WEBVTT - Why Do We Blow Out Birthday Candles? 

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope

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<v Speaker 1>and iHeartRadio. Guess what Will?

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<v Speaker 2>What's that Mango?

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<v Speaker 1>So I just found out that the first surprise parties

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<v Speaker 1>had nothing to do with birthdays or parties.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't really understand what any of this means, but

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<v Speaker 2>go ahead and explain, please.

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<v Speaker 1>So apparently the earliest use of the term surprise party

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<v Speaker 1>was in an eighteen forty novel by Irish writer Charles

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<v Speaker 1>lever And a surprise party was a squad of soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>lying in wait and engaged in a sneak attack. But

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<v Speaker 1>what's interesting is that, as weird as it might seem

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<v Speaker 1>for surprise parties to have this, you know, military origin,

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<v Speaker 1>it actually kind of makes sense. The word surprise is

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<v Speaker 1>direc from this old French verb suprendre, which means to

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<v Speaker 1>seize or to invade. So from the very beginning the

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<v Speaker 1>word surprise had this military context, and that actually carried

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<v Speaker 1>over to English in the fourteenth century.

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<v Speaker 2>Well I'm curious, so when does the meaning change to

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<v Speaker 2>more of what we think of as a surprise, like

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<v Speaker 2>something more more pleasant.

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<v Speaker 1>So that doesn't emerge until about one hundred years later.

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<v Speaker 1>Before that, the word was used almost exclusively to refer

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<v Speaker 1>to an unexpected attack on troops. In fact, it would

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<v Speaker 1>have been redundant to call something a surprise attack, because

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<v Speaker 1>back then every surprise was an attack.

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<v Speaker 2>I'll be honest, though, that's kind of how I feel

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<v Speaker 2>about surprise parties today.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I know you're joking, but there are definitely

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<v Speaker 1>people who hate surprise parties, and there's actually a scientific

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<v Speaker 1>reason for that. The momentary shock from a surprise triggers

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<v Speaker 1>the release of a stress response hormone. It's called nora adrenaline,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is part of the body's fight or flight response.

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<v Speaker 1>So your heart ray and blood pressure go up whether

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<v Speaker 1>brain focuses on assessing the threat. So when someone comes

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<v Speaker 1>at you in a dark room with a dozen flaming sticks,

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<v Speaker 1>your brain and your body can't help but go on

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<v Speaker 1>the defensive. But thinking about surprise parties made me wonder

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<v Speaker 1>about all the other things associated with parties, like why

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<v Speaker 1>do we blow out birthday candles? Whose idea was it

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<v Speaker 1>to throw confetti everywhere? And why do people like glitter?

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<v Speaker 1>So those are just a few of the questions we're

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<v Speaker 1>tackling today. Strap on your party hat because we're about

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<v Speaker 1>to dive in.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good

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<v Speaker 2>friend Mangesh how Ticketer and on the other side of

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<v Speaker 2>that soundproof glass slicing off a nice fat piece of

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<v Speaker 2>cake for himself. I'm glad he's rewarding himself today. That

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<v Speaker 2>is our friend producer for real. That's Dylan Fagan. Now

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<v Speaker 2>he very kindly brought this in for today's show. But

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<v Speaker 2>I do want to clarify something up front. Even though

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<v Speaker 2>it looks like a birthday cake with a lot of candles,

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<v Speaker 2>today isn't one of our birthdays.

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<v Speaker 1>I know who's supposed to blow those things out. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess Dylan, because he's only one back there in

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<v Speaker 1>the booth. But I do want to point out how

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<v Speaker 1>thoughtful Dylan is. He set out slices for each of

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<v Speaker 1>us before digging in for himself, because that's the kind

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<v Speaker 1>of guy he is. But I am curious, why are

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<v Speaker 1>there candles on this thing?

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<v Speaker 2>I thought maybe it was just because he's a huge

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<v Speaker 2>fan of surprise parties. You were talking about surprises at

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<v Speaker 2>the top of the show. I think we forgot to

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<v Speaker 2>mention by the way one of the greatest sketches or

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<v Speaker 2>recurring sketches of all time on SNL, where Christen Wig

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<v Speaker 2>plays the ant that just can't handle the excitement of

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<v Speaker 2>all these surprises. It's pretty great, but oh yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 2>pretty yeah. It's just such a such a such a

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<v Speaker 2>such a good good care there. But you know, typically

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<v Speaker 2>the easiest way to tell cake cake from birthday cake

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<v Speaker 2>is to check if the cake is on fire or not.

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<v Speaker 2>And in Dylan's defense, adorning a cake with candles on

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<v Speaker 2>it isn't just a birthday thing. In fact, the tradition

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<v Speaker 2>is thought to have started back in ancient Greece. It

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<v Speaker 2>was a tribute to Artemis, who was the goddess of

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<v Speaker 2>fertility and hunting. Now she was closely associated with the

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<v Speaker 2>moon as well, so her followers would bait round cakes

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<v Speaker 2>in her honor, and then they would decorate them with

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<v Speaker 2>lit candles, sort of to mimic the glow of the

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<v Speaker 2>full moon. I'd never thought about that before, but it

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<v Speaker 2>makes sense. So while the first candles on a cake

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<v Speaker 2>were still celebratory and still a present, they weren't really

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<v Speaker 2>connected to birthdays like they are today.

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<v Speaker 1>And so what do the Greeks do in that non

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<v Speaker 1>birthday scenario, like, did they blow off the candles or

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<v Speaker 1>did they just let them burn down like we're doing here.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, nobody knows for certain. They may have just handled

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<v Speaker 2>it on a cake by cake basis. But it's worth

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<v Speaker 2>noting that many ancient cultures believe that smoke could carry

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<v Speaker 2>their prayers to the gods, which is kind of a

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<v Speaker 2>nice idea. That was the whole idea behind burnt offerings

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<v Speaker 2>in Some historians think that the modern tradition of making

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<v Speaker 2>a wish when you blow out the birthday candles may

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<v Speaker 2>have developed from that same belief. You think about blowing

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<v Speaker 2>out the candles the smoke rising up to the gods, like,

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<v Speaker 2>it's an interesting idea, that's really fascinating.

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<v Speaker 1>And I know this is a ridiculous question and we

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<v Speaker 1>probably don't have an answer to it, but do we

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<v Speaker 1>have to know who the first person was to put

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<v Speaker 1>candles on a cake specifically for a birthday?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't know about the very first person, but

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<v Speaker 2>one of the earliest and the most well known was

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<v Speaker 2>the German nobleman, Count Ludwig Vaughan Zisendorf, which is such

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<v Speaker 2>a great name now thanks to the contemporary account of

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<v Speaker 2>author Andreas Frye. We know that the Count pulled out

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<v Speaker 2>all the stops for his birthday back in seventeen forty six.

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<v Speaker 2>He bought in wagonloads of decorations and set up special

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<v Speaker 2>lighting all throughout his hull. But the most impressive part

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<v Speaker 2>of the celebration had to be the dessert, because according

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<v Speaker 2>to fry I quote, there was a cake as large

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<v Speaker 2>as any oven could be found to bake it, and

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<v Speaker 2>holes made in the cake according to the years of

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<v Speaker 2>the person's age, everyone having a candle stuck into it

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<v Speaker 2>and won in the middle. So it was a big cake. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>I was considerate enough not to mention the count's age,

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<v Speaker 2>but a little quick math does tell us he would

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<v Speaker 2>have turned forty six that year, so that means, counting

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<v Speaker 2>the one in the middle, there were forty seven candles

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<v Speaker 2>on his birthday cake, which explains why they would have

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<v Speaker 2>had to make it so massive.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I guess they hadn't invented number shaped candles yet,

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<v Speaker 1>right right right.

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<v Speaker 2>That took a lot of technology to get this.

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<v Speaker 1>But I am curious, like what was the deal with

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<v Speaker 1>the candle in the middle, Like was that just so

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<v Speaker 1>one to grow on? Kind of thing?

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<v Speaker 2>I haven't heard that term one to grow on. So

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<v Speaker 2>that's why I mean, I guess pretty much most sources

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<v Speaker 2>I found say that the center candle symbolize the light

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<v Speaker 2>of life and the hope for another good year and

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<v Speaker 2>a year of good health. Now, of course, Count Zinzendorff

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<v Speaker 2>didn't come up with the candle tradition himself. Well, the

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<v Speaker 2>account of his party maybe the earliest known. There was

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<v Speaker 2>written record of birthday cake candles, and plenty of German

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<v Speaker 2>families who were also known to celebrate the candles during Kinderfest,

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<v Speaker 2>which was a child's birthday celebration. And those cases, though,

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<v Speaker 2>the candle practice worked a little bit differently than what

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<v Speaker 2>we are used to today. So rather than blowing out

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<v Speaker 2>the candles right away, German families lit them in the

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<v Speaker 2>morning and they kept them burning all the way down

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<v Speaker 2>until dinnertime, and if any of the candles happened to

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<v Speaker 2>burn out before it was time to cut the cake,

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<v Speaker 2>a vigilant family member would swoop in to replace it

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<v Speaker 2>with a fresh one.

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<v Speaker 1>That is incredible, but also like why I mean, if

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<v Speaker 1>they were burning through a whole day's worth of candles,

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<v Speaker 1>then the cag had to be covered in wax by

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<v Speaker 1>the time they finally went to eat it, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and I'm pretty sure it would taste pretty disgusting

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<v Speaker 2>since most candles were made from rendered animal fat at

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<v Speaker 2>the time. But you know, many Germans at the time

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<v Speaker 2>believed that children were especially vulnerable to spiritual attacks on

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<v Speaker 2>their birthdays, and so making sure the candles on the

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<v Speaker 2>kid's cakes stayed lit was was really this sort of

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<v Speaker 2>symbolic way to protect them from an evil influence, and

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<v Speaker 2>for most parents, the peace of mind was more important

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<v Speaker 2>than coating your cake and wax.

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<v Speaker 1>It's pretty wild to see just how many of our

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<v Speaker 1>birthday traditions have grown out of like these old religious

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<v Speaker 1>customs and decisions. I mean, it's a similar story with

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<v Speaker 1>those plastic noise makers that people had out at parties.

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<v Speaker 1>They actually have their roots in pre Christian Europe, when

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<v Speaker 1>people believe that evil spirits targeted you on your birthday,

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<v Speaker 1>so all your friends and relatives were supposed to make

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<v Speaker 1>a bunch of noise to scare them off and protect you.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's funny that you can walk around places

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<v Speaker 2>like party City and just see a whole bunch of

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<v Speaker 2>things that have roots and ancient rituals. You know.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, it's pretty interesting, but now that you

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<v Speaker 1>measure it, there's at least one party staple with a

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<v Speaker 1>much more modern origin story involves a New Jersey cattle rancher,

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<v Speaker 1>a precision cutting machine, and a whole boatload of schnibbles.

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<v Speaker 2>I love it when you have a tease like that

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<v Speaker 2>where I have no idea what you're talking about, but

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<v Speaker 2>you know what, let's take a quick break. I'm going

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<v Speaker 2>to try to figure it out, and then when we

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<v Speaker 2>come back, you can bring me up to speed.

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to part Time Genius and we're celebrating the

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<v Speaker 1>strange science and hidden histories behind the world's favorite party supply.

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<v Speaker 1>So will what's the worst party you've been to? Or

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<v Speaker 1>like something you hate to see at parties? Clowns, magicians.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna be honest with you, Mango, I love it

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<v Speaker 2>when clowns and magicians are at parties because they make

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<v Speaker 2>people sort of uncomfortable to anybody that's bold enough to

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<v Speaker 2>like dress up as a clown or do the magician thing,

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<v Speaker 2>just given all how they are always the punchline of

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<v Speaker 2>jokes like I love that bravery, that boldness, just the

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<v Speaker 2>weirdness of it all. So I'm going in a different direction.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm actually saying I really like it at parties when

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<v Speaker 2>people have the things that people tend to hate the most.

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<v Speaker 1>Anyway, what about you, Well, we went to something that

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<v Speaker 1>was teased to me as a party, and then it

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<v Speaker 1>was the startup thing and we showed up and then

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<v Speaker 1>they put us all on computers and we had to

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<v Speaker 1>do all these reviews of things that we had not

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<v Speaker 1>intended to do, and I was so angry, Like I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't want to sit there and review restaurants and cafes

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<v Speaker 1>just to get into the small apartment where I could

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<v Speaker 1>get a drink. That's ridiculous, annoying. But another thing I

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<v Speaker 1>really hate about parties is glitter, and whether it's on

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<v Speaker 1>decorations or banners or party hats, I hate how it's

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<v Speaker 1>impossible to find and clean off, mostly because of static cling.

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<v Speaker 1>And is that why glitter sticks to everything? Because that actually,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what, Mango, I'm going to go back to

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<v Speaker 1>your previous question.

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<v Speaker 2>Parties with lots of glitter. That is one of the

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<v Speaker 2>things I'm not a fan of. I know the kids

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<v Speaker 2>love it, but it sticks to everything. But anyway, I

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<v Speaker 2>thought it might have a little light adhesive on it.

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<v Speaker 2>But what is the reason here?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so most glitter is actually made of bits of

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<v Speaker 1>plastic covered and a layer of aluminum, and because that

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<v Speaker 1>metal coating is negatively charged, it forms a powerful bond

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes into contact with anything that's positively charged.

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<v Speaker 1>So that could be something like human skin. But that's

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<v Speaker 1>not to say that static electricity is the only reason

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<v Speaker 1>why glitter is so sticky. It could be things like

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<v Speaker 1>air viscosity. Also like surface tension if you're thinking about

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<v Speaker 1>like trying to remove glitter from a flat surface or

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<v Speaker 1>a wet surface, like that's part of the reason.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that is pretty interesting. But I sometimes wonder why

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<v Speaker 2>glitter is still a thing because other than my daughter

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<v Speaker 2>who just loves it and wants it to be involved

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<v Speaker 2>in every dinner much less party, I feel like it's

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<v Speaker 2>a thing we should be over by. Now what do

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<v Speaker 2>you think?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean it is sparkly, and if history as

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<v Speaker 1>taught as anything, it's that humans are big fans of bright,

0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.240
<v Speaker 1>shiny objects, and this actually that might not be such

0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.200
<v Speaker 1>a bad thing. I remember this study from a while back.

0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.920
<v Speaker 1>There were these researchers who rowed up a big group

0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:59.160
<v Speaker 1>of toddlers and infants and then monitored their enthusiasm for

0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:03.760
<v Speaker 1>licking different kinds of plates, and apparently the babies were

0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:07.280
<v Speaker 1>far more attracted to plates with glossy surfaces than they

0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.160
<v Speaker 1>were the ones with matt finishes.

0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.880
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I'm sort of in the same camp. If

0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:16.120
<v Speaker 2>something super shiny like that, I sort of get the impulse.

0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:17.360
<v Speaker 2>But what did that prove? Exactly?

0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.720
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you gotta lick it because late licking parties can

0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:21.800
<v Speaker 1>be fun, is what it proved.

0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:23.920
<v Speaker 2>Okay, Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and put that also

0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:25.880
<v Speaker 2>on the list of things I don't want to happen

0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:26.439
<v Speaker 2>at parties.

0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.360
<v Speaker 1>It also suggests that humans are innately drawn to shiny,

0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.160
<v Speaker 1>glistening objects, and it's not because we think they're pretty,

0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.960
<v Speaker 1>but because they mimic the reflective sheen of fresh water. So,

0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.760
<v Speaker 1>millions of years ago, the drive to seek out clean

0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.439
<v Speaker 1>water helped keep our ancestors alive, and thanks to evolution,

0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:47.560
<v Speaker 1>that same instinct is alive and well in this plate

0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.760
<v Speaker 1>licking baby experiment today.

0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.920
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so I see, So being dazzled by glitter just

0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.600
<v Speaker 2>sort of means maybe you're thirsty.

0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.600
<v Speaker 1>Mm hmm, yeah, thirsty for sparkle. But what's kind of

0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.959
<v Speaker 1>fascinating is that glitter wasn't invented until the nineteen thirties,

0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.840
<v Speaker 1>and even then it was only by accident.

0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:07.400
<v Speaker 2>Okay, yeah, you were hitting about this earlier, something about

0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:09.880
<v Speaker 2>New Jersey and New Jersey farmer, I guess, and a

0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:11.520
<v Speaker 2>bunch of snubbles.

0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:15.839
<v Speaker 1>What was the word you said, snibbles? It's actually an

0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.280
<v Speaker 1>industry term for the leftover bits of paper, plastic, or

0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:23.760
<v Speaker 1>fabric that result from manufacturing. And as for the Jersey farmer,

0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.600
<v Speaker 1>he was a cattle rancher who had turned into an inventor.

0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.560
<v Speaker 1>His name was Henry Ruschmann. In the nineteen thirties, he

0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:34.040
<v Speaker 1>created a precision cutting machine to neatly trim developed glossy photos,

0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.480
<v Speaker 1>but sometimes it malfunctioned and it cut the prints into tiny,

0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.280
<v Speaker 1>useless pieces. Now, Rischmand threw out the schnibbles at first,

0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.200
<v Speaker 1>but after noticing how pretty they were when they caught light,

0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.120
<v Speaker 1>he built a new machine to purposely produce them from

0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.440
<v Speaker 1>plastic scrap, and in their early forties he began marketing

0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.720
<v Speaker 1>glitter for use in craft projects and holiday decorations. And

0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.640
<v Speaker 1>while it was only supposed to be a side business

0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.680
<v Speaker 1>at first, like a little extra income to help support

0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:03.439
<v Speaker 1>his day operation slinging. All this glitter turned out to

0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.240
<v Speaker 1>be way more lucrative than his other work, and that

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.920
<v Speaker 1>was due in part to the material shortages during World

0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.520
<v Speaker 1>War Two. At Christmas time in nineteen forty two, Americans

0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.000
<v Speaker 1>were encouraged to spare their candles, and it was encouraged

0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.880
<v Speaker 1>that people use glitter to brighten their homes for the holidays.

0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.680
<v Speaker 2>It's so funny to think it's something as unnecessary as glitter,

0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, starting out is really like a wartime need.

0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.800
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and it was such a strangely specific idea that

0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.960
<v Speaker 1>Riuschman's company, they're called Meadowbrook Inventions, it pretty much had

0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:34.760
<v Speaker 1>a monopoly on glitter for decades. In fact, all these

0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.600
<v Speaker 1>years later, Meadowbrook is still one of only two glitter

0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.280
<v Speaker 1>manufacturers in the world, and the other one is called

0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:46.480
<v Speaker 1>glitter X, and weirdly, it is also based in New Jersey.

0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:48.960
<v Speaker 2>I'm honestly god a shock that the market for glitter

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.040
<v Speaker 2>is big enough to sustain two separate companies. I mean,

0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.880
<v Speaker 2>these are microplastics, after all. You would think a single

0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.800
<v Speaker 2>factory could just crank out all the need that's out there.

0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.560
<v Speaker 1>I mean, glitter isn't just used for crafting and party supplies.

0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.560
<v Speaker 1>It gets mixed into all kinds of consumer products that

0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.120
<v Speaker 1>we don't think about, so it's everything from like nail

0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:11.000
<v Speaker 1>polish to NFL helmets. There are even a few scientific

0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:15.280
<v Speaker 1>applications too. For instance, this is amazing. Zookeepers and animal

0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.840
<v Speaker 1>researchers will sometimes add glitter to animal feed so that

0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.880
<v Speaker 1>they can tell one animal's fecal sample from another, which

0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.360
<v Speaker 1>is just not fu real. So another thing to keep

0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:27.240
<v Speaker 1>in mind is that we actually don't know what the

0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:31.200
<v Speaker 1>industry's biggest client is doing with all their glitter and

0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.440
<v Speaker 1>what does that mean. So you remember our pal Katie Weaver.

0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.840
<v Speaker 1>She wrote this amazing piece for The New York Times

0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.000
<v Speaker 1>a few years ago where she interviewed someone like glitter

0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:43.400
<v Speaker 1>X about how glitter is made, and at one point

0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.400
<v Speaker 1>she asks what the company's biggest market is, but the

0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.000
<v Speaker 1>spokeswoman refuses to answer. She just laughs and says, you

0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.760
<v Speaker 1>would never guess it. Just leave it at that, because

0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.120
<v Speaker 1>they don't want anyone to know that it's glitter.

0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.560
<v Speaker 2>Is such a cryptic response, like shouldn't she have just

0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.560
<v Speaker 2>said like party hats or something. There's surely somebody who's

0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:06.240
<v Speaker 2>figured out what the reason is right.

0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.640
<v Speaker 1>So apparently there's a ton of online debate about this.

0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.160
<v Speaker 1>So far, no one's come off with any solid evidence.

0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:16.120
<v Speaker 1>But for this glitter conspiracy, some people think it's used

0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:20.840
<v Speaker 1>in toothpaste. Others say it's mixed into sand on luxury beaches,

0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.480
<v Speaker 1>both of which would of course be horrible news for

0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:25.920
<v Speaker 1>our bodies in the world's oceans. But those are really

0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.200
<v Speaker 1>just guesses because big glitter is not tellent.

0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.000
<v Speaker 2>Big glitter, well, whatever it is, it's going to be

0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.080
<v Speaker 2>with us for a good long while because I read

0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.200
<v Speaker 2>it takes one thousand years for glitter to degrade. A

0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:39.600
<v Speaker 2>thousand years.

0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, which is why I wear team candles.

0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.280
<v Speaker 2>Here at Partime View, we most definitely are. Now that said,

0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.320
<v Speaker 2>if you're interested in engineering a festive atmosphere by throwing

0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.040
<v Speaker 2>colorful little bits around, there's a much more environmentally friendly

0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:52.960
<v Speaker 2>way to do it, and we're going to discuss that

0:16:53.240 --> 0:17:09.520
<v Speaker 2>right after this break. Welcome back to part Time Genius.

0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.359
<v Speaker 2>All right, Mango, So we talked a little bit about

0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.960
<v Speaker 2>some party traditions that have their roots in antiquity, and

0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.520
<v Speaker 2>it turns out we can add confetti to that list

0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.199
<v Speaker 2>as well. Now, humans have a long colorful history of

0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:22.920
<v Speaker 2>tossing around small objects at celebrations, and while shredded paper

0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.000
<v Speaker 2>is the material of choice today, the ancient Greeks went

0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.520
<v Speaker 2>for a much greener option. Actually, on special occasions like

0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.359
<v Speaker 2>a soldier returning from war, an athlete winning a match,

0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.240
<v Speaker 2>or a couple getting married, the public would celebrate by

0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.159
<v Speaker 2>tossing around branches and leaves and garlands and just various

0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:40.520
<v Speaker 2>other bits of plant matter.

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.960
<v Speaker 1>So they were just throwing plant matter in the air

0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:45.679
<v Speaker 1>or were they throwing it at the people who are

0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:46.159
<v Speaker 1>being honored?

0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.119
<v Speaker 2>Honestly, it's kind of a free for all, like some

0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.639
<v Speaker 2>people threw clippings over or onto the people being honored,

0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:53.879
<v Speaker 2>and others through the greenery in front of them to

0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.240
<v Speaker 2>be walked on. And historians aren't sure how the practice

0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.439
<v Speaker 2>got started, but the best guess is that it evolved

0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.320
<v Speaker 2>from gift get traditions, like you know, placing a laurel

0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.440
<v Speaker 2>crown on the winner of a race or things like that,

0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.560
<v Speaker 2>And you know, because an athlete might not want to

0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.479
<v Speaker 2>stand around to be crowned by one hundred different people,

0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.399
<v Speaker 2>so instead the crowd settled for throwing a gift and

0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:13.719
<v Speaker 2>the winner's general direction.

0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, I got it, but these gifts were basically worthless,

0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.520
<v Speaker 1>Like they weren't tossing flowers of fruit or anything useful.

0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:22.920
<v Speaker 1>They were just throwing like branch clippings.

0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.160
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, that's true. I mean none of the greenery

0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.520
<v Speaker 2>was ever collected or saved. It just all got trampled.

0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.480
<v Speaker 2>But that's kind of why the practice can be thought

0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.560
<v Speaker 2>of as a forerunner to throwing confetti, And both of

0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:35.919
<v Speaker 2>these cases, it doesn't matter so much what's being thrown.

0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.080
<v Speaker 2>It's the sheer volume of what you're throwing and the

0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.720
<v Speaker 2>act of throwing, and that kind of makes the whole

0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.280
<v Speaker 2>thing feel like a big party.

0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.359
<v Speaker 1>Well obviously, like throwing bits of colorful paper are more

0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.920
<v Speaker 1>like a fluria of flower pedals or something like that,

0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.480
<v Speaker 1>But that feels so much better than geting smacked in

0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.280
<v Speaker 1>the face with pine needles or tree branches like that

0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.280
<v Speaker 1>doesn't seem like much of a party for those.

0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:58.439
<v Speaker 2>I've been with you over that. I think anybody that

0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:00.080
<v Speaker 2>thinks that is a party would be at that a

0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.480
<v Speaker 2>little strange. But we are lucky though, that somebody finally

0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.640
<v Speaker 2>thought to cut the plants into small throwable strips.

0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:09.879
<v Speaker 1>And so when does that happen? Exactly? Like how old

0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:12.000
<v Speaker 1>is modern confetti.

0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, paper confetti only came about in the late nineteenth century,

0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.560
<v Speaker 2>and prior to that many cultures had made the switch

0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:21.199
<v Speaker 2>from throwing greenery at celebrations to throwing food stuffs. So

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.359
<v Speaker 2>the practice was especially popular at weddings, where guests would

0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:28.000
<v Speaker 2>shower the newly weeds with handfuls of rice and raisins,

0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.080
<v Speaker 2>nuts or even shortbread. And you think about more modern weddings,

0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.000
<v Speaker 2>a lot of times you see things like rice being

0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:35.800
<v Speaker 2>thrown as well as you know, couples exiting the wedding

0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.960
<v Speaker 2>or things like that. But some cultures eventually applied the

0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:44.320
<v Speaker 2>custom to other kinds of celebrations. You think about milestone birthdays, anniversaries,

0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:46.720
<v Speaker 2>and in many cases the foods that were thrown were

0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.800
<v Speaker 2>tasty enough for the guests to collect and eat them afterward.

0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:53.320
<v Speaker 2>And in eighteenth century Italy they even adopted a special

0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:58.400
<v Speaker 2>word for these small throwable treats, confetti, or translated little sweets.

0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.320
<v Speaker 1>Oh that's interesting. I never had any idea that the

0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.879
<v Speaker 1>word meant something. And you know, it kind of feels

0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:06.840
<v Speaker 1>like a tease now that you're just getting paper instead

0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:07.640
<v Speaker 1>of sweets.

0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's weird to think about, but confetti sprinkles are

0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.600
<v Speaker 2>actually more in line with the original confetti. Yeah, like funfetti,

0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:17.639
<v Speaker 2>Love some funfetti. It's probably one of my top ten cakes.

0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.119
<v Speaker 2>You know, to make a good fun fetti cake. But

0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:23.280
<v Speaker 2>Italy's take was a little more nuanced than that. So

0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.000
<v Speaker 2>in the nineteenth century, Italian confetti consisted mostly of sugar

0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:31.520
<v Speaker 2>glazed nuts or dried fruit seeds sugared almonds, and this

0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.400
<v Speaker 2>was especially popular at the country's carnival.

0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:37.840
<v Speaker 1>Parties, which sounds better in theory, but I also don't

0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.040
<v Speaker 1>want to be pelted by like a bunch of sticky almonds.

0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:42.040
<v Speaker 2>You're so picky about the things you want to be

0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.920
<v Speaker 2>pelted with. But actually all joking aside, You're not alone

0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.960
<v Speaker 2>because plenty of partygoers also complained that the candied nuts

0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:51.320
<v Speaker 2>were too dangerous, and not only because it hurt to

0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.680
<v Speaker 2>get hit with them, because kids would often crawl around

0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.080
<v Speaker 2>in the busy streets to collect them and to make

0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.240
<v Speaker 2>matters where some bad actors started making fake confetti and

0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:01.679
<v Speaker 2>it looked like sugared almonds but in reality was just

0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:05.760
<v Speaker 2>globs of hardened plastic. So carnival, I know, it's terrible.

0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.560
<v Speaker 2>So carnival party goers were eventually fed up with being

0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.960
<v Speaker 2>bruised by fake almonds, and so in the late eighteen hundreds,

0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.439
<v Speaker 2>Italy retired edible confetti and brought in paper confetti to

0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.480
<v Speaker 2>replace it. Now, aside from being far less bruising, paper

0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.959
<v Speaker 2>confetti proved cheaper, easier to clean up, and better still,

0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:24.680
<v Speaker 2>it wasn't something that children would run into the streets

0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:25.240
<v Speaker 2>to pick up.

0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.159
<v Speaker 1>And it's like a better visual spectacle, right, Like the

0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.760
<v Speaker 1>paper hangs, it flutters and the air instead of just

0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:32.800
<v Speaker 1>like thudding to the ground.

0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:34.919
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I mean it's funny that you mentioned that,

0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.240
<v Speaker 2>because confetti actually dazzled people and helped New York police

0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.040
<v Speaker 2>keep the peace. Back in the early nineties, New Year's

0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.560
<v Speaker 2>in Times Square was more like a drunken brawl than

0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.400
<v Speaker 2>a party. But in nineteen ninety two the city tried

0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.479
<v Speaker 2>to lighten things up by dumping a few thousand pounds

0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:50.800
<v Speaker 2>of confetti on the ground.

0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:54.360
<v Speaker 1>Thousand pounds and that works.

0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:57.480
<v Speaker 2>And one spot they dropped it on one guy and

0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:01.520
<v Speaker 2>it was just air, you know the scene you pictured,

0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:03.760
<v Speaker 2>it flying everywhere, and the whole mood of the party

0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.600
<v Speaker 2>actually shifted that night. And so every New Year since,

0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.439
<v Speaker 2>most people in Times Square have been too dazzled to

0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.520
<v Speaker 2>fight with each other. And it's interesting to imagine that scenario,

0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:14.720
<v Speaker 2>but it kind of makes sense. But while we're talking

0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:17.160
<v Speaker 2>about New York, we should probably talk about the city's

0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:20.679
<v Speaker 2>own homegrown version of confetti, which is the ticker tape.

0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.399
<v Speaker 1>You know, for some reason, I just assumed tickertape came

0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:25.560
<v Speaker 1>from London. I didn't realize it was a New York convention.

0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:28.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Ticker tape made its debut in the eighteen sixties

0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:30.879
<v Speaker 2>when the world's first stock ticker was unveiled at the

0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.679
<v Speaker 2>New York Stock Exchange. The device could receive up to

0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:36.600
<v Speaker 2>the minute stock prices over telegraph wires and then print

0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:39.640
<v Speaker 2>them out almost in real time on these long, thin

0:22:39.800 --> 0:22:42.919
<v Speaker 2>ribbons of paper tape. Both the machine and the paper

0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.359
<v Speaker 2>were named for the distinctive tick tick tick sound that

0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:47.200
<v Speaker 2>the type wheel made while printing.

0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:50.919
<v Speaker 1>So tickertape kind of starts out as the opposite of confetti. Right.

0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:53.160
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't party paper, it was business.

0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:56.080
<v Speaker 2>Paper, that's exactly right. But that all changed a couple

0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:59.199
<v Speaker 2>decades later. During the official opening of the Statue of

0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:02.679
<v Speaker 2>Liberty in eighteen eighty six, there was this big celebration

0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:05.440
<v Speaker 2>in Lower Manhattan with a parade starting at City Hall

0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:08.080
<v Speaker 2>and ending at Battery Park with a clear view of

0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:10.560
<v Speaker 2>the statue. Now, the use of ticker tape wasn't a

0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:13.680
<v Speaker 2>plan part of the festivities, and the city's fledgling financial

0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:16.719
<v Speaker 2>district wasn't even part of the route. But office workers

0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:19.120
<v Speaker 2>didn't let that stop them from joining in the party.

0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:21.480
<v Speaker 2>So when they heard the parade was passing a few

0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.560
<v Speaker 2>streets over, some workers open their windows flung out the

0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:26.920
<v Speaker 2>ribbons of used ticker tape that had been lying around

0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:29.720
<v Speaker 2>the office, And when people and other buildings saw this,

0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:32.040
<v Speaker 2>they started doing the same thing. It sort of sets

0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:35.199
<v Speaker 2>off this chain reaction around the city. The flurry of

0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:37.960
<v Speaker 2>ticker tape added such a festive touch to the proceedings

0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:40.920
<v Speaker 2>that it soon became a fixture of New York parades.

0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:43.959
<v Speaker 2>Although they're far less common today, the city has hosted

0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:46.880
<v Speaker 2>more than two hundred ticker tape parades over the last

0:23:46.880 --> 0:23:49.800
<v Speaker 2>century and a half. And although a few people realize that,

0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:52.320
<v Speaker 2>there's even a monument in New York called the Canyon

0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:56.520
<v Speaker 2>of Heroes that memorializes each ticker tape parade along with

0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:58.520
<v Speaker 2>the people and the events that it was meant to celebrate.

0:23:58.720 --> 0:24:00.960
<v Speaker 2>I never heard of That funniest part is that the

0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.240
<v Speaker 2>ticker tape actually outlasted the stock ticker itself. The last

0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.560
<v Speaker 2>mechanical models were released back in the early nineteen sixties,

0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:11.320
<v Speaker 2>but ticker tape is still being tossed around all these

0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:12.000
<v Speaker 2>years later.

0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:15.840
<v Speaker 1>That is amazing. And speaking of things that are amazing,

0:24:16.119 --> 0:24:18.280
<v Speaker 1>we should probably cap this party off. Get a little

0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:25.200
<v Speaker 1>fact off. Here's another one of the lesser known uses

0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:28.560
<v Speaker 1>of glitter solving a murder case. So back in the

0:24:28.600 --> 0:24:32.440
<v Speaker 1>early two thousands, California forensic scientist Ed Jones helped solve

0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:35.199
<v Speaker 1>the murder by matching the same red glitter found in

0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:38.520
<v Speaker 1>a victim's hair to samples recovered from the suspect's vehicle.

0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:41.480
<v Speaker 1>Apparently the killer had tried to clean his truck after

0:24:41.520 --> 0:24:44.480
<v Speaker 1>the crime, but true to form, a few telltale pieces

0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:46.680
<v Speaker 1>of glitter managed to sneak by him.

0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:49.480
<v Speaker 2>You know, the one time when glitters stickiness actually comes

0:24:49.480 --> 0:24:52.359
<v Speaker 2>in handy, Okay, I'll acknowledge that. All right, Well, here's

0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:54.920
<v Speaker 2>a weird one I found out about confetti. Have you

0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:57.520
<v Speaker 2>ever noticed that when confetti rains down after the World

0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:00.879
<v Speaker 2>Series or some big event like that, the image quality

0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:03.920
<v Speaker 2>on your TV takes a huge dip, it starts to

0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:06.760
<v Speaker 2>look called choppy and the image kind of shutters. That's

0:25:06.800 --> 0:25:09.679
<v Speaker 2>because the raw video has to be compressed for broadcast.

0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:13.359
<v Speaker 2>But instead of reproducing every pixel that appears in a frame,

0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:17.080
<v Speaker 2>compress files reuse some of the same information based on

0:25:17.200 --> 0:25:20.400
<v Speaker 2>visual patterns, and that helps save space. So, for example,

0:25:20.400 --> 0:25:23.000
<v Speaker 2>in a wide shot of a baseball field, the background

0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:26.600
<v Speaker 2>information might be reused for multiple frames at a time,

0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:29.199
<v Speaker 2>sort of frees up more data to focus on the

0:25:29.200 --> 0:25:32.120
<v Speaker 2>players that are moving on the screen. Now, this reuse

0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:34.760
<v Speaker 2>of pixels is subtle enough miss this in most cases,

0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.120
<v Speaker 2>but confetti throws a wrench in things. It becomes much

0:25:38.160 --> 0:25:40.359
<v Speaker 2>harder to predict the next frame when you suddenly have

0:25:40.520 --> 0:25:43.680
<v Speaker 2>hundreds of tiny paper slips moving randomly through the shot,

0:25:43.800 --> 0:25:46.160
<v Speaker 2>all at once. Now, in cases like that, the video

0:25:46.200 --> 0:25:48.600
<v Speaker 2>has to consume more bits per second to keep up

0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:52.119
<v Speaker 2>with the action, and the picture quality inevitably takes a

0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:54.600
<v Speaker 2>big hit. So, even in the age of high speed

0:25:54.640 --> 0:25:58.399
<v Speaker 2>streaming and ultra HDTVs, we still can't quite capture the

0:25:58.400 --> 0:26:02.199
<v Speaker 2>full visual majesty of this low tech confetti storm. It's

0:26:02.280 --> 0:26:02.680
<v Speaker 2>kind of wild.

0:26:02.920 --> 0:26:05.919
<v Speaker 1>I've never even thought about that. So, speaking of technical things,

0:26:06.000 --> 0:26:10.240
<v Speaker 1>have you ever wondered how crick candles work. I have. Yeah,

0:26:10.320 --> 0:26:13.320
<v Speaker 1>So with regular candles, the force of your breath actually

0:26:13.320 --> 0:26:16.000
<v Speaker 1>pushes the flame away from its fuel source, right, and

0:26:16.040 --> 0:26:18.880
<v Speaker 1>it causes it to go out. But trick candles are

0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:22.560
<v Speaker 1>manufactured with a small amount of magnesium inside their wicks. Now,

0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:25.120
<v Speaker 1>the magnesium won't ignite when the candle is burning because

0:26:25.160 --> 0:26:28.359
<v Speaker 1>the flame prevents oxygen from reaching it, and magnesium can't

0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:31.760
<v Speaker 1>burn without oxygen. However, once the candle is blown out,

0:26:32.160 --> 0:26:35.639
<v Speaker 1>oxygen immediately comes in contact with the magnesium and with

0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:38.280
<v Speaker 1>a smoldering ember at the tip of the wick, and

0:26:38.400 --> 0:26:42.240
<v Speaker 1>this causes the magnesium dust particles to ignite, creating tiny

0:26:42.240 --> 0:26:45.560
<v Speaker 1>sparks that are hot enough to relight the candle. The

0:26:45.640 --> 0:26:48.199
<v Speaker 1>chemical reaction can be repeated over and over until the

0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:51.640
<v Speaker 1>magnesium supply is exhausted or until the birthday kit loses

0:26:51.680 --> 0:26:53.480
<v Speaker 1>their patients, whichever happens first.

0:26:54.880 --> 0:26:57.320
<v Speaker 2>All right, Well, speaking of birthday candles, I've always wondered

0:26:57.359 --> 0:27:00.240
<v Speaker 2>if we really spread germs and bacteria when we low

0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:02.639
<v Speaker 2>them out, So I decided to look into this, and

0:27:02.680 --> 0:27:05.040
<v Speaker 2>it turns out that scientists from the Canadian Center of

0:27:05.119 --> 0:27:09.199
<v Speaker 2>Science and Education have conducted some pretty extensive studies on this,

0:27:09.640 --> 0:27:12.159
<v Speaker 2>and I'm sorry to say the results are not pretty.

0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:15.680
<v Speaker 2>After multiple trials, the team found that cakes with candles

0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:19.920
<v Speaker 2>that were blown out contain nearly fifteen thousand percent more

0:27:20.000 --> 0:27:23.280
<v Speaker 2>bacteria than cakes that did not have candles blown out.

0:27:23.359 --> 0:27:26.199
<v Speaker 2>That's obviously bad news for germophobes, but there is a

0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:29.359
<v Speaker 2>silver lining here. So the research shows that most bacteria

0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:32.000
<v Speaker 2>can't survive thisliva in our mouth or the acid in

0:27:32.040 --> 0:27:34.399
<v Speaker 2>our stomach. We have a much greater chance of getting

0:27:34.400 --> 0:27:36.960
<v Speaker 2>sick from bacteria that makes it into our noses and

0:27:37.000 --> 0:27:39.280
<v Speaker 2>our eyes. So as long as you don't shove cake

0:27:39.359 --> 0:27:42.360
<v Speaker 2>up there, you can still chill down in relative safety.

0:27:43.040 --> 0:27:46.840
<v Speaker 1>It's good to know. Here's the story from a party

0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:50.600
<v Speaker 1>that went completely wrong. So back in nineteen twelve, sixteen

0:27:50.680 --> 0:27:53.280
<v Speaker 1>women were fired from their jobs at the Ladies Home

0:27:53.359 --> 0:27:56.840
<v Speaker 1>Journal for dancing the Turkey trot on their lunch break.

0:27:58.840 --> 0:28:01.000
<v Speaker 1>Although the trendy dance this stuff had been named and

0:28:01.040 --> 0:28:04.240
<v Speaker 1>modeled after the movements of a turkey, including elbow lifts

0:28:04.240 --> 0:28:07.119
<v Speaker 1>to mimic the bird's flapping wings, it still managed to

0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:11.760
<v Speaker 1>spark this outrage from the era's moral police. Some venues

0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:15.359
<v Speaker 1>posted signs that said no turkey trotting allowed, and others

0:28:15.400 --> 0:28:18.239
<v Speaker 1>went so far as stationing a uniformed employee in the

0:28:18.280 --> 0:28:21.639
<v Speaker 1>center of the dance floor to watch out for illicit trotter's.

0:28:22.040 --> 0:28:25.399
<v Speaker 1>The dance prohibitions hit peak absurdi though, when sixteen Philadelphia

0:28:25.480 --> 0:28:28.280
<v Speaker 1>women were fired from a magazine for dancing the trot

0:28:28.359 --> 0:28:31.240
<v Speaker 1>on company grounds. The staff had gathered in the ladies

0:28:31.320 --> 0:28:33.879
<v Speaker 1>wreck room. This was during their lunch hour, and they

0:28:33.880 --> 0:28:36.320
<v Speaker 1>were gearing up for the coming weekend by teaching each

0:28:36.359 --> 0:28:40.360
<v Speaker 1>other these dance steps. Unfortunately, the magazine's chief editor, Edward Bach,

0:28:40.440 --> 0:28:43.040
<v Speaker 1>happened to pass by just as the women were demonstrating

0:28:43.080 --> 0:28:46.040
<v Speaker 1>the trot, and needless to say, he did not like

0:28:46.120 --> 0:28:49.719
<v Speaker 1>what he saw. The mass firing was reported nationwide and

0:28:49.760 --> 0:28:53.360
<v Speaker 1>most papers ran the same headline. Girls danced the turkey

0:28:53.400 --> 0:28:57.200
<v Speaker 1>trot and editor Boch saw them and was fearfully shocked.

0:28:58.320 --> 0:29:01.560
<v Speaker 2>So weird. That's great fact though. I actually have another

0:29:01.600 --> 0:29:04.160
<v Speaker 2>cautionary tale for you, and it's about a French nobleman

0:29:04.200 --> 0:29:07.080
<v Speaker 2>who threw an epic party in the seventeenth century and

0:29:07.160 --> 0:29:09.920
<v Speaker 2>wound up paying for it for the rest of his life.

0:29:10.120 --> 0:29:13.640
<v Speaker 2>His name was Nicolay Fouquet, and his party was supposedly

0:29:13.680 --> 0:29:16.680
<v Speaker 2>meant to honor the most famous guest, twenty two year

0:29:16.720 --> 0:29:20.440
<v Speaker 2>old King Louis the fourteenth. In reality, though, the event

0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:22.640
<v Speaker 2>was just a way for Fouquet to show off his

0:29:22.720 --> 0:29:26.560
<v Speaker 2>fancy new estate and maybe get himself promoted to Prime Minister.

0:29:27.120 --> 0:29:29.560
<v Speaker 2>So Fouquet pulled out all the stops to achieve this.

0:29:30.160 --> 0:29:33.480
<v Speaker 2>He invited somewhere between three thousand and six thousand people,

0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:36.840
<v Speaker 2>and he gave every single one of them a costly gift.

0:29:37.200 --> 0:29:40.960
<v Speaker 2>These diamond brooches for the ladies and thoroughbred horses for them.

0:29:41.040 --> 0:29:44.160
<v Speaker 2>Then these gifts are wild now. He also called in

0:29:44.200 --> 0:29:47.640
<v Speaker 2>a favor from the famous playwright Molier and had him

0:29:47.680 --> 0:29:50.239
<v Speaker 2>write a new comedic play to be performed for the

0:29:50.280 --> 0:29:53.440
<v Speaker 2>first time after dinner. The performance was held in these

0:29:53.560 --> 0:29:56.720
<v Speaker 2>lavish gardens, and when it concluded, guests were treated to

0:29:56.760 --> 0:30:00.440
<v Speaker 2>a spectacular firework show above the estate. There was even

0:30:00.440 --> 0:30:03.520
<v Speaker 2>a big mechanical whale that quote swam through a canal

0:30:03.600 --> 0:30:06.760
<v Speaker 2>and shot off even more fireworks. The party was a

0:30:06.880 --> 0:30:10.680
<v Speaker 2>huge success by every measure except one. King Louis didn't

0:30:10.720 --> 0:30:13.120
<v Speaker 2>feel honored by the event. In fact, the young king

0:30:13.200 --> 0:30:17.080
<v Speaker 2>felt threatened by Fouquet's flagrant display of wealth, especially since

0:30:17.080 --> 0:30:20.160
<v Speaker 2>it seemed to support earlier accusations that Fouquet had been

0:30:20.440 --> 0:30:23.720
<v Speaker 2>stealing money from the Royal Treasury. But whether the rumors

0:30:23.760 --> 0:30:26.360
<v Speaker 2>were true or not, Fouque's fate was sealed by the

0:30:26.480 --> 0:30:28.760
<v Speaker 2>end of the party. He was arrested on trumped up

0:30:28.840 --> 0:30:31.600
<v Speaker 2>charges just a few weeks later and spent the rest

0:30:31.640 --> 0:30:34.440
<v Speaker 2>of his life in prison, all because he threw a

0:30:34.480 --> 0:30:35.920
<v Speaker 2>party that was a little too good.

0:30:36.200 --> 0:30:40.040
<v Speaker 1>I feel like, aside from glitter, wounding, a king's ego

0:30:40.240 --> 0:30:43.800
<v Speaker 1>is probably the ultimate party foul. So I do think

0:30:43.960 --> 0:30:46.640
<v Speaker 1>between the thurdbred horses and the approaches and all that,

0:30:47.160 --> 0:30:48.480
<v Speaker 1>I think you get the trophy for this one.

0:30:49.840 --> 0:30:51.920
<v Speaker 2>I mean, that's a lot of horses. Actually, I think

0:30:51.920 --> 0:30:54.560
<v Speaker 2>Fouquet deserves the trophy for that. That is just wild.

0:30:54.760 --> 0:30:56.200
<v Speaker 2>All right, Well, that's going to do it for today's

0:30:56.200 --> 0:30:59.040
<v Speaker 2>Part Time Genius from Mary Gabe, Dylan Mango and me.

0:30:59.480 --> 0:31:01.280
<v Speaker 2>Thank you so so much for listening now. If you

0:31:01.360 --> 0:31:03.760
<v Speaker 2>enjoyed the show, come find us on Instagram at part

0:31:03.760 --> 0:31:06.040
<v Speaker 2>Time Genius and be sure to tune in next week

0:31:06.080 --> 0:31:19.080
<v Speaker 2>for another brand new episode.

0:31:20.280 --> 0:31:23.600
<v Speaker 1>Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.

0:31:24.080 --> 0:31:28.080
<v Speaker 1>This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongashtikler

0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:32.440
<v Speaker 1>and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's

0:31:32.440 --> 0:31:35.800
<v Speaker 1>episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan

0:31:35.880 --> 0:31:39.479
<v Speaker 1>with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced

0:31:39.480 --> 0:31:43.000
<v Speaker 1>for iHeart by Katrina Norvel and Ali Perry, with social

0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:47.440
<v Speaker 1>media support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shorey.

0:31:48.160 --> 0:31:52.640
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:31:52.800 --> 0:32:09.200
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.