1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and Jerry's here sitting in for Dave. So 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: this is short Stuff, the Happy Holiday's edition. That's right, 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: Happy Holidays. This is good. This would fit nicely in 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: our holiday episode. But I like the idea of but 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: shorty as well. Yeah, and we've got to we can't 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: just be like, oh, we'll just talk about pickles a 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: couple of days before Christmas. You don't like pickles of 9 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: any sort, do you know? It's the vinegar thing. I 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: love cucumbers. You can ruin a good cucumber by soaking 11 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,319 Speaker 1: it in vinegar. Yeah, I love them. I know I'm 12 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: a weirdo. People love pickles. Yeah, I'm crazy for him. 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: And also everybody you can save your emails were very 14 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: well aware of the irony that we I use pickles 15 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: as an example of something we're not talking about, and 16 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: then we started talking about pickles. Is that a thing 17 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: we do? It just happened at the very beast we're 18 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: talking about snow gloves though, right, yeah, absolutely, Um, snow 19 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: gloves are really really interesting as far as like the 20 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: backstory goes, Like I had no idea. I thought it 21 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: would probably be kind of cool, but it actually kind 22 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: of knocked my socks off, So hopefully it'll knock everybody 23 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: else's socks off just in time for them to be 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: put up alongside the fireplace. Wow, look at you. What 25 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: a great rejoinder, thanks to they use that right. Yeah, okay, alright, 26 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: so we're gonna go back in time. Let's hop in 27 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: the old way back machine. It's been a while. Dust 28 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: that thing off, and let's go back to a time 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: and place where people worked by candle light. And candle 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: light only gives off so much light. Uh. You can 31 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: try different kinds of wax in the candle. Some of 32 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: might burn a little bit brighter. I think the bees 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: wax candle is the brightest. But if you are performing surgery, 34 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: let's say, or if you're a cobbler and you're doing 35 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: some fine detail work or a tailor or something like that, 36 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: then you might need more light. Uh. And I'm looking around, 37 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: it's pretty dark around us. And so someone had the 38 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: bright idea of putting a glass globe filled with water 39 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: in front of a candle, and it created a bit 40 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: of a more intense flashlight effect. Yeah, basically it creates 41 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: a spotlight and like a good sized one. I saw 42 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,399 Speaker 1: it's about hand size, which is that's all you need 43 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: when you're sewing shoe soles, you know. So this, uh, 44 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: this trick um was what was trying to be recreated 45 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: when the guy who is credited with inventing snow globes 46 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: um stumbled upon them. He was a man named Erwin Persey. 47 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: He was an Austrian and his business was surgical instruments. 48 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: He made them, and there was a local surgeon and 49 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: I believe Vienna, who said, hey, these new bulbs from 50 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: Mr Edison are pretty great, but I need to make 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: them brighter. Can you do anything about that? And so 52 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: first thing you tried was that old shoemaker's trick and 53 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: he found it kind of works, but not necessarily. Maybe 54 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,920 Speaker 1: if I put something in there with him, uh, it 55 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: will it will work. Um. He tried to think some 56 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: glitter first and that probably would have worked pretty well, 57 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: but it sunk too fast. So then he turned to semolina, 58 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: which is um partially milled wheat that that it comes 59 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: into form of like kind of tiny white particles. Yeah, 60 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: you probably have like semolina bread or something like that. Uh. 61 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: They put it in baby formula back then. But when 62 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: he put the semolina in the water, it didn't dissolve, 63 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: and it stayed intact, and it sort of was suspended 64 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: a little better than that glitter and was white and 65 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: eventually would trickle down to the bottom, and Petsy went, 66 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: my goodness, it looks like a little snow inside this globe. 67 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: I think it might be onto something here. Yeah. So 68 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: um persy uh is credited pretty much universally as the 69 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: inventor of the snow globe. What's interesting about it is 70 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: he most certainly wasn't, in fact, just some thing like 71 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: twenty year or so years before he Um invented his 72 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: snow globe, there was one that had been displayed at 73 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: the Paris Exposition of eighteen seventy eight. Yeah, in the 74 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: form of a paper weight. Uh, and it had a 75 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: dude with an umbrella. When he shook that thing up, Uh, 76 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: it would look like he was walking through a snowstorm. Um. 77 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: This is not the kind of thing they have in 78 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: a museum somewhere, but they do have a description h 79 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: and a report on the exposition, So it definitely happened. 80 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: First that I don't think anyone ever accused Prettsy of 81 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: stealing it. I think it's one of those things that 82 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: was discovered just sort of individually by different people. Yeah, 83 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: and if he was aware of it, he wasn't inspired 84 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: by it. Um. What's interesting is it goes even further 85 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: back than that, all the way back to the sixteenth century. 86 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: UM there was apparently a German alchemist named Leonard Furnace 87 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: thur Nicer. Yeah, I'm going with that who made um 88 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: basically snow globe, but rather than um snow, he filled 89 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: it with birds, so the birds would just fly around. 90 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: This is seventy two before. Right. Again, I don't think 91 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: Pertsy was aware of Leonard Thurnasir and his alchemy work. 92 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: He just kind of stumbled upon it. But because of that, 93 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: because of the Paris Exposition, because in America, a guy 94 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: named Joseph Garaga was given a patent for something kind 95 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: of like the snow globe. It's a little muddy. The French, 96 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: I believe, make a claim certainly for the inventors of 97 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: the snow globe, but everybody says it was really Pertsy 98 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: who took this idea and ran with it. And he 99 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: definitely ran with it. All right, it's a good spot 100 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: for a break. We're gonna go back and tell the 101 00:05:44,960 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: rest of his story right after this. Alright, so uh, 102 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: Prettsy has invented this snow globe files for a pattern, 103 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: A nine for a quote glass globe with snow effect 104 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: end quote called the snake Google. Snay is German for 105 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: snow and Google is like a globe or a ball 106 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: or an orb. I've seen it. It's like a cannon 107 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: ball or a sphere, but it's snow globe. Um. It 108 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: took about five years only before there was a business 109 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: being run in Vienna name firm Pertsy, and then they 110 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: later changed the name to the original Vienna schna Google 111 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: manufactor the original Vienna snow Globe Factory. And they are 112 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: still making those snow globes. And it's still the family 113 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: making those snow globes. Yeah. Um Erwin Pertsey, the third 114 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: who now runs the show in has since the eighties. 115 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: So cool. Yeah, it is really cool and they're really 116 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: high end snow globes too. I think several American presidents 117 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: of UM commissioned snow globes from They take custom orders. 118 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: So if you have a really cool snow globe idea 119 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: and a chunk of change, the persis will make you 120 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: whatever you want. Um, I this I'm not friends with them. 121 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: I just have heard this before, so I wonder if 122 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: Erwin the third was in the eighties, was like nine, 123 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to be a uh like in a band, 124 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: like craft work and they said, you realize you live 125 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: in a castle. Would you like to see the balance sheet? 126 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: And maybe I'll stay in the family business. So the 127 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: first forty years Chuck Um, they weren't really associated with 128 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: Christmas that came later on. Instead, they were typically religious 129 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: theme stuff. One of their blockbusters sellers was the um 130 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: Maria Zell Basilica, which is a church in Austria. It's 131 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: not in Vienna. I think it's more towards the East 132 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: um and it's a pretty big, imposing Baroque cathedral. And 133 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why they focused so much on 134 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: this is because it was a um It was sold 135 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: as a religious offering to pilgrims who would come to 136 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: this church like they yeah, a religious souvenir. They set 137 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: up a stall and they would say souvenirs novelties six 138 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: and people would buy the snowblop and they would leave 139 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: it as an offering. Yeah, they set up thing between 140 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: you and the exit, and it thus began the exit 141 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: through the gift shop, exit the church through the gift shop. 142 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: But yeah, they took off really in a big way. 143 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: Um Orson Wells used one very famously in Citizen Kane 144 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: at the end when that snow globe breaks. Um, I'm 145 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: curious now if they made the St. Eligia's hospital one. 146 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for the end of saying elsewhere, man, that's 147 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: a great question. I got to look that up. But 148 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: Irwin two took over after World War Two and said, 149 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: you know what, we're doing great with these religious globes, 150 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: but uh, snow means Christmas. Christmas means snow. Why don't 151 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: we start putting Santa claus Is in there and Christmas 152 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: trees and snowmen. And they did, and then it became 153 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,719 Speaker 1: really heavily associated with Christmas. And they are pumping out 154 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: with about thirty employees, about two d thousands of these 155 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: still every year. And they're they're all like made by hand, 156 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: their hand painted. Um. Again, they're like really well made. UM. 157 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: Early on, though, um, they became like an American phenomenon, 158 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: like America said, these are ours, snow gloves are American 159 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: from now on. By about the mid twentieth century, I 160 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: believe UM and they actually became like a like a 161 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: go to souvenir in the post war boom where people 162 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: started traveling round UM, where they started making you know, 163 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: better highways and all that, and Americans just started driving around. 164 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons why that was UM able 165 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 1: to happen was thanks to innovations in plastic. Yeah, uh, 166 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: you know, plastic changed everything for good and bad. And 167 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: they found out, you know, they're always looking for the 168 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: perfect UM particulate. I guess to act as the snow 169 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: because what you don't want is to shake this thing up. 170 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: And if you've ever seen it had a cheap snow 171 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: globe and had plenty of those growing up, trust me, Uh, 172 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: if you shake that thing up and the snows on 173 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: the ground in fifteen seconds, you're really not getting that 174 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: sense of awe and wonder that you're looking for. You 175 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: wanted to stay uh floating around. And over the years, 176 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: they experimented with different types of matter to use in there, 177 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: and I think there's is a there's is a trade secret, right, 178 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: That's the impression I have, Yes, that they're not letting 179 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: anyone know, but it's some sort of wax or and 180 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:05,079 Speaker 1: or plastic. Okay, and apparently there's are so well made 181 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: that there's snowfalls can last two minutes after you shake 182 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: it up two minutes. By halfway through that you'd be like, Okay, 183 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: enough already, I don't need to be delighted any longer. 184 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna get one of these. This has 185 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: inspired me. I'm gonna get a genuine Irwin Austrian snow globe. Well, 186 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: Irwin was the first name. I guess we're pretty tight. Yeah, 187 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: I guess, so you're on a first name basis. You 188 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: call him Pertsy, I'll call him Ernie. The third um 189 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,079 Speaker 1: so Chuck. I think we've reached the end of this 190 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: holiday centric short stuff Don't you do well? Jingle bells 191 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: out of here? Stuff you Should Know is a production 192 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit 193 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 194 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.