1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: by colleague Fry. I'm Tracy, and we're going to deal 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: a little bit of military history today, world War One specifically, 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: and this particular little story combines military strategy with art 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: and even a little bit of a garudge match. You 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: may have seen photos of World War One ships painted 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: with what's called dazzle camouflage, and if you haven't, you 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: are in for such a visual treat because they look amazing. 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: It's all very geometric and cool. It will often show 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: up in lists where you know, people are like, look 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: ten of historical photos that aren't photoshopped and uh, as 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: sort of a mind boggling why on earth is this 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,959 Speaker 1: so amazing type of article stamp? But and they are 15 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: really fabulous to look at. But most people do not 16 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: know that there is a lot more to the story 17 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: than meets the I, including some some angryness about who 18 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: actually should get attribution. There is a very popular version 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: of the whole dazzle camouflage story, and that's where we 20 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: are going to start. Yeah, in nine British Navy ships 21 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: were being sunk by German U boats in nothing sort 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: of devastating numbers. It was an incredible challenge to conceal 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: ships on the open seas. Some of this was due 24 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: to the weather. Since the weather is constantly changing at sea, 25 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: you can't really make one camouflage that's going to effectively 26 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: disguise the ship no matter what the conditions are like. 27 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: And another problem is that it's not just the ships 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: of the ship itself that gives its location away. The 29 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: ship leaves awake, there are smoke trails, all these other 30 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: signals betrayed the ship's positions. So you boats would identify 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: their targets and then they would plot their predicted courses. 32 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: So then after calculating the speed at which they were 33 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: traveling and confirming the ship's trajectory, it was torpedo time. 34 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: So they would aim their torpedoes into the predicted path 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: of the ship, and you know, the ship would intersect 36 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: with it and be sunk. And the German Navy was 37 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: very good at identifying ships and predicting their movements. So, 38 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: of course, because it was facing huge losses, the British 39 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: Navy wanted nothing more than to figure out a way 40 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: to thwart the enemy and save the fleet. From being attacked. 41 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: But this was really easier said than done. Even if 42 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: they could find effective camouflage for a ship so that 43 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: you couldn't physically see it, that really only solved part 44 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: of the problem. The wake and the smoke would still 45 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: give the Germans away to target the ship. And uh, 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: it turns out and I love this that you know, 47 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: art came to the rescue the man who's normally credited 48 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: with brain starring. The solution to this problem was Navy 49 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: lieutenant and artist Norman Wilkinson, and he had this idea 50 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: that since they couldn't hide the ships, they could maybe 51 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: at least to do something to confuse use the enemy. 52 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: So his idea was a form of disruptive camouflage, and 53 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: that took on the name dazzle camouflage. His idea was 54 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: that painting ships with wild geometric patterns would kind of 55 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: bewilder the sailors on the U boats as they tried 56 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: to look through the periscopes to find the targets. And 57 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: of course the ships would still be visible, but their 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: disruptive geometric paint patterns would confuse the eye so much 59 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: that it would be difficult to determine which direction the 60 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: ship was facing, what direction it was moving, and at 61 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: what speed. Wilkinson was given a ship to paint as 62 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: a proof of concept, and before long there were lots 63 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: more ships being painted with wild designs as well. There 64 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: were hundreds of different geometric schemes that were laid out 65 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: for painting ships, and each one was meant to trick 66 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: the eye with one or more optical illusions. Yeah. In 67 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: some cases, curves along the sides of the ships would 68 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: be painted to create sort of false wave patterns that 69 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: kind of mirrored the wake that was going in the 70 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: opposite direction, and so it was a duplicate, but they 71 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: were going in both directions, so it was hard to 72 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: know what was actually happening. The smoke stacks were painted 73 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: with tilted and asymmetrical bands of color to make it 74 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: look like the ship might be going the opposite way 75 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: than it actually was. Diagonal lines were often painted in 76 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: bright colors at either end of the ship to make 77 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: it difficult to discern the four from the aft. Some 78 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: of the ships were painted in schemes of stripes that 79 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: went in all different directions and used a multitude of colors, 80 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,679 Speaker 1: and these basically tried to prevent an observer from getting 81 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: his bearings on exactly what he was looking at. I 82 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: feel like these were colossally huge magic eye paintings. Yeah, 83 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: I mean, it's not dissimilar from that. It really is 84 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: just sort of so much information thrown at your your 85 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: eyes that you can't really discern kind of what you're 86 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: looking at. You stand back and cross your eyes. I'm 87 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: so good at magic eyes. That's like my superpower. But 88 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: before we get to an alternate version of this story, 89 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: do you want to pause for a moment for a 90 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: word from our sponsor. So, now back to what was 91 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: going on. Actually a few years before Wilkinson. So, Wilkinson 92 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,679 Speaker 1: is often credited with the idea of applying dazzle camo 93 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: to ships, but the concept had actually been floated several 94 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: years prior by a man who was named John Graham Care, 95 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: and Care was a naturalist. He actually made his name 96 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: in lungfish embryology, so nothing having to do with ships. 97 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: But several years before Wilkinson entered the picture as a 98 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: proponent of disruptive camouflage, Kre had approached the Admiralty with 99 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: the idea because of all his work as a naturalist, 100 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: Care had witnessed firsthand the success of naturally occurring disruptive 101 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: coloration and animals so many many years before World War One, 102 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: when he was traveling on an expedition in South America 103 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: in he noted quote obliterative coloring on many of the 104 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: animals that he observed, and he made these notes repeatedly 105 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: in his field journals. He was clearly really really fascinated 106 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: by it, and uh in nineteen o two he became 107 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: the Chair of Zoology, although when he initially took the 108 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: chair it was called the Chair of Natural History and 109 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: then changed the next year at the University of Glasgow, 110 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: and throughout his career, even while he was working on 111 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: his embryology projects, he continued to study animal coloration sort 112 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: of as just a side interest while his day job 113 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: was all about zoology. Care was also an avid yachtsman, 114 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: and according to maritime historians Hugh Murphy and Martin Bellamy, 115 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: while Kerr was visiting the opening of the Kiel Canal 116 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: in Germany in and the contrast he noted between the 117 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: monochromatic French and German vessels and the multi color British 118 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: ships got his mind thinking about how you could apply 119 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: obliterative coloring to a ship Even before Care there was 120 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: an American artist named Abbot H. Thayer who was also 121 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: working on concealing coloration through the use of counter shading, 122 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: and he was doing that as early as the Spanish 123 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: American War the late eighteen nineties. And what that means 124 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: is that darker colors would be painted on the top 125 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: of a vessel to counteract the reflection of the sun, 126 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: and then lighter colors would be near the bottom and 127 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: they would sort of be banded in like a hardline gradient. 128 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: Care and they are actually knew each other, and they 129 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: talked about their different ideas and points of view on 130 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: how to best conceal a large object through the deliberate 131 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: use of pink color. And September fourteen was a particularly 132 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: devastating time for the British Navy. Uh In the course 133 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: of just a few weeks, German U boats sank the 134 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: HMS Pathfinder and then on the same day a little 135 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: bit later, the HMS Abuquir, the HMS Hogue, and the 136 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: HMS Crescy. And on September, after all of these had 137 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: taken place, Ka wrote Winston Churchill a letter outlining three 138 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: different ideas that he had for camouflaging ships. The first 139 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: method involved color matching the habitat, but he also noted 140 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: that this was really a lot better for some all 141 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: animals than large ships, and the second approach that he 142 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: mentioned was more in line with some of the ideas 143 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: that Thayer had had, although Care called it compensation shading, 144 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: and he basically described a gradient painting technique that involved 145 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: coloring the darkest and most shadowed parts of the ship's 146 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: bright white, and then the areas that were exposed to 147 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:23,679 Speaker 1: the most light being painted the darkest shades of gray, 148 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: effectively creating sort of a monochromatic blob that had no 149 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: visible detailing, at least if you were looking at it 150 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: through a periscope. The third method, outlined and Cares letter 151 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: to Churchill, describes a paint application similar to the dazzle 152 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: coloring that Norman Wilkinson is associated with. He described this 153 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: idea of party coloring in the following way. It is 154 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: essential to break up the regularity of the outline, and 155 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: this can easily be affected by strongly contrasting contrasting shades. 156 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: The same applies to the surface. Generally, a continuous uniform 157 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: shade renders conspicuous. This can be counteract did by breaking 158 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: up the surface by violent, violently contrasting pigments. A giraffe 159 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 1: or zebra or jaguar looks extraordinarily conspicuous in a museum, 160 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: but in nature, when not moving, is wonderfully difficult to 161 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: pick up, especially at twilight. The same principle should be 162 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: made use of in painting ships. I had to kind 163 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: of chuckle to myself when I was reading that initially 164 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: that he only placed animals in museums like, not in 165 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: any sort of live viewing enclosure like a zoo. At 166 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: the time, it just made me chuckle. That's an aside. 167 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: Care very specifically described the need to break up the 168 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: continuity of a ship's outline with these high contrasting white shapes, 169 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: uh including masts with the irregular banding of white striping. 170 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: This letter was actually well received. Kara got a thank 171 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: you note and the assurance that this information and ideas 172 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: would be shared with the rest of the fleet, and 173 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: they were indeed. In fact, the contents of Care's letter 174 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: were did verbatim as part of a general order issued 175 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: on November tenth of that same year. The order, which 176 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: went out with the title Visibility of Ships Method of Diminishing, 177 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: went out with the instructions that the use of the 178 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: information included was at the discretion of the officers on 179 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: their various commands, and several of them did opt to 180 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 1: try these ideas out. It was through a personal connection 181 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 1: that John Graham Care found out his camouflage concepts were 182 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: actually being put into use. A former pupil of his 183 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: was serving on the HMS Implacable and wrote Care a 184 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: letter telling him that everyone on all levels of naval 185 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: service agreed that these were good ideas, and that the 186 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: student had seen another ship employing the disruptive painting style. 187 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: And I would just like to have a side note 188 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: that I love that there is a ship called the 189 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: HMS Implacable. Pretty charming. Exactly how many ships ended up 190 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: adopting this disruptive painting technique that was based on Cares 191 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: instructions is really pretty hazy. Since the practice was at 192 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: the discretion of individual commands, there really wasn't a system 193 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: in place to account for its usage, like nobody had 194 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,319 Speaker 1: to report in that they had painted the ship this way. 195 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: And additionally, there's evidence that some crews were actually using 196 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: very similar techniques on their own prior to the general 197 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: order on visibility of ships. As more and more ships 198 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: started to adopt the whole party color paint schemes, care 199 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: was actually able to see some of them. He wasn't 200 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: exactly delighted, though. He really felt that the spirit was there, 201 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: but the actual execution was not quite what he had 202 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: in mind. So in nineteen fifteen he wrote another letter 203 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: to the Admiralty, and this time he suggested that these 204 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,439 Speaker 1: new camouflage paint jobs could be even better with a 205 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: bit of guidance and advice from him. He got no reply, 206 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: so he wrote again and again, only to learn that 207 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: Churchill had moved on to a new post. And then 208 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: he wrote to Churchill's successor, Arthur Balfour. Yeah, he was 209 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: big on writing the letters. I feel like this is 210 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: like when the person writes does with like really really 211 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: pedantic something, and we answer back and then the person 212 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: just keeps writing it again and I'm like, please I stop. Well, 213 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: initially he wasn't getting a reply, but he really felt 214 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: like they needed to listen to him and let him 215 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 1: help somewhere. Uh, and all of this writing kind of 216 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: fell on deaf ears. He finally received a polite thanks 217 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: but no thanks style letter informing him that there had 218 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 1: actually been a decision made that they were going to 219 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: go back to painting all of the ships a uniform 220 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: gray and stop all this crazy color variations. I have 221 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: a feeling this just disturbed him immensely, which it's probably 222 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: carried out by the fact that then he redoubled his efforts. 223 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: He wrote some multiple office officers of the military, He 224 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: wrote to his friends in academia, to anybody he knew 225 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: who had any connection to the Admiralty. So when Abbott 226 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 1: Thayer was visiting from the US, he wrote the Admiralty 227 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: again and begged for a meeting so both he and 228 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: Thayer could share their information. All of those roads led 229 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: to dead ends. Yeah he really didn't. They kind of 230 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: uh just went nowhere. He did allegedly have some luck. 231 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: He also wrote about someone else about camouflage on airplanes 232 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,319 Speaker 1: and got some ground there, but no nothing with the 233 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: ships ever. Again, So when the decision was made to 234 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: adopt Wilkinson's dazzle coloring in nine, it was much more 235 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: organized than previously. So instead of leaving it up to 236 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: each individual command to adopt some kind of geometric camouflage, 237 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: this time it was a uniform order and in addition 238 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: to the order, Wilkinson was actually put in charge of 239 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: a new Dazzle department, and as a consequence, while he 240 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: was heading that department, approximately four thousand merchant ships and 241 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: four hundred navy vessels were painted in this manner to 242 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 1: try to avoid uh U boat attacks. For his part, 243 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: care stated publicly that he was happy to see the 244 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,479 Speaker 1: camouflage scheme being implemented, but he also enlisted the assistance 245 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: of fellow academics to once again contacts the Admiralty and 246 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: suggest that he, being the only man who had years 247 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: of study of this type of visual disruption, should be 248 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: advising them on it. It sound weary because because you 249 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: can imagine getting like seventeen letters in the same guy. 250 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: That's like, because we do get seventeen letters from the 251 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: same life. Yeah, where it's like you're doing it wrong. 252 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: You can just you can just contact me the next 253 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: time you want to do a podcast on Paraguay and 254 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: I will help you out, which is awesome. I mean, 255 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: we certainly appreciate when people want to be helpful. It's 256 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: the doggedly non letting go of it, yeah, which happens 257 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: not just to I mean in life. That happens. It's 258 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: like when you have a relative who is like, hey, 259 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: you can sow. Will you make me some pants? And 260 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: it's like I don't really have time for them. Oh, 261 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: we would be great if you'd make me some pants. 262 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: You know you need pants. I'll tell you how to 263 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: make them, like I've had those. I'm sure you've had similar. 264 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: When people know you can sow, there's a point where 265 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: you have received the information and and saying it more. 266 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: Doesn't I understand he wants some pants. I am not 267 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: giving them to you. Similar So Care probably worsened people 268 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: down um, but the military really felt, even though Kier 269 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: made his case over and over that the designers that 270 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: they had put in charge of Dazzle camouflage so they 271 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: came from a design background rather than a natural sciences background, 272 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: had things well in hand. They felt like they had 273 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: it covered and eventually Care gave up on trying to 274 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: be involved in the process as an advisor and he 275 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: did stop writing. While Care gave up I'm trying to 276 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: offer his assistance, he did remain quite irritated that Wilkinson 277 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: got all the credit for what he felt like was 278 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: his idea from years prior. It became a big issue 279 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: between the two men uh yeah. Wilkinson's claim was that 280 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: his designs had nothing to do with biology or nature, 281 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: and that Care just simply did not understand the visual 282 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: principles that his approach employed, that he was working from 283 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 1: a design background. This is not about replicating nature, and 284 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: Care's counter argument was that Wilkinson could not have invented 285 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: dazzle camouflage because no man could have invented dazzle camouflage 286 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: because they were merely replicating what existed in nature already. 287 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: I raised my eyebrow. I know, my heart goes out 288 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: to him, but I just I had if he were 289 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: alive today, he would just be leaving comments all over 290 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: the internet. Yes, he would be an Internet comment for sure. 291 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: Care even went back to his favorite addressy of corresponds 292 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: to the correspondence Winston Churchill to try to convince him 293 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: that he should make sure people understood their correspondence of Yeah. 294 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: He wanted Churchill to come out and say, oh no, 295 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: I did talk to this guy. He had this idea before. 296 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: But eventually what happened was that a Committee of Inquiry 297 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: was established to investigate the competing claims, and it's unclear 298 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: whether Churchill had anything to do with that or not, 299 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: or if people were just so tired of getting letters 300 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: from Care that they were like, we have to figure 301 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: out some way to resolve this um. But the committee, 302 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: because Cares to work was based in nature, it seemed 303 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: that they really felt that his end goal for the 304 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,159 Speaker 1: paint scheme must have been invisibility, because to them, camouflage 305 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: and nature is about hiding, even though a lot of 306 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: Cares writing on the matter clearly states that he felt 307 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,400 Speaker 1: that invisibly invisibility was going to be impossible, whereas they 308 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: felt that Wilkinson's approach was geared towards distortion and uh, 309 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,439 Speaker 1: the committee basically favored Wilkinson and their findings, and it 310 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: was still not over. No, It's never over. Care took 311 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 1: his claim next to the Royal Commission on Awards and Inventors, 312 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:43,120 Speaker 1: and while Care took great pains to assemble an extremely 313 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: thorough brief filled with evidence, the Commission found in favor 314 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 1: of Wilkinson again in ninety two, and this decision was 315 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: based almost entirely on Wilkinson's testimony that he had no 316 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: prior knowledge of ships painted to Care specifications, although Care 317 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: and his lawyer continue to assert that this statement was 318 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: completely false. Yeah, there was some evidence that Wilkinson had 319 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: been in places where ships that were painted with the 320 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: designs that care had suggested were and that he would 321 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: have been basically blind to have not seen them. Um, 322 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: but even so, just by virtue of saying nope, I 323 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: never saw those before Wilkinson went out in the end. 324 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: But what really sort of makes it all kind of 325 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 1: funny to me in a morose sort of comedy, is 326 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: that it really didn't matter who came up with the idea, 327 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: because the study of the efficacy of dazzle camouflage that 328 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: was conducted in nineteen eighteen determined that it really had 329 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,920 Speaker 1: no measurable impact on evading attack, It really didn't help 330 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: in terms of military strategy, and that it's greatest benefit 331 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: was that it had probably just raised the spirits and 332 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: morale of the men, which there's something to be said 333 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: for that, But in terms of like claiming it as 334 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: an invention, they were fighting over nothing basically well, And 335 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: I think part of the reason that he irritates me 336 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: so profoundly is that he reminds me of younger me, 337 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 1: who would just doggedly pursue a matter of principle that 338 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: did not actually matter. Oh yeah, that much that But 339 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: but you are wrong and I am right. Why don't 340 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: you understand this? Yeah, And that was the thing. He 341 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: didn't really want money out of it. He did have 342 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: to make a financial claim in that second committee hearing 343 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: like he had to make a claim that he needed 344 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: something out of it, but really he didn't want any money. 345 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: He just wanted people to acknowledge that it was his idea. 346 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,479 Speaker 1: And really there had actually been cases of ships like 347 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: I said, that had been painted like that even before him, 348 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: some of which kind of happened just accidentally because the 349 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: ships were being repainted and he was flaking off, they 350 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: had started to kind of accidentally do some of that 351 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:52,919 Speaker 1: and then thought, oh that might be interesting, and they 352 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: would continue it. So he was. They were just fighting 353 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: over nothing. Yeah. Well, and as we have talked about frequently, 354 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: anytime there has been science or invention in the podcast, 355 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: almost always progress it developments, build on the things that 356 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: happened before them. They don't come out of thin air. Yeah, 357 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: there are very few true Eureka moments where someone just 358 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: thinks of something no one has ever thought of before. Um. 359 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: Earlier this year, German artists to Bias Rehnberger and Venezuelan 360 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: artist Carlos Cruise Diaz were actually commissioned by the Liverpool 361 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: Biennial Tate Liverpool in the World War One centenary arts 362 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,880 Speaker 1: organization called fourteen eighteen Now to recreate dazzle camouflage designs 363 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 1: on several ships, and the work that these artists were 364 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: commissioned to do was part of a series of events 365 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: marking the hundred year anniversary of the start of the war. 366 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: Rend Berger painted the HMS President, which was a two 367 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five foot Flower class sloop originally named 368 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: the HMS Saxifrage and built in nineteen eighteen for anti 369 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: sub warfare. The President is permanently up in London and 370 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: was painted with that with dazzle camouflage during World War One. 371 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: I love that there is such thing as a flower 372 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: class loop, and I particularly love that it was named 373 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: the Sacks of Rage. Yeah, that's those are both fun 374 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: words to associate with ships. Uh Remburger's painting turned the 375 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 1: ship into a really fabulous optical illusion, so that it 376 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: looked like piles of almost eschureresque kind of modern pipe works. 377 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: Um And he was actually a perfect choice for this 378 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,959 Speaker 1: project because he uh in interviews, he commented that he 379 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: had discovered or found out about dazzle camouflage like twenty 380 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: years ago and it's just been fascinated with it ever since, 381 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: so much so that in two thousand nine he actually 382 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: when he was commissioned to design this cafe, he based 383 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: the entire design on the principles of dazzled design and 384 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: visual confusion, which may or may not make for UM 385 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: a fun dining experience. If you like visual stimulation, it's 386 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: probably super fun. And Liverpool Cruise has worked on the 387 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: Edmund Gardener. This one is more basic but still visually 388 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: stimulating design, consisting of red, yellow, black and green striping. Yeah, 389 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: it's in one of the links in the show notes 390 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 1: that will have it um. They have a time lapse 391 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: of the Edmund Gardner being painted and it's kind of 392 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: wonderful because it goes from being a flat, kind of 393 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 1: matt gray looking like this really wonderful rasta adventure ship 394 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,399 Speaker 1: because of the colors that he chose. And we'll pen 395 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: stuff up on our Pinterest so you can see what 396 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: these look like. Oh yeah, Pinterest is going to be 397 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: a busy place with the dazzle because there's a lot 398 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: of good pictures of Dazzle. Right now, it's really busy 399 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: in our unearthed board because there's just been a lot 400 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: going on in the unearthing in the last few weeks. 401 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: There always is, but it's been a really high concentration 402 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: of fascinating things being pulled out on which is great. Uh. 403 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: And now I will move on to listener mail. I 404 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: have a few pieces, and some of which I'm gonna 405 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: have to abridge quite bit so. The first one is 406 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: from our listener Isabella. Uh. These are all in reference 407 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 1: to our episode on Las Scala, and she mentions that. Um. 408 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: She says, since you were wondering about Alexander Pereira's current job. 409 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: He used to be the director of Lascala and guess 410 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: that he is working in Germany. I thought I should 411 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: clarify that he is currently the artistic director of the 412 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,640 Speaker 1: Salzburg Festival in Austria, So now we know where he is. 413 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: I hope he is enjoying his job. Uh. The second 414 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: one is from our listener Aaron, who wrote to us 415 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: on Facebook, and he says, I'm a graduate student at 416 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: the University of California, Santa Barbara studying classical voice and opera. 417 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: It was wonderful to hear the podcast about Lascala. Thank you. 418 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,680 Speaker 1: I wanted to write you a message for two reasons. First, 419 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: I wanted you to encourage you to enjoy opera without fear. 420 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: Operas about being swept away with Bell Kontos singing, and 421 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: stories of the human experience. So I want to encourage 422 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,199 Speaker 1: you and all of your listeners to enjoy opera no 423 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: matter your level of understanding. Secondly, I thought you might 424 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,639 Speaker 1: find my experience at Lascala entertaining. I was at the 425 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: university group of students, traveling around your up and studying 426 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: music over the summer. Of course, a group of opera 427 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: students had to visit Lascala while we were and while 428 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: we were in one of the main lobbies, my professor 429 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: suggested my scene partner and I begin singing the duet 430 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,439 Speaker 1: from Labo M that we had been rehearsing. Nervously. We 431 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: began singing in the beautiful room and the tourists were 432 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,199 Speaker 1: pleasantly surprised. Just as we finished, the theater manager came 433 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: over and reprimanded us for singing in the theater because 434 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: the director was rehearsing and needed silence. Despite being reprimanded, 435 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: I can now say that I have sung in the 436 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: world's most famous opera house, just not on the stage yet. 437 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,719 Speaker 1: I love that story, even though it's a little CONVERSI 438 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: of great story. And you know, there's every possibility that 439 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 1: Aaron will make it there as a featured performer and 440 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: not a sneaky lobby singer, so I hope he does. Uh. 441 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: And our last one is from our listener, Benjamin, and 442 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: he writes us to tell us a story. I won't 443 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: read the whole thing, just for time. But he went 444 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 1: to visit La Scala on a trip to Italy, and 445 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: he went with his mom and and they they had 446 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: booked tickets for a performance at Lascala and it was 447 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: kind of pricey, but they figured, you know, went in Milan, 448 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: and then it turned out that they were in this 449 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: amazing box seat that they had. It was so pricey 450 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: because they basically booked some of the best seats in 451 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: the house and they got to hob nob with rich 452 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: people in the box and try to fit in, which 453 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: sounds super awesome. And then when he wraps up his 454 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: letter to us, he mentions a couple of cool tips 455 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 1: for anybody who may find themselves in proximity to visit Lascala, 456 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,920 Speaker 1: and he says, first, the theater is a museum throughout 457 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: the day with many costumes, audio clips, and artifacts from 458 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: older performances. Oh my goodness, I would get lost in 459 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: the costume displays. Um. He said they were lucky enough 460 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: to get to observe rehearsals for The Barber of Seville, 461 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: which sounds awesome. And second, he mentions that each seat 462 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: there has a small monitor where a translation of what's 463 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: being sung follows along with the show, and multiple languages 464 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: are available for selection. So if you were debating about 465 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: what sorts of things you can do and how you 466 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: can enjoy, Lascala got you covered. Thank to Benjamin Uh. 467 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us and share 468 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: your thoughts on opera or dazzle camouflage or anything else, 469 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at how stuff 470 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 1: works dot com. You can also connect with us at 471 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com slash mist in history, on Twitter at 472 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: misst in history at misston history dot tumbler dot com, 473 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: and on pinterest dot com slash misst in history, where 474 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: we will be penning a lot of dazzle camouflage paintings. 475 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: And if you wanted to Uh visit our spreadshirt store 476 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: and pick up some mist in History goodies like t shirts, 477 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 1: tope banks, mugs, phone cases, lots of other things. You 478 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,920 Speaker 1: can do that at misston history dot spreadshirt dot com. 479 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: If you want to learn a little bit more about 480 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: what we talked about today, you can go to our 481 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: parents site how stuff Works. Type in the word camouflage 482 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: in the search bar and you will get an article 483 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: called how Military Camouflage Works. It doesn't really talk about 484 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: dazzle so much, but uh, just generally how camouflage is 485 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: adopted and implemented by the military. Uh. You can also 486 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: visit us at our personal a story website which is 487 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 1: missed in history dot com, or we have show notes. 488 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: There are lots the blogs do well. Get some photos 489 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: to go along with all of these episodes and you 490 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: can do that. Or you can research almost anything you 491 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,359 Speaker 1: can think of at our parents site, House too works 492 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 493 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 1: Because it how stuff Works dot com.