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 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: So Marjorie Merriweather Post came up in my research when 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: I was working on Clarence Bird's Eye quite recently, but 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: she has also been mentioned in the news a lot lately, 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: just kind of offhandedly. And that's because she was the 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: person who built Mary Lago, which is in the news 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: a lot. She actually willed it to the National Park 11 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: Service when she died. We're going to talk about how 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: that transpired and a lot more today because Marjorie Post 13 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: was a woman who is just fascinating to me. She 14 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 1: helmed a huge corporation when she was still in her 15 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: twenties in the early twentieth century, and she represents this 16 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: unique combination of a life that was led with incredible 17 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: opulence but also paired with a very serious, hands on 18 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: dedication to philanthropy. And she expanded her wealth in her lifetime. 19 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: It wasn't as though she was trying to get rid 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: of it all, but as she matured, she seemed to 21 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: see that expansion as a way to ensure that she 22 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: could continue to fund the charities and initiatives that she 23 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: believed in. Also, her personal life was just so messy girl, Marjorie, 24 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about all. 25 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 2: I will say, as I was reading through it, at 26 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 2: one point I got confused. I was like, wait, who 27 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 2: is she married? 28 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: How many? And some of the husbands have the same 29 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: first name to make it extra confusing. We will talk 30 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: about all that today and certainly more in behind the 31 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: scenes on Friday, but we're going to talk about Marjorie 32 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: Merriweather Post. Heads up, there are a couple of sensitive 33 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: topics that appear in today's episode. We're not going to 34 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: spend a ton of time on them, but I just 35 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: want you to know they're coming. We do have a 36 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: mention of a death by suicide and also a very 37 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: brief mention of a miscarriage. 38 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 2: So to talk about about Marjorie, first, we need to 39 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 2: talk about her father. Charles William Post, who went by CW, 40 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 2: was born in Springfield, Illinois, on October twenty fourth, eighteen 41 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 2: fifty four. His father, also named Charles, had chased the 42 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 2: early California gold Rush, but then settled into a life 43 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 2: in Illinois in the farm equipment business. His mother, Caroline, 44 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: was a writer. CW enrolled in Illinois Industrial College as 45 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 2: a young teenager, but he didn't finish. He convinced his 46 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 2: parents that he would be better off joining the workforce, 47 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 2: so at fifteen, he started working for his father. He 48 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 2: moved to a different farm equipment company in Chicago after 49 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 2: a while, and he lived there in Chicago until he 50 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 2: was twenty two, and then he opened his own general store, 51 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 2: using money that he borrowed from his mother to fund it. 52 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 2: That store was in Kansas, but it didn't quite work out. 53 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 2: CW did not stay there. He sold his business and 54 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 2: returned home after less than a year. As an entrepreneur, 55 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: he did still want to own his own business, and 56 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 2: after marrying a young woman named Ella Merriweather, he opened 57 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 2: his own farming equipment company, but the company struggled and 58 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 2: post had what's often referred to as a nervous breakdown, 59 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 2: although some accounts make it seem more like a physical 60 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 2: health issue. He and Ella moved to Texas for a 61 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 2: change of scenery and the hope that that would help, 62 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 2: but then by eighteen ninety one, he was in Michigan 63 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 2: in John Harvey Kellogg's Sanitarium as his health was continuing 64 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 2: to decline. He had an array of symptoms digestive issues, insomnia, 65 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 2: and headaches, plus what's usually called nervous exhaustion. There's been 66 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 2: speculation over the years that he may have been grappling 67 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 2: with a condition like depression or an advanced anxiety disorder 68 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 2: that would not have been diagnosed that way at the time. 69 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: CW's time with Kellogg was not entirely successful for post 70 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: in terms of getting him better, but he admired the 71 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: sanitarium's program, and he really did think it was ultimately beneficial. 72 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: After he left the sanitarium, he sought additional helps through 73 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: prayer with Christian scientists, and he came to believe through 74 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: this group that healing was something that you could do 75 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: with your mind, and that became the basis of a 76 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: book that he wrote titled I Am Well. 77 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 2: After he recovered, he continued to think about the strict 78 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: diet that Kellogg had prescribed. We have an episode on 79 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 2: John Harvey Kellogg where we talk about this more. I 80 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: will say I wrote that I was probably easier on 81 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: him than I wouldn't be after many more years of 82 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 2: living in the world we live in. He was such 83 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 2: a believer in this serial based approach. To help that, 84 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 2: he designed a cereal beverage called Postum that was designed 85 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 2: to confer nutritional benefits of grains to consumers. Postum was 86 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 2: meant to be drunk in the morning instead of coffee, 87 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 2: which Post believed was causing an amiable health problems all 88 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 2: around the globe. He used that rhetorical lot in his 89 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 2: early advertising. Initially, Postum was sold through the mail, but 90 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 2: Post eventually convinced grocers to carry it. Soon he introduced 91 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 2: grape nuts cereal, and the Postum Limited company was officially 92 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 2: launched in eighteen ninety six. From there, he continued to 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 2: introduce a variety of cereal products, all of them intended 94 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:32,600 Speaker 2: to improve consumer's health. This worked, Post became a millionaire, 95 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 2: and he was also accused on multiple occasions of stealing 96 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 2: recipes from Kellogg. 97 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. He seemed to outrun those problems, though, because his 98 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: company just grew and grew. Uh CW's daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, 99 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: was born on March fifteenth, eighteen eighty seven, and at 100 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: that point the Posts were once again living in Springfield, Illinois. 101 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: But that also meant that she ended up spending a 102 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: lot of her childhood in Battle Creek, Michigan, after the 103 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: family moved there for CW's health. Once the Post and 104 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: Company launched, which it did in Michigan and was successful, 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: Marjorie went from being the daughter of a failed entrepreneur 106 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: to becoming a wealthy heiress. She was the Post's only child, 107 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: and she had been part of building the company with 108 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: her father, initially in small ways, like she worked alongside 109 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: him in jobs like labeling jars. But from an early 110 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: age Marjorie was encouraged by her father to learn all 111 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: she could about the business, something that seems kind of 112 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: wild when you consider that she could not vote or 113 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: have a line of credit in her own name. This 114 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: kind of problem will come up later in her life, 115 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: as we'll see. But this went beyond basic lessons for 116 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: Post because as Marjorie aged up, he took her to 117 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: more and more high level aspects of the business, to 118 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: the point that she accompanied her father on business trips 119 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: and even attended meetings with him. 120 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 2: He also gave her a small fortune of her own 121 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 2: when she was very young. She got shares of Postum 122 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 2: stock when she was still a child. As a teenager, 123 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: she was worth several million dollars and all of CW's 124 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 2: lessons in business were intended to teach her how to 125 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 2: manage that money. He was very worried that when she 126 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 2: found herself wealthy at such a young age, she would 127 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 2: be foolish and extravagant with her fortune. In September of 128 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 2: nineteen oh two, Marjorie started attending Mount Vernon Seminary for 129 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 2: Women because her father also wanted to ensure that Marjorie, 130 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 2: who was from New Money, was as educated and poised 131 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: as any other woman in society. But c W also 132 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 2: added considerable stress to Marjorie's life. In nineteen oh four, 133 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 2: just a few months after she had completed her studies 134 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 2: at Mount Vernon Seminary, CW divorced Marjorie's mother Ella, and 135 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 2: remarried less than two weeks later to his secretary Liah Young. 136 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 2: CW tried to force the bond between his daughter and 137 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 2: his new wife ahead of this marriage by making Lilah 138 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 2: Marjorie's travel companion. Marjorie, though, is said to have gotten 139 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 2: wind of this whole plan and was understandably furious. 140 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: Yeah Her relationship with her dad was one where she 141 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: adored him and was also angry at him. A lot 142 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: of the time. In a moment, we're going to talk 143 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: about Marjorie's first marriage, but before we do that, we 144 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: will pause for a quick sponsor break. A year after 145 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: c W and Lila were married, Marjorie, who was nineteen 146 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: at the time, married attorney Edward Close on December fifth, 147 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 1: nineteen oh five, and as a wedding gift, CW built 148 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: the newly weds a massive mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, which 149 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: was named the Boulders, and by all accounts, this home 150 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: sounds like Marjorie basically lived in her own private hotel. 151 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: It was huge, huch, it had a full staff. It 152 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,559 Speaker 1: was basically a case where she could just wander around 153 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: and ask for things and they would magically appear for her. 154 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 1: This also had its own wing that was for CW 155 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,319 Speaker 1: to stay in when he visited Close. Her new husband 156 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: was in his mid twenties and he was just starting 157 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: out on what would be a very successful law career 158 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,599 Speaker 1: in Manhattan. While Edward worked to build his own practice, 159 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: Marjorie stayed busy with personal development and volunteer work. She 160 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: worked with the Red Cross, and she also took classes 161 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: at a private school as a drop in student to 162 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: the art courses that interested her. Two and a half 163 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: years into the marriage, Marjorie and Edward welcomed their first child, 164 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: a daughter named Adelaide, who was born on July twenty eighth, 165 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: nineteen oh eight. A second daughter, named Eleanor, was born 166 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: a year and a half after Adelaide, on December twelfth, 167 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: nineteen oh nine. For the next couple of years, Marjorie 168 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: was busy with her little girls and with a growing 169 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: art collection. But in the autumn of ninety teen twelve, 170 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: Marjorie's mother, Ella, died in her sleep. Ella had gone 171 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: out with a friend the night that she died, and 172 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: it seemed like a very peaceful end, but Marjorie really 173 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: blamed her father for the passing of her sixty two 174 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: year old mother. She believed that her mother had never 175 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: gotten over being just abruptly cast aside for another woman 176 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: after years of devotion and seeing her father through some 177 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 1: of the hardest times. 178 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 2: Of his life. Marjorie had to handle all of the 179 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 2: funeral arrangements herself. 180 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: As Marjorie was grieving her mother, her father's health, which 181 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: had never been particularly robust, started to decline. In the 182 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: spring of nineteen fourteen, CW Post was moved from his 183 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: summer home in Santa Barbara, California, to Rochester, Minnesota, for 184 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: an apendectomy, and that move was because he believed only 185 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: the Mayo brothers were capable of handling the procedure, and 186 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: the hope was that this surgery was going to alleviate 187 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,679 Speaker 1: so some ongoing medical issues that are only reported in 188 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: write ups as a stomach disorder, and that an ailing 189 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: appendix had actually been the cause of all of his problems. 190 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: And his post surgery recovery went quite well, and when 191 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: he was healed enough, he returned to his California home, 192 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: but soon his old health problems returned, and they were 193 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: bad enough that he had to have a nurse with 194 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: him around the clock at home. 195 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 2: On the morning of May ninth, c W asked his 196 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 2: wife to run some business errands for him, and when 197 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 2: he was gone, he told his nurse that he wanted 198 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,959 Speaker 2: to be left alone to rest. He stated, I am 199 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 2: very nervous. My mind is perfectly clear, but I cannot 200 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 2: control my nerves. The nurse left him alone, and once 201 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 2: she was gone, although still in the house, CW Post 202 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 2: died by suicide from a gunshot wound. His doctor, J. C. Bainbridge, 203 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 2: ruled the tragedy the result of a quote fit of 204 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 2: temporary insanity. He was buried in Battlecreek, Michigan. Marjorie, as 205 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 2: we said, was CW's only child, and with his death 206 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 2: she became one of two inheritors to his fortune, which 207 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 2: was valued at twenty two million dollars, so that split 208 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 2: was something of a surprise. CW had split his estate 209 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 2: between Marjorie and her stepmother Lilah in his will. That 210 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 2: will was published in the paper, so everybody knew about it. 211 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 2: He separated out his various real estate holdings between the 212 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 2: two women, but then he gave each of them half 213 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 2: of Postum. Marjorie, who had been promised the entire company 214 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 2: since she was a child, fought this will, and she 215 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 2: and her husband, who again remember was an attorney, were 216 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 2: able to track down a document from eighteen ninety five, 217 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 2: when Poston was founded, in which CW and his first 218 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,079 Speaker 2: wife Ella had agreed that their only child would inherit 219 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 2: the majority of the company. So, with that paper in 220 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 2: hand and threatened litigation, this made Lila post to give 221 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 2: up her shares of Postum in exchange for a cash settlement. 222 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 2: Marjorie had inherited the serial company, and it fell entirely 223 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 2: to her to run the family business. She was twenty 224 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 2: seven and suddenly in charge of a twenty million dollar company, 225 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,079 Speaker 2: But her husband had to perform some of her duties 226 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,080 Speaker 2: because while she was technically the boss, she was also 227 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 2: a woman, and there was a serious stigma against a 228 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 2: woman being an active part of certain business gatherings like 229 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 2: meetings of the board of directors. Ed had to be 230 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 2: the one to do that. Marjorie and Ed moved to 231 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:43,559 Speaker 2: Battle Creek, where Postum was headquartered, to more effectively manage things. Yeah, 232 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 2: he was sort of serving as her proxy throughout all 233 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 2: of this because even though she had been to board 234 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 2: meetings when she was younger, it was like, oh, she 235 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 2: is the guest of the owner. That's okay, But as 236 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 2: a woman herself, just without a dad to accompany her. 237 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 2: As gross as it makes me feel to even say 238 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 2: that phrase not accepted. But Ed and Marjorie did not 239 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 2: live in Battle Creek full time. They split their time 240 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 2: between there and Connecticut because he still had his practice 241 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 2: in Manhattan, and then in nineteen sixteen they also purchased 242 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 2: a home on Manhattan's Upper East Side and the home 243 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 2: on ninety Second Street would become an incredible example of 244 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 2: interior design as well as a place where an impressive 245 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 2: art collection would be displayed. Nineteen seventeen offered a lot 246 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 2: of challenges around the globe as World War One began, 247 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 2: and for the Closes on a personal level. One evening 248 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 2: in May, the Closes were out for the evening when 249 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 2: they received an urgent message to return to the boulders 250 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 2: because the house was on fire. Their daughters and dog 251 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 2: had been taken away to safety, but their massive home 252 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 2: had just quickly become engulfed. There had been an explosion 253 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 2: when the fire reached the gas lines, and the smoke 254 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 2: and water from the fire hoses had destroyed a lot 255 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 2: of the art and antiques that she had. After that, 256 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 2: Marjorie decided not to try to rebuild. She and Edward 257 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 2: sold the property to a school, and they made Manhattan 258 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 2: their East Coast home. Marjorie recognized that her level of 259 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 2: financial privilege came with the responsibility to help others during wartime, 260 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 2: and she did this by funding a Red Cross hospital 261 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 2: in France. This effort initially was met with very bad luck. 262 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 2: Though her husband, ed and his brother were aboard the 263 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 2: SS Saratoga as it set sail from New York loaded 264 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 2: with supplies to this hospital, but it didn't even make 265 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 2: it out of the harbor before there was an accident. 266 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 2: The SS Panama accidentally rammed the Saratoga in a case 267 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 2: of harbor traffic confusion, and the Saratoga went down. All 268 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 2: of the people aboard were successfully evacuated, but the hospital 269 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 2: supplies were all lost. Marjorie Post was still dedicated to 270 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 2: the mission, though, and she paid for a duplicate shipment 271 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 2: to be loaded a board the SS Finland. Eight days later, 272 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 2: The Finland made its way across the Atlantic just find 273 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 2: but it was attacked as it neared the French coast, 274 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 2: but this time it was part of a convoy and 275 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 2: Allied forces were able to defend it and get the 276 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 2: supplies to the Number eight Base Hospital in Savona. Edward 277 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 2: had once again traveled with the supplies, and because he 278 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 2: was also an officer in the US Army during the conflict, 279 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 2: he stayed in France for the remainder of the war. 280 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 2: Marjorie continued her philanthropic work for the war effort back home, 281 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 2: using her prominent social and business standing to fundraise for 282 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 2: the Red Cross. During the war, Marjorie also became active 283 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 2: in the suffrage movement and met President Woodrow Wilson along 284 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 2: with a group of other women to discuss the matter 285 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 2: in late nineteen seventeen. Her sense of the need for 286 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: women to have equal rights and more personal power continued 287 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 2: to become a focus as she lived as a single 288 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 2: parent during the war and watched a lot of other 289 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 2: women also manage their homes without help from the men 290 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 2: in their lives. 291 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: When the war ended and Ed came home, the reunion 292 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: was less than ideal. Marjorie had realized that in a 293 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: lot of ways she was actually happier without Ed. One 294 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: point of contention was his drinking, although whether he drank 295 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: to excess or misused alcohol is actually a matter of debate. 296 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 1: Marjorie was not much of a drinker, and she had 297 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: a very hard line on not allowing guests in her 298 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: home to be intoxicated at all. This was influenced, no 299 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: doubt by her father, who had always advocated for clean 300 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: living and eating in his ties to Christian science, and 301 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: she did not believe alcohol was part of that in 302 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: any way the same way her father did. Ed close 303 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: enjoyed a drink from time to time, and Marjorie found 304 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: it absolutely abhorrent the first time she saw him intoxicated, 305 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: and although friends and family assured her that he was 306 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: not an habitual drinker, and stated throughout the years that 307 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: Ed was also not an especially heavy drinker, it just 308 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: never sat well with Marjorie that he sometimes liked to 309 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: go drinking with friends. Additionally, she and ed had kind 310 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: of just grown apart. She had really enjoyed her life 311 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: of independence during the war, where she didn't have to 312 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: consult with or even consider ed when making decisions, so 313 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 1: adjusting back to being a couple was something that they 314 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: both struggled with. By the end of nineteen nineteen, they 315 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: were divorced. 316 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 2: Despite having found a lot of satisfaction in her independence, 317 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 2: Marjorie soon got married again. On July seventh, nineteen twenty, 318 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 2: she married Edward Francis Hutton. The two of them ran 319 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 2: in the same social circles for years. She'd initially met 320 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,120 Speaker 2: the stockbroker in nineteen seventeen at a party, but they 321 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 2: were both married at the time. There didn't seem to 322 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 2: be any kind of romantic aspect to this interaction, but 323 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 2: then in nineteen nineteen they ran into each other again 324 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 2: at a social event. Marjorie was divorced and Hutton was 325 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 2: a widower at the time. They really hit it off immediately. 326 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 2: Unlike Close, who had served on the Postum board of 327 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 2: directors but did not really have a head for business ef, 328 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 2: Hutton excelled in the business world and had gained a 329 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 2: level of respect, prestige, and reputation that not many people 330 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 2: could match. He was able to understand her responsibilities at 331 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 2: post them and to offer advice as a board member 332 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 2: that came from a vast and sound knowledge. Marjorie also 333 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 2: asked her friend Colby Chester to become the assistant treasurer 334 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 2: of the company. A lot of the board of directors 335 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 2: members were her uncles. They were her father's brothers, and 336 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 2: she had long been concerned that these men were making 337 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 2: a number of missteps in the way that they ran things, 338 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 2: but she really needed to be sure. So this was 339 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 2: all a plan where she wanted them to teach Colby 340 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 2: everything about running the company, and she was hoping that Colby, 341 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,199 Speaker 2: who was a long time family friend who was very 342 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,479 Speaker 2: close with his wife, would see some problems as an 343 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 2: outsider and raise questions about them. And this plan actually 344 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 2: worked perfectly. It was part of a larger effort on 345 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 2: Marjorie's part to reinvigorate the company with younger executives who 346 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 2: understood the rapidly changing post war business landscape. So as 347 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 2: problems with the existing board's work came to light, one 348 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 2: by one, they were carefully replaced. Presumably they were given 349 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 2: very lovely and generous severance packages or retirement packages. Colby, 350 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 2: over time, became the company president and her husband, Ef 351 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 2: Hutton became chairman of the board. Marjorie was taking. 352 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: The company in a new direction, and she was planning 353 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: to focus a bit more on philanthropy and growing her family, 354 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: so she wanted to step away from her business role 355 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: with post them a little bit, and with Ef and 356 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: Colby in place, she felt really confident that she could 357 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: do so. It was thanks to EF's acumen with that 358 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: the company was able to go public. On December twenty ninth, 359 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three, Marjorie welcomed her third child, a daughter 360 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: named Nadinia. 361 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 2: She had been hoping for a boy. EF's son from 362 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 2: a previous marriage had died in a horseback riding accident 363 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 2: not long after the couple got married. She had kind 364 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,880 Speaker 2: of wanted to fill that void for her second husband. 365 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,919 Speaker 2: She'd had an earlier pregnancy earlier in their marriage, but 366 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 2: that had ended in a miscarriage, and as Marjorie was 367 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 2: getting older, Nadinia's birth would be her last one. Her 368 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:40,360 Speaker 2: name was a nod to her father's nickname, which is ned. 369 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: Although she went by apparently Deani or Dina throughout her life. 370 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: Following Nadinia's arrival, Marjorie and Ef had a lot of 371 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 1: movement in their lives, but it actually consolidated their world 372 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: more solidly. In Manhattan, they sold their townhouse to a 373 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: developer who built an apartment building, but they did so 374 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: on the condition that he include a large, multi story 375 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,919 Speaker 1: apartment on the top of it for their family to 376 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: live in. This moved them up away from street noise, 377 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: which was growing because as Manhattan's population grew, people were 378 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: moving north. It also gave them an added sense of security, 379 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,439 Speaker 1: and it freed them from needing to keep up a 380 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 1: home in its surrounding lot as construction was underway. They 381 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: also moved Postum's headquarters from Michigan to New York. 382 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 2: Post's marriage to Hutton was one that fostered a lot 383 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 2: of achievement and financial growth, but also some serious challenges. 384 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 2: We will talk about that after we hear from the 385 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 2: sponsors that keep stuffuness in history class. Going from the 386 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 2: time Marjorie and E. F. Hutton got married, they started 387 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 2: expanding their real estate holdings together. They bought a summer 388 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 2: home in the at Irondacks in nineteen twenty one, and 389 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 2: then in the mid nineteen twenties they broke ground on 390 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 2: a new estate in Palm Beach, Florida. They hired an 391 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 2: architect and designer from Vienna named Joseph Urbain for the project. 392 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 2: Urban's portfolio was impressive. He had designed palace spaces in 393 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 2: Egypt and Hungary, for example, but he was best known 394 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,119 Speaker 2: in the US at that time for being the set 395 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 2: designer for Broadways Zigfield Theater. Palm Beach had become a 396 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 2: popular getaway for New York's wealthy set, and Marjorie and 397 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 2: Ef had had a home there for a long time, 398 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 2: but it was becoming increasingly apparent that they needed more space, 399 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 2: especially because Marjorie was always interested in throwing bigger and 400 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 2: bigger parties. Once the idea to build a mansion had 401 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 2: cemented itself, Marjorie took a very careful approach to finding 402 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 2: exactly the right piece of property. She wanted ocean views 403 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,199 Speaker 2: and plenty of space, but she was also pragmatic. She 404 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 2: studied surveys of the area to find the most suitable 405 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,439 Speaker 2: tracts of land where the unpredictable and powerful weather was 406 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 2: not likely to destroy what they were planning, and what 407 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 2: they were planning was massive. Urban had designed one hundred 408 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 2: and fifteen room mansion that Marjorie named using a Latin 409 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 2: phrase that meant from sea to lake to describe this 410 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 2: property's position on the coast. Another architect, Marie and Wyeth, 411 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 2: had been involved in the project in the beginning before 412 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 2: Marjorie moved on to Urban, but Wyath was brought back 413 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 2: on to oversee a lot of the practical needs of 414 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 2: the construction. Construction totaled at about two point five million 415 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 2: dollars by the time it was finished in nineteen twenty seven. 416 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 2: The original budget had been one million dollars. One of 417 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 2: the legacies of the construction process for mari Lago that 418 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,400 Speaker 2: would define marjorie Posts image in Palm Beach and beyond 419 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 2: was her recognition that people with money should help others 420 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 2: whenever possible. Nineteen twenty six, there had been a bust 421 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 2: in the building boom in Palm Beach, which led to 422 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 2: a lot of worker layoffs and bankruptcies of land development 423 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 2: companies that had been buying and selling properties using cook 424 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 2: data to bolster their standings. At that point, as it. 425 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: Looked like Palm Beach might implode, there was a concern 426 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: that maybe Marjorie should not be pouring so much money 427 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: into marri Lago, but she felt very strongly that she 428 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: could not halt construction because she didn't want to put 429 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: more people out of work. As we mentioned in our 430 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: episode on Clarence Bird's Eye, in nineteen twenty nine, Marjorie 431 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: Posts saw to the purchase of Bird's Eye's Frozen Food company, 432 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 1: its machinery, and all of its patents. The business industry 433 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: saw this as a wild and foolhardy move. Bird's Eye's 434 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: entire company had been valued at less than two million dollars, 435 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 1: and Post bought it for twenty three point five million dollars. 436 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: But she had done her due diligence and had inspected 437 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: the company and reviewed its financial situation and come to 438 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: the conclusion that it was really ahead of its time 439 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,960 Speaker 1: and that Bird's Eye had created a process that made 440 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: frozen food a viable market. Post Them became general foods 441 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: not long after the purchase, as Marjorie envisioned a wider 442 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,880 Speaker 1: range of offerings for Postum to move it forward. As 443 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: the twentieth century continued, Marjorie Post herself changed significantly in 444 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties. The depression really activated her sense of 445 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 1: obligation to use her money to help others more than 446 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 1: she had already done before. One of the first things 447 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: she did as the depression hit was set up what 448 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: was called the Marjorie Post Hutton Canteen in Manhattan. This 449 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: was a food distribution center that was originally planned for 450 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: the needs of women and children. A second center, the 451 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: Edward F. Hutton Food Station for men, was also opened 452 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: in Manhattan, but in another location, but soon the needs 453 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: of the neighborhoods dictated the clientele rather than any pre 454 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 1: arranged ideas that Marjorie and ef may have had about 455 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: who would get food where, and the rules about who 456 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: could get their food from these canteens loosened. More canteens 457 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: were opened around the city as the depression more on. 458 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: Marjorie also donated to and established many other charitable organizations 459 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 1: throughout the nineteen thirties, and this was a case where 460 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:23,719 Speaker 1: she was not a woman who just sat in her 461 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: beautiful home and wrote checks. She was involved in these efforts. 462 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: She went to the canteens and workshifts, she hosted events there. 463 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: She organized events to raise money where she was always 464 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: front and center, encouraging people that were similarly wealthy to give. 465 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: Marjorie had been really spendy in her twenties and thirties. 466 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: She was known to buy a lot of things and 467 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: give lavish parties, and this was something that her first 468 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,479 Speaker 1: two husbands often cited as causing some friction. But in 469 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: her forties, as her focus turned to helping more consistently 470 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: to other people, she became less and less willing to 471 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,199 Speaker 1: spend money on the showy things that had once garnered 472 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: her interest. She did, however, continue to purchase art. This 473 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: is something I'm not focusing a lot on in this episode, 474 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: but she really was an amazing collector of art, jewelry, antique, sculpture, everything. 475 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: She saw this all as an investment in a way 476 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: that she could safeguard important works for future generations to enjoy. 477 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 2: Although Marjorie and E. F. Hutton had for a long 478 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 2: time been true partners in business as well as in life. 479 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 2: Their marriage soured over time. Some accounts say that the 480 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 2: decisions Marjorie made in the late nineteen twenties, so opting 481 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 2: to spend money when a lot of other people were 482 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 2: choosing to save it, had caused some tension between her 483 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 2: and Hutton. Additionally, Marjorie believed that her husband was cheating 484 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 2: on her. When she had proof, which she needed to 485 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 2: file for divorce in the state of New York at 486 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,719 Speaker 2: the time, she did not tell her husband initially. She 487 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 2: until he was at the pier bidding her adieu on 488 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 2: a trip to Europe that he was supposed to be 489 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 2: joining her on later. Right before the departure, she told 490 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 2: him she knew everything and that she was divorcing him. 491 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 2: We don't know a lot about how the divorce trial 492 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 2: played out. The entire thing was private and the proceedings 493 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 2: were sealed, but on September seventh, nineteen thirty five, they 494 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 2: were officially divorced. Ef resigned from his role at General 495 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 2: Foods three months later, and then after that Marjorie filed 496 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 2: for sole custody of their daughter and got it. Although 497 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 2: Post was described as deeply distraught at finding out that 498 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 2: ef Hutton, who she had loved deeply, had been unfaithful. 499 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 2: She did find love once again, and pretty quickly. While 500 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 2: she was planning the divorce, she met a lawyer named 501 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 2: Joseph Davies. He was actually a friend of President Franklin 502 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 2: Delano Roosevelt, and she and Davies fell in love almost instantly. Joseph, 503 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 2: who went by Joe, was also married when the two 504 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 2: of them met, but he was smitten and he started 505 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 2: wooing Marjorie anyway, and they soon decided that Joe also 506 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 2: needed to get a divorce. Joe's wife went to a 507 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 2: divorce ranch in Reno to wait out the required time 508 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 2: for her to declare residency and attain a divorce there. 509 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,640 Speaker 1: Four days after E. F. Hutton resigned at General Foods, 510 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: Marjorie and Joe were married. The following year brought additional 511 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: significant change. While Marjorie had previously stocked up the board 512 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: of directors at General Foods with people she trusted to 513 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: run it, she had still maintained a controlling share of 514 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: the company, and in April of nineteen thirty six, she 515 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: became a member of the board of directors in her 516 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: own right. Six months later, Joe was appointed as the 517 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: US Ambassador to the USSR, the second person to hold 518 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: that post, so in early nineteen thirty seven, the couple 519 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: moved to Moscow. Marjorie's formal dinners at the ambassadorial residence 520 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: as Spasso House, were a vital part of the relationship 521 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: that Joe was able to develop with his Soviet counterparts. 522 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 1: The couple worked together in Moscow for two years before 523 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: Joe got a new assignment in Brussels in nineteen thirty eight. 524 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty nine, they returned home to the US, 525 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 2: where Joe became Special Advisor to the Secretary of State. 526 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 2: From there, Davies was assigned to a dizzying array of 527 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 2: impressive government positions, working at the highest levels of the 528 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 2: US government for years. The Davies focused on fostering and 529 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 2: maintaining relations between the United States and Russia, and they 530 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 2: were a Washington d c power couple. During the war, 531 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 2: Joe published a book titled Mission to Moscow, which was 532 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 2: very sympathetic to Stalinism. Was of course immediately controversial and 533 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 2: seen as propaganda, but it was also hugely successful. In 534 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 2: nineteen forty five, Joe was given the Order of Lenin 535 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 2: by the Supreme Soviet yeah mission to Moscow was even 536 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 2: also developed into a movie, which was also considered propaganda. 537 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 2: This would seem so scandalous, but they did seem to 538 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 2: weather it. As with her previous marriages, though, the relationship 539 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 2: between Marjorie Posts and Davy's took a bad turn. In 540 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 2: this case, Joe, who was more than a decade older 541 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:24,720 Speaker 2: than Marjorie, started to become really possessive and controlling. He 542 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 2: seemed suspicious of her, like maybe she would cheat on 543 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 2: him or leave him, and he, according to her, would 544 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 2: just never leave her alone while she may have been 545 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 2: contemplating ending things. Davies was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 546 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 2: nineteen fifty and at that point she felt she couldn't 547 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 2: leave him. His treatment was successful, but for a while 548 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 2: it seemed like she was just going to stick it out, 549 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 2: until she discovered that in a state that Joe had 550 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 2: bought but which they had renovated together using her money, 551 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 2: had been put exclusively in Joe's name, and she felt 552 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 2: like he had done this behind her back and that 553 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 2: it was a really sneaky move to take over some 554 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 2: of her property, and this catalyzed a rapid downward spiral 555 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 2: of bitter arguments between the two over their assets as 556 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 2: the breakup just became inevitable between real estate and art pieces. 557 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 2: The couple had acquired a lot of stuff in their 558 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 2: twenty years together, and this time Marjorie went to a 559 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 2: divorce ranch in Idaho to speed the end of the marriage. 560 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 2: Along Over her lifetime, post was honored with a lot 561 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 2: of awards for her charitable work. In nineteen fifty seven, 562 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,360 Speaker 2: she received one of the most prestigious from the French 563 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,320 Speaker 2: government when she was made a member of the French 564 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 2: Legion of Honor. The award was in recognition for her 565 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 2: support of the World War One hospital, as well as 566 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 2: money she raised to fund a nineteen fifty five Marie 567 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 2: Antoinette exhibition at the Palace of Versailles. 568 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 1: In December nineteen fifty four, before her divorce from Davies, 569 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: Marjorie purchased a property in Washington, d c. With a 570 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: long term plan. She wanted not to just make the estate, 571 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 1: which she named Hillwood, into a place where she could live, 572 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: but also to establish it as a museum. She wanted 573 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: her expansive art collection to be available to the public, 574 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: and for that access to it to be at the estate. 575 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 1: She paid for massive renovations at Hillwood, and over the 576 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: years that followed, she also launched a lot of campaigns 577 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: to expand its offerings to include outdoor as well as 578 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: indoor areas for people to enjoy. Hillwood is a museum 579 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: today and it displays post quote about what she wished 580 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: for the estate on its website quote, I want young 581 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,719 Speaker 1: Americans to see how someone lived in the twentieth century 582 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: and how this person could collect works of art the 583 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: way I have. I want to share this with the 584 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: rest of the world. Incidentally, as we record this, the 585 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,280 Speaker 1: US is still in the midst of its government shutdown, 586 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: and Hillwood is currently free to visit for federal workers 587 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:01,680 Speaker 1: with id quote to seek respite and rejuvenation. When Marjorie 588 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: turned seventy one hundred and eighty, one of her friends 589 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: donated to a secret project at Hillwood known as the 590 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 1: Friendship Walk, a lush, tree and flower framed path intended 591 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,359 Speaker 1: to offer a peaceful escape from the day to day 592 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: and to honor posts many philanthropic efforts. One of these 593 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,799 Speaker 1: contributors was a widower and businessman who had worked at 594 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: Westinghouse named Herbert A. 595 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 2: May. And May was obviously very keen on Marjorie. There 596 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,359 Speaker 2: is not a lot of information about how the two 597 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 2: of them started their romance, but they got married in 598 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,000 Speaker 2: June of nineteen fifty eight. They had two wedding receptions, 599 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,480 Speaker 2: one in d C. And one in herb's hometown of Pittsburgh. 600 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. He had three adult sons living in Pittsburgh and 601 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,719 Speaker 1: a lot of family there, so they wanted to celebrate 602 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,400 Speaker 1: in both places. In the time leading up to that wedding, 603 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: Post had hardly been idle in her philanthropic work. She 604 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,719 Speaker 1: sponsored the National Symphony Orchestra. She also lent her voice 605 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,800 Speaker 1: in so of the creation of a national cultural center 606 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. That was what would eventually become 607 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: known as the Kennedy Center, and she volunteered her time 608 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: working on that project once it had been approved by Congress. 609 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: After the wedding, Post retired from her company's board of directors, 610 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 1: although she remained an active participant in shareholder meetings, and 611 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,080 Speaker 1: she often hosted the board in her home, and she 612 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:28,960 Speaker 1: became increasingly focused on that home, Hillwood as a legacy, 613 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 1: hiring people to formally catalog all of the art and 614 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: antiques she had there. Yeah, she had made some previous 615 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: efforts at getting her stuff cataloged, but they always seemed 616 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,879 Speaker 1: to end before they were completed, so that was really 617 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,959 Speaker 1: the first one that was intensive. In nineteen sixty four, 618 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 1: Post's marriage was engulfed in scandal when photos emerged of 619 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:55,799 Speaker 1: her husband Herb, in sexual situations with young men. While 620 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,359 Speaker 1: members of her family had long suspected that Herb might 621 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:03,720 Speaker 1: be a clauseited gay man, this had never occurred to Marjorie. 622 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 1: She was absolutely mortified. The idea of a scandal was 623 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 1: very upsetting and embarrassing, and she withdrew from him. But 624 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: he also had health problems in the immediate aftermath of 625 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: the truth coming out. First, he experienced a psychological event 626 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,360 Speaker 1: of some sort. Nobody ever calls it a nervous breakdown, 627 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: but he clearly was having a lot of issues, probably 628 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,799 Speaker 1: from the stress of all of this. And then he 629 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 1: had a stroke, and Marjorie paid for all of his 630 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: medical and treatment expenses, but she did also divorce him 631 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: in August of that year. For the next nine years, 632 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,440 Speaker 1: Post continued to acquire art and also made moves to 633 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,000 Speaker 1: secure her legacy. She had hopeful plans for her two 634 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:52,160 Speaker 1: most beloved properties, Hillwood and mar A Lago. For Hillwood, 635 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: she hoped it would become part of the Smithsonian's collection, 636 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: and for mar A Lago, she envisioned it as a 637 00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:02,439 Speaker 1: federal property. The idea of it as a winter white 638 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:07,759 Speaker 1: house was actually hers, and the House Interior Committee approved 639 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: that plan. Similarly, the Smithsonian approved the gift of Hillwood. 640 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: As an octagenarian, Posts slowly lost her hearing. She had 641 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: other health issues which she never publicly disclosed. She also 642 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,360 Speaker 1: became less and less able to participate in conversations with 643 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,200 Speaker 1: others as her hearing got worse and her memory also 644 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: started to fail. She still hosted parties, but she was 645 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,320 Speaker 1: not the hostess she had been in her earlier years. 646 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,279 Speaker 1: She developed pneumonia in early nineteen seventy three, but then 647 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: she surprised her entire family by recovering, but her personality 648 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,640 Speaker 1: had changed after that. She was no longer the amiable, 649 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,800 Speaker 1: positive person she had been for more than eighty years, 650 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 1: and then that summer her health once again declined, and 651 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 1: she died of heart failure on September twelfth, nineteen seventy three. 652 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:03,320 Speaker 2: So she had made arrangements for those two properties, things 653 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 2: did not play out as she had hoped. The Smithsonian 654 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:12,360 Speaker 2: returned the Hillwood estate to the Marjorie Meriweather Foundation after concerns, 655 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 2: but it wasn't going to be possible to use it 656 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:19,879 Speaker 2: exclusively as a museum as Marjorie had wished. The foundation, though, 657 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 2: did open it as a museum four years after Post's death. Yeah, 658 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 2: Apparently the Smithsonian drafted up a usage plan that included, like, 659 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 2: we could use this formal dining room for like fundraiser parties, 660 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,279 Speaker 2: and she was adamant that food would never be in 661 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,600 Speaker 2: the house once she had died and it became a 662 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 2: museum for them. She was very worried that the collection 663 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 2: would somehow be damaged if people were in their having parties, 664 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,319 Speaker 2: So that was not going to work out. They were 665 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,799 Speaker 2: not on the same page. Marri Lago, which Marjorie had 666 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 2: hoped would become part of the National Park Service and 667 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,479 Speaker 2: which she had willed to the federal government for that use, 668 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:57,560 Speaker 2: was determined to not be suitable as a house of 669 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:01,080 Speaker 2: state because it was not secure because it sits right 670 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:06,319 Speaker 2: underneath a frequently used flight path out of West Palm Beach. Additionally, 671 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:10,840 Speaker 2: running the huge estate was incredibly expensive. Palm Beach didn't 672 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:13,839 Speaker 2: want it to become a museum because of traffic concerns, 673 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,359 Speaker 2: and so it reverted back to Marjorie's foundation, which then 674 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,440 Speaker 2: spent several years trying to sell it before it was 675 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,440 Speaker 2: purchased by Donald Trump for ten million dollars. He immediately 676 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,920 Speaker 2: complained that it was too expensive to maintain because of 677 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 2: property taxes, and actually tried to subdivide the property and 678 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:34,719 Speaker 2: sell it, but Palm Beach blocked that plan. The many 679 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:39,800 Speaker 2: philanthropic works of Marjorie Meriweather Post continue to benefit people today, 680 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:43,040 Speaker 2: and that really was very much her hope. She frequently 681 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,880 Speaker 2: told people that her firm belief about what to do 682 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 2: with a fortune such as hers was quote, keep it moving, 683 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,440 Speaker 2: make it work, make it create, make it do good, 684 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,440 Speaker 2: and make it help in many hundreds of ways. 685 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,879 Speaker 1: I feel like I want to get that like done 686 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:05,399 Speaker 1: in calligraphy and frame somewhere. It's such a good ideology. 687 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:07,880 Speaker 1: I get choked up hearing it. But I have listener 688 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 1: mail that's not about that at all. This is from 689 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: our listener Mary. This is actually partially about an episode 690 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: that Tracy did the research on, but then talks about 691 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:21,600 Speaker 1: a thing I said, and I want to make sure 692 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: I'm clear on what I was getting at so Mary writes, 693 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,200 Speaker 1: good afternoon to me, Amazing humans. I have some strong 694 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:31,080 Speaker 1: opinions about the disappearance of the period belt. I know 695 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,080 Speaker 1: that it has been replaced by things that are much 696 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,760 Speaker 1: more environmentally friendly, but I still miss it. I started 697 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:40,359 Speaker 1: very early elementary school age. I didn't want to change 698 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: a pad because how was I getting that to the bathroom? 699 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:45,440 Speaker 1: Without questions? I was able to wear the period belt 700 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,120 Speaker 1: in one pad all day. It was glorious. I used 701 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 1: to keep track of which store sold the Cotex pads 702 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:52,920 Speaker 1: that I needed and buy two to three boxes at 703 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:55,799 Speaker 1: a time. Fast forward to my daughter starting and we 704 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,520 Speaker 1: have found the same joy for her in period panties. 705 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,560 Speaker 1: She feels protected all the time, but I still wish 706 00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:03,320 Speaker 1: I could have given her the option of the belts. 707 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:07,160 Speaker 1: Side quest, Holly mentioned a fellow podcaster person who is 708 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:09,480 Speaker 1: trying to distill hatch green chili booze. 709 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:10,399 Speaker 2: This made me. 710 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,560 Speaker 1: Giggle and feel proud because I sent a can of 711 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,160 Speaker 1: them to the Savor Humans at the beginning of the 712 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 1: pandemic and got Annie hooked. It's always fun to hear 713 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 1: of people enjoying something I love from the state I 714 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,840 Speaker 1: grew up in. I will say, just for clarity, Annie 715 00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:24,759 Speaker 1: is not the person I know that's trying to do 716 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: infusions with thatched chili's. I just didn't want there to 717 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,320 Speaker 1: be any confusion and for someone to be like Annie, 718 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:32,880 Speaker 1: how's that boos coming? And Annie go, I don't know 719 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: what you're talking about. Uh, that's all for pet tax. 720 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,479 Speaker 1: Dante is the fluffy, fourteen year old diabetic wonder cat, 721 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,080 Speaker 1: and Lynne is the calico with more opinions than I 722 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 1: can count. She likes her personal space. Dante thinks that 723 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,319 Speaker 1: is ridiculous, so he does stuff like sitting as close 724 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:53,080 Speaker 1: to her as possible without touching her. Ah siblings. Ps. Yes, 725 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:54,879 Speaker 1: the thing next to them is a Halloween tree. Take 726 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,880 Speaker 1: care listen. I love a Halloween tree. I fully understand 727 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:00,839 Speaker 1: having a pet that loves an other pet and that 728 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:02,920 Speaker 1: pet doesn't want to receive that love. We're in the 729 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,239 Speaker 1: midst of a big thing with that right now, and 730 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,280 Speaker 1: I just I love all of this, and those kiddies 731 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 1: are cute as kN be, so thank you. Thank you 732 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,840 Speaker 1: for sending this this email. If you would like to 733 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:17,000 Speaker 1: email us, you can do so at History Podcast at 734 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,080 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to the show 735 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:22,560 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you listen to your 736 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:24,760 Speaker 1: favorite shows. 737 00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:31,840 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 738 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:36,799 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 739 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,920 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.