Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. His methods in war are the stuff of legend.
Speaker 1: He never wanted a career in anything else other than
Speaker 1: the military, after all. Known for his leadership across Europe
Speaker 1: and the Mediterranean during World War Two, George S. Patton
Speaker 1: elicited pride in his ranks. By all accounts, he was brash, strict,
Speaker 1: and had a fierce reputation. He frequently inspired his troops
Speaker 1: with sensational, vulgarity riddle speeches that shocked allies. In battle.
Speaker 1: He believed in the most aggressive tactics possible, earning him
Speaker 1: the nickname Old Blood and Guts. Over the years, many
Speaker 1: of his actions on and off the battlefield where met
Speaker 1: with criticism from superiors and allies alike. Off the field,
Speaker 1: he enjoyed polo, a sport he played with violent, reckless abandoned,
Speaker 1: causing him frequent head injuries. Some suggest those injuries explained
Speaker 1: his erratic behavior. Others believe that he'd just always been
Speaker 1: a colorful personality. Either way, I think it's fair to
Speaker 1: say that the famed general was no stranger to controversy,
Speaker 1: and though most incidents are attributed to his days in
Speaker 1: World War Two, Patton found himself involved in a memorable
Speaker 1: incident during the First World War, when he served as
Speaker 1: a captain under General Pershing. He rose through the ranks
Speaker 1: quickly and earned a promotion as a lieutenant colonel with
Speaker 1: a U. S. Army Tanks Corps. He set up a
Speaker 1: training school, choosing the small town of Borg due to
Speaker 1: the copious amounts of mud. He also designed and organized
Speaker 1: practically every detail. Then he led his newly trained men
Speaker 1: and their tanks into battle twice, earning a Distinguished Service
Speaker 1: Cross for bravery under fire during the second mission. His
Speaker 1: work with the Tank Corps impressed Pursing so much that
Speaker 1: he received a second promotion to colonel. Patton had become
Speaker 1: quite the hero around Bourg, and one day the mayor
Speaker 1: paid him a visit. The man was visibly distraught. Naturally,
Speaker 1: Patton asked him what was the matter. Through a flood
Speaker 1: of tears, the mayor explained that an American soldier had
Speaker 1: died and that pattent superiors had failed to inform him
Speaker 1: of the tragedy. Taken aback by the man's deep sorrow
Speaker 1: and not wanting to discuss a soldier's death with a
Speaker 1: relative stranger, Patton asked the mayor to wait for him
Speaker 1: while he checked on a few details. When he returned,
Speaker 1: the mayor insisted that Patten accompanied him to the soldier's grave.
Speaker 1: The two made their way to the location near the
Speaker 1: training camp, and the mayor wept again as he pointed
Speaker 1: toward the rectangular earthen mound of mud and dirt. The
Speaker 1: mayor had already placed a makeshift marker at one end
Speaker 1: of the mound, with the words abandoned rear carefully stenciled
Speaker 1: on a wooden cross. As the mayor went on about
Speaker 1: the fallen hero, Patton instantly understood what had happened. The
Speaker 1: mayor expressed his deepest sympathy for losing such a brave man.
Speaker 1: Unsure how to handle the situation or even what to say,
Speaker 1: Pattent thanked him for his kindness and concern, and that
Speaker 1: excused himself. It would be twenty six years before Patton
Speaker 1: would visit Borg again. To his surprise, the residents had
Speaker 1: never forgotten the fallen hero. They had been so moved
Speaker 1: by the soldier sacrifice that they maintained the site, providing
Speaker 1: a proper monument which carried the same message as that
Speaker 1: temporary marker abandoned rear. To the townspeople, the unknown soldier
Speaker 1: had become a local hero of sorts. Patton was deeply embarrassed.
Speaker 1: You see, he had never told them the truth. The
Speaker 1: mayor had mistaken a simple mound of dirt for an actual,
Speaker 1: unmarked grave. For once, Pattent was at a loss for words.
Speaker 1: He later sheepishly admitted during an interview the secret he
Speaker 1: had kept all those years. There was no unknown soldier.
Speaker 1: All his men had been accounted for that day, and
Speaker 1: all had been alive. The mayor's tears and deep sadness
Speaker 1: hadn't been about a man at all. Patton just didn't
Speaker 1: have the heart to tell him his men had made
Speaker 1: the mound to fill in the camps Latrine. Open just
Speaker 1: about any medicine cabinets in America and you're likely to
Speaker 1: find chemist Maurice Traneers invention. And while it's brought relief
Speaker 1: to millions of consumers, sometimes the advertising outshines the product.
Speaker 1: In a flu epidemic rage across America, Hubbardsley, the president
Speaker 1: of Miles Laboratory, heard a rumor that, despite this, the
Speaker 1: employees at the local Elkhart, Indiana newspaper were all healthy.
Speaker 1: This intrigued Beardsley because the rest of the town had
Speaker 1: been struck hard, including the laboratory that produced a variety
Speaker 1: of medical remedies. Curiously, Beardsley stopped by the newspaper to investigate.
Speaker 1: Sure enough, he found that the employees were busily going
Speaker 1: about their day without so much as a sneeze or cough. Dumbfounded,
Speaker 1: he asked the editor how the staff had avoided getting sick.
Speaker 1: The editor explained that the staff had taken a combination
Speaker 1: of two everyday medicines. Those who had a mild case
Speaker 1: of the flu symptoms no longer showed any symptoms at all.
Speaker 1: Seeing an opportunity, Beardsley returned to the lab and asked
Speaker 1: Trenear to recreate the concoction. Later, on a cruise, Beardsley
Speaker 1: handed out free samples to passengers who felt under the weather.
Speaker 1: He handed out one hundred pills and was elated that
Speaker 1: every One of the recipients said that they experienced relief
Speaker 1: from a variety of symptoms, ranging from headaches and pains
Speaker 1: to upset stomachs. The product officially debuted in ninety one,
Speaker 1: and although effective, it would be the marketing that catapulted
Speaker 1: its als. The product even became the sponsor of two
Speaker 1: radio shows, sort of an ancestor of sponsors on podcasts,
Speaker 1: and then in nineteen fifty one, the popular medicine was
Speaker 1: bestowed with acute mascot who promised quick relief. The mascot
Speaker 1: appeared in over two hundred commercials, various celebrities from Sammy
Speaker 1: Davis Jr. To Buster Keaton, all saying the catchy new
Speaker 1: jingle that has ever since become iconic. A variety of
Speaker 1: music artists saying the jingle as well, from big band
Speaker 1: to rock artists, including the jingles creators the band The Circle,
Speaker 1: which had two top forty hits. But by nineteen sixty nine,
Speaker 1: public opinion had changed. The remedy became associated with something
Speaker 1: old people took for a fresh take, the company embarked
Speaker 1: on some rather hilarious and memorable commercials Over the years.
Speaker 1: More celebrities appeared in commercials, including Terry Kaiser of Weekend
Speaker 1: at Bernie's Fame, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. In one
Speaker 1: animated commercial, a man sits opposite stomach. The stomach, narrated
Speaker 1: by Gene Wilder, accuses the man of trying to irritate him.
Speaker 1: In the end, both man and stomach agreed to try
Speaker 1: the product if the other is willing. Yet another commercial
Speaker 1: depicts an incarcerated man who, after eating prison food, bangs
Speaker 1: his metal cup to demand a product. Soon, even the
Speaker 1: guards join in. The commercial became so popular that the
Speaker 1: actor made a later appearance on the Tonight Show of
Speaker 1: Johnny Carson just to reenact the skit. Viewers began to
Speaker 1: comment that the company's commercials were even better than the
Speaker 1: TV shows they appeared within. One depicts a man who
Speaker 1: laments that he's eaten the whole thing. Another has eaten
Speaker 1: far too many of a fictional Italian dish, with jingles
Speaker 1: of plot, plot, fizz, fizz, and famous catchphrases of try it,
Speaker 1: you'll like it. You've probably guessed that this product is
Speaker 1: alka selzer oh and the original active ingredients consisted of aspirin,
Speaker 1: sodium bicarbonate, and citric said today, though the aspirin has
Speaker 1: been replaced with a seat a menafin the active ingredient
Speaker 1: in Thailand. All what you might not have known is
Speaker 1: that Speedy the Products six inch tall mascot became so
Speaker 1: famous that a limited edition plastic doll was even released,
Speaker 1: or that the original figure was insured for one thousand
Speaker 1: dollars and kept in a Beverly Hills Bank vault. And
Speaker 1: the rest of those plastic replicas in two thousand twelve,
Speaker 1: one of them sold for six thousand dollars. If you
Speaker 1: ask me, that shouldn't have the seller a lot of
Speaker 1: spicy meatballs. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
Speaker 1: and television show and can learn all about it over
Speaker 1: at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time,
Speaker 1: stay curious. Yeah h