1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Uh. Since 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: we are all still theoretically in isolation, which means if 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: you're not doing it and you're not considered an essential 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: person who has to do their job to keep society running, 7 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: please get into isolation. Uh. But since we are all 8 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: theoretically in isolation, I thought it might be nice to 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: talk about somebody who traveled the world, which is Annie 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: London Dairy. She gained fame for being the first woman 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: cyclist to circumnavigate the globe on her bike sort of, 12 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: which is also why I think it's a fun one 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: for this time where a lot of serious things are happening, 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: because her trip is a little uh you'll hear specious 15 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: it is, and it's it's fun. It's a fun episode, 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: which I think is always good. Everybody needs a break. Uh. 17 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: So in the eighteen nineties, she set off from Boston 18 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: on a trip to do exactly that, to travel the world, uh, 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: circumnavigate the globe on a bike, and she did circle 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: the globe. But there are a lot of inconsistencies in 21 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: the details of her story, including why she did it 22 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: in the first place. So she was born in eighteen 23 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: seventy or eighteen seventy one in Latvia, and her name 24 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: when she was born was Annie Cohen. Her parents, Levy 25 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: and Beatrice Cohen, moved to the US when Annie was 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: still very young, that was in eighteen seventy five. They 27 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: also brought her siblings, Sarah and Bennett, and the family 28 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: lived pretty modestly in a tenement in Boston's West End, 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: which at the time was one of the most ethnically 30 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: mixed neighborhoods in the country. Annie's father, Levy died when 31 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: she was just a teenager in eighteen eighty seven, and 32 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: her mother, Beatrice died two months after that, and this 33 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: left Annie and her brother Bennett to care for the 34 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: two siblings that had been born after the family moved 35 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: to the United States, Acob and Rosa. Annie's sister Sarah 36 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: had already married and moved to Maine and was starting 37 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: a family of her own. Annie married a young peddler 38 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: named Max Katchovsky one year later. In the first four 39 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: years of their marriage were really productive. They had three children, 40 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: Bertha Malki who they called Molly, Libby and Simon. Annie 41 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: also works. She sold advertising space for several of the 42 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: papers around Boston, and she was really good at this job. 43 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: She had a gift for conversation, so she was really 44 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: able to build relationships and rapport with advertisers and sell 45 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: all this ad space. Yeah, keep in mind, this is 46 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: not a time where it would have been that out 47 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: of character for an immigrant family to have both parents working. 48 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: Annie was not that unusual in being a mother that 49 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: also worked. Annie claimed in the two businessmen had made 50 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: a huge wager involving twenty dollars that a woman couldn't 51 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: bicycle around the globe in fifteen months, and that she 52 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: was chosen as the one to attempt it, and if 53 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: she did manage to do this, she would also get 54 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars, and in addition to that requirement that 55 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: she had to circle the globe on a bike in 56 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: fifteen months, she also had to make a living for 57 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: herself along the way, with a target total of five 58 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. On June fifteenth, and he was ready to 59 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: set out on this journey. She had a big send 60 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: off in Boston. People who knew her personally were on 61 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: hand to say goodbye, but so were a lot of 62 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: curious onlookers, as well as a number of suffragettes. They 63 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: were all there to see what seemed like it would 64 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: be history in the making. The head of Pope Manufacturing, 65 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: which produced Columbia brand bicycles, was on hand as well, 66 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: and he had the bicycle that the company was giving 67 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: her for this journey. A woman taking on a challenge 68 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: like this was of course big news, so this really 69 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: was a huge event. There were speeches given, it was 70 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: covered by the press. These farewell speeches marked what a 71 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: momentous thing they were all witnessing, which would be a 72 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: huge help in the fight for equality for women. And 73 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: Annie made her own speech, explaining the whole story that 74 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: the trip was the result of a wager and declaring 75 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: that quote, I am to go around the Earth in 76 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: fifteen months, returning with five thousand dollars and starting only 77 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: with the clothes on my back. I cannot accept anything 78 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: gratuitously from anyone. One of her friends offered her a 79 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: penny for luck, which Annie said she could not take, 80 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: and then the woman Mrs Tubbs told her that she 81 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: could take it as payment for wearing the white ribbon 82 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, which Mrs Tubbs placed 83 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: on Annie's lapo. In a similarly ceremonious act, she was 84 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: given a hundred dollars from the London Dairy Lithia Spring 85 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: Water Company. Having made that investment, the company got to 86 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: put a sign on the rear wheel skirt guard on 87 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: this Columbia bike and Annie would take on the name 88 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: London Dairy for this journey. So this is like a 89 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:09,559 Speaker 1: very interesting ad deal on her own bike. In person, Yes, 90 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: when you look at for example, like professional race cars 91 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: now and they have stuff all over their cars and 92 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: all over their persons, like their jumpsuits. Annie was a 93 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: big starting point of all of this. That name change 94 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: that she made to London Dairy offered her some pretty 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: key additional benefits. For one, it meant that she was 96 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: not going to be a woman traveling alone with a 97 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: Jewish last name. That was something that would have added 98 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: a significant layer of danger in the eighteen nineties. Additionally, 99 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: for this excursion, Annie had made the decision to keep 100 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: her personal life very private. She never mentioned that she 101 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: was a married woman with children, and that was something 102 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: that allowed her to sort of craft her own narrative 103 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: around her identity as she went, and finally, it was 104 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: just easier for most English speaking people and particularly the 105 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: US covering this, to say and remember the name London Dairy, 106 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: then Katchovsky and Annie was nothing if not savvy about 107 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: public image and the power of word of mouth. She 108 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: also never seemed to have any difficult feelings about leaving 109 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: her family behind while she made this trip. She was 110 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: later quoted on several different occasions saying, quote, I didn't 111 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,799 Speaker 1: want to spend my life at home with a baby 112 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: under my apron every year. Max's feelings on his wife's 113 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: trip are not really known, although reportedly he really adored 114 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: his wife probably wanted her to do whatever would make 115 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: her happy. Annie told the papers that Max was quote 116 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: perfectly willing that she go, or that she wouldn't have 117 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: done it. Incidentally, Max, who was also an immigrant, was 118 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: petitioning to become a US citizen, and he was actually 119 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: sworn in while she was on the road. Yeah there was. 120 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: In the main biography I read of her, Max has 121 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: described as basically worshiping her. And incidentally, Annie did not 122 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: leave Boston on the day of that big send off event. 123 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: She stayed there for two more days, getting photos taken 124 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: of her with her bike to be printed in bulk 125 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: so that she could sell them as souvenirs along the way, 126 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: and she also printed out handbills that told her whole 127 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: story and that she could kind of let people circulate 128 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: throughout town so they need to look for her. On June, 129 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: she said her true goodbyes to a much more intimate 130 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: gathering of close friends and family, and then she finally 131 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: left and headed to New York. So she was starting 132 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: this trip in the summer of four and that was 133 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,119 Speaker 1: around the same time that our previous podcast subject, Frank Lens, 134 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: disappeared on his cycling trip around the world. If you 135 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: may recall if you've heard that episode or if you haven't, 136 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: Lens was really eager to finish this journey as quickly 137 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: as possible, and he decided to take a more dangerous 138 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: route through Turkey to get to Europe instead of taking 139 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: the safer but longer route through Russia. He vanished along 140 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: the way. Annie, as you'll see, did not uh do 141 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: things like that now, unlike Lens and other cyclists who 142 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: had tried and some succeeded to circumnavigate the globe Annie 143 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: was not really experienced at riding bicycles, and the bike 144 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: that she had to start with wasn't actually great for 145 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: what lay ahead. It was quite heavy, and it was lumbering, 146 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: and on sandy surfaces or rocky substrate, she often just 147 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: had to get off and push it rather than ride it. 148 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: So the first leg of her trip from Boston to 149 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: New York was really arduous, and maybe because of that, 150 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: Annie stayed in New York for several weeks afterward. That 151 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: made some people worried she was never going to be 152 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: able to make her deadline. One of the ways that 153 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: she spent those weeks was revising her outfit. She'd initially 154 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: started with a day suit that included full skirts, but 155 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: she decided by the time she got to New York 156 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: that that was just not practical. I can't imagine the 157 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: difficulty of trying to just ride a bike a long 158 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: way in full skirts all the time. Here's my thing, 159 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: as a modern person who is very accustomed to the 160 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: benefit of a lot of textile advancements and who has 161 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: run a lot, I am whimpy if I get the 162 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: mildest chafe on, like a twenty mile run, which I 163 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: haven't done in a long time, Like, I can't imagine 164 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: how chafy and uncomfortable a suit that was not made 165 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: for sporting. There's a lot layers of difficulty with this, yes, 166 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: so she adopted instead. While she was in New York, 167 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: she switched it out for a suit with a pair 168 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: of bloomers. She still wore a skirt over it, but 169 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: it was a little bit shorter. It was only ankle length, 170 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: and that new skirt could be pinned up if she 171 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: needed to. While writing. She abandoned corsets at this point, 172 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: which I think is a wise move, and wore rubber 173 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: sold boots for added comfort. And she also started carrying 174 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: a revolver in case she was going to need to 175 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: defend herself. Though she also, just as she had no 176 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:06,679 Speaker 1: bicycling experience, didn't really have any firearms experience either. Just 177 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: in case folks are visualizing this. When we say bloomers, 178 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: we're talking about the like blousy divided pants or you know, 179 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: bifurcated pant where that was advocated by dress reformers. We're 180 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: not talking about underwear, just in case. After all that 181 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: time in New York, Annie continued with her journey, and 182 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: we will talk about that after we pause for a 183 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: sponsor break. So when Annie London Darry finally left New 184 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: York at the end of July, a crowd of several 185 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: hundred people waved her goodbye. Justice had been the case 186 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: in Boston. En route to Chicago. From there, Annie quickly 187 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: learned that the road was just not going to be 188 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: kind to her. She rarely found places to wash her clothes, 189 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: which became oppressively smelly in the summer heat as she 190 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: was sweating. And when she did manage to stay in 191 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: a hotel or a boarding house and wash her clothes 192 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,840 Speaker 1: in the sink, they were never dry by the time 193 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: she left in the morning. So off she went in 194 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,959 Speaker 1: wet clothes, which sounds miserable. That also means that if 195 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: it rained, she just had to gut it out in 196 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,679 Speaker 1: sopping wet layers. And even without corsets and without her 197 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: full length skirt layers, this became very heavy and very arduous, 198 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: because remember this was all wool. This all sounds just 199 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: so incredibly stinky and chafy and awful. She made her 200 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: way to Rochester and then Buffalo, and then slowly on 201 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: to Cleveland before trying to make up the time by 202 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: hurrying to Chicago, where she finally arrived on September twenty four, 203 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: That was a full three months after she had left Boston. 204 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: She weighed twenty pounds less than she had at the 205 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: start of the trip. She was still really struggling with 206 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: issues regarding her clothing just being too cumbersome, and at 207 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: this point she was very well aware that she only 208 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: had twelve months left on her claim that she could 209 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: go around the entire world in fifteen months not not 210 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: divided very evenly at this point. No, it's it seems 211 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: like she maybe made some foolish time management decisions right 212 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: out of the gate. So the intent had been that 213 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: she would continue to travel in a westerly direction, but 214 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: because of her rough start, owing to her lack of 215 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: experience and maybe a little bit of doddling, by the 216 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: time she arrived in Chicago, it was too late in 217 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: the year to keep going west. She tried to continue 218 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: in the direction that she was going, starting that late 219 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: in the year, she was going to have to cross 220 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,839 Speaker 1: North America in the winter. It was not realistic. She 221 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 1: publicly said she was done at this point. The New 222 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: York Times ran a piece on October eleven that Annie 223 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: wasn't going to complete her trip. She turned around headed 224 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: to New York, retracing her route in reverse, but this 225 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: time she was going for a speed record. But before 226 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: she even started that um and though she had announced 227 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: that she was turning her on a going to New York, 228 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: while she was still in Chicago, recovering from those three 229 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: months on the road and planning for this speed run 230 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: to New York, Annie visited the Sterling Cycle works and 231 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 1: they offered her a new bicycle that was about twenty 232 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: to twenty one pounds that was less than half of 233 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 1: the weight of the bike that she had been riding 234 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: up to that point. And they also offered her a 235 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: sponsorship deal if she would put their sign on her 236 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: bicycle instead of riding the Columbia and having them as 237 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: a sponsor. Morgan and Right tire company, which also worked 238 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: with Sterling, also joined on as a sponsor. So this 239 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,559 Speaker 1: whole change really lifted her spirits and she changed her 240 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: mind again. She thought she could actually circle the globe. 241 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: The new plan was to go to New York as 242 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: planned and then go east from there. In addition to 243 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: the new bicycle, her choice of clothing changed again. This 244 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: was sort of a double necessity. Even though her starting 245 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: skirt had been switched out to something more practical. The 246 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: new was sterling was a men's bike that was built differently. 247 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: She just couldn't ride it with her skirt fabric bunching 248 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: up in front of her was pretty hazardous. So she 249 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: finally did the thing that she had been too demure 250 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: to do when her trips started, and that was to 251 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: get rid of that skirt and to just use the Bloomers. Yeah. 252 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: Uh yeah. The men's bicycle was built with a segment 253 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: that went directly from the handlebars back to the seat, 254 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: whereas the ladies bike she had been riding before that 255 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: did not have that. It kind of had a dip, 256 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: like a curved metal section where like her skirts could 257 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: settle in front of her instead of wadding up. And 258 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: so that was what caused that change. And well, this 259 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: was all very freeing to switch to Bloomers, only there 260 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: were definitely people who found this whole idea utterly scandalous. Uh. Fortunately, 261 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: some of her sponsors sent her additional outfits so that 262 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: she would have a change of clothes and she could 263 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: wear comfortable gear while riding, but also dressed appropriately for 264 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: appearing his or social engagements on the road. So with 265 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: this new clothing and a much lighter bike, it was 266 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: a lot easier for Annie to go back to New York. 267 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: She continued to be a draw for the press. The 268 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: Buffalo Express ran a piece on her on November one, 269 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: four that noted that she had many sponsorships. Quote, the 270 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: young woman is a sort of writing advertising agency. She 271 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: wears ribbons advertising various goods, and we'll receive four hundred 272 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: dollars for one firm's ad that graces her left breast 273 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: on her right bloomer leg. She carries a hundred dollars 274 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: worth of advertisements, and she has just closed a contract 275 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: to cover her left arm. She says her back is 276 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: for rent yet, and she hopes to get three hundred 277 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: dollars for it. She must not beg a cent, and 278 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: she makes enough money to pay for her board by 279 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: selling little souvenir brownie pins and other souvenirs of the trip. 280 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: That same article incidentally includes some other fascinating tidbits about 281 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: Annie that were total fabrications, including saying that she had 282 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: attended Harvard and studied medicine. Yeah, she u she had 283 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: started ambellishing her story at that point. Uh, that article 284 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: with embellishments included was no outlier, and it actually gets 285 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: a little bit tricky to separate the actual events of 286 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: her ride from the stories that she told at her 287 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: various speaking engagements and two reporters. Annie was a spectacular 288 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: storyteller and she was very, very comfortable adding a little 289 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: bit of flourish to her story to wow crowds. So 290 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: while some elements of her story and what happened on 291 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: this trip are documented through the papers of the day, 292 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: even those are not always trustworthy. Obviously, she couldn't just 293 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: bike across the ocean, so she took a steamer to 294 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: Europe France, specifically sailing to have and on a steamer 295 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: called Latraine. That steamer trip was not to be her last, 296 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: not by a long shot. But that's all well before 297 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: she reached the Pacific Ocean, where she need to take 298 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: a boat by necessity. Yeah. Uh, there's a lot of 299 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: steamer travel coming up. So once she got to France, 300 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: she biked from Paris to Marseilles, and that was a 301 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: well publicized trip and it was followed by both the 302 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 1: French and the global papers. She was escorted the whole 303 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: way by guides that have been arranged by France's various 304 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: cycling clubs. French journalists tended to criticize her appearance. The 305 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: nicest thing that they said about her was that she 306 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: seemed energetic. One paper in Lyon described her as a 307 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: neutered being because they couldn't describe her as having feminine 308 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: or masculine traits. Uh, And that was definitely in a 309 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: derogatory way. They weren't saying, oh, she's androgynou, isn't cool. 310 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: They were like, we don't know what to do with her. 311 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: But the public was fascinated by her and completely embraced her. 312 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: So it seems like once Annie was outside the US, 313 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: she felt totally free to tell all kinds of lies 314 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: about her background. She told France's reporters that she was 315 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: an orphan, a medical student, a law student, and an heiress, 316 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: among a lot of other things. It's unclear whether she 317 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: was just kind of having some fun goating reporters into 318 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: filing false stories, or if she maybe just wanted to 319 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: play fast and loose with the truth. While in Valanche, France, 320 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 1: her achilles tendon in one leg became in flame, so 321 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: she rested there, and while she was doing that, her 322 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: bike was put on display in a shop window so 323 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: she could have time to convalesce and I think also 324 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: make a little money from that placement. By the time 325 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: she reached Marseilles, after she recovered she continued on, she 326 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: was quite enjoying herself, despite feeling that her initial reception 327 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: in France had kind of treated her poorly. At Marseilles, 328 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 1: she boarded the steamer Sydney on January and then the 329 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: story gets really fuzzy because just seven weeks later, on 330 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: March nine, she boarded another ship that was leaving Japan. 331 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: That means that the same woman who spent three entire 332 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: months getting from Boston to Chicago somehow covered the entire 333 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: Asian continent, where she did not speak any of the languages, 334 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: in half that time. That seems real fishy. Yeah, that 335 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: seems like when, uh, like when the marathon is happening 336 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: and somebody crosses the starting line with the marathon and 337 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: then like like they get in a cab. It's exactly 338 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,919 Speaker 1: like that. Uh So, if you heard Annie Londonderry speak 339 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: of her travels or read her account, it was a 340 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: very full seven weeks. According to her, that time was 341 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: filled with bike rides through Jerusalem and tiger hunts and 342 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: visits with royalty, and being mistaken for an evil spirit 343 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: in some lands, and having to disguise herself in local 344 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,239 Speaker 1: garb to not be chased, and even traveling to the 345 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: front lines of the First Sino Japanese War. We're gonna 346 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: talk about that part in a minute. But none of 347 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: this was true. Uh. The slides that she would later 348 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: show during lectures of her travels were professional photographs that 349 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: have been taken of those places and that she had purchased. 350 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: They were not photos she had taken herself. So what 351 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,880 Speaker 1: it seems really happened was she got on the Sydney 352 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: and then it made port in Alexandria, and then port 353 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: said in Egypt, and then Colombo and Sri Lanka. Annie 354 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: and two other lady cyclists from the ship raised some 355 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: eyebrows when they went out for a ride at that stop. 356 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 1: And then after that quick stop in Sri Lanka, the 357 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: Sydney sailed on to Singapore with Annie Londonderry's still on board. Yeah, 358 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: just for the historical record, Sri Lanka would have been 359 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: called Ceylon at this time. Uh. Annie's arrival in Singapore 360 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: did not go exactly as she might have hoped, and 361 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that after we have a 362 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: word from our sponsors. So when Annie arrived in Singapore, 363 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: the press there noticed that she had made shockingly good 364 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 1: time crossing Asia and actually called her out on it. 365 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: On February fourteen, article in the Singapore Straits ran that 366 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: was titled a Woman on Wheels fifty thousand Fools at Marseille, 367 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: which made the case that Annie was a charlatan on 368 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: a trip to gain money and fame, and that she 369 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 1: had duped the French. It pointed out how the French 370 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: public had fallen over her and bought her photographs and 371 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: paid her to endorse their products, and then cheered her 372 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: as she left port, and then it compared her journey 373 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: to that of French mail, sailing safely aboard the steamships Adney. 374 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: The next stop was Saigon, and things were a little 375 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: better there, in part because a French periodical called Courier 376 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: was eagerly awaiting her with some pre arranged appearances. But 377 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,880 Speaker 1: even as this reception was an improvement her write ups 378 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: back home, we're starting to sour a little bit. Uh 379 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,400 Speaker 1: The U. S press was wondering how Annie had made 380 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: such good time crossing Asia. She next hit Hong Kong 381 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: for a couple of days, and then Shanghai, where she 382 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: invited the editor of the newspaper Celestial m Player to 383 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: call on her at her hotel so that she could 384 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: do an interview and give him a full account of 385 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: her travels. But what she actually did was explained to 386 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: him how well she had been greeted in other cities. 387 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,120 Speaker 1: A lot of that was lies that she made up, 388 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 1: and to make clear to him that she expected the 389 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,680 Speaker 1: same in Shanghai, kind of hinting that he should help 390 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: arrange that that editor left the hotel. It was from 391 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: Shanghai that she said she had traveled to the front 392 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: of the Sino Japanese War, later writing quote, I was 393 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: warned to get out of the country as quickly as possible, 394 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: But my American spirit was up and I was determined 395 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 1: to see the fun. So I determined to go to 396 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: the front, and I went. I knew that I could 397 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: fill any hall in the United States with the announcement 398 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: that I was an eyewitness to the battles in China. 399 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: She continues a paragraph later, I was an eyewitness to 400 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: the Battle of Ghassan. It was the first I had 401 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: seen and I don't want to see another. All of 402 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: that again not true, No, totally made it up. Annie 403 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 1: arrived in Yokohoma, Japan in early March. There she had 404 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,479 Speaker 1: some conflict with the American consule, John McLean, because she 405 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,399 Speaker 1: asked him if he could help her raise funds for 406 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: her passage across the Pacific. He was not particularly interested 407 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: in assisting her in this way. She actually kind of 408 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: had him smeared in the press for it as not 409 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: caring about any American citizens. She did manage to wrangle 410 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: some assistance and some cash from the French console, however, 411 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: and booked passage aboard the Beljik which took her to 412 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: San Francisco, and he arrived in California ready to start 413 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: booking speaking engagements and telling her tales of life abroad 414 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: on her bicycle, and she did. She also met with 415 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,440 Speaker 1: a lot of suspicion and criticism. One of the big 416 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: issues right out of the gate was the psychometer on 417 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: her bicycle, which indicated that the bike had been ridden 418 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: a total of about seven thousand, two hundred eighty miles. 419 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: That did not add up to what one should have 420 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: expected on a trip around the world, even including the 421 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 1: necessary segments that had to be covered by ship, like 422 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: across the entire Pacific Ocean. Additionally, the amount of money 423 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: that she earned along the way did not quite add up. 424 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: While Annie claimed that she would have to make about 425 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: three thousand, five hundred dollars of the five thousand dollars 426 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: required by that bet on her way from San Francisco 427 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: across the USA on her final leg, people that were 428 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: kind of keeping track of her her travels and keeping 429 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: a tally noted that she had already earned a lot 430 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: more than she was reporting, and her war stories from 431 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: China did not really line up with the calendar timeline 432 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: of what had been playing out in that conflict, so 433 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 1: more and more of her story seemed shady as people 434 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: started to compare notes. A newspaper editor from Indiana met 435 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: with Annie in California and wrote rather scathingly of her quote, 436 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: Miss Londonderry's trip has been a remarkable one. From the 437 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: fact that she went entirely around the world on steamboats, 438 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 1: according to her own story, excepting ride from Have to Marseilles, 439 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: France on her wheel. Miss Anna is a hustler for sure. 440 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: Andy's story had been refined as she tried to adjust 441 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: to accommodate that psychometer reading and to include the fact 442 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: that a lot of her travel was by steamer and 443 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: a lot of segments in the press. She quickly went 444 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: from being lauded as the epitome of the new Woman 445 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: to being criticized as a fraud and huckster. Yeah, it 446 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: was kind of one of those things where I was like, oh, no, well, 447 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 1: I did take the steamer from here to there, but 448 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: then I got off and I ran up here and 449 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: I did this, and it was like, then there was 450 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: calendar math that just didn't add up. It's like, you 451 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 1: couldn't have done that in that period of time before 452 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,439 Speaker 1: the Sydney took off at the next port for a 453 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: lot of problems. But after spending almost two months in California, 454 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,920 Speaker 1: during which she managed to stage a photo of herself 455 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: being robbed by alleged bandits, which she then used that 456 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,199 Speaker 1: photo on her lecture tour, she finally continued east to 457 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,000 Speaker 1: finish her trip. And if that seems like a long 458 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:58,919 Speaker 1: time to stay there when the clock was ticking on 459 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: this bet it she was there is the possibility that 460 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 1: she may have had a romance during this time with 461 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: a fellow cyclist, a gentleman named Mark Johnson from San 462 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: Francisco's Olympic Cycling Club, who insisted on making the ride 463 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: from San Francisco to Los Angeles with her. That ride 464 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: took five weeks, so it meant that they averaged less 465 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: than ten miles a day on their bikes, even accounting 466 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: for an accident that happened early on. This seemed pretty 467 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: slow to a lot of people, and some folks started 468 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: pointing out that they actually might have done better on foot. 469 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: People were even dubious about her trip across North America. 470 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: There were rumors that if you asked railroad men if 471 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: they had seen her, they would say nothing but kind 472 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,639 Speaker 1: of give you a knowing wink. Finally, after lecturing and 473 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: riding her way across the continent, she made her way 474 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: home and then the following brief article appeared in the 475 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: New York Times on September. It was titled Miss London 476 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:58,399 Speaker 1: Dairy's Trip ended, and it is tag Boston, Massachusetts. Miss 477 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: Annie London Dairy arrived in the city this morning after 478 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,679 Speaker 1: a trip around the world on a bicycle. Miss Londonderry 479 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: is nursing a broken arm, the result of a bad 480 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: fall sustained in one of the western towns. On June 481 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: she started her trip around the world. She was given 482 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: a good send off by several hundred friends who were 483 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: at the State House where the start was made. Her trip, 484 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: she says, was made upon a wager she was to 485 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,919 Speaker 1: receive ten thousand dollars if she finished the journey in 486 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: fifteen months, and she feels proud of the record she 487 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: has made. On Thursday, September twelve, the journey came to 488 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,120 Speaker 1: an end in Chicago, fourteen days ahead of the time allowed. 489 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: In addition to the purse of ten thousand dollars, which 490 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: she says was handed over by the parties making the wager, 491 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: Miss Londonderry also accumulated five thousand dollars from lectures given 492 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: in the several countries and also by participating in exhibitions 493 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: of bicycle riding. This announcement was featured in The New 494 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: York Times over an article collecting more general cycling news 495 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: the day, including in the announcement that previous podcast subject 496 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: Heavy Green, the richest woman in America, had also started 497 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: riding a bicycle. So we've already said a lot of 498 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: this is is FIBs on her part. Outright lies. So 499 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,400 Speaker 1: how much of Annie's story was true probably not much 500 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,400 Speaker 1: of it at all. Uh. In fact, it's entirely possible 501 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: that even the wager that was supposed to have set 502 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,239 Speaker 1: this whole trip in motion never existed. The story of 503 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 1: the wager between two men, the ten thousand prize to 504 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: her if she accomplished this goal, and the five thousand 505 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: dollar earnings requirement was one that Annie told everywhere she went, 506 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: and it seemed to shift and grow and change along 507 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: the way. At some stops she told people that she 508 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: was forbidden, as part of this bet, from speaking any 509 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: language but English, and in other places she claimed that 510 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: she had to forego taking any work as a journalist, 511 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: since that was already her profession, and that using that 512 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: to make the five thousand dollar requirement would be considered cheating. 513 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: The first appearance of the story in a newspaper was 514 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: in February of eight nine four, with the headline that 515 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: read a woman to rival Paul Jones. Paul Jones was 516 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: a fake name adopted by a young man named E. C. 517 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: Peiffer was someone who had claimed that just a couple 518 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: of weeks earlier, that on a wager he would walk 519 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: around the world in a year. That enterprise had already 520 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 1: fallen apart and had been revealed as fake when this 521 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: second story hit the news. The article in the Boston 522 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: Daily Globe didn't mention Annie by name, but described a 523 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: young woman who, like her, was in her twenties, worked 524 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: for the papers, and was going to make a trip 525 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: by bicycle around the world in fifteen months on a wager. Yeah, 526 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: it's one of those things where because she did work 527 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: in the newspaper industry, it's entirely possible that she finagled 528 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: some connections to have this story place. The two businessmen 529 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: that were allegedly backing this wager were never clearly identified. 530 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: Sheep spat out a couple of names here and there, 531 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: and sometimes names appeared in various a articles, but no 532 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: one ever took responsibility for this huge bet, And even 533 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: when the story was breaking and Annie was wildly popular, 534 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: there were already articles that questioned the veracity of this 535 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: whole thing. Still, Annie ignored all of this and carried 536 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: on with her plan, although it seems like it was 537 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: maybe a plan entirely her own and no one else 538 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: was ever involved. She never, for example, gave any proof 539 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: of receipt of that ten thousand dollar payment, she just 540 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: stated to the press that she had received it in 541 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: the payment had been made. Also, Annie Kopchovsky had been 542 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: living a pretty mundane life at the time this whole 543 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: thing started. With plenty of high profile members of the 544 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,600 Speaker 1: women's movement at hand in Boston at the time. It 545 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: would have been really random for Annie, who wasn't particularly 546 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: active in that movement in any sort of official capacity, 547 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: to somehow find herself at the middle of this high 548 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 1: stakes wager over the matter of women's equality. But all 549 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: the various aspects of her story were really enticing to 550 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 1: the press and to the readers. The wager, the additional 551 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 1: earnings requirement, the time limit, and everything suggests that this 552 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: was really very carefully crafted. In October, so after her 553 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: trip was over, a story ran in the New York 554 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: Sunday World detailing Annie's entire adventure, and the byeline read 555 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: Nellie Blig Jr. Borrowing the name of the real journalist 556 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: Nellie Bligh, who became famous for her asylum expos a 557 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,719 Speaker 1: Ten Days in a Madhouse in the eighteen eighties, and 558 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: who also had taken a trip around the world, But 559 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: in this case, Nellie Bly Jr. Was Annie, further stoking 560 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: the fires of her own story. When Annie's trip around 561 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: the world ended and the press about it died down, 562 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: she settled into a less adventurous life again sort of. 563 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,959 Speaker 1: She had a brief foray in the fall of eighteen 564 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: where she helped to capture a so called wild man 565 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: who had been terrorizing the town of Royalston, Massachusetts. Her 566 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: work on the case was, of course, very embellished in 567 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: her own telling, and then she moved her family to 568 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: New York, where she started writing under the nomda plume 569 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: the New Woman for a while for the papers there. 570 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 1: She and Max added to their family with another baby 571 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,719 Speaker 1: in eight but Annie had a hard time adjusting to 572 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: her post travel life. She was most likely restless, and 573 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: she was the frequent recipient of correspondents from friends and 574 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: family who, believing that she had come into this great 575 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: sum of money at the end of her journey, wanted 576 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: financial help. Eventually, Annie left her family again for a while. 577 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: She traveled to northern California to work as a saleswoman 578 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 1: in a town called Yukaiah. The details of what led 579 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: her there are pretty mysterious, but in the early nineteen 580 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: hundreds she went back home to Max, and the family 581 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: opened a retail clothing store in the Bronx. Yeah, she 582 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: kind of settled into this retail life. After that. There 583 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: was a fire in the nineteen twenties that destroyed the 584 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: family business, so it really went on for quite some time. 585 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: But even after that, soon Annie opened another retail business. 586 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: This time she used the insurance money from that fire. 587 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: But she also had a business partner. Uh. This was 588 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: a gentleman whose name was Feldman, and apparently it was 589 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: just a stranger that she had struck up a conversation 590 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,959 Speaker 1: with in a restaurant, and the two of them hit 591 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: it off and decided to go into business together. Annie's husband, 592 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: Max died in nineteen forty six. They've been married for 593 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: fifty eight years. Annie continued on with life and work 594 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: for the next year, and then she died after a 595 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: stroke on November eleven nine. Even today, Annie's true motivations 596 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: for what seemed like a stunt remain a matter of speculation. 597 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,680 Speaker 1: She does seem to have been interested in clothing reform 598 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: for women, but as we said just a moment ago, 599 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: she hadn't been active in the women's movement in general. 600 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: Even taking into account her easier travels by boat and train, 601 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 1: Traveling the world alone was a difficult undertaking, so she 602 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: may have had myriad other reasons to go out into 603 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: the world and leave her family. Be mind, it could 604 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: have been just as simple as wanting to shake off 605 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: her expected role of wife and mother and have an adventure, 606 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,839 Speaker 1: which she surely did, and some people still categorize her 607 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: as you know, making this incredibly feminist move in doing so, 608 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,879 Speaker 1: even if this whole thing was a force in terms 609 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: of setup, and there is no doubt that she was 610 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: searching for notoriety and money as part of her drive 611 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: in all of this. It is one of those things 612 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: where unfortunately her correspondence does not survive, Like she was 613 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 1: writing letters home, but none of it has been found. 614 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,440 Speaker 1: Any letters that she received on the road do not 615 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: seem to have been maintained in any sort of way. 616 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,239 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of elements of guesswork in 617 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: terms of of what was really going on in her 618 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: head during all of this. Oh Annie, Yeah, she's sort 619 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:59,279 Speaker 1: of a marvelous fiber um. It's a fun story, but 620 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,760 Speaker 1: only part of it happened, Very little of it actually happened. 621 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:05,640 Speaker 1: I mean, she went on a cruise around the world, 622 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: which sounds pretty great, but yeah, she didn't. She didn't 623 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: do all the things she claimed to do. There is 624 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: you can find online, and there is a book written 625 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 1: about her, which is written by I believe her What 626 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,760 Speaker 1: would be her Great Nephew, which is a pretty fabulous 627 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,799 Speaker 1: biography and and one of my primary sources for this. 628 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: And you can see that photograph that she staged of 629 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 1: being robbed five bandits, and there's the whole moment of like, 630 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: here's this woman. There are two men holding her at gunpoint, 631 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 1: like one has a shotgun, I think, and it's like, well, 632 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: who's taking the picture instead of helping you, I'm just 633 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: gonna take this photograph. This lady looks like she's in 634 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 1: peril um but she's certainly she's a little bit of 635 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: you know, a Baron Munchausen in that way in the 636 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,359 Speaker 1: in the film thing not related to the disease after 637 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,759 Speaker 1: or the syndrome. Rather, uh yeah, who wouldn't want to 638 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: have a fun adventure. You don't have to fib about it. 639 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: Cruise around the world sounds great. Um. I have listener 640 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,760 Speaker 1: mail that actually just came in while we were recording. 641 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,280 Speaker 1: But it's so perfectly dovetails on this that I thought 642 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: we might as well use it. It's from our listener Jessica, 643 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 1: and she says, how do you ladies just listen to 644 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: your trans Atlantic cruising podcasts? See it ties In and 645 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: Herd a mention of my current company, hot Bag. I 646 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 1: hear we are still offering cruises specifically in Europe, but 647 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:35,080 Speaker 1: I work in the shipping cargo portion now called hapag Lloyd. 648 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,239 Speaker 1: I wanted to send a quick note and say thanks 649 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 1: for making my drives to see clients always interesting and 650 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 1: keep up the great work. Um. That was just too 651 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,800 Speaker 1: good in terms of fortuitous timing to have a company 652 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,799 Speaker 1: that we have talked about related to cruising on the 653 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 1: show at the time when we were talking about Annie 654 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,319 Speaker 1: Steamer cruise around the world, and also by total coincidence 655 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 1: at a time when many of the major I don't 656 00:36:57,719 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: know if it's all of them at this point, but 657 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 1: like all the major cruise lines operating from US ports 658 00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: have stopped and we will see when when we are 659 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 1: back to cruising. If you would like to write to us, 660 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 1: you can do so in History Podcast at I Heart 661 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 1: radio dot com. You can also find us on social 662 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: media as missed in History. If you'd like to subscribe 663 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:19,799 Speaker 1: to the podcast that sounds Grant, you can do that 664 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,360 Speaker 1: on the I heart Radio app, at Apple podcast or 665 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 1: wherever it is you listen. Stuff you missed in History 666 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. For more 667 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,640 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 668 00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.