1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: If there's one thing sitcoms can teach us, it's that 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: get rich quick schemes never work. Whether it was Ralph Cramden, 8 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: Homer Simpson, or Al Bundy, the idea of spending a 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: little money to make a lot of money never really 10 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: panned out. Luckily, those characters just had to wait for 11 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,959 Speaker 1: next week's episode and all would be forgotten and forgiven. 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: There were no real stakes or consequences, not like in 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: real life, where people like Burnie in Charles Ponzi, for 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: whom the Ponzi Scheme was named, found themselves in jail 15 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: or worse. But during the mid nineteenth century, two men 16 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: decided to try their hands at their own get rich 17 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: quick scheme, and it worked out a lot better than 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: anyone had expected. Their names were William Smith and Charles Eton, 19 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: better known as Billy and Charlie. We don't know much 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: about their early lives, but we do know what they 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: did for a living, and I'm using big air quotes there. 22 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: They were mudlarks, meaning that they would scour the mudflats 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: along the Thames for discarded objects that might be worth something, 24 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: and then they sold those objects to a man named 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: William Edwards. He was a dealer of sorts who would 26 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: sell what Billy and Charlie had brought to him to 27 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: another dealer, one George Eastwood. Eastwood happened to specialize in antiques. 28 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: So what did Billy and Charlie uncover in the mudflats? 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: A lot? Actually, Pilgrim's badges were common, as were coins 30 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: and small statues. They made a good living for themselves 31 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: selling found antiques for about a year, raking in roughly 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: two hundred pounds. Edwards was thrilled with their discoveries, although 33 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: there were some questions about how the two men were 34 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: finding all of those relics. According to them, it was 35 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: their own good fortune brought on by the construction of 36 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: the Shadwell Dock in London. The constant churning and digging 37 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: of the land meant previously lost artifacts were finally coming 38 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: to the surface. Eastwood in particular, was so taken with 39 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: the boy's work that he eventually started buying from them, 40 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: directly selling the objects off to wealthy collectors as well 41 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: as the British Museum, but not to everyone was as 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: taken with Billy and Charlie as Edwards and Eastwood. In fact, 43 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: their near endless stream of artifacts piqued the curiosity of 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: several parties, including those who had purchased from them in 45 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: the past. There was a suspicion that Williams and Eaton 46 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: were not being entirely truthful about where they'd found these 47 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: badges and coins. In fact, some people believed the two 48 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: men hadn't found the items at all. They were suspected 49 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: of being forgers. Eastwood, of course refuted the claims, arguing 50 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 1: that everything he sold was the real deal, and others 51 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: also stepped forward claiming that the items discovered by Billy 52 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: and Charlie were authentic. Archaeologist Charles roach Smith, for example, 53 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: claimed that many pieces dated back to the sixteenth century, 54 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: simply because there were no originals or molds to prove 55 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: that they'd been copied. Eventually, the allegations became too severe 56 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: to ignore. It was George Eastwood who levied a libel 57 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: suit against the British magazine Athenaeum after it published an 58 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: article claiming the artifacts were fake, although to be fair, 59 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: the article did not mention Eastwood outright. A trial was 60 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: held in August of eighteen fifty eight, where William Smith 61 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: took the stand. He stood by his defense that everything 62 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: he and Charlie had sold up to that point, about 63 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: two thousand items had been found at the Shadwell Dock site. 64 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: Roach also testified as to their provenance. Over the course 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: of the trial, a number of experts and collectors came 66 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: forward with similar testimonies that the objects they purchased or 67 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: examined were authentic to the fifteenth or sixteenth century. By 68 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: the end of the trial, Well, the lawyer for the defense, 69 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: had argued that there was no proof George Eastwood had 70 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: been libeled, and so the jury was forced to find 71 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: the magazine not guilty. But the trial did have one 72 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: beneficial effect. It was the perfect pr for Eastwood's new shop, 73 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: which he opened the following year in eighteen fifty nine. Sadly, 74 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: his success did not last long, because two years later 75 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: someone found out the truth about Charlie and Billy. The 76 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: guy's name was Charles Reed, and Reid had come from 77 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: an organization known as the Society of Antiquaries. He started 78 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: asking around the Shadwell Dot construction site for more information 79 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: about the objects the men had found, and as it 80 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: turned out, nobody had ever seen anything in the mudflats 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: while digging. It was as though the items had appeared 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: out of thin air, and this brought Reed to an 83 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: individual known as a tasher, someone who scavenged the sewers 84 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: for treasure, and as luck would have it, this tasher 85 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: had worked with Smith and Eaton before and knew how 86 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: they'd really come into all those antiques. They had a 87 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: workshop where they made them. Everything Billy and char had 88 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: sold had been created from materials like lead alloy and 89 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: plaster of Paris. It was a complicated process, but the 90 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: results spoke for themselves. After their big reveal, the two 91 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: men kept making forgeries, which carried on until they were 92 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: arrested in eighteen sixty seven. They were quickly released, and 93 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: one year later, Charlie passed away from tuberculosis. He was 94 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: just thirty five years old. Billy continued on for a 95 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: while after that, but he didn't last long. Nothing else 96 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: is known from him after roughly eighteen sixty nine. But 97 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: funny enough, if you find one of their pieces for 98 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: sale today, you might notice a hefty price tag. That's 99 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: because they've increased in value over the years. Are they antiques, well, 100 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: technically now, yes, but each one is also a brilliant 101 00:05:46,480 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: forgery that some might call a work of art. When 102 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: a knock came at the door of the besieged Russian 103 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: Parliament building in nineteen ninety one, panic spread throughout the building. 104 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: Was this a hardline communist delivering a message for Russian 105 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: President Boris Yeltsen was at the military coming to end 106 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: the coup it had just started a few days earlier. 107 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: The answer was even more surprising. Standing on the other 108 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: side of the door was a man in uniform, not military, 109 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: but manager. He knocked on the door again and called 110 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: out the last two words the lawmakers inside had ever 111 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: expected to hear. Pizza delivery. What does cheesy, crispy tomatoy 112 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: pizza have to do with the last days of the 113 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: Soviet Union? It turns out a lot more than you'd expect. 114 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: In the late nineteen eighties, the USSR was facing an 115 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: economic crisis. Moscow had dire food shortages. The ruble was 116 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: practically worthless, and Soviet family struggled to feed their children. 117 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: So Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the USSR, decided they 118 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: needed to try something different. This new policy would be 119 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: called Perestroika, meaning reconstruction. Peristroika included a lot of changes, 120 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,239 Speaker 1: but one of the most dramatic would be to allow 121 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: some capitalist policies to take roots in the USSR. For example, 122 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: the state could now create partnerships with foreign businesses seeing 123 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: a hot new market. American chain restaurants were the first 124 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: in line in Moscow. At the time, family dining was 125 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: a radical concept. Most sit down restaurants were expensive, so 126 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: eating out was a rich person's pastime. One American business 127 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: wanted to change that, so under the policy of Perestroika, 128 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union's first pizza hut opened in September of 129 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, right near Red Square, and it was an 130 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: immediate hit. The first day Pizza Hut opened, a line 131 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: wrapped around the building. The staff had to lock the 132 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: doors in between seatings, as otherwise the customers would just 133 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: flood the dining room. Even after the initial buzz calmed down, 134 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: the mass the Scout pizza hut would continue to serve 135 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: fifty thousand customers a week. Even as Soviet citizens were 136 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: chowing down on pepperoni and cheese, there was trouble brewing 137 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: in the halls of government. The Berlin Wall had just 138 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: fallen two years before in nineteen eighty nine, Inflation was 139 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: running rampant, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had already voted for 140 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: their independence, and under Gorbachev's new policies, capitalism was becoming 141 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: part of the Soviet system. Two Communist Party hardliners, the USSR, 142 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: was falling apart. They believed they needed to act, and 143 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: act fast, and they got their chance on August nineteenth 144 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety one. That day, Mikhail Gorbachev headed to 145 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: his summer home in Ukraine, the KGB swooped in and 146 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: held him hostage, telling the world that he was ill. 147 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,079 Speaker 1: With him out of the way, plotters from the KGB, 148 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: the military, and the Communist Old Guard sprung into action. 149 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: Tanks rolled down the streets of Moscow, passing right by 150 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:01,199 Speaker 1: the pizza huts, shattered doors. Boris Yeltsen, the President of 151 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Russia and Gorbachev's ally, had been in Kazakhstan when the 152 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: coup broke out, but immediately flew back to Moscow. He 153 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: gathered together a group of lawmakers who supported Gorbachev's reforms 154 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: and barricaded himself in the Russian Parliament building. Over the 155 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,199 Speaker 1: next few days, hardliners rallied outside of Parliament while citizens 156 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: protested in the streets inside. Yeltsin and the lawmakers issued 157 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: statements to the press and the people of the Soviet 158 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: Union condemning the coup and calling for Gorbachev's release. Western 159 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: businesses in Moscow wanted to help, and did so the 160 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: only way they knew how. After spending a day shuddered, 161 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: Pizza Hunt fired up its ovens and prepared dozens of pizzas. 162 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: The manager, in a pizza hut uniform marched a team 163 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: carrying two hundred and sixty pizzas, twenty cases of pepsi, 164 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: and gallons and gallons of fresh coffee, passed the tanks 165 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: and barriers and right up to the door of Parliament. 166 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: If Yeltsin and his allies were going to end this coup, 167 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: they needed cheesy sustenance, and plenty of it. The coup 168 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: attempt eventually fell apart, and after two tense days, Gorbachev 169 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: was freed and the usurpers admitted defeat. However, this was 170 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: one of the final straws in the downfall of the 171 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: Soviet Union. Over the next few months, country after country 172 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: would secede from the USSR until it was formally dissolved 173 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: in December of nineteen ninety one. Although Pizza Hunt had 174 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: a short tenure in Moscow, it had a large impact. 175 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: Perhaps this is why in nineteen ninety seven, Gorbachev agreed 176 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: to appear in an ad for the restaurant chain. In 177 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: the commercial, as several Russians argue over whether Gorbachev helped 178 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: or hurt the country, they all agree that he did 179 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 1: one thing right, bringing them Pizza Hunt most curious of all, 180 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: though this ad was never broadcast in Russia. I hope 181 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 182 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more more 183 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,599 Speaker 1: about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This 184 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,199 Speaker 1: show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with 185 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 186 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 187 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the worldoflore 188 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: dot com, and until next time, stay curious.