 00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:13,239 Speaker 1: in that episode we mentioned a piece of art that 928 00:54:13,280 --> 00:54:16,480 Speaker 1: the library had there was a huge mural fourteen by 929 00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:20,760 Speaker 1: four feet that Charles Adams painted originally for a seaside resort, 930 00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:23,680 Speaker 1: and she goes on to say the Patty and Paternal Libraries, 931 00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:26,520 Speaker 1: I hope I'm not mispronouncing that are truly lovely buildings 932 00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:29,520 Speaker 1: and worth touring. If any other listener has the opportunity 933 00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:33,480 Speaker 1: to visit state college or or university park the campus name. 934 00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:35,960 Speaker 1: The library does allow the public in for viewing, and 935 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,080 Speaker 1: if you are a Pennsylvania resident, you may even get 936 00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:41,120 Speaker 1: a library card for use in any library within the 937 00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:44,360 Speaker 1: entire penn State system across the state, which is awesome 938 00:54:44,360 --> 00:54:46,760 Speaker 1: to know. And then, just in case you were wanted 939 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:49,440 Speaker 1: a little more backup and reassurance, we also got an 940 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,120 Speaker 1: email about the same thing from our listener Ruth, who 941 00:54:53,160 --> 00:54:55,719 Speaker 1: says I'm a regular listener who also happens to work 942 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:58,960 Speaker 1: in Paternal Library. First of all, thanks for not repeating 943 00:54:58,960 --> 00:55:02,360 Speaker 1: the narrative of someone discovered it in our library about 944 00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:05,200 Speaker 1: that piece of art, since it had been hanging just 945 00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:08,000 Speaker 1: outside our news library for more than a decade, although 946 00:55:08,040 --> 00:55:10,920 Speaker 1: people had gotten kind of used to seeing it, she wrote. Second, 947 00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:14,120 Speaker 1: as we serve the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our library is 948 00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:16,319 Speaker 1: open to the public and folks are welcome to come 949 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,640 Speaker 1: in and look at all of our art, the architecture 950 00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:21,600 Speaker 1: of our buildings, and use our materials anytime we're open. 951 00:55:22,080 --> 00:55:24,319 Speaker 1: If you come in the entrance on Curtain Road and 952 00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:26,120 Speaker 1: turn left at the welcome desk, you will see a 953 00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:28,719 Speaker 1: sign for Starbucks. Go through that to the lounge and 954 00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:31,200 Speaker 1: the picture is up on the far side. Uh So, 955 00:55:31,239 --> 00:55:34,360 Speaker 1: now you have reassurance also from a library employee that 956 00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:36,560 Speaker 1: it is perfectly okay to go check out that Charles 957 00:55:36,560 --> 00:55:39,320 Speaker 1: Adams painting if you wish, as well as handy directions. 958 00:55:39,320 --> 00:55:42,200 Speaker 1: Thank you, Ruth. That was great. Uh thank you Megan 959 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:45,000 Speaker 1: for writing and telling us about it as well. I 960 00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,080 Speaker 1: hope many people go check it out because it's really 961 00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:50,400 Speaker 1: incredibly uh lovely and like I said, it's it's that 962 00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:52,920 Speaker 1: googlesh charm that I love Charles Adams for. If you 963 00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:54,279 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you can do so 964 00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:56,719 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at how Stuffworks dot com. You can 965 00:55:56,760 --> 00:56:00,360 Speaker 1: also find us everywhere on social media as Missed in History. 966 00:56:00,600 --> 00:56:03,080 Speaker 1: You can find us at missed in History dot com 967 00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:06,440 Speaker 1: on our website, where we have every episode that has 968 00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:08,840 Speaker 1: ever existed of the show, as well as show notes 969 00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:10,719 Speaker 1: for the ones that Tracy and I have worked on, 970 00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:14,200 Speaker 1: and occasional other goodies and odds and ends. Uh. If 971 00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:15,799 Speaker 1: you would like to subscribe, you could do so at 972 00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:18,480 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or on the I Heart Radio app, or 973 00:56:18,480 --> 00:56:26,680 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to podcasts. For more on this and 974 00:56:26,760 --> 00:56:35,480 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, visit how staff works dot com 975 00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:32,560 Speaker 1: m