1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: A fruit is a delicate thing. Once it becomes ripe, 7 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: a ticking clock begins. How long will it last before 8 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: an animal devours it? Will it start to rot? Or 9 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: will it drop off and vanish into the dirt. This 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: is a calculation built into the genes of millions of plants. 11 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: The sweet exteriors of fruits protect their seeds and incentivize 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: animals to eat and spread the plant far and wide. 13 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: We sometimes forget that the foods we consider ubiquitous have 14 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: a very specific natural role, and it required a lot 15 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: of careful engineering to get them to where they are today. 16 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: Some even had to be invented from whole cloth. Take 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: the sweet orange. 18 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: Its first mention in writing comes from Chinese literature of 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 2: the third century BC. It's a hybrid fruit that seems 20 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 2: to have originated in East Asia before spreading to the 21 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 2: Middle East, Europe, and the rest of the globe. Along 22 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 2: the way, it spawned varieties like the blood orange and 23 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 2: the navel orange, and its popularity speaks for itself. However, 24 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 2: as with all fruits, preservation was a significant problem throughout 25 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 2: recorded history. Limes, a sister fruit of the citrus family, 26 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 2: became well known as a treat for sailors at sea, 27 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 2: but oranges proved to be somewhat more difficult to transport 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 2: between continents. Even after Christopher Columbus brought lime seeds to 29 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 2: the Caribbean and introduced citrus fruits production in North America, 30 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 2: lag behind California hadn't yet been turned into a powerhouse 31 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 2: of orange production, so the fruit was seen as an 32 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 2: exotic delicacy of sorts, and those who wanted to serve 33 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 2: oranges to their dinner guests had to endure some truly 34 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 2: unhinged efforts to transport the fruit. In January of eighteen 35 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 2: fifty nine, tabloids latched on eagerly to a story out 36 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 2: of Puerto Rico. A ship set sail from the islands 37 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 2: under full sail, bound for New England. The goal was 38 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 2: to deliver a load of three hundred thousand oranges to 39 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 2: the East coast in still edible condition, a race against 40 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 2: time and nature. It was in optimistic attempt. However, by 41 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 2: the time the ship arrived in Boston Harbor, its cargo 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 2: was in less than ideal condition. More than two hundred 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 2: thousand oranges, two thirds of the cargo had erotted during 44 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 2: the voyage. It might have smelled nice, but that fruit 45 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 2: was no longer edible. Fortunately for the residents of Massachusetts, 46 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 2: almost eight hundred thousand oranges is still quite the supply. 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: On Janus January twenty fifth of eighteen fifty nine, a 48 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 2: lavish dinner was held in Boston to celebrate the birthday 49 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 2: of poet Robert Burns. On the menu for the shindig, 50 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 2: we can still read about the lavish dishes they ate, 51 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 2: but among the dessert menu is a deceptively simple line 52 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 2: item oranges. It seems that this was the final destination 53 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 2: of those nearly rotten fruits from Puerto Rico, and perhaps 54 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 2: some of the most inedible ones were still used to 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 2: help flavor the orange Sherbert listed beside it on the menu. 56 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 2: It wouldn't be until much later that someone would propose 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 2: that ice could be used to preserve food products for 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 2: transport across the world, and enterprising individuals would bring orange 59 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: seeds to different parts of North America, attempting to introduce 60 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 2: the plant to the New World. And today we're not 61 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 2: lacking for options wherever we look. Humans have been eating 62 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 2: oranges for at least twenty three hundred years, but it 63 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 2: wasn't until the past few hundred that we finally made 64 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 2: it a global possibility. It's almost a little microcosm of 65 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 2: what technological advance really means for a species. Not conquest 66 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 2: or efficiency, but triumph over entropy, the natural cycle of 67 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 2: a plant, a fruit, an animal. These were once fixed 68 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: things that started the moment it entered the world, and 69 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 2: now we no longer have to race ships in order 70 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 2: to bulk order citrus fruits. An orange has gone from 71 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 2: being a treasure obtained at great risk to being simply 72 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 2: a product. But maybe if we change our mindset just 73 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 2: a little, it can be a treasure again. Louis was 74 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 2: late the young teens. Sped through the cobblestone streets, scattering 75 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 2: pigeons as he wove between the horse drawn carriages. Pedestrians 76 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 2: jumped out of the way, shouting for him to watch 77 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 2: where he was going. Louis ignored them, cutting through parks 78 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 2: and over bridges. On how the hotel loomed into view. 79 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 2: He slammed on his brakes and dismounted the bike at 80 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 2: a run. Jogging to the dorman, he shouted that he 81 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 2: was there to see the American. The dorman blinked in surprise, 82 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 2: then pointed him around the corner of the building. Minutes later, 83 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 2: Louie was flat on his back in the alley, bearing 84 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: down hard on a wrench. While he worked, he chatted 85 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 2: eagerly with the mustache businessman, who seemed surprised that his 86 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 2: repairman was little more than a child. Despite his young age, 87 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 2: Louis was one of the best workers at the town's 88 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 2: bicycle and carriage workshop. He inherited his mechanical mindset from 89 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 2: his father, a Swiss watchmaker whose floundering business had forced 90 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 2: his children to enter the workforce early. Louis didn't mind, though, 91 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 2: he liked fixing bikes almost as much as he liked 92 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 2: riding them. But the machine he was repairing now wasn't 93 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 2: like anything he had worked on before. It was a 94 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 2: steam powered tricycle, one of the world's earliest self powered vehicles, 95 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 2: and as Louis familiarized himself with the gears and the 96 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 2: inner workings. He was already falling in love. The problem 97 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 2: wasn't difficult to diagnose, and Louis had the strike working 98 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 2: again in no time. The American was impressed. After paying 99 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 2: and thanking Louis, he gave him some free advice before 100 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 2: speeding away. Come to America, He said, we have work 101 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 2: for you there. Days later Louie would learn that the 102 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 2: American was the millionaire and racing enthusiast William K. Vanderbilt. 103 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 2: He never forgot the interaction or the man's parting words, 104 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 2: although it would take years to see them come to fruition. 105 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 2: As soon as he was old enough, he moved to 106 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 2: Paris and got a job at an early automotive factory. 107 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 2: He spent his wages on passage to Canada, where he 108 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 2: found work as a chauffeur and a mechanic, and finally, 109 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 2: in nineteen oh one, Louis arrived in New York City 110 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 2: at the age of twenty three. It was a far 111 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 2: cry from the world of ready jobs and easy money 112 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 2: that he had imagined. Auto companies were shuddering almost as 113 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 2: fast as they were opening, and Louis struggled to make 114 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 2: ends meet, he hops from one car company to another, 115 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 2: slowly working his way up the runs while gaining experience 116 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 2: tinkering on early race cars. But Louie's love for engines 117 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 2: wasn't confined to the garage. When he wasn't building cars, 118 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 2: he was racing them. In nineteen oh five, he won 119 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 2: New York's three Miles race, setting a track record of 120 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,559 Speaker 2: sixty eight miles per hour. The following year, he broke 121 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 2: the world record by reaching speeds of one hundred and 122 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 2: nineteen miles an hour in a race car that he 123 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 2: built himself. His skill, both in the garage and on 124 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 2: the track, caught the eye of another American millionaire, William C. Durant, 125 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 2: the founder of GM. In nineteen eleven, the pair partner 126 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 2: to create a new auto company named after Louis, since 127 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 2: Durant thought that his French sounding surname would appeal to customers. 128 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 2: At first, the team was wildly productive, quickly releasing four 129 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 2: cars designed by Louis, but disagreements about the direction of 130 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: the company soon got in the way. Durant wanted to 131 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 2: follow the Ford model of mass producing affordable cars. Louis 132 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 2: was determined to make the kind of automobiles that he 133 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 2: liked to drive, fast, powerful, and expensive. Eventually, the argument 134 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 2: escalated over a personal disagreement. Durant had long been irritated 135 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 2: by Louise's habit of smoking cheap cigarettes, but he always 136 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 2: chewed out of the corner of his mouth. One day, 137 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 2: after a heated business meeting, Durant suggested that Louis should 138 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: consider swapping the cigarettes for cigars so that he wouldn't 139 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: look so out of place next to the other automobile executives. 140 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 2: And for Louis, that was the last straw. He stormed 141 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 2: out in a fury, shouting I sold you my automobile, 142 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 2: I sold you my name, but I shall not sell 143 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 2: my personality to you. Their partnership ended there. Louis sold 144 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 2: his shares to Durant and walked away. Durant, however, decided 145 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 2: to keep the branding, a decision that ensured that Louis's 146 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 2: name would endure for over a century, stamped onto cars 147 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 2: sold across the world, even if you remembered the mechanic 148 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 2: and speed demon behind it, A man named Louis Chevrolet. 149 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 2: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 150 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 151 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 2: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 152 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 2: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 153 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 2: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 154 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 2: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 155 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 2: and you can learn all about it over at the 156 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 2: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.