1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. It's May tenth, two twelve. What No, that 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 1: just means it's me Chuck picking out a select episode 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: from May tenth, two thousand twelve. What's a Shotgun House? 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: It's cool because I like houses. Welcome to Stuff You 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: Should Know, a production of Five Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: Chuck Bryant with me as always, UM, which makes this 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: stuff you should know? The stuff you should Yeah, that's 9 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: our themes on it. Nice time, Thank you. Um. How 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: are you doing. I'm doing great. I feel like we 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: just did this. I'm looking forward to the show, are you? Yeah? 12 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: Because it touches on parts of Atlanta in their in 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: its history, which I always loved. And that's as Atlanta 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: man all over the States, all over the States. As uh, 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: the immortal David Byrne put it, you may find yourself 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: living in a shotgun check, you may find yourself in 17 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: another part of the world. I think even David Byrne 18 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: didn't realize what he was saying when he put those 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: two lines together. I think he meant them to contrast 20 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: with one another. But really, if you found yourself in 21 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: a shotgun check and say the beginning of the nineteenth century, 22 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: you probably were experiencing both. Yeah. Yeah, but he doesn't 23 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:41,400 Speaker 1: tip so now he doesn't care what he said. That's crazy. Um, 24 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: So Chuck, you remember her, Kane, Katrina Um I killed 25 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: I believe people. There is a lot of people. Um. 26 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: And one of the things in addition to all the 27 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: loss of life and property was a real worry about 28 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: loss of very um specific type of architecture, the shotgun house. 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: And the reason even though you can find it everywhere 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: from Key West to Chicago to San Francisco, all over 31 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: the place, you can find shotgun houses Atlanta. UM. The 32 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: reason why people were worried about losing it in New 33 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,799 Speaker 1: Orleans because as far as the United States goes, that 34 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: is where it was born. That's right. And the whole 35 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: reason anybody would even worry about a shotgun house, if 36 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: you've ever seen one, you might think, why would anyone 37 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: care about losing old chotgun houses is because they are 38 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: routinely cited as the great, possibly greatest contribution by African 39 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: Americans to American specific architecture and design, and not only that, 40 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: responsible for the bringing together in many ways of the 41 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: African American communities due to their things that we're going 42 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: to talk about. I was going to ruin it. I'm 43 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: thank you for saving it. That was good man. Okay, Um, 44 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: you've surely seen a shotgun house. Yeah, let's talk about 45 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: to some of the features people. We should. Yeah, because 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: there's probably plenty of people out there and people who 47 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: have seen him and don't know what we're talking about. 48 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: You're about to go. Oh, if you haven't seen him, 49 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: then go onto how stuff works dot com and type 50 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: in what's a shotgun house and you will find some 51 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: images of shotgun houses in this article that I wrote. 52 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: That's true. You wrote this years and years ago. I 53 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: don't think I knew that. Nice job. Shotgun house is 54 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: long and narrow. Yeah, a lot of times they won't 55 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: have windows on the side of the house, although in 56 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: researching this, I saw plenty that do, so it's almost 57 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: like a throwaway. Sometimes they do, don't, Yes, And the 58 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: reason why it's because they're often really close together, like 59 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: I mean, like a foot, a couple of feet. You 60 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: can maybe walk without turning between two houses. But that's 61 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: it exactly. Um, they well, you just said they were 62 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: close to one another. Um, they have high ceilings. They 63 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: very few of them had indoor plumbing at first. UM. 64 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: That was usually brought on later um and tacked onto 65 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: the rear of the house, sometimes crudely. Uh. Typically what 66 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: you have is a living room, bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, all 67 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: in a row, all in a straight line, all the 68 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: doors lining up, interior doors lining up right. So when 69 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: the front and back door is open, you can see 70 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: clear through the house, which is one of the reasons 71 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: why a lot of people think it got its name. 72 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: You could shoot a gun or a shotgun through the 73 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: front door and it would exit out the back door 74 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: without hitting a single wall, and that would hit the 75 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: house behind it or some poor staff who's coming in 76 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: and like you point out, Josh, it's a cute story, 77 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: and it's all over the place. A bet you there 78 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: are many many tours of New Orleans. I'd say that 79 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: story is true. May or may not be. It probably isn't. Um. 80 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: What else is? What else is specific about shotgun houses, chuck? Uh? 81 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: They aside from being a mada homes, they have certain 82 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: architectural flourishes that make them distinctive. UM. I think the 83 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: idea was kind of like, you know, we may be 84 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: poor and not have the biggest house, but we can 85 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: certainly adorn the the vent venting greats and what the 86 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: the arbor that held up the not the arbor brackets, 87 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: brackets that held up the roof. They would be intricately carved, 88 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: usually in a gingerbread design, um, which a lot of 89 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: people kind of criticize or pooh pooed that addition, um 90 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: as h poor blacks or even before that, slaves just 91 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: trying to emulate whites. Um, which is not the case 92 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: because if you trace so, the shotgun house finds its 93 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: origins in the US and New Orleans, but if you 94 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: go even further back, you'll find older ones on Haiti, 95 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: and then even further back you will find something that 96 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: looks started startlingly similar. Um. In West Africa and in 97 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: the Yoruba tongue, these houses are called to gun, which 98 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,239 Speaker 1: means house in Yoruba, or showgun, which means God's house. 99 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: So probably that's where the name comes from. By the ways, 100 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: to gun or showgun from the Yoruba dialect, right, which 101 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: I love. UM. But in these houses they also had 102 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: like intricate details, but they were more of an African motif. 103 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: Over time here in the United States, they adopted gingerbreadin 104 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 1: or Um Victorian. Yeah, different kinds of carvings, but it 105 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: is very cool. It's kind of like, this is a 106 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: very modest, straightforward house, but there's also pretty neat little 107 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: details we can still have like great pride in it exactly. Um, 108 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: they were usually in New Orleans. They were typically a 109 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: few feed off the ground because of the obvious flooding 110 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: problems there. Um. And this I found and it seems 111 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 1: believable to me, but I didn't have time to triple 112 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: check it. Um. At the time, property taxes were based 113 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,360 Speaker 1: on frontage, still aren't in are they in New Orleans? 114 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: If you have a house, you're paying by the um 115 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: the frontage, which is the width of your house. Yes, 116 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: and if you are looking at a shotgun house is 117 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: very narrow, but it's long. Um. And the number of 118 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: rooms okay, and in New Orleans though they changed it 119 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: to the number of rooms, they added that on. Yeah, 120 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: it's both okay, uh. And in New Orleans rooms include 121 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: hallways and closets, and you're not going to find a 122 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: hallway or a closet in a shotgun house. So it's 123 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: also another way to um, I guess keep your property 124 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: taxes low as well well, And I found that they 125 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: originally it was just frontage and then so they started 126 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: building the camelbacks, which is a shotgun house with a 127 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: second story on the rear of the house only. And 128 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,119 Speaker 1: then that's when the city said, oh, well we should 129 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: tack rooms onto this as well, because these smart people 130 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: have found a way around paying, as you know, property 131 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: tax pretty smart. Yeah, it does, it makes it makes sense. 132 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: And also found that the first mentioned in print calling 133 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: them shotgun houses was in our very own Atlanta Journal 134 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: Constitution in nine three a classified ad may have been 135 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: the first time that it was actually named that in print, 136 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: and it was like shotgun house twelve dollars a month rent. Yeah, 137 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: twelve bucks. That's not too bad. But you could get 138 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: a shotgun house about that time a kit for a 139 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: hundred bucks um. They also allowed for good air flow too, 140 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: I want to mention, yeah, because you can open up 141 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: the front and back doors and you got a straight shot. Well, 142 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons why they were adopted in Haiti. 143 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: Not everybody in Haiti was from West Africa, but that 144 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: became the predominant style, this West African design house because 145 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: it fit in really well with the tropics, all right. 146 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: So well, it made its way from Haiti to New 147 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: Orleans because of the well in indirectly because of the 148 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: French Revolution. Right, So French Revolution takes place and you've 149 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: got UM, liberty, gality, fraternity to all people. That put 150 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: French planners in Haiti in kind of a pickle because 151 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: they couldn't grant liberty to their slaves because they wouldn't 152 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,719 Speaker 1: have any profits any longer. So as they're figuring this out, 153 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: they're trying to figure out what to do, a guy 154 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: named Toussaint low Mature makes the decision for him and 155 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: leads a slave uprising that lasts for many years and 156 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: basically drives all of the white plantation owners from the 157 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: island of Haiti, one of the places that they went. 158 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:36,959 Speaker 1: And then Haiti became the first UM recognized sovereign maroon 159 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: nation of freed slaves revolting slaves UM, which is pretty cool. 160 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: But that also led to, if you go back and 161 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: listen to our voodoo podcast, a deep and abiding suspicion 162 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: by whites of Haiti all things Haiti from that point 163 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: on UM. But so that this slave uprising that led 164 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: to the UM the freeing of Haiti also led to 165 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: the white populating of New Orleans. So about that time, 166 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: if you went to New Orleans, there were about twelve 167 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: thousand people and a third of them were slaves, the 168 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: third of them were white, and then a third of 169 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: them were free blacks. So it's it's real melting pot 170 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: um And one of the place one of the things 171 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: that came about from that was people fleeing Haiti bringing 172 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: the shotgun houses with them, and then it just kind 173 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: of it was always African American um and it was 174 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: always associated with African Americans, and it just kind of 175 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: spread from there to where if you if you came 176 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: across the working class African American neighborhood like in Chicago 177 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: or something like that, you're going to see shotgun of 178 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,560 Speaker 1: houses or Atlanta, like I've mentioned many times. Uh, if 179 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: if you are local, then you can see these kinds 180 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: of houses in like the Sweet Auburn district, Cabbage Down 181 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: and I think Cabbage Town where they were houses for 182 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: factory workers for the nearby cotton mill offten uh factories. Yeah, 183 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: it changed hands um. Also, you're gonna find them directly 184 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: across the street from Martin Luther King's birthplace UM in 185 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: the King Memorial area. The whole park is UM. There's 186 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: still people that live in them. Yeah, and they've been 187 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: pretty well preserved over the Yeah. Yeah, it's very cool. 188 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: But those were like late nineteenth century built. But it 189 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: did kind of transition from African American only to working 190 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: class of all colors. The shotgun house became kind of 191 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: an emblem of the working class as much as African 192 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: Americans now. Is a is a row house the same thing? 193 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: Or is a row house? Just know those are side 194 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: by side, like touching, sometimes all forming one large building, 195 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: but then maybe different gables differentiating them. So a shotgun 196 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: a shotgun house could be a row house, but a 197 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 1: row house can't be a shotgun house because den row 198 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: house indicate like the proximity to one another more than 199 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: the style of the house. Or no, I think it's both. 200 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: And then the shotgun house is not supposed to be 201 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: confused with the railroad house either, yea, which is you 202 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: enter and there's a long hallway from front to back, 203 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: and then off of the hallway our rooms apartments. My 204 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: friend Meredith in New York, in Brooklyn, lives in a 205 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 1: railroad department which was always a little weird because like 206 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: in order for like when I would stay there, I 207 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: would stay in the living room, and when someone had 208 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom, they would have to walk 209 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: through the you know, living room to tend to get 210 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,439 Speaker 1: to the Bathroom's always awkward. Or she could go outside 211 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 1: through the hallway and then come back in because she 212 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: had two doors to her apartment. Got it still does, hi, Meredith, 213 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: So Chuck, we're talking about where else they spread. There's 214 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: UM also a lot of in Oklahoma, especially southern Oklahoma. Yeah. 215 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons why is because southern Oklahoma, 216 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: the Oklahoma territory Um before it became a state, was 217 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: a free black area and a lot of blacks traveled 218 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: to Oklahoma, moved to Oklahoma to be free, and a 219 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: lot of runaway slaves maroons is what they are called, 220 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: formed and integrated with um Native American tribes like the Seminoles. 221 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: And when these five civilized tribes and making air quotes 222 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: like furiously um were moved to the Oklahoma territory Um, 223 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: a lot of blacks went with them, and shockun houses 224 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: showed up alongside the whole thing, and there's like all 225 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: black towns are formerly all black towns in southern Oklahoma 226 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: where it's like shocking houses everywhere. Yeah, so, Chuck, if 227 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: you ask me, I feel like, now we've reached the 228 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: point where this is the fact of the show, and 229 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:02,359 Speaker 1: I know you're excited about this. Well, it's cool. They um. 230 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: It's one of the reasons I talked about why the 231 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: cultural legacy of the shotgun Home had a lot to 232 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: do with bringing together the African American community is because 233 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: of a little something called the front porch. Yeah, they 234 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: didn't exist in the United States before the shotgun House 235 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,599 Speaker 1: brought it along. So the shotgun houses are typically I 236 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: mean a lot of them actually were so far forward 237 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: that they were on the sidewalk, But the ones that 238 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: weren't had a few feet of grass and then a 239 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: front porch to hang out on. And in a small house, 240 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: you're going to congregate on the front porch. And in 241 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: the evenings, if your neighbors on our front porch five 242 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: feet from you and they're five feet from another one, 243 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: then what you have is a big, old, friendly cultural 244 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: block party going on every evening, and the porch is made. 245 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: It's a spandrel I guess of the um overhanging roof. 246 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: And then if you add the fact that in New Orleans, 247 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: like you said, they were built off of the ground. 248 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: Some yeah, you have to build steps to go up 249 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: to it. And then you have a just buy you 250 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: have a de facto porch. And then yeah, you add 251 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: a bunch of them together and there you go. So 252 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: we didn't have porch. So like these huge wraparound porches 253 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: on old like plantation mansions stoops in New York, like, 254 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: all of this stuff can be traced back to the 255 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: shotgun house. Really, yeah, that's crazy, and thank you for that, 256 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: shotgun house builders. So because one of my favorite things 257 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: is the front porch or the back porch. Good good porches. 258 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: It's very important. Yeah, you know, shotgun houses started to 259 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: wane in the twenties, and it wasn't It wasn't until 260 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: fairly recently that we knew the history of shotgun houses. 261 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: That architects um went back and and art historians went 262 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: back and figured out where this all came from and 263 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: traced it step by step. I mean it was within 264 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: the last like a couple of decades um. And they 265 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: were like, okay, we found some shotgun houses and these 266 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: are really old, and they date them and they'd be like, Okay, 267 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: New Orleans is the birthplace. And then somebody be like, 268 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: have you been to Port of Prince Like they got 269 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: some they're really really old there, and then they traced 270 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: them back and then somebody figured out that they were 271 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: from West Africa. But the new construction in the United 272 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: States waned in the twenties, and like I said about 273 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: the turn of the last century, you could get a 274 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: kit for about a hundred bucks, which also made them 275 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: really good cheap housing for labor um if you had 276 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: like a work camp, you exactly um. And they were 277 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: also really good for disaster relief. Specifically, they made a 278 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: big appearance in the San Francisco earthquake of nineteen o six. Well, yeah, 279 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: they needed to put up displaced people. And when you 280 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: can build a house for a hundred bucks, then you 281 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: do so exactly. And when it can be pre fabricated 282 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: and then taking apart in like six large parts, put 283 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: on a train and sent somewhere and then put back 284 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: together within like a couple hours, like a waffle house. Yeah, 285 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: it's exactly like a waffle house. As matter of fact, 286 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: I think you can go out on a limb and 287 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: say we wouldn't have the waffle house without the shotgun house. 288 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: I think you're right, uh little pop culture. Yeah, you 289 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: already mentioned David Byrne. Uh Coogs, John Mellencamp, My boy 290 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: Coogs Pink Houses was about a shotgun house. Apparently, his 291 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 1: legend has it, he was driving on a busy main 292 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: road and he saw this little black guy sitting on 293 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,679 Speaker 1: the front porch of his little pink shotgun house, gave him, 294 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: gave him a wave, and he said he just looked 295 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: like he was as happy as could be sitting out 296 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: on his porch. And uh, I wrote a song about it, 297 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: that's nice, and and that the album that I was 298 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: on too, Yeah, I think so great song. Elvis Presley 299 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: was born in the shotgun house. Oh yeah, in uh yeah, Mississippi, 300 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: which is where I have family actually, And Aaron Neville 301 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: grew up in a shotgun house. The incomparable and muscly 302 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:58,160 Speaker 1: and Moley. But boy man like I can sing yeah 303 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: like a bird? Okay, face pretty good, Aaron Neville ask me, 304 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: it's um shock. Gun houses are making a resurgence too, 305 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: by the way, are they building them again? Yes, there's 306 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: this thing called the tiny house movement. Oh yeah, that 307 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: and the whole idea of living modestly in the house 308 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 1: you can afford that UM grants a very small carbon footprint. 309 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: Shotgun houses fit that bill. I like the tiny house thing. 310 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: I think. I think actually Emily might have written an 311 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: article about that. Is that right? If I'm not mistaken, 312 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,919 Speaker 1: or maybe it was me. Somebody did, somebody in our 313 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 1: family did, because I remember I remember it happening. Was 314 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: it Buckley a few years ago? Yeah? Buckley wrote it. Um, 315 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: you got anything else, no go, you know, seek out 316 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: local historic landmarks that might be easily overlooked when you're 317 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: angry in traffic. Yeah. And when next time you pass 318 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: a shotgun house, like, stop and look at it, and 319 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: you'll see some pretty cool little details to it. Ask 320 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: him to open the door so you can shoot a 321 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: gun through it. Don't do that. Don't do that. Man, 322 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: that was a reversal. I was like, no, don't do it, 323 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: Chuck said, Normally it's the other way around. Uh. And 324 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: if you're ever in Atlanta, Chuck and I always recommend 325 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: going to the King Memorial Center, the place where he's buried, 326 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,719 Speaker 1: where the eternal flame is in all the surrounding area. 327 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: UM is like a Living Museum Preserved House is just awesome. 328 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: One of my favorite parts of Atlanta for sure. Um So, 329 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: if you want to learn more about shotgun houses and 330 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: see pictures of shotgun houses, you can type the words 331 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: shotgun house two words into the search bar at how 332 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com and that'll bring up this article 333 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: that I wrote. And I said search bar, which means 334 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: it's time for a listener now, Josh, I'm gonna call 335 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: this beast email. Hey, guys, did you did you read 336 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: this one? Um? I just listened to the Music Sampling Podcast. 337 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,239 Speaker 1: We got a lot of good feedback on that by man, 338 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: everybody loved that was and a lot of people offered 339 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: up like people don't know way more than us, offered 340 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 1: up a lot of cool insight. Yeah, we kept getting 341 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: called out for not mentioning girl talk. I've never heard 342 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,639 Speaker 1: girl talk, so I don't feel bad. Yeah, but everyone 343 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: we know about girl talk. Now, Okay, guys that just 344 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: listened to the Music Sampling Podcast wanted to say how 345 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: great it was that you featured the Beastie Boys so 346 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: prominently in the show. I thought i'd share a little 347 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: story when I met them during the nineteen seven licensed 348 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: to Ild tour in Las Vegas when I was fifteen. 349 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: So this girl must be my age because I saw 350 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 1: that tour and I was about fifteen. Wow. All right. 351 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 1: They performed in a concert hall on the un l 352 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: V campus, so it was easy to get to the 353 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: area where their tour bus was because I lived in 354 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: the bleachers. They were inviting every female they saw back 355 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: to their hotel for a party, including teen year olds. 356 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: Well they were only like eighteen nineteen. Still, Well, I know, 357 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: but you get to be forty and you're like, what's 358 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: the big difference of five years? Man? That's back then. 359 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, it's not like they were like years older. 360 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: All right, I'm defending their pedophilia. Uh. By the time 361 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: we got there, the party had taken over the ninth 362 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: floor and had already been shut down. We got to 363 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: say hi to m c A before being escorted away 364 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: by security for curfew violation. But I was determined. I 365 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: skipped school the next day went back to the hotel, 366 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: basically casing the joint. I ended up finding m c A, 367 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: who remembered me from the night before. I said, how 368 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: do He said, Hi, very nice? What you heard waiting 369 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: on that one? I ended up spending the whole day 370 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: with the guys, chatting, playing arcade games, walking over to 371 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: a seven eleven with a very hungover ad Rock, and 372 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,160 Speaker 1: even helping load their bags onto the tour bus. They're 373 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: only nineteen twenty and twenty one at the time. I'm 374 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: very unassuming, so they weren't getting much attention. I felt 375 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: like a little sister tagging along with their super cool 376 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 1: older brothers. That is very cool. At one point m 377 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: c a offered me a tour of the bus. We 378 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: got on and he closed the door and said, now 379 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: we cannot do all sorts of things that you're going 380 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,680 Speaker 1: to tell all your friends. We did anyway, he was 381 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: really hysterical, so he was like he was still a gentleman, unfortunately, 382 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: and he's like a Buddhist now and he oh yeah. Unfortunately. 383 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: I had not thought to bring a camera with me, 384 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: so I have no picks. I did get the auto 385 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: documentation any of this happened, now, she does, um. I 386 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 1: did get their autographs, but the only paper I had 387 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: in my jacket was old school snoopy valentines I had 388 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: bought to give up friends. I still treasure my three 389 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: snoopy valentines each one with their autographs, and she sent 390 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: pictures of them. That's cool. I stayed until they left 391 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: around six at night. I naively asked m c a 392 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: if he would write to me. He answered with an 393 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: honest no and gave me a very sweet kiss on 394 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,160 Speaker 1: the cheek. I loved it that they have conceid need 395 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: to rise in popularity and her given the respect of 396 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,399 Speaker 1: being true innovators in the field. First. Sure that is 397 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,440 Speaker 1: Ali Smith and she got kissed on the cheek by 398 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: a very sweet sounding m c And all of your 399 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: fifteen year olds out there, you'd better be at home sleeping. Yeah, 400 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: don't be hanging out with twenty one year old dudes, 401 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: especially not the girl talk people. Those guys are girls. 402 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: I think girl talk to a guy. It's dear clear 403 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: that girl talk to um. Let's see what do you 404 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: want to call out for? M hmm. Do you live 405 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: in a shotgun house? No? I guess yeah. If you have, 406 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: like a house with an interesting history, we did that one, 407 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: but let's do it again that boy. Um, if you 408 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,640 Speaker 1: live in a house with an interesting history, or you've 409 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: hung out with the beastie boys, we want to hear those. 410 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: You can write to us at uh, let's see. You 411 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: can tweet to us at s y s K podcast. 412 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: That's our handle Facebook dot com, slash Stuff you Should 413 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: Know is us on Facebook, and you can send us 414 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: an email to stuff podcast at how stuff works dot com. 415 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio's 416 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 417 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 418 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. H