1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to you Stuff you Should 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: Know from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: with me as always, Um, which makes this stuff you 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: should know? The stuff you should Yeah, that's what thinks 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: on it. Nice Joff, Thank you. Um, what are you doing? 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: I'm doing great. I feel like we just do this. 9 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to the show, are you Yeah? Because 10 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: it touches on parts of Atlanta in their in its history, 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: which I always loved, and that's this Atlanta man all 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: over the States, all over the States, Chuck as Uh, 13 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: the immortal David Byrne put it, you may find yourself 14 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: living in a shotgun check, and you may find yourself 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: in another part of the world. Mm hmm. I think 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: even David Byrne didn't realize what he was saying when 17 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: he put those two lines together. I think he meant 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: them to contrast with one another. But really, if you 19 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: found yourself in a shotgun check and say the beginning 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: of the nineteenth century, you probably were experiencing both. Yeah, yeah, 21 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: but he doesn't tip so now he doesn't care what 22 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: he said. That's crazy. Um So Chuck. You remember Hurricane Katrina, 23 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: Um I killed I believe people. There is a lot 24 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: of people. Um. And one of the things in addition 25 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: to all the loss of life and property was a 26 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: real worry about loss of very um specific type of architecture, 27 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: the shotgun house. And the reason even though you can 28 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: find it everywhere from Key West to Chicago to San Francisco, 29 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: all over the place. You can find shotgun houses Atlanta, UM. 30 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: The reason why people were worried about losing it in 31 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: New Orleans because as far as the United States goes, 32 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: that is where it was born. That's right. And the 33 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: whole reason anybody would even worry about a shotgun house, 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,119 Speaker 1: if you've ever seen one, you might think, why would 35 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: anyone care about losing old chalk gun houses is because 36 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: they are routinely cited as the great possibly greatest contribution 37 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: by African Americans to American specific architecture and design, and 38 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: not only that, responsible for the bringing together, in many 39 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: ways of the African American communities due to their things 40 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: that we're going to talk about, I was going to 41 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: ruin it. I thank you for saving it. That was 42 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: good man. Um, you've surely seen a shotgun house. Yeah, 43 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: let's talk about some of the features people. We should. Yeah, 44 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 1: because there's probably plenty of people out there and people 45 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 1: who have seen them and don't know what we're talking about. 46 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: You're about to go. Oh, if you haven't seen him, 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: then go onto how stuff works dot com and type 48 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: in what's the shotgun house and you will find some 49 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: images of shotgun houses in this article that I wrote. 50 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: That's true. You wrote this years and years ago. I 51 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: don't think I knew that. Nice job. Shotgun house is 52 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: long and narrow. A lot of times they won't have 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: windows on the side of the house, although in researching 54 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: this I saw plenty that do so that sometimes they don't. Yes, 55 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: And the reason why it's because they're often really close together, 56 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: like I mean, like a foot a couple of feet 57 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: you can maybe walk without turning between two houses. But 58 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: that's it exactly. Um. They well you just said they 59 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: were close to one another. Um, they have high ceilings. 60 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: They very few of them had indoor plumbing at first. 61 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: That was usually brought on later, um and tacked onto 62 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: the rear of the house. Sometimes crudely. Uh. Typically what 63 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: you have is living room, bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, all in 64 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: a row, all in a straight line, all the doors 65 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: lining up, interior doors lining up right. So when the 66 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: front and back doors open, you can see clear through 67 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: the house, which is one of the reasons why a 68 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: lot of people think it got its name. You could 69 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: shoot a gun or a shotgun through the front door 70 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: and it would exit out the back door without hitting 71 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: a single wall, and that would hit the house behind 72 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: it or some in And like you point out, Josh, 73 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,119 Speaker 1: it's a cute story, and it's all over the place. 74 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: I bet you there are many many tours of New 75 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: Orleans that'd say that story is true. May or may 76 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: not be. It probably isn't. Um. What else is? What 77 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: else is specific about shotgun houses? Chuck? Uh? They aside 78 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: from being a modest homes, they have certain architectural flourishes 79 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: that make them distinctive. Um. I think the idea was 80 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 1: kind of like, you know, we may be or and 81 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: not have the biggest house, but we can certainly adorn 82 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: the the vent venting greats and what the the arbor 83 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: that held up the not the arbor brackets, brackets held 84 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: up the roof they would be intricately carved, usually in 85 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: a gingerbread design, um, which a lot of people kind 86 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: of criticize her pooh pooed that addition, um as uh 87 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: poor blacks or even before that slave's just trying to 88 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: emulate whites um, which is not the case because if 89 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: you trace so, the shotgun house finds its origins in 90 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: the US and New Orleans, but if you go even 91 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: further back, you'll find older ones on Haiti, and then 92 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: even further back you will find something that looks started 93 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: startlingly similar. Um. In West Africa and in the Yoruba tongue, 94 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: these houses are called to gun, which means house in Yoruba, 95 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: or showgun, which means God's house. So probably that's where 96 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: the name comes from. By ways, to gun or showgun 97 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: from the Oruba dialect, right, which I love. UM. But 98 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: in these houses they also had like intricate details, but 99 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: they were more of an African motif. Over time here 100 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: in the United States they adopted gingerbreadin or Um Victorian. Yeah, 101 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: different kinds of carvings, but it is very cool. It's 102 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: kind of like this is a very modest, straightforward house, 103 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,479 Speaker 1: but there's also pretty neat little details we can still 104 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: have like great pride in it. Um. They were usually 105 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: New Orleans. They were typically if you feed off the 106 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: ground because of the obvious flooding problems there. Um. And 107 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: this I found and it seems believable to me, but 108 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: I didn't have time to triple check it um. At 109 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: the time, property taxes were based on frontage still are man, 110 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 1: are they in New Orleans? If you have a house, 111 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: you're paying by them. The frontage, which is the width 112 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,600 Speaker 1: of your house. Yes, and if you are looking at 113 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: a shotgun house is very nar but it's long, right um. 114 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: And the number of rooms and in New Orleans, I 115 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: thought they changed it to the number of rooms. They 116 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: added that on. Yeah, it's both okay uh. And in 117 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: New Orleans rooms include hallways and closets and you're not 118 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: going to find a hallway or a closet in a 119 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: shotgun house. So it's also another way to um, I 120 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: guess keep your property taxes low as well well. And 121 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: I found that they originally it was just frontage, and 122 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: then so they started building the camelbacks, which is a 123 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: shotgun house with the second story on the rear of 124 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: the house only. And then that's when the city said, oh, well, 125 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: we should tack rooms onto this as well, because these 126 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: smart people have found a way around paying, as you know, 127 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: property tax. Pretty smart. Yeah, it does, it makes it 128 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: makes sense. And I also found that the first mentioned 129 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: in print calling them shotgun houses was in our very 130 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: own Atlanta Journal Constitution in nineteen o three, a classified 131 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: ad may have been the first time that it was 132 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: actually named that in print, and it was like shotgun 133 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: house twelve dollars a month rent. Yeah, twelve bucks. That's 134 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: not too bad. But you could get a shotgun house 135 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: about that time a kit for a hundred bucks. Um. 136 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: They also allowed for good air flow too, I want 137 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: to mention, yeah, because you can open up the front 138 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: and back doors and you got a straight shot. Well, 139 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: that's one of the reasons why they were adopted in Haiti. 140 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: Not everybody in Haiti was from West Africa, but that 141 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: became the predominant style, this West African design house, because 142 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,439 Speaker 1: it fit in really well with the tropics, all right. 143 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: So well, it made its way from Haitia to New 144 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: Orleans because of the well in indirectly because of the 145 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: French Revolution. Right, So French Revolution takes place and you've 146 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: got um, liberty, legality, fraternity to all people. That put 147 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: French planners in Haiti in kind of a pickle because 148 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: they couldn't grant liberty to their slaves because wouldn't have 149 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: any profits any longer. So as they're figuring this out, 150 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: they're trying to figure out what to do, a guy 151 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: named Toussaint low Mature makes the decision for him and 152 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: leads a slave uprising that lasts for many years and 153 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: basically drives all of the white plantation owners from the 154 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: island of Haiti, one of the places that they went. 155 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: And then Haiti became the first UM recognized sovereign maroon 156 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: nation of freed slaves revolting slaves UM, which is pretty cool. 157 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: But that also led to, if you go back and 158 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: listen to our voodoo podcast, a deep and abiding suspicion 159 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: by whites of Haiti all things Haiti from that point 160 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: on UM. But so that this slave uprising that led 161 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: to the UM. The freeing of Haiti also led to 162 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: the white populating of New Orleans. So about that time, 163 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: if you went to New Orleans, there about twelve thousand people, 164 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: and the third of them were slaves. The third of 165 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,439 Speaker 1: them were white, and then a third of them were 166 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: free blacks, so it's it's real melting pot UM and 167 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: one of the place one of the things that came 168 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: about from that was people fleeing Haiti bringing the shotgun 169 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: houses with them, and then it just kind of it 170 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 1: was always African American UM and it was always associated 171 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,839 Speaker 1: with African Americans, and it just kind of spread from 172 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: there to where if you if you came across the 173 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: working class African American neighborhood like in Chicago or something 174 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: like that, you're going to see shotgun houses or Atlanta, 175 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: like I've mentioned many times. Uh, if if you are local, 176 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: then you can see these kinds of houses in like 177 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,559 Speaker 1: the Sweet Auburn district, Cabbage Down and I think Cabbage 178 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: Town where they were houses for factory workers for the 179 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: nearby cotton mill offt and uh factories. Yeah, it changed hands. UM. Also, 180 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: you're gonna find them directly across the street from Martin 181 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: Luther King's birthplace UM in the King Memorial area. The 182 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: whole park is UM. There's still people that live in 183 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: them and they been pretty well preserved over there. Yeah, 184 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: it's very cool, but those were like late nineteenth century built, 185 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: but it did kind of transition from African American only 186 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: to working class of all colors. The shotgun house became 187 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: kind of an emblem of the working class as much 188 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: as African Americans now. Is a is a row house 189 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: the same thing? Or is a row house? Just know 190 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: those are side by side, like touching, sometimes all forming 191 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: one large building, but then maybe different gables differentiating them. 192 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: A shotgun a shotgun house could be a rowhouse, but 193 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: a rowhouse can't be a shotgun house, because then row 194 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: house indicate like the proximity to one another more than 195 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: the style of the house. Or no, I think it's both, yeah, 196 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: And then the shotgun house is not supposed to be 197 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: confused with the railroad house either, which is you enter 198 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: and there's a long hallway from front to back. In 199 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,319 Speaker 1: the off of the hallway are rooms apart mints. My 200 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: friend Mereth in New York, in Brooklyn, lives in a 201 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: railroad department, which was always a little weird because like, 202 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: in order for like when I would stay there, I 203 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: would stay in the living room, and when someone had 204 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom, they would have to walk 205 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: through the living room to get to the bath It's 206 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,199 Speaker 1: always awkward. Or she could go outside through the hallway 207 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: and then come back in because she had two doors 208 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: to her apartment. It still does. I So, Chuck, we 209 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: were talking about where else they spread. There's UM also 210 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: a lot of them in Oklahoma, especially southern Oklahoma. Yeah. 211 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons why is because southern Oklahoma, 212 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: the Oklahoma Territory Um before it became a state, was 213 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: a free black area and a lot of blacks traveled 214 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: to Oklahoma to moved to Oklahoma to be free, and 215 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: a lot of runaway slaves maroons is what they're called, 216 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: formed and integrated with um Native American tribes like the Seminoles. 217 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: And when these five civilized tribes and making air quotes 218 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: like furiously um were moved to the Oklahoma Territory Um, 219 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: a lot of blacks went with them, and shotgun houses 220 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: showed up alongside. The whole thing awesome, And there's like 221 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: all black towns are formerly all black towns in southern 222 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: Oklahoma where it's like shotgun houses everywhere. Yeah. So, Chuck, 223 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: if you ask me, I feel like, now we've reached 224 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 1: the point where this is the fact of the show. 225 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: And I know you're excited about this one. Well, it's 226 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: cool they um. It's one of the reasons I talked 227 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: about why the cultural legacy of the shotgun home had 228 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: a lot to do with bringing together the African American 229 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: community is because of a little something called the front porch. Yeah, 230 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: they didn't exist in the United States before the shotgun 231 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: house brought it along. So shotgun houses are typically I 232 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: mean a lot of them actually were so far forward 233 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: that they were on the sidewalk, But the ones that 234 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: weren't had a few feet of grass and then a 235 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: front porch to hang out on. And in a small house, 236 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: you're going to congregate on the front porch. And in 237 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: the evenings, if your neighbors on our front porch five 238 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: ft from you and there are five feet from another one, 239 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: then what you have is a big, old, friendly cultural 240 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: block party going on every evening, and the porch is 241 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: made it's a spandrel I guess of the overhanging roof. 242 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: And then if you add the fact that in New Orleans, 243 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: like you said, they were built off of the ground. 244 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: Some you have to build step to go up to it, 245 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: and then you have just buy you have a de 246 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: facto porch. And then yeah, you add a bunch of 247 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: them together and there you go. So we didn't have porchs. 248 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: So like these huge wraparound porches on old like plantation 249 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: mansions stoops in New York, like all of this stuff 250 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: can be traced back to the shotgun house. Really, yeah, 251 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: that's crazy, And thank you for that, shotgun house builders, 252 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: because one of my favorite things is the front porch 253 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: or porch. Good good ports. It's very important. Yeah, you know, 254 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: shotgun houses started to wane in the twenties, and it 255 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: wasn't It wasn't until fairly recently that we knew the 256 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: history of shotgun houses. That architects um went back and 257 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: and art historians went back and figured out where this 258 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: all came from and traced it step by step. I 259 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: mean it was within the last like a couple of 260 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: decades um. And they were like, okay, we found some 261 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: shotgun houses and these are really old, and they date 262 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: them and they'd be like, okay, New Orleans is the birthplace. 263 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: And then somebody be like, have you been to Port 264 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: of Prince Like they got some they're really really old there, 265 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: and then they traced them back and then somebody figured 266 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: out that they were from West Africa. But the new 267 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: construction in the United States waned in the twenties, and 268 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: like I said about the turn of the last century, 269 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: you could get a kit for about a hundred bucks, 270 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: which also made them really good cheap housing for labor. 271 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: Um if you had like a work camp, you probably 272 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,040 Speaker 1: shotgun house. Yeah, exactly. Um, And they were all a 273 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: really good for disaster release. Specifically, they made a big 274 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: appearance in the San Francisco earthquake of nineteen o six. Well, yeah, 275 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: they needed to put up displaced people. And when you 276 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: can build a house for a hundred bucks, then you 277 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: do so exactly. And when it can be pre fabricated 278 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: and then taking apart in like six large parts, put 279 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: on a train and sent somewhere and then put back 280 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: together within like a couple of hours, it's like a 281 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: waffle house. Yeah, it's exactly like a waffle house. As 282 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: a matter of fact, I think you can go out 283 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: on a limb and say, we wouldn't have the waffle 284 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: house without the shotgun house. I think you're right. Uh. 285 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: Little pop culture, Yeah, you already mentioned David Byrne uh Coogs. 286 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: John Mellencamp my boy Coogs. Pink Houses was about a 287 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: shotgun house. Apparently his legend has it. He was driving 288 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: on a busy main road and he saw this little 289 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: black guy sitting on the front porch of his little 290 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: pink shotgun house. Gave him, gave him a wave, and 291 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: he said he just looked like he was as happy 292 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: as could be sitting out on his porch. And uh, 293 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: I wrote a song about it. That's nice, and and 294 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: that the album that I was on too, Yeah, I 295 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: think so great song. Elvis Presley was born in the 296 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: shotgun house, Oh yeah, in uh yeah, Mississippi, which is 297 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: where I have family actually, And Aaron Neville grew up 298 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: in a shotgun house, the incomparable and muscly Man and Moley. 299 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: But boy man that I can sing, yeah like a bird, 300 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: pretty good, Aaron Neville as me. Um, shotgun houses are 301 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: making a resurgence too, by the way, are they building 302 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: them again? Yes, there's this thing called the tiny house movement. 303 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that and the whole idea of living modestly 304 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: in the house you can afford that um grants a 305 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: very small carbon footprint. Ye, shotgun houses fit that. Bill. 306 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: I like the tiny house thing. I think I think 307 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: actually Emily might have written an article about that. Is 308 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: that right? If I'm not mistaken or maybe it was me. 309 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: Somebody did somebody in our family? Did I remember I 310 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: remember it happening? Was it Buckley a few years ago? Yeah? 311 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: Buckley wrote it. Um, you got anything else, no go, 312 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: you know, seek out local historic landmarks that might be 313 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: easily overlooked when you're angry in traffic. Yeah. And when 314 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: next time you pass the shotgun house, like, stop and 315 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: look at it, and you'll see some pretty cool little 316 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: details to it. Ask him to open the door so 317 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,959 Speaker 1: you can shoot a gun through it. Let do that. 318 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: Don't do that, man, that was a reversal. I was like, no, 319 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: don't do it, Chuck said normally around Uh. And if 320 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,440 Speaker 1: you're ever in Atlanta, Chuck and I always recommend going 321 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 1: to the King Memorial Center, the place where he's buried, 322 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,679 Speaker 1: where the eternal flame is in all of the surrounding area. 323 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: Um is like a living museum. Preserved house is just awesome. 324 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: One of my favorite parts in Atlanta for sure. Um. So, 325 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: if you want to learn more about shotgun houses and 326 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: see pictures of shotgun houses, you can type the words 327 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: shotgun house two words into the sir to bar at 328 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com and that'll bring up this 329 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: article that I wrote, and I said search bar, which 330 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: means it's time for a listener mail. Josh, I'm gonna 331 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: call this beast email. Hey, guys, did you did you 332 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: read this one? Um? I just listened to the Music 333 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 1: Sampling Podcast. We got a lot of good feedback on that. 334 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 1: But man, everybody loved that. It was a good and 335 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: a lot of people offered up like people that know 336 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: way more than us offered up a lot of cool insight. Yeah, 337 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: we get getting called out for not mentioning girl talk. 338 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: I've never heard girl talk, so I don't feel bad. 339 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: But everyone we know about girl talk. Now, Okay, guys 340 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: that just listened to the Music Sampling Podcast wanted to 341 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: say how great it was that you featured the Beastie 342 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: Boys so prominently in the show. But I share a 343 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: little story when I met them during your nineteen seven 344 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: Licensed Build tour in Las Vegas when I was fifteen. 345 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 1: So this girl must be my age because I saw 346 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: that tour and I was about to wow. All right. 347 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: They performed in a concert hall on the un l 348 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: V campus, so it was easy to get to the 349 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: area where their tour bus was because I lived in 350 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 1: the bleachers. They were inviting every female they saw back 351 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: to their hotel for a party, including fifteen year olds. 352 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: Well they were only like eighteen nineteen. Still, well, I know, 353 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: but you get to be forty and you're like, what's 354 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,200 Speaker 1: the big difference of five years? Man, that's back then. 355 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, it's not like they were like years older, 356 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: all right, I'm defending their pedophilia. Uh. By the time 357 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,120 Speaker 1: we got there, the party had taken over the ninth 358 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 1: floor and had already been shut down. We got to 359 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: say hi to m c A before being escorted away 360 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: by security for curfew violation. But I was determined. I 361 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 1: skipped school the next day went back to the hotel, 362 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: basically casing the joint. I ended up finding m c A, 363 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: who remembered me from the night before. I said, how 364 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: did he said? Hi? Very nice? What you heard waiting 365 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: on that one? I ended up spending the whole day 366 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: with the guys, chatting, playing arcade games, while king over 367 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: to a seven eleven with a very hungover ad Rock, 368 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: and even helping load their bags onto the tour bus. 369 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: They were only nineteen twenty and twenty one at the time, 370 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: very unassuming, so they weren't getting much attention. I felt 371 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: like a little sister tagging along with their super cool 372 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: older brothers. That is very cool. At one point m 373 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: c A offered me a tour of the bus. We 374 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: got on and he closed the door and said, now 375 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: we cannot do all sorts of things that you're going 376 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: to tell all your friends. We did anyway, he was 377 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: really hysterical, so he was like he was still a gentleman, unfortunately, 378 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: and he's like a Buddhist now and he unfortunately I 379 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: had not thought to bring a camera with me, so 380 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: I have no picks. I did get her auto document 381 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 1: any of this happened. Now she does um. I did 382 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:44,919 Speaker 1: get their autographs, but the only paper I had in 383 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: my jacket was old school snoopy Valentines. I had thought 384 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: could give up friends. I still treasured my three snoopy Valentines, 385 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: each one with their autographs, and she sent pictures of them. 386 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: That's cool. I stayed until they left around six at night. 387 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 1: I naively asked m c A if he would write 388 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 1: to me. He answered with an honest no, and gave 389 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,160 Speaker 1: me a very sweet kiss on the cheek. I loved 390 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,239 Speaker 1: it that they have continued to rise on popularity and 391 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: her given the respect of being true innovators in the 392 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: field first year, that is Ali Smith and she got 393 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: kissed on the cheek by a very sweet sounding m 394 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: C And all your fifteen year olds out there, you 395 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: better be at home sleeping. Yeah, don't be hanging out 396 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: with twenty one year old dudes, especially not the girl 397 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,399 Speaker 1: talk people. Those guys are girls. I think girl talks 398 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: a guy's dear clear that girl talked to um. Let's see, 399 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: what do you want to call out for? Mm hmm. 400 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: Do you live in a shotgun house? No? I guess yeah, 401 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 1: if you have like a house with an interesting history, 402 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: we did that one, but let's do it again that boy. Um, 403 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: if you live in a house with an interesting history, 404 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: or you flung out with the beastie boys, we want 405 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: to hear those. You can write to us at uh 406 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: let's see. You can tweet to us at s y 407 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: s K podcast. That's our handled Facebook dot com. Slash 408 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: Stuff you should Know is us on Facebook and you 409 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: can send us an email at Stuff Podcast at Discovery 410 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:17,920 Speaker 1: dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 411 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot com h Brought to 412 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera, it's ready. 413 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: Are you