1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: back to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Let's give it up for 4 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: our one and only super producer, Mr Max Williams. They 5 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: called me Ben. Depending on where I'm traveling at the time, 6 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: I've been known to use some personas and uh, Noel, 7 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: I think you love traveling as well. Yeah, and maybe 8 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: not so much under pseudonyms. But maybe I'll take a 9 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: cue from from from you, sir, and then then go 10 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: down that road. What is one of yours astronaut with 11 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: a secret? Is that one of them that I make 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: that up? Oh? Max Power, astronaut with a secret? Yes, 13 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: Uh see, Max, you're getting it. You're you're intrigued already, right, Yeah, 14 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: I got away with it too. Uh and then the 15 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: I patch situation, remember that one, of course I forget 16 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: and uh So the point is that you know, we're 17 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: all big fans of travel here at Ridiculous History, and 18 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: you know, before we hopped on air, super producer Max 19 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: Williams and I were talking a little bit about his 20 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: possible summer vacation plans. You just got back from a 21 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: lovely trip in Berlin Noll and we have we have 22 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: traveled often for work, but we also love to travel, 23 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: uh just for funzies, for personal enrichment, to see the world. 24 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: And that's something that is relatively new in the story 25 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: of human history, right, I mean, do you remember there 26 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: There had to have been a time or even just 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: the phrase see the world was an enticing tagline for 28 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: a brand new industry, a whole new world of leisure travel. Because, 29 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: as we've talked about many times throughout the course of 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: the show, depending on what era you're you're you're discussing, 31 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: I mean, travel was not a luxurious thing at all, 32 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: and it was really only reserved for the super wealthy 33 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: who had a damn good reason for traveling a certain distance. 34 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: Otherwise it could be met with incredible hardships if you 35 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: were doing it on foot or by horse during you know, 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: through rough terrain and weather and all of that good stuff. 37 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, even the super wealthy had to 38 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: travel in these like carriages or litters or whatever, and 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: lots of opportunities for things to go wrong. You know, 40 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: wheels could get damage, they could be met with bandits, 41 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: brigands on the on the on the highway, and all 42 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: that good stuff. But it wasn't until the eighteen hundreds, uh, 43 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: mid to late eighteen hundreds that the idea of travel 44 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: for funzies, as you said, ben, really became a thing, 45 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 1: really took off, and it was kind of by accidents. 46 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: It was one of those things where an industry sprang 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: up entirely on its own as a result of somebody 48 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: trying to do something completely different. Yeah. Yeah, it's sort 49 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: of like how the experiments of early alchemists led to 50 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: what we understand his chemistry today. It's it's fascinating. It 51 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: is a really it is a really strange and relatively 52 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: recent situation. As you described, only back in the day, 53 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: when people were traveling long distances and they were either 54 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: super wealthy, or something very bad had happened, they had 55 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: driven out of their home by war or famine. They 56 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: were just off to check out, you know, the ruins 57 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: of ancient Rome. Or it could have been a diplomatic trip, 58 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: something really necessary required an in person visit to deal 59 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:53,119 Speaker 1: with or treat with some other high powered individual right right, 60 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: or a trade route. But in both of those cases 61 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: we just mentioned, uh, the odds were dangerously high that 62 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: these people would run into some sort of disaster themselves. 63 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: You know, being a diplomat didn't guarantee your safety and 64 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: foreign lands, uh, the way that it theoretically does today. 65 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: But here's what happened. The Industrial Revolution comes about late 66 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: eighteenth century England. People are moving from an agrarian lifestyle 67 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: to cities. We see the emergence of a genuine middle 68 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: class in Western Europe. In the US, all of a sudden, 69 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: a certain type of person had a little bit of 70 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 1: scratch and they wanted to see the world too. They 71 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: wanted to, you know, maybe buy books. They wanted to 72 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: have some of the finer things in life. They wanted 73 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: to live like the royals. Shout out to Lord h 74 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: so with an e, so like the Lord. You know, 75 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: the Lord's the Lord of the dance. Perhaps perhaps I 76 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: played that character one time. It's very weird anyway. So 77 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: this is where we meet our protag Guinness and uh no, 78 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: you set this up so beautifully. So there's a guy 79 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: named Thomas Cook. And Thomas Cook is a religious figure. 80 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: He's a pastor. He does not like the idea of 81 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: people drinking boots. That's one of his main things. He's 82 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: super against it. He's a teetotaler, and so he uh 83 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: takes his message to the people. He's been doing this 84 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,679 Speaker 1: since the eighteen twenties and thirties. He's walking on foot 85 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: throughout throughout England, throughout the countryside, talks to people. He says, 86 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: don't drink. Folks if and you know, hold speeches impromptu 87 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: whenever they'll listen to them if they won't, and he's 88 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: basically throwing pamphlets at them to read later. Who is it. 89 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: I think it's Mitch Headburger got his joke ritside. Every 90 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: time someone hands me a flyer, it's like they're saying, hey, 91 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: you throw this away with with with pamplets. But this 92 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: guy is basically like a Johnny apple Seed of finger 93 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: wagging and pamphleting. You know, He's basically is distributing trash 94 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: across everywhere he steps. And I'm sure that he converted 95 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: some folks, you know, to his way of thinking that 96 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: booze was the devil's nectar and all of that good stuff. Um. 97 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: But somewhere along the way he realized that there was 98 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: a very big opportunity for him in Egypt because at 99 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: this time something called the Suez Canal was nearing completion 100 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: and was going to cause it was already causing a 101 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: massive boom there in Egypt in the capital city of Cairo, 102 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: or hotel proprietors were you know, making money hand over fist, 103 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: and it was really becoming a place that the super rich, 104 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: you know, from Europe and even America wanted to check 105 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: out because of the egypt craze. Right, the idea of 106 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: like the pyramids and you know, mummies and all that 107 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: stuff that really kind of, uh, frankly, was somewhat disrespectful, 108 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: if not entirely disrespectful to the actual culture and religious 109 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: practices of the Egyptian people. Um. And it continued on 110 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: throughout pop culture and history and movies like The Mummy 111 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: and all of that, even had the Three Stooges hanging 112 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: out with the Mummy. Uh. It really was kind of 113 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: a weird bastardization of something that was very sacred and holy, 114 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: but it was fascinating to Western minds, and it was 115 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: really starting to become something that was attracting a lot 116 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: of dollars. Yeah, and he had been building to this 117 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: for a while because when he was just straight up walking, 118 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: when he was the uh pamphlet peddling teetotaling pedestrian pastor. 119 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: He wasn't really touching a lot of hearts and minds. 120 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: It wasn't until the world's first railway network opened up 121 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: that he realized he could take his message. He could 122 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: expand his message, or is the Simpsons saying big in 123 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: his message in a way he never had before. He 124 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: would bring other temperance fans with him two rallies across 125 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: the Kingdom, and then telegraph wires came into play and 126 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: he was able to direct his temperest tours. He started 127 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: to call them from a remote location and he realized quickly, 128 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: this is this is what we're talking about, the accidental stuff. 129 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: At first he realized this mass transit would allow him 130 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: to spread the message of teetotally or teetotalism, whichever you 131 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: think is more fun to say folks. At first he thought, 132 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: you know, this would be a good way to expand that. 133 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: But then he realized he can make a buck with this, 134 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: and so he put his missionary work on hold for 135 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: just a second, he told himself, and started organizing sightseeing tours. 136 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty five, he went over the English Channel 137 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: to France, then took some folks to Switzerland. As soon 138 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: as the American Civil War ended, he took some of 139 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: you know, the English middle class across the Atlantic to 140 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: New York and then he would crowdsource the expense. He 141 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: became the world's first travel agent when he was saying, Okay, 142 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: if you traveled together, I will be able to get 143 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: you discounts and I'll cover all your travel and all 144 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: your transit and alcohol. This is where he starts to 145 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: betray his old ideals. Alcohol isn't banned on these trips, 146 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: it just comes at a really heavy additional cost. That's 147 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: where he that's when he realizes the Suez Canal is 148 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: the go to place. People are nuts. Like you said 149 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: about mummies. Uh, they're having mummy on wrapping parties. They're 150 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: using them as cordwood or firewood. They're even people are 151 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: eating mummy ashes. It's wild. But everybody in Europe is 152 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:51,359 Speaker 1: all about mummies, especially when the that French scholar deciphers 153 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta stone. Cook cannot keep up 154 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: with the demand. Business is good, yeah, exactly, and he's 155 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: really stumbled his way into a burgeoning new industry. The 156 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: term by the way that I was trying to think 157 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: of earlier was Egypt Domania, which was a thing, like, 158 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: you know, in the same way that like Beatlemania was 159 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,839 Speaker 1: a thing, or or list Domania if you know, uh, 160 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: Franz List was like the original rock Star with um 161 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: ladies throwing their lacy garments at him whilst he played 162 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: the piano and all of that. Shout out pix Phoenix, 163 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: one of my favorite pants. So this service that Cook 164 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: was offering was pretty revolutionary. He essentially had this these packages, 165 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: these all inclusive kind of deals that today seems super 166 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: super obvious because we've seen a million times sort of 167 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: a proto carnival cruise kind of situation, but at the 168 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: time it was something that nobody had ever really seen before, 169 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: at least folks who were not seasoned travelers. Uh. And 170 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: we're mainly dealing with Europeans at this point of course. 171 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: So he was not referring to himself as a tra 172 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: i will guide per se. But as Andrew Humphries wrote 173 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: in his book on the Nile in the Golden Age 174 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:10,319 Speaker 1: of Travel, Cook referred to himself as a travel chaperone 175 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: because this was a time where women were not meant 176 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: to be out in the world on their own without 177 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: the care of a proper chaperone. So that's the term 178 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: that they we're using because it kind of gave an 179 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: air of safety and upstanding nous, right, I mean, he 180 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: was definitely like still, you know, at heart a teetotaler, 181 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: and he was still I think trying for that sort 182 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: of influence. So I think maybe that that that affected 183 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: his choice of terms there. But this allowed a lot 184 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: of women, you know, in the same way that remember 185 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: what was it seaweed? Gathering seaweed and making seaweed collages 186 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: really opened up women to like the outdoors exactly because 187 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: at the time, uh similar era, if I'm not mistaken, 188 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 1: women there were certain things they just weren't supposed to 189 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: do because they were unladylike. So this all out women 190 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: to kind of venture out into the word again, I'm 191 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: just I'm just describing the times. I think this is 192 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,559 Speaker 1: all absurd obviously, and women should be able to do 193 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: whatever they wanted, but it was a patriarchal society, so 194 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: they had to go stepping stones at a time in 195 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: order to get to a place where they could be 196 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: fully able to do whatever they wanted. But Cook did, 197 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: for what's worth, create a situation that allowed women to 198 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: travel without fear of being you know, molested by mashers 199 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: or what have you. And I just want to jump 200 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: in and say something real quick. I love how much 201 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 1: we like maligned to the Seaweed episode. Before we did it, 202 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: we talked about how hard it was for us to 203 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: actually make it, and I think that's like the most 204 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: brought up episode we have in like all of our episodes. 205 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: Now just so far, so far. And yes, that's a 206 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: good point, Max, I would argue if you haven't listened 207 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: to the episode yet. One of the really impressive things 208 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: is how it allowed female identifying people entry into serious science. 209 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: Right the misogyny was such at the time that they 210 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: were not allowed to do so. But this also I 211 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: wanna I want to give a shout out to Peter 212 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: Schwartztein over at Smithsonian, who wrote the great article how 213 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: an alcohol hating English preacher founded global tourism. And yes, 214 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: I used the phrase pastor a couple of times, but 215 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: that was that was just me freestyle, and he's a preacher. 216 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: So look, this is there are some important points we 217 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: gotta hit here first. This also kind of feeds into 218 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: that middle class ambition to travel like a wealthy person. 219 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: Now you have a chaperone, you have an entourage, just 220 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: a sort of valet, and they did enjoy these tours. 221 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: He definitely he being cooked, definitely was becoming more and 222 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: more disassociated from his roots. As he was pioneering this business. 223 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: He wanted to embrace every new technology that would help 224 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: him out with this. He founded a city, which we're 225 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: gonna get to in a second. This is one of 226 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: the coolest parts of the story. Uh, he kind of 227 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: found it. Slash took over a city. He had also 228 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: gotten into um the monopolization or vertical horizontal integration game. 229 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: He started renting cargo steamships. In the past when very 230 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: wealthy people were cruising the Nile, they were on sailing boats. 231 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: So he got steamships. He subdivided them in these tiny 232 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: little rooms, and he packed his passengers in like sardines 233 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: in a can, and took them on these three week 234 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: tours of various historic sites. And then other people saw 235 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: that this was a good I don't want to call 236 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: the grift. Other people saw this was a good business, 237 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: right uh, And no one cared how disrespectful it was 238 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: to actual Egyptian culture people. So is American German rivals 239 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: hit the scene in Yeah. He also I mean like 240 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: spread a lot of nasty rumors about Egyptians, like saying 241 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: they were diseased and you know, not touch them or 242 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: share your opera glasses with them unless you get a 243 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: disease of the eye or something. I don't know. It's again, 244 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't respectful of the culture at all, And there 245 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: was a lot of capitalizing on this idea of exoticism 246 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: and all of these like bizarre magical rituals and dark 247 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: magic and all of this stuff. Because he really was 248 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: kind of a grifter at heart. Even if he started 249 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: off with this um intention of spreading the good word 250 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: and and preaching temperance and all that stuff far and wide, 251 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: he really couldn't resist a good grift. He kind of 252 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: reminds me of like I've been sorry. I'm deep in 253 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: in Better call Saul Rewatch and and watching the new episodes, 254 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: and that's a slipping Jimmy. You know, he tries to 255 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: be good, he tries to do good, but at the 256 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: end of the day, he's always called back to the grift. 257 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: He's addicted to the grift, and that's kind of what 258 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: this guy is too. But he you know, the idea 259 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: of creating these like compartmentalizing literally they're called compartments, I 260 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: think are apartments, um cabins, I guess in these steamships. 261 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: That was revolutionary and it's something that we still see 262 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: to this day. I think finally the cruise industry is 263 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: maybe getting a little bit back up and running. Remember 264 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: all those like there's more cruise ships when COVID hit 265 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: or they wouldn't let anybody off because everyone had COVID, 266 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: and it was like they had to sit there, you know, 267 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: until they were They didn't even know what the incubation 268 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: period was or how long it would be before they 269 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: were safe, and they had to feed them through like 270 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: slots in the door. It was just really a bad 271 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: look for the industry. But not much has changed, is 272 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: all I'm getting at. Like they they still are these 273 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: massive ships that are divided into these tiny little compartments 274 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: and everyone eats at the same time. It really is 275 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: kind of like a brilliant business model that this dude 276 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: Cooks sort of haphazardly stumbled upon. Yeah. Yeah, And it's 277 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: interesting because he was creating a lot of these innovations 278 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: in response to competitors, right, So he he didn't ever 279 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: start out with this map of his grand plan to 280 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: start the travel industry. When his rivals come on the scene, 281 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,239 Speaker 1: he hasn't waste much time. He says, Look, why am 282 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: I gonna bother renting rooms on cargo ships. I've got 283 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: the cash. Now I'm going to construct my own fleet 284 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 1: of new steamships to stay ahead of the game. That's 285 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: why I always think of this guy's kind of he 286 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,199 Speaker 1: becomes a combination of Citizen Kane and Rick Steve's in 287 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: a non drinking way, because he never he never betrayed 288 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: his values to the point where he started tippling as well. 289 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,679 Speaker 1: But the thing is he also had a lot of 290 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: personal connections and nepotism helped him out to the British 291 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: Empire was expanding up the Nile, and he was pretty 292 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: tight with the armed forces, particularly when they occupied Egypt 293 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: in the early eighteen eighties, and then he did favors 294 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:08,160 Speaker 1: for them. His son John was mainly running the Thomas 295 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: Cook Company by this time, and John was given the 296 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: job of transporting hundreds of British troops up river in 297 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: his steamship to try to control Sudan, and according to Humphreys, 298 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: this is the only occasion on which the British Army 299 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: has gone to war conveyed by private transport, so this 300 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: is a lot of positive press. This also means that, 301 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: weirdly enough, later on in life, veterans and officers might 302 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: take a Thomas Cook tour out of nostalgia. Business is booming, 303 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: so he's gone from just to recap this. He's gone 304 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: from walking on foot talked about how he shouldn't drink two, 305 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: organizing temperance rallies using railroad and telegraph, to taking people 306 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: on tours via boats, to renting steamships, to building his 307 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: own steamship, to helping fight a war, to now building 308 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 1: his own city. He can't and he didn't. I mean 309 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: he didn't really build lux Or, but he definitely made it. 310 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: Set it on the path that's on today. Yeah, there 311 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: was a little cluster of homes in um A, a 312 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: sandy area surrounded by some little temples. And he saw 313 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 1: this and saw opportunity. He thought it was situated neatly 314 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,439 Speaker 1: near some of the ruins of Karnak that were a 315 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: popular tourist destination. So he figured what the hell, and 316 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: he dubbed this little region lux Or. He built a 317 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: boardwalk or it was referred to as a corniche. It 318 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:44,360 Speaker 1: was not not familiar with that term. I like it though. 319 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: It sounds like a tiny pickle as a cornish or 320 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: I don't never mind. Um and he populish cornish game 321 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: hens are also delicious. Uh, this is fancy food, you know, 322 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: tiny pickles and and game hens. Gotta have a fancy 323 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: name for something that's more basics, and then boardwalk will 324 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 1: not do. It's got to be a corniche. Um. But 325 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: he you know, he parked a lot of his steamships there. 326 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 1: They were allowed to unload their cargo. He had a 327 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: few hotels built, one of which is still standing today. 328 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: The Winter Palace, Uh sounds like something that you'd hear, 329 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: you you'd see. This is like almost like a mini 330 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: Atlantic city kind of vibe. You know, it really is 331 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: like a city. Uh that's designed for tourism. You know, 332 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: it's like there's people are like locals there. It's it's 333 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: designed for these out of towners. It's because they're vacationing 334 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: during the winter season in Europe. So now it's that's 335 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: why they call it the Winter Palace. And a corniche 336 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,880 Speaker 1: is like a road along the coast or road cut 337 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: into a cliff. Um. I personally prefer the hens and 338 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: the pickles, but but yeah, it's a it's a road. 339 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: It's great. You're you're right. He made a boardwalk kind 340 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,639 Speaker 1: of he made He made like the ancestor of the 341 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: boardwalk in uh, what's the other one? Coney Island for instance, 342 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: being an example on par with Atlantic City. He is 343 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: building this into an empire. It's already empire at this point. 344 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: They lean into the tourism aspect. It's where you want 345 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 1: to be and be seen if you are a European tourist. 346 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 1: Of note, this is where the discovery of King Tut's 347 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 1: tomb is announced, right when they're opening this. They announced 348 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 1: it in the winter Palace. Sometimes people will stay on 349 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:27,400 Speaker 1: the boats. Sometimes they'll stay on the river bank intents. 350 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: Sometimes they'll even stay inside the ancient tombs because just 351 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: like the cruise companies that would later emulate them their 352 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,360 Speaker 1: tears and pricing, there are options, you know what I mean. 353 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: You want to room with a window, it's gonna cost 354 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: you a little extra. Yeah. From the very start, he 355 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: was doing these package deals, you know, and it was 356 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: all that kind of tiered package deals, all inclusive, but 357 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: not inclusive of all. If you know what I'm saying, right, 358 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 1: his rick stevishness takes him to the fights of business success. 359 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: He passes away in two like like I said, his 360 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 1: son John had been running the business for a while, 361 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: but the business doesn't end with him. It continues on. 362 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: The family survives, and the business survives through World War One. 363 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: A lot of their boats get used as troop transports. 364 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: His grandsons ultimately sell the Thomas Cook business in at 365 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: the edge of the Great Depression, right before the world's 366 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: economic collapse would cripple the tourism industry, and throughout the 367 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: thirties and the forties, the tourism scene in Egypt particularly crumbles. 368 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: For a while, his fancy Cook boats are just floating 369 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: hostels basically for archaeologists. But maybe we can talk a 370 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: little bit about doing talk a little bit about Thomas 371 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: Cook's tours. The business is still around. Maybe we can 372 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: talk about lux or do you guys ever read wiki travel? 373 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: Do you know what? Do you read wiki travel? No? 374 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure it's come up in in in my googles, 375 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: but it doesn't ring a bell directly. WICKI there's a 376 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: Wicky wi He's about anything why shouldn't there be one 377 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: for travel? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's a fun way 378 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: to learn about a place you've never visited. It's also 379 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: a fun way to check the accuracy of any of 380 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,440 Speaker 1: these wiki travel articles. But I was looking up lux 381 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: Or on wiki travel. Wiki travel is designed entirely like 382 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: it's a crowdsourced thing for any perspective traveler, and it's 383 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: meant to be written by people who have firsthand experience. 384 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: Sometimes also you can tell when it's written by people 385 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: who live there and work in the tourists and tourism industry, 386 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: you know where they'll say stuff like bells is not 387 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: as dangerous as the media would have You'll believe we'll 388 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: have a ton of percent American stop. It's a you know, 389 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: stuff like that. I would I would love American style 390 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: pizza isn't pizza Italian? What does Americans? It isn't that 391 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: crappy pizza? You don't want American style style? Yeah, that's why, 392 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: that's why that comment sticks in my memory. But you 393 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: can see it laid out, is like stay safe, where 394 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: to sleep, what to eat, how to get in, how 395 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: to get out, the language, the culture. It's a great 396 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: read and It's amazing that this guy entirely stumbled into 397 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 1: what is now even even after surviving COVID, It's now 398 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: still a billion dollar industry. Right, Egyptian tourism is, you know, 399 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 1: kind of an ebb. It's it hasn't returned to the 400 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: days of Egyptomania, but the Thomas Cook group is still around. 401 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,639 Speaker 1: I didn't know this. They're an airline. What do you 402 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: think Thomas Cooke would feel like if you saw that. Oh, 403 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: sure he'd be stoked. He seemed like he was a 404 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: relatively forward thinking guy. But surely it's like a tiny, 405 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: little bespoke air line that on leave as little puddle 406 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: jumper type type flights. Right, I've I've never heard of it. 407 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: Two destinations, it's a lot, huh. They're all in New Jersey. 408 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,840 Speaker 1: But they are a publicly listed airline, like you said, 409 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: sort of a miniaire. I mean, that's that's a Brits 410 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: impressive for an airline that I literally had never heard 411 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: of until researching for this story. But also they continue 412 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: to operate tours, and we mentioned that because of some 413 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: of the political and social uprising in Egypt, not nearly 414 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: as popular a tourist destination and that's a relatively recent development. 415 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: In two thousand eleven, the Thomas Cook group halted flights 416 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: to lux Or, which is still relatively you know, serves 417 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: the same purpose as it did from the start in 418 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven when that revolution um kicked off. But 419 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: today you've got about a hundred of the Remember those uh, 420 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: those cruise liners um that were there moored along the 421 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: river banks in lux Or. Well today we've got about 422 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: a three hundred of them just kind of gathering dust 423 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: and sand, um, waiting for a resurgence in the tourist 424 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,960 Speaker 1: industry there in Egypt, which may or may not come. 425 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 1: I hope it does. I'd love to go, but it's 426 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: certainly not like top of my list, and I don't 427 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: think it's it's it's nearly the same, you know, you know, 428 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 1: I mean, I always forget how closely situated Europe is 429 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,400 Speaker 1: to Africa, but you always hear about Europeans going to Morocco, 430 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: which I think is a little more stable and uh 431 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: and a little more seen as the kind of luxurious 432 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: tourist destination that maybe at one point Egypt was, but 433 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: but no longer. Yeah, I'm going to uh going to Morocco. 434 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: Actually depending. I just keep waiting on COVID. Yeah, it's 435 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 1: gonna be fine. I want to I want to eat 436 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: some food in a tajin, you know. But we do 437 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: want to give you a quick contemporary update because William 438 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: Faulter was correct when he said the past isn't past. 439 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: History is still with us. The Thomas Cook Company declared 440 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,959 Speaker 1: bankruptcy in nineteen. It was a hundred and seventy eight 441 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: years old when it collapsed, and along the way, uh, 442 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: it made a lot of history. We also want to 443 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: give a shout out to Christopher Rose from fifteen Minute History, 444 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: who talks, who has a great story about the curious 445 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: case of the Thomas Cook Hospital in lux Or. So 446 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: that's a story for another day. But we we do 447 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy it. We hope you enjoyed this. I 448 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: don't know where's your dream travel man? Oh man, I'm down. 449 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: I'm definitely down with morocco Um. When I was when 450 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: I went to when I went to Paris not too 451 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 1: terribly long ago. The folks sitting next to me on 452 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: one of the flights, we're talking about going to morocco 453 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: Um after hanging out in Paris for a while. So 454 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,199 Speaker 1: it's just a little bit of of a of a 455 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: Hoppita jump. I do want to add though, because I've 456 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: really been interested in recent months in the idea of 457 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: train spotting. And you know, there's a movie of course 458 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: about hero Attics and in Scotland with you and McGregor 459 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: really in a boil movie. This is the way thing 460 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: that it is what they're sort of what the movie 461 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: is about. They don't really do too much of it. 462 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: It's sort of one of those absurdist kind of titles 463 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: that really doesn't have much bearing on the actual plot. 464 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,639 Speaker 1: But there is this dude on TikTok and uh Instagram 465 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: who I love. He goes by the name um oh gosh, 466 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: it's like Thomas Bourgeoisie or something Bourgeoisie uh, and he 467 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: is a train spotter and he just gets such joy 468 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: out of watching these trains. He knows all about the 469 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: different models and different engines and he describes the different 470 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: stations and it's a huge deal, you know, in in 471 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: in the UK and Europe and um he is probably 472 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: very familiar with something called the Thomas Cook European rail Timetable, 473 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: which is often referred to as the rail Bible, which 474 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: has UH schedules for fifty thousand train, bus and ferry 475 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: connections to around five thousand locations. It stopped publishing in 476 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: because of issues within the company, of course, corporate downsizing 477 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: the lay after being published for one hundred and forty years. 478 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: So I am guarantee this is something train spotters would 479 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: be super familiar with. But John Potter, who used to 480 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: work for the Thomas Cook editorial team, because they branched out, 481 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: they did these travel guides, you know, all kinds of stuff. 482 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: I mean, this guy really did create a legacy of 483 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: of tourism um and they capitalized on it for many years. 484 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: This guy, John Potter, actually put out a second mortgage 485 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: on his house to buy the rights to that information 486 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: which was proprietary. It was that he bought the rights 487 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: to the timetable and this proprietary software that was used 488 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: to gather it all up. And now he personally publishes 489 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: a new edition of of this information that you can 490 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: get from his website. So if you're interested in that 491 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: at all, check out European timetable dot eu where you 492 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: can get all kinds of European train travel guides and 493 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,960 Speaker 1: timetables and all of that stuff. And this comes from 494 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: a great little mental flass article, although I disagree with 495 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: the title eleven men with extremely boring hobbies. You can 496 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: find that online today and learn more about it. And 497 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: if you'd like a bit of subterfuge mystery at the 498 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: very end of today's show, if you want to travel 499 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: the rails in a very different way, you're going to 500 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: want something in the US called the Crew Change Guide. 501 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: It's a book that's beyond band It's a secret book 502 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: for a secret group of people. If you want to 503 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: learn more about that, feel free to write to me 504 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: on the internet. You can find me on Twitter where 505 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: I'm at be in Bowling h W. You can find 506 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: me on Instagram where I'm at ben Bowling bo w 507 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: l I N And Noel you're on Instagram too, right, 508 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: that's right, I'm on Instagram at how now Noel Brown. 509 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: You can check out my adventures and dipping my toe 510 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: in the world of train spotting there and I'm just 511 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: kidding back, Yeah, maybe one day could be a cool hobby. 512 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: Francis Bourgeoisie, by the way, is his name. Check out 513 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: that guy. He's a delight. He wears this dorky like 514 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: head warn camera when the trains come by. It's one 515 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: of those ones that like makes your head look really 516 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 1: big on top of a tiny body, and it makes 517 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: his eyes look really big and wide up and far apart. 518 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: I think he does it for effect. But he's gotten 519 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: really really popular. He's like friends with Harry Styles and 520 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: Rosaliah and all these like big UK pop stars and 521 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: they just love him. And he just embraced the nerd 522 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: in him that he was there all along. And then 523 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: during COVID he really decided to make a thing of this. 524 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: That is something that he was bullied about during school. 525 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: But Francis bouge wise, Max Williams, where can folks find 526 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: your Internet likeness? Sir? Yeah, they can find me on Twitter. 527 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: I stay off the Instagram, start gonna avoid my nemesis, 528 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 1: Mr Noel Brown, But you can find me at at 529 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: at L Underscore Max Williams where you know you just 530 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 1: see me posting about you know, sports star trek, trolling, 531 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: Ben Bull and bores. I know you're into spores. Oh yes, 532 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: uh mycologist, so uh yeah, and thank you of course, 533 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 1: the one and only super producer, Max Williams. Thanks to 534 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: Casey Pegraham, Thanks to Ease Jeff Coach, Thanks to Uh, 535 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: thanks to Jonathan Strickland, our own uh armchair Egyptologists. I 536 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: feel like Jonathan listen to these and that's gonna that's 537 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: gonna stick with him for a while. So Jonathan, wake up. 538 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: If you woke up at three and you heard that, 539 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: just stay awaken it. Uh. That's that's it for us today. 540 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: Tuned in soon when we are going to talk about 541 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: a really classy apology and maybe not. I don't think 542 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: that spoils too much at all, but it's really classy, 543 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: weird apology, one of the classiest. We'll see you next time, folks. 544 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I 545 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 546 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.