1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. I will talk about 4 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: the genesis of this episode on Friday's episode, because it's 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: very silly, but it was born, like so many of 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: our topics, out of just seeing something and asking off 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: handedly when was that invented? Which I do a lot. 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:35,639 Speaker 1: This led me to look that up and it came 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: as a surprise regarding its timing, and I wanted to 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: talk about that thing, but I also knew that that 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: was not a media enough topic for a whole episode, 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: so I decided I would group it with some other 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: inventions that were made well before I would have thought, 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: probably most people would have thought. There are so many 15 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: things in our modern world that people presume our fairly 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: recent inventions that aren't. We talk about things like that 17 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: all the time, and often that is the result of 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: like what I call this sort of present tense hubris, 19 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: where we can't imagine another time or culture needing or 20 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: inventing the things that we use today. But I feel 21 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: like the three things that we're talking about in this 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: instance seem, at least to my mind, pretty valid in 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: presuming that they are more modern than they are, in 24 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: part because they all have close associations with the recent past. 25 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: One of them, the thing that inspired this episode, is 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: one of my favorite inventions of all time. So for 27 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: the first thing we're going to talk about, we have 28 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: to go all the way back to the early Common 29 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: era and a scientist known as Heron of Alexandria. Some 30 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: texts give his name as Hero. He's sometimes described as 31 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: being Egyptian because he lived in Alexandria. Other times he's 32 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: described as Greek. Some accounts list both. He was likely 33 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: born in Greece. He lived at a time of Greco 34 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: Roman dominance throughout the Mediterranean, and Egypt was a Roman province. 35 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: But all of the accounts agree he was very, very smart. 36 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: He was well educated. He understood and wrote about mathematics 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: and mechanics from all over the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. We 38 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of biographical information about him, 39 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: though he's believed to have been born sometime early in 40 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: the first century. We know he was alive in the 41 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: year sixty two because he mentioned an eclipse in his 42 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: writing that's known to have taken place that year. Everything 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: else we know about Heron is what he recorded in 44 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: his writings. He wrote a lot about mathematics and mechanics, 45 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: but nothing autobiographical. Yeah, if you look up the dates 46 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: associated with his life, they are all over the map. 47 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: There are people that will put his date of birth 48 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: at around the year zero or one, and other people 49 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: that will put his death at around one hundred. And 50 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: I'm like, it's possible, but not super probable at this 51 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: point in time that he could have lived through the 52 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: entire first century. But in any case, his work is 53 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: influential in our lives in a number of small ways. 54 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: For example, if you've ever used the idiom that someone 55 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: has made one hundred and eighty degree turn in changing 56 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: their position or their opinion on something, you can thank Heron, 57 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: at least in part. The idea of a circle being 58 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: divided by three hundred and sixty units known as degrees, 59 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: actually originated in Babylonia, which used a base sixty system 60 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: for mathematics, but Heron is credited with adopting it and 61 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: teaching it widely in the technical school he founded in 62 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: Alexandria and writing about it in his books. But Beyond that, 63 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: his own work predates a lot of similar work, often 64 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: by hundreds of years. His math writings include Mechanica, which 65 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: included information about the workings of levers and how they 66 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: can be used to bear loads, as well as velocity 67 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: and the use of friction discs to create very ratios. 68 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: These discs or the basics of the kinds of drives 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: that would be described as transmissions today. They can transfer 70 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: torque to rotating parts at variable speeds depending on the 71 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: ratio selected in Heron's writings. All of this information was 72 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: intended to help architects manage building projects by providing them 73 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: ways to more efficiently transport and lift heavy loads in construction. 74 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: His book Dioptera is essentially a manual for measurement. It 75 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: includes descriptions of various measuring instruments, including a diopter. It 76 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: also included a method to measure distance traveled by a wheel. 77 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: A lot of this book is about how to measure 78 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: distance in the interest of land surveying purposes. Heron's three 79 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: volume work Metrica was all about geometry that covered topics 80 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: like the measurement of geometric figures. There are formulas for 81 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,039 Speaker 1: using the lengths of a triangle's sides to calculate its area, 82 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: and a method for finding the square root of a 83 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: non square number. Metrica was actually lost for a very 84 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: very long time. This book was mentioned in the writings 85 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: of Utosius of Ascalon, who lived in the late fifth 86 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: and early sixth centuries, but its contents were a mystery. 87 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: Then in the eighteen sixties there was a mention of 88 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: an eleventh century manuscript in a library in Constantinople that 89 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 1: might contain some of Heron's writings. But this wasn't a 90 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: library just anybody could visit. There were hoops to jump 91 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,559 Speaker 1: through just to get permission to enter. It wasn't until 92 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six that German archaeologist and head of the 93 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: Royal Museum of Berlin, Richard Shone, was able to identify 94 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: that a copy of Metrica was indeed contained in that manuscript. 95 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: Shona's Sun Hermann published the first critical edition of Metrica 96 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh three. Haron wrote other books, and even 97 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: more have been attributed to him that are almost certainly 98 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: not his work, But the book that's most Germane today 99 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: is Pneumatics. In that work, he describes a variety of 100 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: mechanical devices featuring so many concepts we might think of 101 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: as fairly modern gas power, water power, steam power, atmospheric pressure, 102 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: and pumps, among others. But the section related to today's 103 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: topic is automata. He offers a little bit of multi 104 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: entry for this episode because he invented a lot of 105 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: things that were far far ahead of his time. Yeah, 106 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: he also, just to avoid confusion, did also write another 107 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: book called Automata. But the things we're talking about are 108 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: in this book pneumatics, and the first one that we're 109 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: going to talk about is the eolapile, which is today 110 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: sometimes also called a hero motor named after him. So 111 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: Heron had concluded that air is elastic and that it 112 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: consists of particles that move relative to one another. He 113 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: was essentially onto the idea of airflow and air mechanics, 114 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: although he didn't have it all figured out, and these 115 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: are concepts that Irish chemist robber Boyle was still working 116 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: to understand when he created what is often credited as 117 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: the first functioning air pump in the mid sixteen hundreds, 118 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: and Heron's understanding of airflow and how it could be 119 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: impacted by heat led him to develop a rudimentary steam engine, 120 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: the eola pile is something that modern teachers and hobbyists 121 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: recreate all the time, but there's a slight difference in 122 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: the way that these modern versions function compared to the 123 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: one that Heron described in pneumatics. Modern variations often consist 124 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: of a hollow sphere filled with water, which is suspended 125 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: over heat source by two arms. As that water heats up, 126 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: the steam is released through two short armlike valves on 127 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: the sphere's equator, and that causes it to rotate. So 128 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: this is a rudimentary steam turbine that creates a rotary motion. 129 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: But in Heron's original version, that water is actually contained 130 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: in a base vessel. He describes it as a call 131 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: caldron with a fitted lid that the ball is suspended over. 132 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: From that cauldron are two tubes. These are the ones 133 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: that the sphere is suspended with, but they're hollow tubes 134 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: that carry steam from the cauldron as it's heated and 135 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: into the sphere, which builds up until it releases that 136 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: steam through the equatorial valves, and that's what results in 137 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: the spinning motion. Similar mechanics would not be implemented for 138 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: practical use until the seventeenth century, but Heron's machine had 139 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: no practical use. It was not intended for any type 140 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,079 Speaker 1: of job. It was built as an exploration and examination 141 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: of the effects of heat and air and steam combining, 142 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: and in the first century it was considered nothing more 143 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: than a fancy toy. There just was not a vision 144 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,199 Speaker 1: of how this technology could be used. Yeah, I kind 145 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: of think of it as like the mechanical desk toys 146 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: that executives might have on their tests, Like this is neat, 147 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: look at spins when I heat it up. But it 148 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: could have spletely change the world if they had been 149 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: like I bet we could apply this to a vehicle. 150 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: The other hair and invention, which is similar in concept 151 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,079 Speaker 1: to modern machines and really is the focus of like 152 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: the precursor to a modern machine in terms of the 153 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: context of this episode, is called in his book sacrificial vessel, 154 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: which flows only when money is introduced. This was a 155 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: very rudimentary vending machine, and here is how Heron described it. Quote, 156 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: if into certain sacrificial vessels, a coin of five drachms 157 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: be thrown, water shall flow out and surround them. Let 158 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: the example diagram be a sacrificial vessel or treasure chest 159 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: having an opening in its mouth, and in the chest 160 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: let there be a vessel containing water and a small 161 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: box from which a pipe conducts out of the chest. 162 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: Near the vessel place a vertical rod about which turns 163 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: a lever widening into the plate parallel to the bottom 164 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: of the vessel, while at the extremity is and a 165 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,319 Speaker 1: lid which fits into the box so that no water 166 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: can flow through the tube. This lid, however, must be 167 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: heavier than the plate, but lighter than the plate and 168 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: coin combined. When the coin is thrown through the mouth, 169 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: it will fall upon the plate, and preponderating it will 170 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: turn the beam and raise the lid of the box 171 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: so that the water will flow. But if the coin 172 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: falls off, the lid will descend and close the box 173 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: so that the discharge ceases. More simply, this setup had 174 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 1: a plate attached to a lever that would tilt just 175 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: enough to open a valve that allowed water to flow out. 176 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: The coin would slide off the plate as it tilted, 177 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: and once it fell off, the lever would return to 178 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: its original position, closing the valve. This vessel looked sort 179 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: of like a semovar. That's a metal urn used to 180 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: make and serve tea, and its intent was to dispense 181 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: holy water at temples. He also created another vessel that 182 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: would dispense wine as water was poured into a separate compartment, 183 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: but as the water dispenser was strictly transactional with money, 184 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: it's more of a true vending machine. The next big 185 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: step in vending machines did not happen until London eighteen eighties. Yeah, 186 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: coming up, we're going to talk about a very ancient 187 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: invention intended to make the world a more pleasant smelling place. 188 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: But first we will pause for a sponsor break. For 189 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:34,680 Speaker 1: a lot of people today, it is very normal to 190 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: have a small tin or other container of breath mints 191 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: in their bag or pocket. But breath mints are very 192 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: far from new. The herbs in the mint family, which 193 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: is lemiakie, are as anyone who's ever grown one, very 194 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: hardy perennials. It is in fact harder to control them 195 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: than to get them started outside. They will often appear 196 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: to die back completely in cold temperatures and then pop 197 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: up a new in warm weather, and they bread lake crazy. 198 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: Because of their very assertive nature as a plant that 199 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: spreads easily, and because it grows almost anywhere the origin 200 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: of mint, the plant seems to be completely unclear. If 201 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: you look it up, you will find texts that say 202 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: that it originated in any number of areas, including Asia, 203 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: the Mediterranean, Europe, and Africa. Mint has been used in 204 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: a lot of cultures as part of food traditions and 205 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: for its fresh, bright aroma. Blindey the Elder, who lived 206 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:31,559 Speaker 1: in the first century, had a lot to say about 207 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: mint in his writings the Natural History. This isn't precisely 208 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 1: what we're talking about today in terms of invention, but 209 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: we are going to read a number of quotes from 210 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: that writing to illustrate just how commonly mint was used 211 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: and for a wide range of purposes. Pliny knew how 212 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: easy it was to grow mint, noting quote wild mint, 213 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: cat mint, ondieve, and penny royal will grow even without cultivation. 214 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: That isn't the only mint of its heartiness in the 215 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: Natural History. Pliny also writes quote, the mint that is 216 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: used in the dishes at rustic entertainments pervades the tables 217 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: far and wide with its agreeable odor. When once planted, 218 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: it lasts a considerable length of time. It bears too, 219 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: a strong resemblance to pennyroyal, a property of which is, 220 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: as mentioned by us, more than once to flour when 221 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: kept in our larders. So this also suggests that even 222 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: when you're not taking care of mint is a cultivated plant, 223 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: it can and will still grow on its o Pliny 224 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: writes of mint being used as an antidote for poison. Quote, 225 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: leaves of wild mint are kept dried and reduced to 226 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: a fine powder as a remedy for poisons of every description. 227 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: Spread on the ground or burnt, this plant has the 228 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: effect of driving away scorpions. He also comments on its 229 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 1: flavorful nature and claims that it has a benefit to milk, 230 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: writing quote, the very smell of mint ree that meets 231 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: the spirits and its flavor gives a remarkable zest to food. 232 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: Hence it is that it is so generally an ingredient 233 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: in our sauces. It has the effect of preventing milk 234 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 1: from turning sour or curdling and thickening. Hence it is 235 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: that it is so generally put into milk use for drinking, 236 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: to prevent any danger of persons being choked by it 237 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: in a curdled state. So much yuck about this, heads up, 238 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: You cannot keep milk from going bad by adding mint 239 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: to it. At best, it might for a little while 240 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: mask the sourness of milk that is in his very 241 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: early as stages of going bad. But also choking on 242 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: milk that's super curdled just seems like you weren't paying attention. 243 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: Yuck across the board. If you are about to give 244 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: a big speech, Pliny suggest drinking mint tea quote the 245 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: juice of mint is good for the voice when a 246 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: person is about to engage in a contest of eloquence, 247 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: but only when taken just before. Pliny included a lot 248 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: of treatments that could be made with mint in his writing. 249 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: There are twenty remedies that can be made with wild mint, 250 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: and forty one from cultivated mint. And then outside of those, 251 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: he noted how pleasant it could be simply to eat it. Quote. 252 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: If the air is inhaled by a person when eating peppermint, 253 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: he will be sensible of a cold feeling in the mouth. 254 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: It's the York peppermint patty spiel, just with the mint 255 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: at its base. But Pliny's writing about mint was drawing 256 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: on cultural knowledge of it that had been circulating for 257 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: hundreds of years already, and the use that we're focusing 258 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: on is as a cure for bad breath, although I 259 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: will say mint is not called out specifically in what 260 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: we're about to talk about, but there is this term 261 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: that's like general herbs available, and we know at the 262 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: time that mint was growing very readily in this area, 263 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: so presumably it was one of the herbs included. Even today, 264 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: there are so many causes for breath odor that it 265 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: can actually be hard to identify what the cause is 266 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: in a given person. Obviously, good oral hygiene can help 267 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: prevent the growth of bacteria that's often associated with foul breath, 268 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: but there are a lot of other causes of bad breath. 269 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: If you have dry mouth, you're more prone to it, 270 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: or if your diet includes certain foods, you might have 271 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: bad breath, even if you're great at brushing and flossing. 272 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: Various health conditions can also lead to breath that smells 273 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: less than fresh, and this has been a problem since 274 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: humans existed. But we are jumping all the way back 275 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: to ancient Egypt and one of their solutions for yuckie breath. 276 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: We talked a bit about dentistry and ancient Egypt, and 277 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: our two part episode on the history of dentistry. In 278 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: May of twenty twenty two, in part one of the episode, 279 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: we discussed how the Ebers Papyrus included information on packing teeth, 280 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: basically doing fillings, regrowing gum tissue, and even putting rudimentary 281 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: bridgework into the mouths of patience. It wasn't a time 282 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: where there was no denise care, but that care was 283 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: not as advanced as the care you would get today. 284 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: That means that even people who had the means to 285 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: access dental care were almost certainly going to develop some 286 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: kind of problem which could result in bad breath. And 287 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: as we mentioned just a moment ago, there are plenty 288 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: of other things that can cause breath issues, and the 289 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: Ebers Papyrus there was a treatment for that, and that 290 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: is breath mins, invented by the ancient Egyptians. The actual entry, 291 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: which to be clear we obviously only have from a translation, 292 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,239 Speaker 1: initially begins as an air freshener for the home, and 293 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: that reads as follows quote substances to use in order 294 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:42,719 Speaker 1: to make pleasant the smell of the house or of 295 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: the clothes dried mirr elderberries, incense, cyprus resin of aloes, 296 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: sebit resin kalmus from the land tah in Asia in 297 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 1: a coon grain mastics directs, crush a grind, make into 298 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: one and put on the fire another for the woman 299 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: to make they're out these ingredients. According to the other instructions, 300 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: put in honey, cook, mix, form into little balls. They 301 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 1: shall fumigate with them. It is also worthwhile to make 302 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: mouthpills out of them to make the smell of the 303 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: mouth agreeable. So basically, combine various good smelling things that 304 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: you might have on hand, cook them in honey, and 305 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: form that into tablets. These probably we're not super tasty, 306 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: and also they don't really contain any mint, at least 307 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: according to this list. But the mention of calamus is interesting. 308 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: It is referring to calamus, which comes up in other 309 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: papyri from ancient Egypt. Commonly it's known as sweet flag. 310 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: It is toxic and has psychoactive chemical components, So maybe 311 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: it just made people think their breath smell better. Definitely 312 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: a far cry from the many minty options for breath 313 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: that there are today. So by the time that that 314 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: Pliny was writing several hundred years later, they had figured 315 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: out the mint could be involved in this whole thing. 316 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,640 Speaker 1: To keep your breath delightful. The next invention we're going 317 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: to talk about involves various sparkly things, and we're going 318 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: to get to that right after we hear from the 319 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep the show going. On September twenty fourth, 320 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, in Hamilton, Ohio, which is part of 321 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: the Cincinnati metro area, Bernard H. Weiste and Anna M. 322 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: Gold Camp Weiste had a son named Louis Bernard WEISTI, 323 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,360 Speaker 1: who would grow up to patent one of my favorite things. 324 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: There is not a whole lot of information about mister Weiste, 325 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: but he did at some point mary a woman named 326 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: Florence Bliss Stemball and start a family. Lewis and Florence 327 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: had two daughters, Helen born in nineteen thirteen and Bonnie, 328 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: born in nineteen seventeen. But even when we was still 329 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: a kid, there was a mention of a mirror ball 330 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: in a trade paper put out by a Charleston, Massachusetts 331 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: Electricians union in eighteen ninety seven. So that's right, we're 332 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: going to talk about what would later become known as 333 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: the disco ball. Holly and I each kind of went 334 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: on a little expedition trying to find this periodical. Both 335 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: mental Floss and Vice say that this periodical carried the 336 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: write up about the union's annual party where this mirrored 337 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 1: ball apparently scattered sparkling light all around the room. We 338 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 1: did find a union paper that wrote up this event, 339 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: but had no mention of a mirror ball in it, 340 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 1: so it's possible there was just a different version that 341 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: came directly from the union rather than like Union country 342 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 1: wide paper, which is the one that we had found, Right, 343 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: we were looking at the bigger one that may have 344 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: aggregated other articles and may have edited right. In addition 345 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,199 Speaker 1: to this lack of mention of the mirror ball and 346 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: the one version of this Holly and I found, there 347 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: are no photos of whatever this looked like. It is 348 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: often noted as the first time that a mirrored ball 349 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: was mentioned in the historical record. If it did look 350 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: something like today's disco ball. There's no attribution regarding who 351 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: came up with this decoration, which was at the Christmas party. Yeah, 352 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: we also don't know how the one that we know 353 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,199 Speaker 1: got invented came to be. We have no information about 354 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: the inspiration behind it. Where we Stee's brain went. You 355 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: know what I'd like to do is glue a lot 356 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: of mirrors on something and throw light on it. But 357 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: if we jump forward in Lewis Wees's life, there is 358 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: plenty of newspaper coverage about his patented invention, which he 359 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: called the myriad reflector. He filed a patent for the device, 360 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: his Myriad Reflector, on February twelfth, nineteen sixteen, and he 361 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: was granted that patent almost a year later, on February 362 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: sixth of nineteen seventeen. The technical portion of this patent 363 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,639 Speaker 1: at the end of the copy is straightforward, as it 364 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: would need to be. It's described as quote one, a 365 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 1: myriad reflector comprising mirrors mounted to form a polyhedron, bounded 366 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: by a convex system of plane faces, in combination with 367 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: means for suspending the device so that it may be 368 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: swung and rotated simultaneously to produce myriad reflections when light 369 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: rays from an extraneous source are thrown thereon. He also 370 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: described it a second time in an almost identical way, 371 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: but specifying that the mirrors could be separated slightly by 372 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: a non reflective sir. This was a reference to the 373 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: patent being about the mirrors not necessarily on a spherical shape, 374 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: but on any shape quote to suit the particular requirements, 375 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:14,119 Speaker 1: which is a pretty astute way of cutting off copycats 376 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: for making and these sort of hanging mirrored reflectors in 377 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: shapes that were not spheares trying to patent those two. 378 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: But while that wording is legally smart, there is some 379 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: rather more florid language in the general description that I 380 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: found rather charming. We see wrote quote the object of 381 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,199 Speaker 1: my invention is to produce a myriad reflector comprising a 382 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: plurality of reflecting surfaces, the same to be arranged in 383 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: such a manner that the several reflections shall be projected 384 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 1: at varying angles, the device itself being arranged so that 385 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 1: it may be rotated or otherwise moved, so that the 386 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: reflections may produce a scintillating and spectacular effect. It is 387 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: scintillating and spectacular. Oh, he knew the key to my heart. 388 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 1: I'm a magpie of my soul. The exact timing is 389 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,479 Speaker 1: not clear, but around the time Westy got his patent, 390 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: or shortly thereafter, Westy's friend Benny Friedman, who owned a 391 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: tailor's shop, asked Lewis, who went by lou if he 392 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: wanted to use some space in the shop to set 393 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: up his own venture, and he did. He founded the 394 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: LB West Decorating Company out of that space, and soon 395 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 1: he was getting large contracts to set up parties and 396 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: municipal celebrations, and of course to sell his Myriad reflector 397 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: for those events. And to be really clear, the Myriad 398 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: reflector was a big deal. It was touted constantly in 399 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: newspapers by ballrooms and entertainment venues that had acquired one 400 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: as a draw. Reading through newspapers, it seems as though 401 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 1: a lot of venues saw it as this way they 402 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: were going to reinvigorate their business. Even before Weisty's patent 403 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,439 Speaker 1: was granted, there are mentions of the Myriad reflector in 404 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: local papers indicating that weiste was already producing them. In 405 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: January nineteen seventeen, the Rotary Charity Ball of Piqua, Ohio, 406 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: which is a town about eighty miles north of Cincinnati, 407 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 1: had a write up in the Piqua Daily Call that read, 408 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,879 Speaker 1: in part quote, during the Grand March, the hall was 409 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: darkened and from a Myriad reflector, sparks of every color 410 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: were flying over the ceiling, making a most dazzling and 411 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: wonderful scene. This was kept up at intervals during the 412 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: Grand March. This article notes that everything was donated for 413 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: the ball except the music, so presumably Weesti made that 414 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: Myriad reflector as a donation or loaned it to the event. 415 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,880 Speaker 1: A June thirteenth, nineteen twenty one ad in the Salt 416 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: Lake Telegram read Dance to the Flash of the Myriad Reflector, 417 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 1: and it featured this drawing of five dancing couples beneath 418 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: a mirrored ball that is scattering light around the room. 419 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: That drawing is not especially detailed, but it is immediately 420 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: apparent what it depicts. The accompanying copy reads quote the 421 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,880 Speaker 1: Myriad Reflector, one of the most beautiful electric lighting devices 422 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: ever seen here is now an exclusive feature at the 423 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: Salt Air You will find it flashing on the big 424 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: dance floor every Tuesday night. Come tomorrow night and see it. 425 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: There is also an addendum bit of copy in this 426 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: ad that has nothing to do with the mirror ball, 427 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: but which is also really charming to me because it says, 428 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: come early enough for a dip in the lake, and 429 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: in all caps, bathing is superb. Bathing is superb? Are 430 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: you just telling people to be clean or do you 431 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,719 Speaker 1: really want them to splash about and enjoy your lakeside venue? 432 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,399 Speaker 1: That autumn, the Great Falls Leader of Great Falls, Montana 433 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: drummed up excitement for its annual fall opening odeon Ball 434 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: by sharing with readers that a Myriad Reflector had been 435 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: procured for the event, and it also explains what it is. Quote. 436 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: The Myriad Reflector is something new in the amusement world 437 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: and had heretofore been used only in such places the 438 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: Marigold Gardens of Chicago, Hotel Astor in New York City, 439 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: Cave Hall of Saint Louis Schubert's Winter Garden of New York, 440 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: and like places. The Myriad Reflector is a novelty that 441 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:18,160 Speaker 1: transforms a hall into a brilliant fairyland of flashing, changing 442 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: living colors, a marvel of kaleidoscope charm. The result is 443 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: thousands of small reflections, dancing, changing, chasing after one another, 444 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: into every nook and corner. What's interesting here, too, is 445 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: that after giving this sort of romantic descriptor, the Great 446 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: Falls Leader explains exactly how this effect is created. Quote. 447 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: The device is an immense globe twenty seven inches in diameter, 448 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: completely covered with more than one thousand special made mirrors. 449 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: When spotlights are thrown on the rotating ball, the reflections 450 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:56,399 Speaker 1: of the mirrors are multiplied into a dazzling, dancing, indescribable 451 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: lighting effect that is simply immense. It's funny that the 452 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: write up says it's indescribable right after it went to 453 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: great lengths to describe it. It made me think of 454 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,199 Speaker 1: Samuel Taylor, Coleridge and Kubla Khan and like writing this 455 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: whole poem and then being like and then I was 456 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: woken up, and I could never describe what I experienced. 457 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: It's like, maybe you just did you just did? I 458 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: read it. Other newspapers had similar features that talked about 459 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: Wisti's mirrored marvel. The timing of the patent really could 460 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: not have been better, as the Roaring twenties offered exactly 461 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,680 Speaker 1: the right cultural atmosphere to embrace all of that sparkle, 462 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: and many of these write ups mentioned that it had 463 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: a small motor that turned it to keep the reflected 464 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: lights moving and dancing. That rotator motor wasn't part of 465 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: the original patent, and Weiste didn't apply for a patent 466 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: on the motor until several years after the examples that 467 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: we've been quoting in nineteen twenty four. That patent wasn't 468 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: actually granted until March thirteenth, nineteen twenty eight, at which 469 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: point he had been including the motor on his setup 470 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: for the better part of a decade. Lewis Weisty died 471 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: on April tenth, nineteen thirty three, at his home on 472 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: Wayside Avenue in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati, and 473 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: the years after his death, his wife, Florence ran the 474 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: family business with the help of their daughter Helen. The 475 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: business struggled but made it through the Great Depression, and 476 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: was even hired to decorate Crossley Field for the All 477 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: Star Game in nineteen thirty eight. But after Helen got 478 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: married and started a family, Florence couldn't keep things going 479 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: by herself, and the business shuddered. In nineteen forty five. Yeah, 480 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: there's an interesting write up about it's closing that kind 481 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: of has that you know, social norm line about well, 482 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: Helen had a baby, so she's just domestic now she 483 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: can't work. It's like, oh, after the wee C Company closed. 484 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: The main producer of reflective mirrored balls was Omega National Products, 485 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: which o it out of Louisville, Kentucky. It was making 486 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: an estimated ninety percent of them when the disco craze 487 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: hit and made them super popular. Omega still exists today, 488 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: although a lot of other manufacturers have entered the market 489 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,640 Speaker 1: since the nineteen forties. Yeah, today, if you go to 490 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: a craft store, you can buy mirrored pumpkins, mirrored kitty cats, 491 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: mirrored anything you can think of, in a variety of colors. 492 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: I wouldn't know. I don't own any of those. I 493 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: own all of those. I have a disco cat. You 494 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: can have people make giant discoed skeletons. I mean, one 495 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: woman did her own as a craft project and it's beautiful, 496 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: one of those giant yard skeletons. M you can't put 497 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 1: enough mirror stuff on things for me. I love it. 498 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: I'm obsessed with it. I'm also obsessed with listener mail. 499 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: Here's one, okay from our listener, Jane, who writes, Hi, 500 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: hollyod Tracy. I've been a longtime listener. I honestly don't 501 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: remember when I started listening. I know it was sometime 502 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: in undergrad, maybe even my senior year of high school. 503 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: I'm nearly thirty now, and I know in the grand 504 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: scheme of things, it's not old, but my brain is fuzzy. 505 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: I'm remembering things I did yesterday, and I've always wanted 506 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: a reason to send a note about something. Listen. I 507 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: feel like after we all lived in our homes, mostly 508 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: through the early part of COVID, memories got real weird 509 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,360 Speaker 1: for everybody that's it doesn't matter your age. I just 510 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: think like time became a flat circle. Jane continues, there 511 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: have been so many somethings. As I am listening through 512 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: the backlog of episodes, I think I'm finally into twenty 513 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: twenty six. I started a re listen like three years ago, 514 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: from the very beginning of the podcast, and it's taken 515 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: me forever to get back to present day. There have 516 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: been so many subjects, especially the twenty twenty five episode 517 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:53,000 Speaker 1: about the Library of Congress. She shares her connection to it, 518 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: and I'm not going to read that part because I 519 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: don't want it to be too identifying it for personal information. 520 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: And the most recent Cranberry episode. I had to pull 521 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: over on my way home because the Cranberry episode nearly 522 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: made me pee my pants. And I will tell you 523 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: why this is, Like if you put this line in 524 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: an email I want to keep reading. My beloved grandmother, 525 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: who still lives in the in law apartment of my parents' house, 526 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: has never been able to cook. I think she's one 527 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: of the reasons I had such a hard time trying 528 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 1: new foods as a kid, because as her favorite grandchild 529 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: at that time. A whole podcast on its own of 530 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: how my grandmother determines who is her favorite grandchild and 531 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: why at any given moment, if I said I wanted 532 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 1: to try something, she'd make it. The problem with this 533 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: is she would somehow change the texture of foods that 534 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,720 Speaker 1: are really hard to mess up. I remember she made 535 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: steak one time and called it rare. It was as 536 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: hard as a hockey puck and gray all the way through, 537 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: but she tried. She also somehow managed to roast a 538 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,959 Speaker 1: bell pepper into rubber. I don't know how she managed that, 539 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: but it was legitimately inedible. But now I have a 540 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: night shade sensitivity and I can't have them anyways. But 541 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: my favorite memories of my grandmother and her inability to 542 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: cook always come at Thanksgiving. She has for my entire 543 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: almost thirty years, insisted on cooking something for Thanksgiving. And 544 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: somehow my mother has managed to get it down to 545 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: two things, homemade cranberry relish and her homemade saltine stuffing 546 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: or dressing. I'm not really sure the difference. My family 547 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: calls it both. My family calls it both to most people, 548 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,719 Speaker 1: stuffing as if it's cooked in the bird, dressing if 549 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: it's in a tray or a dish that you put 550 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: in the oven. She would process them both through a 551 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: food mill that I am fairly certain has survived since 552 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties. It's my goal to find it one 553 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: day and confirm this. The problem is now her memory 554 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: is starting to go and she can't remember where she 555 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: left it last. I've never had the cranberry relish, but 556 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: my sister loves it more than the canned jelly, which 557 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: I also dislike but wish I didn't listen. It's grating cocktails. 558 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: It's made with fresh squeezed orange juice, but bottled is 559 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: fine too, just not the concentrate from the freezer section. 560 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: We did that one year and it was vile to smell. 561 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: I don't think anyone ate it. And cranberry's frozen that 562 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: have been passed through the food mill, and then you 563 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 1: mix the juice and let it sit at least overnight, 564 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: and it becomes a deep red, almost purple slop. The 565 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: smell's wonderful. If I could make it a candle, I would. 566 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 1: I won't go into detail about her stuffing because she 567 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: has not been allowed to make it in years, and 568 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 1: outside of saltines and celery, I couldn't tell you what 569 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: was in it. She mentions the raisins might be in it, 570 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: which makes me make a face. But you know, everybody's 571 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 1: got their own taste. But I do know that her 572 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: stuffing is the reason I refused tried again until I 573 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,919 Speaker 1: was twenty five. I love this idea. There's some more 574 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:33,840 Speaker 1: in this email, but I'm not going to read the 575 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: whole thing. But I was fascinated because I'm like, you don't. 576 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: You don't how to do anything with the cranberries To 577 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 1: make cranberry sauce. You've literally just put them on the 578 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: stove the little water and they get smooshy, goushy on 579 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: their own, fall apart and become delicious. We all know 580 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: that I love cranberries. I find this fascinating. The idea 581 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: of like soaking them overnight is interesting and for people 582 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: that maybe don't have a heath horse, or like anything's 583 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: going wrong in their kitchen. That might be an option. 584 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: I might test this just to see how it works. Anyway, 585 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 1: I'm fascinated. Fascinated, I tell you, because I imagine the 586 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: acidity of the orange juice would break down the cranberries 587 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,399 Speaker 1: enough that it would work just fine if they sat 588 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: long enough. Yeah. I have made a homemade cranberry sauce 589 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:30,360 Speaker 1: type recipe before that has included a little orange juice. 590 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:32,799 Speaker 1: But like I often do, that was like what was 591 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: in the recipe. I didn't really think through the chemistry. Yeah, 592 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: they often do. I I tend to leave the the 593 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: we're off on a slight tangent, but come with me. 594 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: I tend to leave the citrus part out because I 595 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: really just like the cranberry flavor. And I throw a 596 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,239 Speaker 1: little vanilla in so it tastes almost even though it's 597 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: there's no dairy in it. It has like an almost 598 00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:59,360 Speaker 1: custardy taste because of the smoothness that it develops. Listen, 599 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,320 Speaker 1: I'm into it. However, here's the most important part of 600 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: this email. Pet tax three beautiful beautiful kitties versus Princess 601 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: Jane says She has many names, most unsuitable for broadcasts, 602 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,200 Speaker 1: but my partner and I call her that most and 603 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: it fits the bill. She's sixteen, probably partner Reegian forest Cat, 604 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,040 Speaker 1: and I've had her since she was since I was twelve. 605 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: A great birthday surprise to come home and find her. 606 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: She's so beautiful and so pretty and listen, I love 607 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,240 Speaker 1: a mature lady kitty very much. I love mature kitties 608 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,600 Speaker 1: in general. Next is my baby boy Gizmo. He's five. 609 00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: He loves to be next to people, but hates when 610 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,240 Speaker 1: you touch him first. His favorite way to be pet 611 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: is body slamming himself into your shins. And lastly, my 612 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:46,200 Speaker 1: gooby girl Gadget, who is four. She is tiny and 613 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: wee and would wear my skin just to snuggle closer. 614 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 1: My favorite part about her is she doesn't know how 615 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: to yewl, but she does know how to squeak. These 616 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: babies are so sweet. Yeah, oh, I love a little 617 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,720 Speaker 1: cat face. One of them is a very funny picture 618 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: of her tiny kitty right up close to their nanny 619 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: cam that they put in there. And then Jane signs 620 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 1: off with thank you so much for all you do, 621 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: and I can't wait to catch them on the podcast. Also, 622 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 1: I didn't know y'all were on Netflix. Yep, we sure are. 623 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: So if you want to sit and watch it, you 624 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 1: can if you don't want to listen and only have audio. 625 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: But anyway, thank you Jane, Thank you for sharing your 626 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 1: kitty cats, sharing your family's Cranberry story. Listen. Not everybody 627 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:37,600 Speaker 1: has good cooks in their family. I was lucky to 628 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,799 Speaker 1: have many good cooks in my family. Not everybody does. 629 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:44,960 Speaker 1: There were oftentimes when I would go to other kids' 630 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 1: houses and be like, what is happening at your home? 631 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:53,799 Speaker 1: This is not delicious. If you would like to write 632 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: to us share a family recipe. Do you remember that 633 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,879 Speaker 1: turkey meatloaf recipe we had years ago? I have it still. 634 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 1: I've made it several times. That was really good. I 635 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,759 Speaker 1: don't remember who sent it to us off hand, but 636 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,960 Speaker 1: I haven't shoved into a cookbook notebook somewhere upstairs. If 637 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: you want to share a family recipe, a picture of 638 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: your kiddie CAATs, a picture of anything else that you 639 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: delight in, a picture of a disco ball, however you 640 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,400 Speaker 1: might use it in your home. That sounds great to me. 641 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,720 Speaker 1: You can do that at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 642 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:25,880 Speaker 1: If you want to look at the show notes to 643 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:27,759 Speaker 1: see the research that we did for this or any 644 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: of our episodes, those are available at mistonhistory dot com. 645 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,640 Speaker 1: If you would like to subscribe to the show and 646 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: you haven't done that yet, you can do that on 647 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. 648 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,640 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 649 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 650 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:54,760 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.