1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: From the turn of the century to the nineteen forties, 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: summer in New York meant one thing. It was time 8 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: for a trip to Coney Island. You might rub shoulders 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: with well heeled Upper East Siders and working class Brooklyn 10 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: nights as you wander through the park searching for summer fun. 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: You could swim in the bay, or brave the wooden 12 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: roller coasters, or you could wander the boardwalk and there 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: Barker's called from direction, urging you to come into their tent. 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: Did you want to see a four legged woman? Or 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: how about a boy with a face like a dog. 16 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: But nestled among the strong men and sword swallowers was 17 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: a completely different kind of attraction, a small awning filled 18 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: with even smaller glass boxes, and inside the tiniest babies 19 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: you had ever seen. Because from nineteen o three to 20 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, the best place to care for your 21 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: premature baby was doctor Martin Cooney's child hatchery on the 22 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: Coney Island boardwalk. At the turn of the century, the 23 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: odds for a baby born early weren't great. Hospitals didn't 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: have the advanced medical technology that helps premature infants both 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: survive and thrive. Even if they did, however, many wouldn't 26 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: have used it. Unfortunately. The attitude at the time was 27 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,559 Speaker 1: that premature babies were weak and not meant to live. 28 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: If they survived their early birth, great, but if they didn't, 29 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: then it just wasn't meant to be. Either way, most 30 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: hospitals wouldn't waste valuable time and resources on them. While 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: this a rule take on survival of the fittest was 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: common in the medical field, it wasn't the rule. In 33 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventies, several doctors had been inspired by the 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: incubators used to hatch chickens and were trying to perfect 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: a version for human babies. By eighteen ninety six, French 36 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: doctor Pierre costamp Boudin had invented an incubator that he 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: called a child hatchery. The device would keep a premature 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: infant warm and safe from infection long enough to survive. 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: He sent his assistant, a young trainee named Martin Cooney, 40 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: to exhibit his child hatchery at the eighteen ninety six 41 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: Great Industrial Exposition in Berlin. For his demonstration in Berlin, 42 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: Cooney filled the incubators with live children. It was an 43 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: immediate hit. Cooney was invited to exhibitions across Europe and America, 44 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: and even displayed the incubators at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: Soon Cooney had left his mentor behind, touring the United 46 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: States with his own improved incubators. As he traveled, he 47 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: refined his standard care, employing specially trained nurses and developing 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: round the clock feeding schedules. After bouncing between expos and 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: world's Fairs for several years, he decided to open a 50 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: permanent home for his incubators in nineteen oh three on 51 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: Coney Island, and so there on the boardwalk, passers by 52 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: could pay a quarter to step inside and see the 53 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: tiny infants. Some were barely more than two or three 54 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: pounds in size. To demonstrate that, one nurse would perform 55 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: a trick of slipping her wedding ring around a baby's 56 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,359 Speaker 1: thin wrist. From the start, there was backlash. Critics felt 57 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: that displaying the premies like sideshow freaks was exploitative. Others 58 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: worried their proximity to boardwalk trash and unwonted live animals 59 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: would invite disease and infection. Still, others took the hospital 60 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: stance that these babies shouldn't have medical intervention at all. 61 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: And yet to the families whose children were on display, 62 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: Cooney wasn't so much a sideshow barker as a saint. 63 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: The Coney Island Incubator Show was most families only chance 64 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: to save their infants. Expert care was provided free of charge, 65 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: covered by every twenty five cent entry fee that people 66 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: paid to see them. Anyone could have their premature baby 67 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: cared for, regardless of race or class. Doctor Cooney's own daughter, 68 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: born premature, spent time in the incubator tent. For forty years, 69 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: Cooni's Coney Island attraction cared for thousands of premature babies. 70 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: When he was finally ready to retire, it seemed like 71 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: the world had finally caught up to his beliefs. In 72 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, the same year Cooni's Incubators closed their doors, 73 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: Cornell Hospital in Manhattan opened the country's first dedicated premature infant. 74 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: Ward Cooney was a controversial figure, at times, a showman 75 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: and a savior. He was largely dismissed by the medical 76 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: community as an opportunist, and when he died in nineteen 77 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: fifty it was in relative obscurity. It certainly didn't help 78 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: his standing with his critics when it was later discovered 79 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: that he had likely lied about his background. That story 80 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: about apprenticing under doctor Budan in Paris, Well, it may 81 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: have never happened, and Cooney himself might not have actually 82 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: been a medical doctor. And still that probably didn't make 83 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: a difference to the over six five hundred babies that 84 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: doctor Cooney saved. So maybe for all those years nestled 85 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: between the swords, swallowers and tattooed ladies, it was doctor 86 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: Cooney's tent that was truly the greatest show on Earth. 87 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: Here's a lesson that you don't want to learn firsthand. 88 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: Rabies totally bites. The virus that sealed Old Yeller's fate 89 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: is awful, and once symptoms set in, it's almost guaranteed 90 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: to kill you. It attacks the brain and spinal cord, 91 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: causing burning sensations, intense headaches, and partial paralysis. As the 92 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: disease progresses, it inflicts an arsenal of horrific psychological effects, 93 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: starting with anxiety and restlessness, progressing to full on hydrophobia. 94 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: That's an extreme fear of water, made worse by intense 95 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: muscle spasms that make swallowing water nearly impossible. The fear, 96 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: the pain, and the confusion get worse until you either 97 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: choke to death on your own saliva or your heart stops. 98 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: But here's the good news. The modern rabies vaccine is 99 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: pretty bulletproof. It will save your life assuming you get 100 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: the shot soon after contracting the virus. But before it 101 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: was developed, there was virtually no reliable treatment for those 102 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 1: unlucky enough to contract it. Rabies was a nightmarish prospect 103 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: that usually meant certain death. This is best illustrated by 104 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: a story from eighteen fifty two, thirty three years before 105 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: there was a rabies vaccine. The life of a prairie 106 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: man from Illinois was turned upside down one morning when 107 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: his nine year old son, Robert, was attacked by a 108 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: stray dog. They managed to drive the animal off, but 109 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: not before the boy was bitten now dread griped this 110 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: man as he examined the way wound. The dog had 111 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: been strangely aggressive and frothing at the mouth, both clear 112 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: signs of rabies, which meant that Robert had most likely 113 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: contracted the disease. This man was well aware of the 114 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: seriousness of the situation, having grown up on the frontier 115 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: where rabies carrying animals like skunks and bats were common. 116 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: At this point, there were only three real options. Option 117 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: one except the boy's fate and prepared to put him 118 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: out of his misery should the symptoms arise. Option two 119 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: cauterized the wound with a piece of hot metal and 120 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: hope that that killed the virus before it spread. This 121 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: would obviously be painful and probably ineffective, which left option three. 122 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: Get Robert to a medical practitioner in possession of a madstone. Now. 123 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: While they've fallen out of use today, a madstone was 124 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: long thought to be the only antidote against rabies. Beyond that, 125 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: the definition can be a bit flexible. Madstones varied in size, shape, 126 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: and origin. Most often, though, they were small clumps of 127 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: hair and other materials taken from the stomachs or bladders 128 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: of wild animals like deer, in other words, hair balls. Now. 129 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: Robert's father was an educated man. He worked as a 130 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: lawyer in fact, and he didn't put much stock in 131 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: folklore remedies, But with no other antidotes available, he was 132 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: desperate enough to try anything. After asking around, he learned 133 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: about a doctor one state over who actually owned a madstone. 134 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: A few hours later, this man and his nine year 135 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: old son were on a train bound for Terre Haute, Indiana. 136 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,559 Speaker 1: By nightfall, they were seated in the doctor's kitchen, watching 137 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: as the gray haired man took a jar down from 138 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: the shelf. He removed a small, dark pebble and placed 139 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: it in a pot of fresh milk, giving it several 140 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: minutes to soak up the liquid. Then he took the 141 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: stone and held it against the boy's bite mark. When 142 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: he removed his hand, the stone stuck in place, and 143 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: that was bad news. The doctor said. It meant that 144 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: Robert was infected, but there was still a chance to 145 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: save him. For the rest of the night, they kept 146 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: the stone pressed against the wound. Whenever it dried out 147 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: and fell off, the doctor would place it back in 148 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: a pot of boiling milk. Green scum soon rose to 149 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: the surface, indicating that the stone had extracted some of 150 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: the poison. They repeated the process until it was almost mourning, 151 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: and finally, as dawn broke, the stone refused to stick 152 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: to the wound. The poison had all been soaked up. 153 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: Now the lawyer was skeptical, but also hopeful. He asked 154 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: the doctor for the bill, but the man refused payment, 155 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: saying that taking money for using a madstone would dampen 156 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: its efficacy. And yeah, the lawyer wasn't sure what to 157 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: make of that, But after a few days, Robert still 158 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: had not displayed any raby symptoms. They returned home to Springfield, 159 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: relieved and eager to put the experience behind them, and 160 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 1: the lawyer still wasn't sure that he believed in the madstone. 161 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: Then he didn't speak of it much after that, but 162 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: the people of Tara Hate remembered the visit, especially a 163 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: few years later when that lawyer, or should I say 164 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln, became the sixteenth President of the United State. 165 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: Dates I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the 166 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or 167 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 168 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: This show was created by me, Aaron Mankey in partnership 169 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 170 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television 171 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at 172 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.