1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: I'm Fairy Dowdy and I'm Delaney Chuck Rewarding, And lately 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: we've been on a bit of a literary event, covering 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: everybody from the new to US Ottoman travel writer Eveleia 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: Chellaby too old British literature friends like the Bronte's or 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: the Brownings. But there's one name that keeps popping up, 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: and that's Charles Dickens. And of course he's a natural 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: when you're already thinking about the likes of the Brontes 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: because he's a contemporary. They're both staples of any literature class. 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: But Dickens also fits in with Chellaby, albeit in a 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: lesser known kind of way. He was also a travel writer, 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: and of course Dickens is best known for dramatizing the 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: cruel life of London slums and finding comedy in Victorian hypocrisy. 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure most of you have read some Dickens along 16 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: the way. He also wrote essays, and he covered parliamentary 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: news and produced travelogs, including a very memorable account of 18 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: his first trip to the United States and Canada and 19 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 1: since two thousand twelve marks the two anniversary of dickens birth, 20 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: will be focusing on a few aspects of his life 21 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: over the next couple of weeks, but this seems like 22 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: a natural place to start. For one, dickens first American 23 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: tour came early in his career, right when he achieved 24 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: great fame but not yet great wealth. Second, it shook 25 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: him up, both in his beliefs and in his writing. 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: America was not all he had hoped, and that disillusionment 27 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: is believed to have greatly affected his later most famous works. 28 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: And finally, it gives us a peek at something which 29 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: in the forties was really just beginning in earnest celebrity culture, 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: with all the barber sells your hair trimmings creepiness that's 31 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: involved with that. And we'll that will explain that a 32 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: little more, a little tantalizing clue for what lies ahead. 33 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: But first we're going to give you a brief background 34 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: on Charles Dickens. And today I think most people know 35 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: about dickens childhood at the bootblacking factory, this really deeply 36 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: scarring period during which his father was in debtors prison 37 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: and little Charles had to go to work and retrospectively, 38 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: of course, it's a critical experience for the man who 39 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: went on to create characters like Joe and Oliver Twist 40 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: or Tiny Tim. Even though I find this so interesting, 41 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: his general public and even his own kids didn't know 42 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: about that factory work or his father's prison time until 43 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: after Dickens's death. What made that period really horrifying was 44 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: that Dickens had come out of a comfortable home. He 45 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: was born February seven, eighteen twelve, and he grew up 46 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: in Chatham, his father working for the Navy Payoffice. His 47 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: earlier years were heavy on games, magic lantern shows and 48 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: performances of comic songs with his sister, sometimes even at 49 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: a nearby tavern. He was educated, and he had a 50 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: large library at his disposal, filled with titles like The 51 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote. So it was 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: a very happy, comfortable childhood. But as this father's fortune decline, 53 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: the family moved to Camden Town, London, gave up educations 54 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: for the children, I think except for dickens older sister, 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: who still had music lessons, and rock Bottom finally came 56 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty four with debtors prison and factory work 57 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: for by then twelve year old Charles, and he later 58 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: wrote of this, of this time in the shock of 59 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: such a huge change in his circumstances quote, I felt 60 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: my early hopes of growing up to be a learned 61 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: and distinguished man crushed in my breast. So after a spell, 62 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: you know, about nine or ten months working in the factory, 63 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: he had continued to work there. Unfortunately, after his father 64 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: got out of debtors prison. But after the family got 65 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: back on its feet again, Dickens had a little bit 66 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: more schooling and at age fifteen he went to work, 67 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: this time as a solicitor's clerk. It wasn't the most 68 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: interesting work, but at least it gave him a little 69 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: bit of legal background, which influenced some of his later novels. 70 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: By eight though, he's started picking up extra work as 71 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: a freelance journalist, and by eighteen thirty two he was 72 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: taken on as a regular parliamentary reporter. And Dickens certainly 73 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: could have spent his whole career as a journalist. He 74 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: was popular, he was very good at it, but he 75 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: was really itching to write more than just the news, 76 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: and so he started publishing stories in eighteen thirty three 77 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: and writing under the name Bows, which was kind of 78 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: a version of his brother's childhood nickname. He started contributing 79 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: these street sketches to his paper in eighteen thirty four. 80 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: He had really been walking around London for most of 81 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: his life, and he knew all types of people. He 82 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: knew all neighborhoods, and he could paint them really vividly 83 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: in these newspaper sketches. And these popular vignettes caught the 84 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: attention of the booksellers Edward Chapman and William Hall, who 85 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: commissioned him to write text for a series of illustrations 86 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: done by a popular artist of the day. But when 87 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: the artist committed suicide shortly after the project started, Dickens 88 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: became the creative lead himself, shifting the focus to the 89 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: text portion of it. The result was the name making 90 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: Pickwick Papers a smash hit that had a run of 91 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: forty thousand copies, and in his sudden success, Dickens signed 92 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: up for a multitude of projects and stepped up as 93 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: the editor of a new magazine. He'd also by this 94 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: point married Catherine Hogarth and started a family. His hits 95 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: came out one after another serialized, of course, Oliver Twist 96 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: Nicholas nickleby the Old Curiosity Shop in Barnaby Rudge, and 97 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,119 Speaker 1: Dickens still has a reputation of being a shockingly prodigious writer, 98 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: some say maybe too much so, but even he was 99 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: getting worn down by doing so much work. So, with 100 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: all of these post Pickwick promises wrapped up by the 101 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: early eighteen forties, he talked to his publishers and talked 102 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: them into giving him a lengthy sabbatical, paid in advance 103 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: on future work. But what was he going to do 104 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,600 Speaker 1: with this really long vacation travel? Of course, and Dickens 105 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: really only had one destination in mind. That was America, 106 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: Land of liberty, this action unburdened by a bunch of 107 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: old world hang ups, or so Dickens hoped. He very 108 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,559 Speaker 1: much hoped, as we're going to see later. He wanted 109 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: to see the Great Frontier. He wanted to see the 110 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: Democratic Experiment and Niagara Falls, all the things you can 111 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,559 Speaker 1: kind of imagine somebody like Dickens wanting to to see 112 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: in person. But Dickens being Dickens, he also wanted to 113 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: see the factories and prisons and mad houses. Having spent 114 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: so much of his time investigating his own country's institutions. 115 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: He was really ready to see other examples around the world, 116 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: see what other people were up to. Catherine, of course, 117 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: wasn't too keen on leaving their four kids at this point. 118 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 1: Eventually they had ten, but it was decided that they 119 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: would tour the United States in Canada for just six months, 120 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: still a pretty long time, but they would leave their 121 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: kids with the actor William McCready, who was a good 122 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: family friend, and to spice up the deal for the publishers, 123 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: who were of course paying in advance for the song sabbatical. 124 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: Dickens would still be working the whole time, and upon 125 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: his return he'd have a publishable notebook filled with all 126 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: of his travel impressions. Turned out to be a pretty 127 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: fateful decision. So January three, eight forty two, twenty nine 128 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: year old Dickens left Liverpool in the steamship Britannia with 129 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: Catherine and her maid Anne Brown. It was about the 130 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: worst start you could possibly imagine. Though they were seasick, 131 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: the cabin was so tiny and cramped that he joked 132 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,239 Speaker 1: that their luggage had about as much of a chance 133 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: of fitting in the door as a giraffe had of 134 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: getting into a flower pot. And the weather was bad, 135 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: actually some of the worst weather that had been around 136 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: in years. It probably spent most of the trip thinking 137 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: that they were going to capsize them. Not very fun. 138 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: They finally landed in Nova Scotia and then went right 139 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: on to Boston, which was the first stop of the trip, 140 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: and they got their January and really, at first Dickens 141 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: was in heaven. He supposedly would tear through the Boston snow, 142 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: reading off shops, nines. He just loved everything he saw. 143 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: But that elation didn't last very long. And one problem 144 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: was being Dickens, who was, of course an incredibly famous 145 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: and kind of surprisingly recognizable celebrity in the United States, 146 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: though maybe it's not too surprising. Dickens was known as 147 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: an eccentric dresser, particularly in his youth. One Massachusetts onlooker 148 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: called him a genteel rowdy, but once he got pointed out, 149 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: maybe you know, that's dickens um. As little as half 150 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: a century earlier, though authors hadn't really been very famous 151 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: as individuals, at least at least not in a stop 152 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: and stare at them kind of way. They were known 153 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: mostly for their work but with better dissemination of news, 154 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: more gossips spreading around. I mean, think of our old 155 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: very old by now Lord Byron episode. These famous personalities, 156 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: whether they were authors or actors or singers, started to 157 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: get as big as anything they were producing. They started 158 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: to become names and recognizable people. But for Dickens, fain 159 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,559 Speaker 1: wasn't a very fun thing to acquire. No. I mean, 160 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: it involved fancy parties and meeting icons, but it also 161 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: involved a lot of the unpleasantness that we associate with 162 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 1: modern day celebrity culture, which shocked Dickens and really disturbed him. 163 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: Crowds would follow him everywhere. He wrote, quote, if I 164 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: turned into the street, I'm followed by a multitude, and 165 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,439 Speaker 1: I can't drink a glass of water without having one 166 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: hundred people looking down my throat when I opened my 167 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,239 Speaker 1: mouth to swallow. On a boat stop over near Cleveland, 168 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: he caught a quote party of gentlemen staring at his 169 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,079 Speaker 1: sleeping wife through a cabin window. People on the docks 170 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: would actually rip handfuls of fur from his coat when 171 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: he came by. And then, I mean, if that's not 172 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 1: bad enough, there was this profit driven side of a 173 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: lot of the celebrity craze to the barbera re mentioned 174 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: who tried to sell his hair. Tiffany's and Company apparently 175 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: made copies of a Dickens bust and offered those up 176 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: for sale. I think this really bothered him, all of 177 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: this money making surrounding his name. And there's another aspect, though, 178 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: of this fame that really their Dickens. And that was 179 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: wherever he went, whether it was Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis Washington, 180 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: d C, Richmond, New York City, Louisville, he met throngs 181 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: of American fans who had obviously read and enjoyed his books. Okay, 182 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: that's a good thing. Presumably they've all been buying those books, 183 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: which was true. The only problem was that, due to 184 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,679 Speaker 1: a lack of international copyright laws, Dickens knew he hadn't 185 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: made any money off of these many fans, since the 186 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: US publishers could rip off his work. So, on the 187 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: one hand, he's seeing these busts of himself that people 188 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: are trying to sell. He's knowing he's not making any 189 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: money for the actual books that have made him so 190 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: famous in the first place. So he started peppering his 191 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 1: speeches with dissatisfaction about the laws, but he wasn't oblivious. 192 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: He didn't try to center his argument on his own 193 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: personal finances. Instead, he chose to focus on the fact 194 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: that all writers, Americans included, would benefit from a change, 195 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: and that at the end of the day, he'd quote 196 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: rather have the affectionate regard of my fellow men as 197 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: I would have heaps of gold, heaps and minds of gold. 198 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: So we tried to catch it in terms like I'm 199 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: just looking out for all writers, and gradually, though that 200 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: sort of spin on, his argument changed and got a 201 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: little more intense, and well, many average Americans would have 202 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: agreed with him that there needed to be some kind 203 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: of copyright changes. The press really pounced on this copyright 204 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: obsession and declared it an indelicate, an improper avenue of 205 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: public discussion, something that an honored guest shouldn't be going 206 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: around talking to everybody about. And it was really the 207 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: first strike in what became known as dickens quarrel with America. 208 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: Because there's the press escalated things, so did Dickens. Okay, 209 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: but before we get into more particulars about what really 210 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: is going to sound like the ultimate failed vacation It's 211 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,199 Speaker 1: worth noting that there were some high points to this. 212 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: There were some good times, sometimes being celebrated author meant 213 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 1: parties as we mentioned, and mingling with fellow famous people. 214 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: On Valentine's Day two, for example, Bold Dickens was the 215 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: guest of honor at one of the biggest parties to 216 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: that date in New York City's Park Theater, which was, 217 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: according to Simon Watson BBC magazine, decorated with wreaths, paintings 218 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: and a bust of Dickens with an eagle soaring over 219 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: his head, which sounds a little strange and I can't 220 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: help but wonder if that had anything to do with 221 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: Dickens request in his will that no monuments being made 222 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: of him seeing that eagle flying over his head. And 223 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 1: like you just mentioned, he also did get to meet 224 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: a lot of fellow writers. He met Edgar Allan, Poe, Washington, 225 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: Irving Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Harriet Beetrice Stow, a lot 226 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: of folks who pop up in the podcast to what 227 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: I do. And then he and Catherine had some fun too. 228 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: I mean, I know their later relationship is not characterized 229 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: very well. So we're going to talk about in another episode, 230 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:50,679 Speaker 1: but during this time they seemed to have a pretty 231 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: good time. They acted in a play together. On the 232 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: last leg of their trip was which was a jaunt 233 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: through Canada that included a stop in Montreal they really 234 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: enjoyed at And then whenever he could, he broke away 235 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: from all of the hubbub, all of the fan fier 236 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: people who were flocking around him to do what he 237 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: liked to do most, which was just wander tour all 238 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: of these new towns he was visiting. Yeah, he toured 239 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:16,839 Speaker 1: some of the worst neighborhoods in fact of New York 240 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: City at the time. That was five Points in the Bowery. 241 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 1: He visited the mills at Lowell, Massachusetts, and was impressed 242 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: to find a model industrial community, a place where the 243 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: women workers only stayed a few years. They lived in 244 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: comfy boarding houses, and they had access to things like 245 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: lecture series, a house run periodical, and pianos. So it 246 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: was really different from what he knew of similar situations 247 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: in England, and I think that's an important thing to 248 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: consider when we get to some of the later particulars 249 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:48,079 Speaker 1: in this episode that he did see. Um he did 250 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: compare some things in the United States positively compared to 251 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: what he saw in England. He also toured prisons and 252 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: insane asylums. It might seem a little strange to us 253 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: now to do that on your vacation, but according to 254 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: Natalie McKnight, a professor at Boston University interviewed on the World, 255 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: it wasn't that weird for British writers to include investigative 256 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: travel on their trips to the US. And there you go. 257 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: Another major high point for Dickens was a trip to 258 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: the Perkins Institute, which was well and is a school 259 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: for the blind in Massachusetts. And I think it really 260 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: speaks for dickins sincere interest in social issues that the 261 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: top items on his to see in the United States 262 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: list were Niagara Falls, as we already mentioned, and then 263 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: Laura Bridgeman, who was a little girl who was deaf 264 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: blind but had been educated with language. And Bridgeman, who 265 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: incidentally is believed to be the first death blind person 266 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: to be educated, had been written about by Perkins director 267 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: Dr Samuel Gridley. How and uh he was the man 268 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: who had also come up with the system for teaching 269 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: her language in the first place. He had written this 270 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: publication which proved pretty popular internationally, and Dickens had heard 271 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: of it. So Dickens was so in pressed by meeting 272 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: Laura that he included quite a bit of the meeting 273 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: in his later published Notes on America. And according to 274 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: jan seymour Ford, who was a research librarian at Perkins, 275 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: schools for people with disabilities were really just starting to, 276 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: as she said, get traction during this time, and dickens 277 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: work helped spread the word a little bit about what 278 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: an institution like this could do for people who had disabilities. 279 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: Dickens work also led directly to the education of none 280 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: other than Helen Keller. Decades after Dickens visit, Keller's parents 281 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: read his American Notes and came across the story of 282 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: Laura Bridgeman. They went to Perkins and were connected with 283 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: a graduate and teacher who was Ann Sullivan, the miracle 284 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: worker who taught Keller language. And this little sub story 285 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: here was just so interesting to me. It makes me 286 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: almost want to maybe do a future upset on Helen Keller. 287 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: But it wasn't, of course, all pleasant trips like trips 288 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: to little trips to Perkins for Dickens. He visited Washington, 289 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: d C. In March and he met President John Tyler. 290 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: He toured the capital, but the trip was kind of 291 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: defined by the disregard for spittoons that he witnessed in 292 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: the nation's capital. He later wrote, Washington maybe called the 293 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: headquarters of tobacco tinctured saliva. The thing itself is an 294 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: exaggeration of nastiness which cannot be outdone. And he went 295 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 1: on to Warren readers that if they were gonna tour 296 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: the capital, and I mean the capital building, um, if 297 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: in case they dropped anything, be careful not to pick 298 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: it up without a gloved hands, because you were probably 299 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: gonna run into a bunch of tobaccos. That other issues 300 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: around the country involved what he saw as poor table manners, 301 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: overheated homes, arrogance, hypocrisy, and a tendency towards violence that 302 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: was illustrated by a gun fight between two kids who 303 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: were using real guns. So it kind of ran the 304 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: whole rage from the whole ungloved hands to poor table 305 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: manner and went up from there. It got more serious 306 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,639 Speaker 1: than that too. In Richmond he saw slavery, which he 307 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: was very outspoken against, and then some of it was 308 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: just disappointment. In St. Louis, for instance, he was disappointed 309 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: by a trip to see the Looking Glass Prairie, which 310 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: is something he had really wanted to do, go see 311 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,439 Speaker 1: the prairie. According to Professor Jerome Mechier, who's the author 312 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: of Dickens and Innocent Abroad quote, the longer Dickens rubbed 313 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: shoulders with Americans, the more he realized that the Americans 314 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: were simply not English enough. And Dickens himself wrote to 315 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: his friend McCready he was taking care of his kids. 316 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: This is not the republic I came to see. This 317 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 1: is not the Republic of my imagination. So those are 318 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: harsh words. But after he got home, Dickens did one better. 319 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: He started polishing up his travel journals and he ended 320 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,640 Speaker 1: up publishing them as promised as American Notes for general circulation. 321 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: Then he stepped it up again. The following year he 322 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: started a new book called Martin Chuzzlewood, and when the 323 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: first issues weren't really selling that well, he decided to 324 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: pack off his Hero to America and included a lot 325 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: of his own kind of experiences he had seen in 326 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: the Midwest. So both his travelogue and his novel painted 327 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: quite an unflattering picture of America, seems folks wouldn't have 328 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: expected the man famous for tearing apart hypocrisies of British 329 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: life to be entirely kind, But in fact they had 330 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,199 Speaker 1: new friends like Washington Irving were hurt, even outraged. People 331 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: in New York burned copies of Martin Chuzzlewit papers denounced 332 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: the American notes. The trip very likely changed Dickens to 333 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: Some scholars see his work getting less optimistic after his 334 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: American journey. And I can kind of see this from 335 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: several different perspectives. One, it does seem like people overreacted 336 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: quite a bit. The travel notes do include kind of 337 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: unfavorable comparisons to British things, you know, where we were 338 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: talking about the low um little factories and how it's 339 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: England that comes across as worse in that situation. There's 340 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff like that. But um, if people 341 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: were overreacting a bit, well then maybe also Dickens kind 342 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: of had unrealistic expectations. If you go into a trip 343 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: and your expectations are that it will be a land 344 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: of innocent people where everything's perfect, you know, kind of 345 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: a utopia themed he was expecting, you're probably going to 346 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,360 Speaker 1: be a little bit disappointed. Especially people are ripping fur 347 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: out of your coat. And that's true, So it's not 348 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: that any of this really affected dickens popularity as an 349 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: author in the US. More than twenty years later, Dickens, 350 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: who by this point had multiple households to support, and 351 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,239 Speaker 1: that's just a hint for the next podcast we're going 352 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: to come up with, he decided it might be time 353 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,959 Speaker 1: to revisit America, and this time as a part of 354 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: his Smash lecture series, in which he'd act rather than 355 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: read portions of his own works from a special gas 356 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: lit lecture. So, after sending a reconnaissance scout on ahead, 357 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: he arrived in Boston in mid November of eighteen sixty seven. 358 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: During his with Eastern tour, quite a few things happened. 359 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 1: He met Mark Twain, remark Twain saw him, and of 360 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: course Mark Twain is also known for his his public readings, 361 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: which were apparently just as good as Dickens, and a 362 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: twelve year old girl chatted with him on a train, 363 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: telling him that she'd read all his books but skipped 364 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 1: to the quote lengthy and dull parts, and she, in fact, 365 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: he grew up to write Rebecca of Sunny Book Farms. 366 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 1: They were a popular children's book there, and then Dr 367 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: Samuel Gridley how of Perkins, who we mentioned, contacted Dickens 368 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: about publishing The Old Curiosity Shop in Braille, and Dickens 369 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: actually not only gave his approval, he put up one thousand, 370 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: seven hundred dollars to have two hundred fifty copies printed, 371 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: which were in turn distributed to all of the blind 372 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: schools in America, something I thought was pretty cool. The 373 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: lectures themselves were a huge hit. I mean, of course, 374 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: that was why he was back in the United States 375 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,880 Speaker 1: in the first place. He made nineteen thousand pounds, and 376 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: many folks couldn't remember the first tour, so there weren't 377 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: any hard feelings there. And even the press took dickens 378 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 1: return as a sign of goodwill. For instance, the New 379 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: York Tribune wrote, dickens second coming was needed to disperse 380 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: every cloud and every doubt, and to place his name 381 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: undimmed and the silver sunshine of American admiration. Kind of 382 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: an overblown welcome welcome back Dickens, and Dickens himself felt 383 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 1: differently too. In his farewell speech, he spoke of the 384 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: quote gigantic changes he'd seen in the country, changes, moral changes, 385 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: physical changes in the amount of land subdued and people, 386 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,679 Speaker 1: changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in 387 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,199 Speaker 1: the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes 388 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the press, 389 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: without whose advancement, no advancement can take place anywhere. And 390 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: he asked that the statement be added to every copy 391 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: of American Notes and Martin Chuzzlewitt, And it still is 392 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: there today. Kind of, I take it back, you guys 393 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: have mid some improvement xt job um. So, I think 394 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: it was really interesting to learn about an author so 395 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: associated with England, or really so associated with London in 396 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: a different context, see him out of his element a 397 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: little bit. That was what appealed to me about this story. Yeah, 398 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: I think in a way it's actually quite a testament 399 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: to travel itself, that you can go abroad and it 400 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: opens your eyes and you just see things in a 401 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: different way. I mean, he obviously didn't work out so 402 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: well the first time because he had a bad experience. 403 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: He was disappointed, and like you said, that was probably 404 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: equal parts his fault and you know, the fault of 405 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: what he saw exactly, of people spitting tobacco on the floor. 406 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: But when he came back the next time, it seems 407 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: like he sort of had a different point of view well, 408 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: and he had definitely learned kind of a lesson about 409 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: maybe being careful when you're traveling to keep some of 410 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 1: your opinions. Although it's kind of nice to have that honesty. 411 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: I'm glad looking back on it now. Well, it's interesting 412 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: that we're doing this to podcast now because just this 413 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: week we got a letter and kind of a little 414 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: gift from a listener that was related to Dickens. We 415 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: heard from listener Tory, and she wanted to share with 416 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: us what she does while she listens to the podcast. 417 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: And she makes these really cool book scarves. And I 418 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,719 Speaker 1: didn't even know what a book scarf was before I 419 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: got the she invented it. She I guess maybe she 420 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:26,360 Speaker 1: invented it. She makes these scarves that actually have screenprinting 421 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: done on them, and they have the words like passages 422 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,479 Speaker 1: from books on them. And she sent us one that 423 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,439 Speaker 1: was from Jane Eyre and one that was from a 424 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: Tale of Two Cities. Charles Dickens because she's heard us 425 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: to drop his name all the time. I'm always mentioning 426 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: at the podcast, So I'll just read a little bit 427 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,439 Speaker 1: of this, she said. For quite some time now, I 428 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: wanted to share with you my own I listen while 429 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: I response, and in doing so, I hope to strike 430 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: a likewise joyous chord with you. Two is a token 431 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: of thanks and gratitude for your hard work. In order 432 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: or to do so, I thought it would be best 433 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: to show you what I do while I listen, and 434 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,400 Speaker 1: your last podcast, Growing Up Bronte instantly confirmed my decision 435 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: to do so. I am extremely fortunate to be able 436 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: to combine my passions for classical literature, history, fashion design, 437 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,440 Speaker 1: and the art of silk screening by producing a unique 438 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: product of my own imagining, the book scars that you 439 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: have now here. Hence I listen while I'm constantly moving 440 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 1: my hands as a screenprint, cut pin, and so fabric. 441 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,399 Speaker 1: I have thus included two of my finished designs, and 442 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,679 Speaker 1: we mentioned to you what those are. So thank you 443 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: very much, Tori. These are cool. We're just trying to 444 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: figure out how to wear them. I saw the picture, 445 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,360 Speaker 1: so you did. You did see the picture. It requires 446 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 1: a double wrapping. Maybe if we if we can get 447 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: it looking really good, we'll post the pictures or something 448 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: that sounds like a plan, So yeah, thank you, Tori. 449 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: And then another Dickens coincidence from this week. I was 450 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: reading all sorts of material about Dickens and I came 451 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: across the quote regarding his se trip to America. Um. 452 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: An article said that he was quote a noted in 453 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: Biber and mythologist of some repute. And like, I share 454 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: this with Deblina earlier, and you pointed out that noted Imbiber, 455 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: So sounds pretty good, you know, not quite like fancy 456 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: he drank a lot. But UM, I thought it was 457 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,679 Speaker 1: such a strange coincidence because the day before another one 458 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: of our listeners, listener Rose, had treated me to a 459 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: mythology class where I learned a lot about the history 460 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 1: of cocktails in general. It was really fun and um 461 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: kind of almost an extension of our historic alcohol episode, um, 462 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: extending more into the golden age of cocktails, you know, 463 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: pre prohibition. And so I thought that was such a 464 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,719 Speaker 1: nice compliment to all of this Dickens research. So, if 465 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: you'd like to share with us any Dickens related stories 466 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,000 Speaker 1: or maybe Dickens related projects that you work on, drinks 467 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: that you make that our Dickens or not Dickens related, 468 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,399 Speaker 1: you think we might enjoy or be interested in. Feel 469 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: free to write us or at History Podcast at Discovery 470 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,479 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also find us on Facebook and 471 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: on Twitter at Myston History. And we have an article 472 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 1: which I think Dickens himself probably would have been interested in. 473 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: It's called Can Travel Change You? I would say it 474 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: change Dickens a bit. I would say so, um, but 475 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: I don't know how you guys feel about that. You 476 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: can check it out for yourselves. It's called again, can 477 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: Travel Change You? And you can find it by searching 478 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: on our home page at www dot housetop works dot com. 479 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff 480 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,679 Speaker 1: from the Future. Join house Stop Work staff as we 481 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The 482 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: house Stop Works iPhone FP has a ride. Download it 483 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: today on iTunes