1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio, Hell Hell, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Oh. Today's 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: topic is near and dear to my heart because it 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: involves a name we have invoked on the show before, 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: that being John Henry Pepper, as in Pepper's Ghost, the 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: famous and much loved stage illusion which continues to be 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: used today. We'll talk about that at the end. But 9 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: while the ghost, as it was called often by Pepper 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: and during his time, kind of dominates his life story, 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: there is some other very interesting stuff in his biography. Uh. 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: There are several professional disagreements, there's some world travel, and 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: then there's even an attempt to control the weather. So 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: he's kind of a good off ramp for me to 15 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: work on after Halloween times because ghost is in the story, 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: but it's not the least bit actually, Ghostie. Yeah, we are. 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: We are recording this in October, but our October episodes 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: have concluded. Yes. John Henry Pepper was born in eighteen 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: twenty one in Westminster. His father, Charles Bailey Pepper, was 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: a civil engineer. Pepper attended the first London Borough House 21 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,320 Speaker 1: at Brixton and then the King's College School in London, 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: and even as a young boy he found chemistry completely fascinating. 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: He and his friends would conduct various experiments of their 24 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: own beyond their school work, and Pepper later recalled that 25 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,119 Speaker 1: they broke a lot of lab last where in the process. 26 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: He also studied under chemist J. T. Cooper at the 27 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: Russell Institution and that love for chemistry and science never 28 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: really dissipated, so when he was fresh out of school 29 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: at age nineteen, a career in science was Pepper's only 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: path of choice and initially this led him to work 31 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: as a lecturer at the Granger School of Medicine and 32 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: he was made a fellow of the Chemical Society of 33 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: London at the age of twenty two. Soon he transitioned 34 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: to the Royal Polytechnic Institution in London, and the Royal 35 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: Polytechnics mission was to offer quote an institution where the public, 36 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: at little expense, may acquire practical knowledge of the various 37 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: arts and branches of science connected with manufacturers, mining operations 38 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: and rural economy. This is basically where the latest science 39 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: was showcased through public lectures and displays of things like 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: diving bells and steam driven machinery, and it was the 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: perfect place for Pepper, who had started going there as 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: a visitor before he became a lecturer there. He not 43 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: only loved scientific exploration, but he really loved to share 44 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 1: that excitement with others and deemystify concepts that might otherwise 45 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: seem elusive, and he felt like the best way to 46 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: do that was through showmanship, turning lectures into entertaining visual spectacles. 47 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: Working at the Royal Polytechnic was the defining aspect of 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 1: Pepper's life and career. He gave his first lecture there 49 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty seven, and just a few short years 50 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: he had become the Polytechnics analytical chemist and then the 51 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: school's director. Soon he became known as Professor Pepper. For 52 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: his engaging lectures, he was sort of like the nineteenth 53 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: century Bill Nye of London. Writing about this work in 54 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: third person much later in his life, Pepper said quote 55 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: The classes Mr Pepper established were for the study of drawing, French, 56 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: German arithmetic and mathematics, with of course chemistry and physics, 57 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: and pupils were admitted at very low fees in order 58 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: to encourage the working men to attend. Yeah. Late in 59 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: his life he wrote a book in which he quotes 60 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: himself a lot which I find fascinating. Um and that 61 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: is why it's in the third person. Very tickled about this. 62 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: Pepper soon gained a reputation for his ability to teach 63 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: in innovative ways. They were never dull, and as a consequence, 64 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: he was also often asked to serve as a guest 65 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: lecturer at various schools around England. He also wrote a 66 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: book based on one of his lectures, titled The Australian 67 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: gold Fields and the Best Means of Discriminating Gold from 68 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: Other Medals. He made the case in that book that 69 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: moving to Australia offered the working poor of London a 70 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: chance to make a better life than they might have 71 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: in the overcrowded city. He also happened to have advertisements 72 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: in that book. Those advertisements were for travel items that 73 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: he listed in the text of the work as necessary 74 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: for anyone moving to Australia to become a gold hunter. 75 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: So a little bit of savvy business work that probably 76 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: wouldn't pass standards today. As a lecturer, Pepper was also 77 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: conducting his own experiments and inventing things, often as a 78 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: means to illustrate scientific concepts. He was lecturing almost every 79 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: day and forever working to innovate and entertain. He reportedly 80 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: cooked a piece of meat during a lecture using two 81 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: mirrors that were reflecting a charcoal fire to the food, 82 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: showing the way that light can be focused. In eighteen 83 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: sixty three, he illuminated all of Trafalgar Square and Saint 84 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: Paul's Cathedral with arc light to celebrate the wedding of 85 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to Princess Alexander Caroline Marie 86 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark. At some point in the 87 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties, Pepper himself had married, Although it's a little 88 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 1: bit difficult to find details about his bride or the 89 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: family they started. We know that his wife was named 90 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: Mary Anne, but I could not find her maiden name, 91 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: and they had a son whose initials were h W, 92 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: but I could not find his name, and that happened 93 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six. His most famous project, which he 94 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: worked on with an engineer from Liverpool, named Henry Dirk's 95 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: and if you are looking that up, it is spelled 96 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: d I R c K S it's the illusion now 97 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: known as Pepper's ghost. This illusion is created with a 98 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: plate glass sheet that reflects something from a room that's 99 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: out of you of the audience. The glass is angled 100 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: in such a way that the object or person out 101 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: of you is seen by the audience as a reflection, 102 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: and that makes it look pretty ghostly. Lighting is also 103 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: used to maximize the effect. In his ninety eight book 104 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: This Is Magic, Secrets of the Conjuror's Craft, magician Will 105 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: Dexter described Pepper's Ghost this way, quote, have you ever 106 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: carried a lighted candle to a dark window and looked out? 107 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: What have you seen? Who is that other figure, surprisingly 108 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: like yourself, carrying a lighted candle on the other side 109 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: of the glass? That is Pepper's ghost. Now, this concept 110 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,279 Speaker 1: of using reflections to trick a viewer's eye into thinking 111 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: it's seeing something that isn't there was not new in 112 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: the mid nineteenth century. A very similar idea was described 113 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: by Italian scholar Giambattista de la Porta in fifty eight 114 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: in his book Natural Magic with the subheader in twenty 115 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: Books wherein our set forth all the riches and delights 116 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: of the natural sciences that book was translated into English 117 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: in the late sixteen sixties, and it includes a chapter 118 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: titled how we may see in a Chamber Things that 119 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: are not Dellaporta's description of this illusion reads in part quote, 120 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: Let there be a chamber where into no light comes 121 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: unless by the door or window where the spectator looks in. 122 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: Let the whole window or part of it, be of glass, 123 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: as we used to do to keep out the cold. 124 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: But let one part be polished, that there may be 125 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: a looking glass on both sides. Whence the spectator must 126 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: look in. For the rest do nothing. Let pictures be 127 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: set over against this window, marble statues and such like. 128 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: For what is without will seem within, and what is 129 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: behind the spectator's back. He will think to be in 130 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: the middle of the house, as far from the glass 131 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: inward as they stand from it outwardly and so clearly 132 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: and certainly that he will think he sees nothing but truth. 133 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: So this illusion, just pretty similar to what was described 134 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,679 Speaker 1: in that Italian text, was first shared in nineteenth century 135 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: England in eight d eight by Dirk's at a British 136 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: Association for the Advancement of Science meeting. He wanted to 137 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: sell this idea, which he called the Dirksy and Phantasmagoria 138 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: to theaters, but his proposed set up required an entire 139 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: retrofit of the building. Pepper would later write of Dirk's work, 140 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: quote this paper excited no attention because the explanation of 141 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: it was somewhat vague and unsatisfactory. Pepper then further refined 142 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: this concept so that it could be used in theaters 143 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: without having to do a bunch of heavy construction. The 144 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: first play it was used in was Haunted Man in 145 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two. This play, written by Charles Dickens, was 146 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: performed at the Royal Polytechnic, and this use of this 147 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: ghost imagery was a triumph, not only because the illusion 148 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,599 Speaker 1: worked perfectly, because it also really helped the Royal Polytechnic 149 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: when it needed something to grab the public's attention. In 150 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: the wake of the eighteen sixty two Great London Exhibition, 151 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: the Polytechnic had been flailing a little bit. Is it 152 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: just didn't really have any anything new to show the 153 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: public that they had not just seen at that x BO. 154 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: But the ghost worked like a charm. According to an 155 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: account that appeared in an Australian paper much later in 156 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine that was written in anticipation of Pepper 157 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: traveling there, which we'll get to in a bit quote. 158 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: When the ghost effect was first produced at the Royal 159 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,239 Speaker 1: Polytechnic Institution, all sightseers were agog to behold the marvelous 160 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: effects the newspapers recorded, and those of an ingenious turn 161 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: of mind went again and again to try and solve 162 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: the problem, including even such physicists as the late Professor Faraday, 163 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: who at last had to ask for an explanation. Pepper's 164 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: ghosts ended up causing a rift between Dirks and Pepper, 165 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: and we will talk about why after a sponsor break. 166 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: Though the ghost illusion had become deeply popular as a 167 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: stage effect for Pepper, it was also another opportunity to 168 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: educate people about science, and specifically about optics. This period 169 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: of time was, as we have mentioned many times on 170 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: the show, before, a time when mysticism and spiritualism were 171 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: very popular in England, and Pepper wanted to use the 172 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: enthusiasm for supernatural subjects to get people in so he 173 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: could teach them the ways that such interests could be 174 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: exploited with tricks of science. The ghost was so popular 175 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: that Pepper was asked to recreate it at Windsor Castle, 176 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: and ultimately he toured Europe and North America, showing the 177 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: ghost too amazed audiences and then explaining to them how 178 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: their eyes were being deceived. The work of Dirks and 179 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,479 Speaker 1: creating the initial illusion and Pepper adapting it for practical 180 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: use led to the two men filing a joint patent 181 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: for it that was granted on February eighteen sixty three, 182 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: but Dirk signed over financial rights. Here's Pepper's account of things, 183 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: given in a book seventeen years later. Quote. Just before 184 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: Christmas Day in eighteen sixty two, I invited a number 185 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,959 Speaker 1: of literary and scientific friends, and my always kind supporters, 186 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: the members of the press, to a private view of 187 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: the new illusion to be introduced into Bulwer's romantic and 188 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: dramatic literary creation called A Strange Story. The effect of 189 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: the first appearance of the apparition on my illustrious audience 190 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: was startling in the extreme and far beyond anything I 191 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: could have hoped for and expected, So much so that 192 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: although I had previously settled to explain the whole modus operandi, 193 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: on that evening, I deferred doing so, and went the 194 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: next day to Mrs Cartmel the patent agents and took 195 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: out a provisional patent for the ghost illusion in the 196 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: names at my request of Dirk's and Pepper. The day 197 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: after the first evening I showed the ghost. Mr. Dirk's 198 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: came down to the Polytechnic, and after saying how much 199 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: pleased he was with the manner in which I had 200 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: introduced the illusion, ended by handing me a letter in 201 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: which he spoke highly up by work in respect of 202 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: the ghost and gave me spontaneously whatever profits might accrue 203 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: from the invention. If that sounds a little defensive and 204 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: self justifying, there's a reason the two men had a 205 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: pretty significant falling out. Dirk claimed that he had been 206 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: the one to actually invent the ghost. Pepper claimed to 207 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: have already seen the idea in an eight thirty one 208 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: book called Recreative Memoirs, and the disagreement between the two 209 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: men festered, and Dirk's published a book making his case, 210 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: which was titled The Ghost as Produced in the Spectra Drama, 211 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,839 Speaker 1: and that told his side of the story, basically saying, 212 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: like I invented this, Pepper just has a big name 213 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: and he popularized it. Pepper published several articles giving his 214 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: version of events, and the two men actually ended up 215 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: in the chancery court. This was actually a bad move 216 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: on Dirk's part because Pepper was a well known and 217 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: popular figure and so he had prominent scientists on hand 218 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: and to give testimony to the transformative nature of Pepper's 219 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: alterations to Dirk's original plans. The court found in Pepper's favor, 220 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: but the two men continued to bicker about it even 221 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: before the ghost illusion hit the London stage. Pepper wrote 222 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: a book titled Boys Playbook of Science and the introduction, 223 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: Pepper explains that the idea for the book is to 224 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: give kids an introduction to scientific concepts that will enable 225 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: them to transition to more advanced reading in the future. Quote. 226 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: The following illustrated pages must be regarded as a series 227 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: of philosophical experiments detailed in such a manner that any 228 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: young person may perform them with the greatest facility. The 229 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: author has endeavored to arrange the manipulations in a methodical, 230 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: simple and popular form, and will indeed be rewarded if 231 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: these experiments should arouse dormant talent in any of the 232 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: rising generation and lead them on gradually from the easy 233 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: reading of the Present Boys Book to the study of 234 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: the complete and perfect philosophical works of Leopold Melon, Faraday, Brand, Graham, Turner, 235 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: and Founds. He goes on to explain in the introduction 236 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: that the concepts of science are all around us in 237 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: the natural world, and notes that one could think of 238 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: animals as scientists of various sorts, pointing out that moles 239 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: are meteorologists, beavers or architects, and wasps are paper manufacturers. 240 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: His opening to the first chapter, which talks about matter 241 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: and its impenetrability by way of discussing particulate density, is 242 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: indicative of the no nonsense way that he presents information. Quote, 243 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: in the present state of our knowledge, it seems to 244 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: be universally agreed that we cannot properly commence even popular 245 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: discussions on astronomy, mechanics, and chemistry, or on the imponderables heat, light, electricity, 246 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: and magnetism without a definition of the general term matter, 247 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: which is an expression applied by philosophers to every species 248 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: of substance capable of occupying space, and therefore to everything 249 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: which can be seen and felt. This book was so 250 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: successful that it was reprinted many times, and he also 251 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: quickly wrote more to meet demand. In eighteen sixty one 252 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: he published Playbook of Medals and Scientific Amusements for Young People. 253 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: Eighteen sixty one was a big writing year for Pepper. 254 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: In addition to the two books we mentioned, his publisher 255 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: Rutledge asked him to update the book Scientific Dialogues Intended 256 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: for the Instruction and Entertainment of Young People, in which 257 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: the first principles of natural and Experimental Philosophy are fully explained, 258 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: that was originally written by Jeremiah Joyce in eighteen fifteen. 259 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: Pepper was tasked with making the book current to the 260 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties by editing it to include scientific discoveries that 261 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: had happened in the interim after the first came out. 262 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty nine, he published Cyclopedic Auience Simplified. Yeah. 263 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: He actually published quite a number of books, and though 264 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: the Polytechnic had been where Professor Pepper became a London 265 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: mainstay of science entertainment, in eighteen seventy two, after more 266 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: than twenty years of working there, he and the organization 267 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: had a falling out. The apparent crux of the matter 268 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: was autonomy. Pepper wanted to do as he wished. He 269 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: had raised the profile of the Polytechnic and was to 270 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: the public it's de facto ambassador. But even John Henry 271 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: Pepper had bosses which he didn't particularly enjoy, and the 272 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: disagreements between him and the facilities directors led to the 273 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: lecturer leaving. His break with the Polytechnic and subsequent move 274 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: to the Egyptian Hall was big enough news to make 275 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: the papers in London's The Standard. On April eighteen seventy two, 276 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: the change was reported as follows quote. For twenty years, 277 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: Professor Pepper and the Polytechnic have been almost synonymous words. 278 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: The Polytechnic was nothing in most people's minds without Professor Pepper, 279 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: and that facile lecturer upon popular science was looked upon 280 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: as really at home only in the halls of that 281 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: familiar rendezvous in Regent Street. But the best of friends 282 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: must part, and Professor Pepper and the Polytechnic have separated. 283 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: Twenty years service, pleasant, agreeable, amusing and instructive service will 284 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: not be overlooked by a generous public, and Professor Pepper 285 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 1: and his new home will have, we feel sure, not 286 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: lack of support. And then that article goes on to 287 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: describe Pepper's new theater of popular Science and entertainment that's 288 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: being installed at the Egyptian Theater, and how it is 289 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: decorated and furnished so that the audience will experience all 290 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: new levels of comfort as they hear from the professor, 291 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 1: including areas that are laid out quote in drawing room fashion, 292 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: so you can relax on a couch while you hear 293 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: him explain things. But the Egyptian Hall arrangement turned out 294 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 1: to be less successful than Pepper had hoped for. It 295 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: was expensive to produce his lectures and he wasn't making 296 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: the money back. He seemed to slowly pull away from 297 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: academic circles during this time, and in eighteen seventy five 298 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: he was no longer a fellow at the Chemical Society. 299 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: To try to rebuild his finances, Pepper went on tour 300 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: with his science lectures, crossing North America, and at the 301 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: end of the eighteen seventies, Pepper made the decision to 302 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: head to Australia for an extended period of time. And 303 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,440 Speaker 1: we'll talk about that and his attempt to make rain 304 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: after we hear from our sponsors. So, as we mentioned before, 305 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,479 Speaker 1: the break, after several years of the lecture circuit in 306 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: Europe and the US, Pepper headed to Australia. This was 307 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: intended to be a twelve month tour. Mary Anne and 308 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: their son went with him. The family traveled aboard the Lusitania. 309 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: Pepper was listed on the ship's record as having quote 310 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: no occupation. This may have suggested he was some sort 311 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: of down on his luck drifter, but in fact Australia 312 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: was very excited to have him. I like that we 313 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: got a little confirmation that his wife and son, who 314 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: we know nothing about, still exists. Yes, me too. Ahead 315 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: of his arrival, one Australian newspaper reported quote. For nearly 316 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: a third of a century, the name of Professor Pepper 317 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 1: has been associated with popular science, chiefly in connection with 318 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: the Polytechnic Institute of London, but frequently in the list 319 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: of new inventors, and not seldom as the champion of 320 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: valuable practical improvements such as Bessemer Steele, the electric light, 321 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: modernized means of locomotion, et cetera. Who among us whose 322 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: school days were passed in England anywhere between the years 323 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: eighteen forty five and eighteen seventy does not remember the 324 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: Polytechnic and It's wondrous variety of attractions. Chief amongst which 325 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: stood the facile lecturer and his brill empt experiments. The 326 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 1: amount of solid good affected by his lectures to working men, 327 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: his classes for teaching chemistry, physics, French, German and mathematics 328 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: at the lowest possible fees availed of by thousands of 329 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: Londoners is not easily estimated. Pepper got right to work 330 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: after arriving. He gave a lecture at St George's Hall 331 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: on July twelve. That was just a week after the 332 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: Lusitania had made port, and this was touted as quote 333 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: one of the best scientific exhibitions that a Melbourne audience 334 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: had seen. This lecture, which he toured around Australia, was 335 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: almost like a phantasmagoria. There were apparitions, dancing, skeletons and 336 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: optical illusions, but in Pepper's case, he explained how it 337 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: was done as part of the show. One critic wrote, quote, 338 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: it is hardly possible to imagine an entertainment more taking 339 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: or more interesting, and at the same time so full 340 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: of really useful information as that given by Professor Pepper. 341 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,199 Speaker 1: Although he started his time in Australia to great fanfare, 342 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: over time interest and audience waned, and so Pepper took 343 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: a stab at a new venture. He wrote, produced and 344 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: acted in a play titled Hermes and the Alchemist, which 345 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: he debuted in Sydney. The plot was built to showcase 346 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: some of Pepper's trademark illusionary trickery, but this show flopped 347 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: soon Pepper went back to lecturing. He took a brief 348 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: trip back to England, but returned to Australia, getting to 349 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: Adelaide in late August eighteen eighty with the new staff 350 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: that he had hired in London into he gave lectures 351 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,480 Speaker 1: as he had before, once again touring, but ran into 352 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: legal trouble when one of his employees tried to sue 353 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,360 Speaker 1: him for unpaid wages. Pepper's response was that the man 354 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: had been a very bad employee, but the court found 355 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: in favor of the worker, whose name was John Saunders, 356 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: and Pepper had to pay what he owed him. Though 357 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: he had found the entire business insulting, Pepper tried to 358 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: put it behind him by going back to his lecture 359 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: tour and trying to drum up attendance. Sorry you feel insulted, Pepper, 360 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: but you got to pay your employees. Yeah, apparently as 361 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: part of it. Once John Saunders had filed this complaint. 362 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,719 Speaker 1: Pepper was actually arrested, and he was mortified that he 363 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: was arrested in public. Um. But yes, I feel like 364 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 1: there's so much more to that story than we really 365 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: have a record of. But it reminds me a little 366 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: bit of Lola Montez. Just that didn't That wasn't me. 367 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: That's not my real name. He was supposed to pay 368 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: you your pay. During the time that Pepper and his 369 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: family were in Australia, a couple of interesting things were 370 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: happening back in London. So First, in eighteen eighty boys 371 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: Playbook of Science got a significant revision, not from Pepper 372 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: but from Thomas Cradock Hepworth, who had taken over Pepper's 373 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: position him at the Royal Polytechnic. The title of the 374 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: book was also changed to Boy's Book of Science, and 375 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: the tone of it was generally perceived as being less exuberant. 376 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: That book, incidentally, was revised again in nineteen twelve by 377 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: John Maston. Second, the Royal Polytechnic closed its doors. It 378 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: had been having financial problems, but then a stone staircase 379 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: in the building collapsed and the cost of the repair 380 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: was more than it could afford. The equipment and space 381 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: were sold off over the course of three days. In 382 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty two it was purchased and reopened, and today 383 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 1: it's part of the University of Westminster. Also in eighteen 384 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: eighty two, Pepper attempted a massive feat. The summer of 385 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,159 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty two was extremely hot and Southeast Queensland was 386 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: having like a minor drought, so John Henry Pepper decided 387 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,640 Speaker 1: he would try to make it rain. His plan, which 388 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: he advertised as tapping the clouds, involved a giant kite 389 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: and explosives. He tended to use the kite to raise 390 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: a land mine into the clouds with a steel wire 391 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: running from the kite to the earth, and he would, 392 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,719 Speaker 1: he said, detonate the mind midair in order to quote 393 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: alter the electrical conditions of the clouds. Seven hundred people 394 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: showed up at the farm that he had secured for 395 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: this cloud tapping, and each of them paid to watch. Uh. 396 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: I don't feel like this should come as a surprise, 397 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: but things did not go as planned. Here's what happened, 398 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: in the words of one of Pepper's assistants, quote, the 399 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: professor had the kite constructed so that it could be 400 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,159 Speaker 1: easily conveyed through the bush. It was much too heavy, 401 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: even for too smart horses, and we could not get 402 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: the kite to rise higher than thirty or forty yards. 403 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: This part of the experiment was last given up as 404 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: a failure. The whole of the guns were loaded, then 405 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: the course was cleared, and after firing the mind containing 406 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: the dynamite, I fired the guns in rapid succession. Uh 407 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: he un described a terrifying misfire with one of the guns, 408 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: in which miraculously no one was injured, and then he 409 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: concluded with quote that was our first and last trial 410 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,439 Speaker 1: at tapping the clouds for rain. Pepper had intended to 411 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: try again using lighter materials. It seems like a good idea. 412 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,479 Speaker 1: I mean, it's not a good idea, but if you're 413 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: going to take it up there by kite, UH probably 414 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,719 Speaker 1: should be lighter materials. It seems that that plan was abandoned. 415 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: Though he had been onto the idea of cloud seating 416 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: with some of this preparation, but inducing precipitation manually wouldn't 417 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,959 Speaker 1: really move forward until decades later. Instead of a second 418 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: attempt at making rain, he went back to giving performance 419 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: lectures and then started an educational endeavor called Professor Pepper's Laboratory, 420 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: where he taught classes and practical chemistry and the physical 421 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: sciences as part of the Brisbane School of Arts. Among 422 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: the lectures he offered he included advice for people intending 423 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: to file pat He transitioned away from performance and onto 424 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: teaching on a regular schedule, but by the mid eighties 425 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: enrollment was down and he was at odds with the 426 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: school board and much the same way that he had 427 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: butted heads with the directors of the Polytechnic in London. Yeah, 428 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,919 Speaker 1: there's a lot you will find written about how he 429 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: was just this like very flamboyant showman, and he was 430 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: very confident in the way he approached things and when 431 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: anyone criticized him or asked him to change it, he 432 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: would get very angry about it. I feel like I 433 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 1: know this person. We all do, we all do. I've 434 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: probably been that person at various points. Uh. Then he 435 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: found himself in another legal battle, but this one was 436 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,360 Speaker 1: initiated by Pepper, and it was over an agreement regarding 437 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: the farmland that he had been leasing. So when he 438 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: started renting it, the owner of the land had promised 439 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: that he would eventually sell Pepper the property, and Pepper 440 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: had built a home on it. At the time that 441 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: he started renting, the owner was panning for gold on 442 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: the property, and they had kind me to deal, like 443 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 1: when you're done and you're confident you have panned whatever 444 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: there is to get out of this, like, then you'll 445 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: finish that and sell me the property. And he was like, 446 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,639 Speaker 1: of course I will. But instead of selling to the Englishman, 447 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: the owner had mortgaged the property without telling his tenant. 448 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: This case was a little bit of a mess. There's 449 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: a whole element of spiritualism and testimony that was going 450 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: on in the courtroom, happening in this very strange way, 451 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: and it was eventually found in Pepper's favor, but it 452 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: did not ultimately keep Pepper in Australia. Less than two 453 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: years later, after a decade away, he decided to return 454 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: home to England. After arriving in London in eighteen eighty nine, 455 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: Pepper tried going back to his illusion shows. He trotted 456 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: out the Ghost on stage again, but in the years 457 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: since he had been gone, the tastes of the city's 458 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,120 Speaker 1: audiences had changed. There just wasn't a draw for Pepper's 459 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: style of show anymore. And he retired from performing in 460 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 1: eight Yeah. Also, so many of the people that probably 461 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: would have been his target audience for like I saw 462 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: this when I was in school. I know how it works, 463 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: Like why would they pay to go see the whole thing? Again? 464 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: There was never that moment of oooh, how is he 465 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: doing it, because they'd be like, I don't know how 466 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: he does it? Um. And that same year that he 467 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,159 Speaker 1: retired eight nine, Pepper wrote a book outlining all that 468 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: had happened regarding the Pepper's Ghost illusion in a book 469 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: titled A True History of the Ghost and All about 470 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: metam Psychosis. And it is from that book that we 471 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: quoted earlier when he was talking about Dirk's work. He 472 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 1: seems to have really wanted to make the case at 473 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:35,160 Speaker 1: the end of his life that he had not done 474 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,479 Speaker 1: anything wrong by Dirks. And he makes a note that 475 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: Dirk's had applied for a patent on his own before 476 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: Pepper modified the concept, and that that patent had been denied. 477 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: Pepper also noted in the book that so many people 478 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: attempted to create their own ghost illusion imitations that he 479 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: had to have notices printed in papers warning the public 480 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: about the fakes. That we're touring. One such note has 481 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: read quote on public grounds. I ventured to call your 482 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: attention to the fact that many persons are now going 483 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: about the country endeavoring to pirate effects to be produced 484 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: by the apparatus patented by Mr Dirks and myself, and 485 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: to deceive the public by giving them an exhibition with 486 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: which they are certain to be disgusted, and with which 487 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: I have nothing to do. I beg to enclose one 488 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: of the numerous statements I have received from different parts 489 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: of the country alluding to the imposture now so commonly practiced. Yeah, 490 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: he was basically like putting these in various papers and 491 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: then asking the editor to include additional information. Uh. You'll 492 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: note that he mentioned specifically that Mr Dirk's was part 493 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: of it and part of the patent, And it seems 494 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: like that may have been part of the issue was 495 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: that Dirk's got really really frustrated that everybody started calling 496 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: the ghost Peppers ghost when he was like and Dirk's um, 497 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: and Pepper always said like, I said your same every 498 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: time I did it. That's not my fault. And now 499 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: you're angry because you're not getting credit in public um, 500 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: And that seems like really the crux of that argument. 501 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: But in his retirement Pepper moved to leyton Stone in Essex, 502 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: and on March dred he died at his home there 503 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: on Culworth Road. His obituary in the London Daily News read, 504 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: in part quote to the younger generation, Professor Pepper and 505 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: Pepper's ghosts are little more than names. But to those 506 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: who remember the Polytechnic as it was forty years ago, 507 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: the announcement that John Henry Pepper is dead will recall 508 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: a form of entertainment that at one time enjoyed immense vogue. 509 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: When Pepper died, he thought interest in his ghost delusion 510 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: had really died out. But today Pepper's ghost is still 511 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: in use. We've mentioned it on the show before. The 512 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: ballroom scene and Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction is one massive 513 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: execution of the Pepper's Ghost delusion, but more technologically advanced 514 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: versions of it continued to be used as well. If 515 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: you recall the twelve appearance of the deceased performer Tupac 516 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: alongside Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg that was touted by 517 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: a lot of people as a hologram, you may know 518 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: that was absolutely not a hologram. It was a high 519 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: tech iteration of Pepper's ghost. Yeah, and now they're even 520 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: like specialized types of glass finishes that people will use 521 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: to create really really photo real Pepper's ghost style illusions. Um. 522 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: A lot of times they'll reflect not like a physical 523 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: person or a statue, but instead like an image that's 524 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: on a digital screen in the area you can't see 525 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: onto it, which allows those intensive, really really convincing animations 526 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: to happen. Pepper's ghosts still alive and well, I think 527 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: it's sweet. Um, I have some thoughts about John Henry Pepper. 528 00:31:54,440 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: I was sure they've been the Friday episode, okay, But 529 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: in the meantime, I have a listener mail from our 530 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: listener Allison, who is responding to another listener mail. It's 531 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: quite charming, uh, shrides Dear Holly and Tracy, I was 532 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 1: listening to your episode on William Palmer went to my surprise, 533 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: you began reading your listener mail on Grannie Smith from Allison. 534 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: And this took me surprised because I Allison was sure 535 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: that I had not already sent you my listener mail 536 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: on Grannie Smith, who was at the moment sitting in 537 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 1: my drafts folder. It was only when that Allison told 538 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: you she is an American living near Ride that our 539 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: emails even began two differ in content. My content on 540 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 1: your Grannie Smith uponymous food episode is actually a bit 541 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: different than that. I have an ancestor that, according to 542 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: a news article of the time of Marie Anne Smith's death, 543 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: was part of the lore of the creation of the 544 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: now famous apple variety. Mr Lawless of Berrara, I'm gonna 545 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: guess that I pronounced that terribly um so my apologies, 546 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: which is Allison's ancestor, is credited with giving Maria the 547 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: very French crab apple create that went on to produced 548 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: the sapling on the Creek Edge. My father keeps a 549 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: copy of this news article as part of his genealogy 550 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: research for both his and my mother's sides of our family. 551 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: I would have loved to have included it in this email, However, 552 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: due to various circumstances, it was unavailable. I love binge 553 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: listening to your episodes at my job as a sewing 554 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: machinist producing betting. Keep up the good work. There's so 555 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 1: much to unpack here that I love. One. How incredibly 556 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: cool that your dad has this this piece of information 557 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: in his genealogy records too. I love that you're a 558 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: professional sewing machinist, although I also know, in case anyone 559 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: thinks I'm romanticizing that, that is a hard job. My 560 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: mom did that job for exactly one day because she 561 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: was very good seamstress, as I've said before, and came 562 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,600 Speaker 1: home and said, I cannot do that. That's not sewing 563 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 1: the way I like to do. It's just factory sewing 564 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: is a whole different deal. Um. But thank you for this. 565 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: It's very funny that to Allison's had a similar relationship 566 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: with Granny Smith Apple's. I love it. If you have 567 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: relations hips with any of our eponymous foods, or with 568 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: Pepper's Ghost or anything else we've talked about on the show, 569 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: you can write to us about it. That email address 570 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: is History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can 571 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: also find us on social media as Missed in History, 572 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: And if you haven't subscribed, there's no time like the present. 573 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 1: You can do that on the I heart Radio app 574 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: or wherever it is you listen. Stuff you Missed in 575 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radio. For 576 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I Heart 577 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 578 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:34,400 Speaker 1: favorite shows.