1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. So I don't really remember exactly 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 2: where I stumbled over this, but it was one of 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 2: those things that got an overlapping oh really what and 7 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 2: oh yeah? That tracks in my brain like it was 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 2: a simultaneous surprised, disbelief and total lack of surprise all 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 2: at the same time. And a lot of the world 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 2: today chickens that are raised for their meat are just 11 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 2: a lot different from the chickens of a century ago. 12 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 2: They are so much bigger. That's not the surprising part. 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:49,959 Speaker 2: The surprising part was that a big reason for this 14 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 2: is that in the nineteen forties, the US Department of 15 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 2: Agriculture and the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company aka 16 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 2: A and P Supermarkets, they teamed up to hold a 17 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: contest to see who could breed the mediest, most efficient, 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 2: most visually appealing chicken. So this is a story that 19 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 2: combines the history of factory farming with the history of supermarkets, 20 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 2: and it has had just an enormous impact on farming 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 2: and on food all around. 22 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:19,919 Speaker 1: The world. 23 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 2: Also, this is just one piece of the greater history 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 2: of the industrialization of agriculture. We could have pretty similar 25 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: episodes about other ways that people have influenced other animals 26 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 2: and plants to make them more productive or easier to harvest, 27 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 2: or generally more profitable, although those other stories might not 28 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 2: have the A and P involved. Today's episode, though, is 29 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 2: about raising chickens as food for people, and a lot 30 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 2: of the general patterns that we're talking about are really 31 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 2: not unique to chickens. So if you're thinking, why aren't 32 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 2: they talking about cows because this episode is about the 33 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 2: chicken episode, Yeah, So we're gonna start with some background 34 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 2: on chickens and chicken breeding. Today's chickens were first domesticated 35 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 2: from red jungle fowl or Gallus gallas, which is a 36 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 2: tropical bird native to Southeast Asia. Based on research we 37 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: talked about in one of our Unearthed episodes last year, 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 2: this probably happened in what's now central Thailand sometime between 39 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 2: sixteen fifty and twelve fifty BCE, but other research has 40 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 2: suggested other parts of Asia as well, and in some 41 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 2: cases on an earlier timeline. The domestic chicken or Gallus 42 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 2: gallus domesticus was then introduced to the rest of Asia, Europe, 43 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 2: and Africa, reaching a lot of the eastern hemisphere by 44 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 2: about eight hundred BCE. Chickens were also carried from the 45 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 2: Indian subcontinent to islands in the Pacific, and from there 46 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: to the Americas. Chickens were introduced into what's now Chile 47 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 2: at least a century before Columbus's first voyage to the 48 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 2: Americas in fourteen ninety two. Colonists and slave traders also 49 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: introduced chickens from Europe and Africa into North America starting 50 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 2: around the seventeenth century, so chickens were introduced to the 51 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 2: Americas from both the East and the west. Europeans brought 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 2: domestic chickens to New Zealand in seventeen seventy three and 53 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 2: to Australia in seventeen eighty eight. 54 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: In a lot of places, but certainly not everywhere, Archaeological 55 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: evidence suggests that for centuries chickens were mostly associated with 56 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: the wealthiest, most elite people, and in Europe, the oldest 57 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: archaeological evidence of domesticated chickens suggests they were not being 58 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: eaten as food. Their skeletons are intact and there are 59 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: not any cut or bite marks on those bones. Eventually, though, 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: people in Europe and in Europe's colonies in the Americas 61 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: did start to eat chickens. For the most part, though 62 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: the chickens were not being raised for that purpose. They 63 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: were being raised for their eggs, so hens would be 64 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: killed and eaten after their egg production slowed down or stopped, 65 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: or maybe if they never started laying in the first place. 66 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: The meat from older hens tended to be tough, so 67 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: their meat was typically stewed or otherwise slow cooked in 68 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: some way to make it more tender. The other major 69 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: source of meat was male chickens or cockrels that would 70 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: be culled out of the flock before they were old 71 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: enough to start fertilizing the hens eggs, and then they 72 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: would be fattened. 73 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 2: Up for slaughter. 74 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: In a lot of places, all of this was considered 75 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: women's work, sometimes with the help of their children. Women 76 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: raised the chickens, gathered the eggs, and slaughtered, dressed, and 77 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: cooked them. They often earned money for their households by 78 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: selling extra eggs or selling the chickens that were being slaughtered. 79 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: Prior to the US Civil War, chickens were also often 80 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: the only livestock that enslaved people were allowed to raise 81 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: for themselves, so enslaved people would raise chickens for food. 82 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: In some cases they were able to sell the eggs 83 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: or the meat to their enslavers or to other people 84 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: in the area to earn their own money. Beyond that, though, 85 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: chicken just wasn't an everyday food for most people. Before 86 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: the development of reliable refrigeration and freezing technology, cockrels were 87 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: usually a seasonal food after they were culled from the 88 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: flock in late spring. Chicken meat was also generally a 89 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: lot more expensive than it is today. There were fewer 90 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: chickens being sold, and the chickens themselves were a lot smaller, 91 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: so to many consumers, chicken was not an everyday staple. 92 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: It was for special occasions or Sunday dinners, or was 93 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: maybe even a luxury that was usually out of reach. 94 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 2: Over the course of the nineteenth century, people in Europe 95 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: and North America started developing new breeds of domestic chicken. 96 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 2: That's built on the work of Robert Bakewell, who lived 97 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 2: in the eighteenth century during the British Agricultural Revolution. We 98 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 2: talked about this period and episode on Jethro Tull and 99 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 2: the Seed Drill, which came out in December of twenty 100 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 2: twenty one. This was a period of massive change in 101 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 2: virtually every aspect of British agriculture, including land use, animal husbandry, 102 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 2: methods for preparing and using the soil for crops, and 103 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 2: the development of new agricultural machines. Bakewell's work was specifically 104 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 2: in livestock breeding. In a lot of ways, Bakewell was 105 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 2: building on what was already known for millennia. People have 106 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 2: understood that living beings can inherit various traits from their ancestors, 107 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 2: although the start of genetics as a modern science was 108 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: still decades away when Bakewell was living, and breeds of 109 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 2: animals already existed all over the world, adapted to things 110 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 2: like the environment they were living in, the food they 111 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 2: had to eat, and what. 112 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: People wanted them to do. People have also been selectively 113 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: breeding animals, at least to some extent, for kind of 114 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: as long as we've been domesticating them. But Well was 115 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: particularly careful and methodical about what he was doing, and 116 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: he established practices that became really influential. 117 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 2: For example, he set specific goals for the traits that 118 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: he wanted to focus on and what he wanted to 119 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 2: achieve with those traits. He separated his herds and flocks 120 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 2: according to the animal's sex, allowing only specifically chosen animals 121 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 2: to breed with one another. He chose animals that had 122 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 2: the traits that he wanted to encourage, and then he 123 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 2: encouraged those same traits even more through inbreeding. He called 124 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 2: this breeding in and in. He also culled animals that 125 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 2: had undesirable traits out of his herds and flocks, and 126 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 2: he helped popularize the practice of using male animals with 127 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 2: particularly desirable traits for stud This not only encouraged those 128 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 2: same traits among other farmers animals, but it also demonstrated 129 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 2: whether Bakewell had successfully bred an animal that could pass 130 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 2: those traits on. This carefully managed breeding had a big 131 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 2: impact on the animals bake Well worked with. In particular, 132 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 2: he developed or improved on breeds of cattle so that 133 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 2: they would be well suited for work while also providing 134 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 2: good meat, rather than primarily being working animals with meat 135 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 2: as an afterthought. He similarly developed sheep for both their 136 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 2: meat and their wool, rather than primarily wool production. His 137 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: two biggest successes were probably in his breed improvements to 138 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 2: Leicestershire longhorn cattle and Leicester sheep, but there were also downsides. 139 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 2: It's possible that his use and promotion of inbreeding contributed 140 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 2: to health problems among the animals, including making some breeds 141 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 2: of sheep more susceptible to the prion disease known as scrapie. 142 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 2: To return to chickens, in the nineteenth century, people in 143 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 2: Europe and North America started using these same basic ideas 144 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 2: to develop new breeds of rabbits and chickens and to 145 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 2: enhances existing breeds. By the eighteen fifties, breeding animals and 146 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 2: plants to enhance their beauty or their uniqueness was known 147 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:13,079 Speaker 2: as fancying. In addition to breeding rabbits and chickens, fanciers 148 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 2: started establishing official standards for the various breeds, something that 149 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 2: would later be done for pigeons, dogs, cats, and other animals. 150 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: And now you know why magazines are called things like 151 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: cat fancy. 152 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 2: I always thought that it just meant fancy. Yes, I 153 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 2: did not realize there was a thread that was about 154 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 2: making them more distinctive and beautiful. 155 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: This early interest in chicken fancying contributed to a more 156 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: robust understanding of inheritance and breeding among chicken farmers than 157 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,959 Speaker 1: among farmers who worked with a lot of other animals. 158 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: That's not to suggest that other farmers were clueless, just 159 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,959 Speaker 1: as a general rule, chicken breeding was a little bit 160 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: farther along in the early twentieth century. There was also 161 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: a lot of overlap among fanciers, breeders, and geneticists. It 162 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: wasn't until the late nineteen teens that animal breeding and 163 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: genetics started to be seen as two different but intersecting fields. 164 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 2: All this together means that when a contest was proposed 165 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 2: in the nineteen forties to see which breeder could produce 166 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,679 Speaker 2: the best broiler chicken, chicken farmers were really ready for it, 167 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 2: and we will get to that after a sponsor break. 168 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 2: In the first decades of the twentieth century, a couple 169 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 2: of innovations really affected the way US chicken farmers could 170 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 2: develop their flocks. The first was the decision of US 171 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 2: Postmaster General as Burlison to allow live chicks to be 172 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 2: sent through the mail. That decision was made in nineteen eighteen, 173 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 2: so as chicks are hatching, they consumed the last of 174 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 2: yoke from inside of their eggs. And that provides them 175 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 2: with nourishment for about the first forty eight to seventy 176 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 2: two hours of their life. That allows chicks who are 177 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 2: being cared for by their mothers to survive for a 178 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 2: couple of days until all of their siblings have hatched 179 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 2: and she's able to leave the nest. It also allows 180 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 2: chicks to survive a couple of days in the mail 181 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 2: in a specially designed box that's made to physically protect 182 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 2: them while also making sure they have good airflow and 183 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,599 Speaker 2: are at the right temperature in transit. The other development 184 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 2: was the first electrically heated egg incubator, which debuted in 185 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty three. This was not the first egg incubator 186 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 2: by any stretch. There is evidence of incubators in both 187 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,319 Speaker 2: Egypt and China as far back as four thousand years ago. 188 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 2: These were buildings heated with fires, which required someone to 189 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 2: be on hand around the clock to keep the temperature 190 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 2: steady and to tend to the eggs. By the late 191 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 2: nineteenth and early twentieth century, the incubators had been developed 192 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 2: that incorporated thermostats so a person didn't have to monitor 193 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 2: the temperature quite so closely. 194 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: Some of these were like small cabinets heated with hot water, 195 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: and others were whole rooms or even buildings, but electric 196 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: models were easier to manage as long as the person 197 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: had access to a reliable electricity source. 198 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 2: This meant that farmers who wanted to add new chickens 199 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 2: to their flocks could buy chicks and have those chicks 200 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 2: sent to them through the mail rather than losing their 201 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,959 Speaker 2: laying hens for about three weeks while they incubated their 202 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 2: own eggs, and people who sold the chicks could do 203 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 2: the same. They could produce more chicks than they would 204 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 2: be if the hens were incubating them, because the hens 205 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 2: eventually stopped laying new eggs to sit on them until 206 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 2: they hatch. At about the same time that all this 207 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 2: was happening, refrigeration was also making it possible for people 208 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 2: to ship eggs and meat over greater distances and to 209 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 2: store them for longer in their homes. The first refrigerated 210 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 2: cars were developed in the late nineteenth century and used 211 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 2: ice tanks and insulation to keep their contents cool. People 212 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 2: were also using ice boxes to keep foods cool in 213 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 2: their homes in the nineteenth century. 214 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: Although that required a steady supply of large blocks of 215 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: ice The first mechanical refrigerator for home use in the 216 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: US debuted in nineteen thirteen. The first mechanically cooled trucks 217 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,199 Speaker 1: were developed in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties. 218 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: Over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, various people 219 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 2: in the United States started trying to raise chickens specifically 220 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 2: for their meat rather than for their eggs. But the 221 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 2: first person to be really successful at it was the 222 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 2: Seal Steel of Ocean Viewed, Delaware. This is on the 223 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 2: del Marva Peninsula that's east of Washington, d c. And Baltimore, 224 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 2: and the peninsula includes parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 225 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 2: That's where its name comes from. In nineteen twenty three, 226 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 2: Steel ordered fifty chicks to supplement her flock of laying hens, 227 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 2: and somewhere in that process, an extra zero got added 228 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 2: to her order, and she wound up with five hundred 229 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 2: of them. She and her husband, Wilmer, decided to make 230 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 2: the best of this situation and built sheds to house 231 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 2: these extra chicks in. Once they were grown, weighing about 232 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 2: two and a half pounds apiece, she was able to 233 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 2: sell them for sixty seven cents a pound. 234 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: The next year, Steel ordered more chickens on purpose, this 235 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: time one thousand of them. Eventually, her broiler business became 236 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: so large and successful that her husband left his job 237 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: at the Coast Guard to help her with it. By 238 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty six, they were raising ten thousand birds a year. 239 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: Their business was so successful that they eventually bought a yacht, 240 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: although they were killed in an explosion aboard that yacht 241 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: on October seventh, nineteen forty. 242 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 2: Cecil Steel's first accidental chick order is often cited as 243 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 2: the start of the Delmarva Peninsula's poultry industry, and in 244 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy four, one of her original broiler houses was 245 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 2: listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Delmarva 246 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 2: Peninsula also became a major source of chicken meat for 247 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 2: Jewish communities and cities in the northeastern United States, particularly 248 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 2: New York. Chicken meat was more popular among Jewish people 249 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 2: than among many other groups because of Jewish dietary laws. 250 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 2: At first, most of the chickens that were raised in 251 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 2: the area were transported to New York, where they would 252 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 2: be processed according to Jewish law. Kosher processing plants started 253 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 2: to be built on the peninsula in the nineteen thirties. 254 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 2: Other discoveries were being made around these same years as well. 255 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 2: A big one involved improvements to chicken feed, especially the 256 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 2: nutrient content of that feed. People had started figuring out 257 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 2: that specific foods seemed to prevent or treat specific diseases 258 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: in the eighteenth century, but the first vitamins weren't isolated 259 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 2: until the early twentieth century. More nutritious feed wasn't necessarily 260 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 2: about a better happier life for the chickens, though. Farmers 261 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 2: had figured out that chickens grew much faster if they 262 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 2: were confined indoors rather than being outdoors. Being indoors also 263 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 2: helped protect them from predators. Outdoor chickens usually stop laying 264 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 2: in the winter, but keeping them indoors with controlled heating 265 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 2: and artificial light also meant that they could provide more 266 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 2: consistent egg supply year round. But without exposure to natural sunlight, 267 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 2: confined chickens developed leg weakness and other physical issues because 268 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 2: their bodies couldn't produce enough vitamin D. Vitamin D was 269 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 2: first discovered in the nineteen twenties, and by the nineteen 270 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 2: thirties farmers were adding cod liver oil, which is rich 271 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 2: in vitamin D into their feed, making it more possible 272 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 2: to confine them indoors. Of course, being confined indoors also 273 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 2: allowed diseases to spread through flocks very rapidly. In the 274 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 2: early twentieth century, a major threat was best Sillery white 275 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 2: diarrhea caused by Salmonilla polorum bacteria. People started looking for 276 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 2: ways to prevent illnesses among chickens while still keeping them confined. 277 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 2: For example, one of the businesses Cceal and Wilmer Steel 278 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 2: moved into toward the end of their lives involved providing 279 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 2: vaccines for chickens. By nineteen thirty five, the US Department 280 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 2: of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Industry had launched the National 281 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 2: Poultry Improvement Plan to try to improve sanitation and reduce 282 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,640 Speaker 2: disease at chicken farms, test birds for illnesses, and encourage 283 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 2: consistency and uniformity among the flocks. Diseases continue to be 284 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 2: an issue in the poultry industry, though, for example, other 285 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 2: species of Salmonilla bacteria are a major source of food 286 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 2: borne illness from both chicken and eggs. In the United States. 287 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 2: Pick In rose in popularity during World War II as 288 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 2: a food source because it wasn't being subject to rationing 289 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 2: in the way most other meats were. People who had 290 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 2: the space were also encouraged to keep backyard flocks for 291 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 2: both eggs and meat. That was something that had been 292 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 2: encouraged during World War One as well. Although rationing ended 293 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 2: in the United States for everything but sugar by the 294 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 2: end of nineteen forty five, there were still shortages of 295 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 2: a lot of meats after the war, as the United 296 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 2: States provided food aid to other countries. So chicken meat 297 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 2: continued to be in high demand, and that's what ultimately 298 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 2: led to an effort to basically redesign the chicken, moving 299 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 2: away from birds that were bred primarily for their egg 300 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 2: production and toured ones that grew quickly with lots of 301 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 2: meat on their breast, legs, and thighs. It would be 302 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,479 Speaker 2: the chicken of tomorrow, and it would cost less per 303 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 2: pound than red meat did. The Chicken of Tomorrow contest 304 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 2: was a partnership, as we said earlier, between the USDA 305 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 2: and ANP grocery stores, and it had multiple overlapping objectives. 306 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 2: One was to provide consumers with a cheaper, more readily 307 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 2: available source of meat. Another was to make chicken raising 308 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 2: more productive and more profitable at every step of the process, 309 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 2: including for A ANDP grocery stores, and for AMP it. 310 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,679 Speaker 1: Was also a pr move. As we said at the 311 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: top of the show, AMP stood for Atlantic and Pacific, 312 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: as in the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. As 313 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: that name suggests. It had originally focused on tea and 314 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: then coffee, initially by mail order. The company had started 315 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: moving into the grocery business as rising tariffs made coffee 316 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: and tea less profitable. The first store was a small 317 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: shop with limited hours, one employee, not a lot of overhead, 318 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: so they were able to sell groceries for cheap. Soon 319 00:19:57,359 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: they expanded, both in terms of the number of stores 320 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: and the sizes and offerings of those stores. In the 321 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: early twentieth century, most grocery stores in the United States 322 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: were small. They had a limited selection of mostly canned goods, 323 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: dry goods, and some produce that had a long shelf life, 324 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: so things like potatoes and onions. People bought milk from 325 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: the dairy and beef from the butcher, and bread from 326 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: the baker and so on. All of these tended to 327 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: be small, locally owned businesses. But A and P started 328 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: putting all these different types of foods under one roof, 329 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: in other words, a supermarket. A and P also started 330 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: trying to control as much of their products supply as possible, 331 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: buying bakeries and canneries and meat packers and wholesalers. They 332 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 1: cut out various middlemen and sold food at cheaper prices 333 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: while still turning a profit, and they opened thousands of 334 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: new locations over the nineteen twenties and thirties. Soon and 335 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: PA was facing allegations that it was unfairly running mom 336 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 1: and pop stores out of business. In the nineteen forties, 337 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: New York Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, along with 338 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: eleven of its subsidiaries and sixteen officers and directors, faced 339 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: charges for quote, conspiracy to unreasonably restrain and monopolize interstate 340 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: trade and commerce in food and food products and that 341 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: violated the Sherman Anti Trust Act. All but three of 342 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,479 Speaker 1: the defendants were found guilty. The total fine was one 343 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five thousand dollars, but adjusted for inflation, 344 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: that is very approximately three million dollars. That wasn't enough 345 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: of a punishment for A ANDP to really change its 346 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: business practices, but it was enough of a hit to 347 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: the company's reputation that they were looking for ways to 348 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: improve their image. Of course, this contest would not only 349 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: benefit A and P being able to raise bigger chickens 350 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: and do it aster would also benefit chicken farmers and 351 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: others in the industry. So the Chicken of Tomorrow contest 352 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: had broad industrial support. There were national organizers on board. 353 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 2: In forty four of the then forty eight states, and 354 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 2: people and organizations that were participating in some way included scientists, researchers, 355 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 2: and land grant colleges. The USDA's Cooperative Extension Service worked 356 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 2: with the land grant colleges to provide education and resources 357 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,920 Speaker 2: for farmers that wanted to move into broiler raising or 358 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 2: to add broiler chickens to their existing farms. Each state 359 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,680 Speaker 2: where there seemed to be enough interest had its own 360 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 2: Chicken of Tomorrow chairmen, who selected a Chicken of Tomorrow 361 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 2: Committee to run state level contests in nineteen forty six. 362 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 2: In nineteen forty seven. There were also regional contests in 363 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 2: nineteen forty seven, and then the national finals were held 364 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 2: at the University of Delaware's Agricultural Experiment Station in nineteen 365 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 2: forty eight. Some states continued to hold contests after the 366 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 2: national contest was over, and organizations like the four H 367 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 2: Club held similar contests for young people to encourage them 368 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 2: and their parents to start raising broilers. We'll talk about 369 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 2: some contests specifics after a sponsor break. In describing the 370 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 2: Chicken of Tomorrow contest, Howard C. Pierce, poultry research director 371 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 2: at A and P, said he wanted to quote squelch 372 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 2: that dream of two chickens in every pot by providing 373 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 2: one bird chunky enough for the whole family, a chicken 374 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 2: with breast meat so thick you can carve it into 375 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 2: steaks with drumsticks that contain a minimum of bone buried 376 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 2: in layers of juicy dark meat, all costing less instead 377 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 2: of more. That chicken in every pot is a reference 378 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 2: to a Republican Party campaign ad that had run in 379 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty eight, which is widely attributed to then presidential 380 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 2: candidate Herbert Hoover. Although this ad did end with vote 381 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 2: for Hoover, Hoover did not actually say this or place 382 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 2: the ad. At the state level, contestants sent either one 383 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 2: hundred straight run chicks, meaning chicks as they had been 384 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 2: hatched without being examined to determine their sex, or fifty cockrolls. 385 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 2: These chicks were given wing bands to identify them, and 386 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 2: they were raised for twelve weeks. Fifteen males from each 387 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 2: batch were slaughtered and dressed, and the twelve best of 388 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,959 Speaker 2: those were judged. Regional contests followed, and then in nineteen 389 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 2: forty eight, forty finalists and six backups submitted seven hundred 390 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 2: and twenty eggs each for the final round. The finalists 391 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:58,200 Speaker 2: included farms and breeders from twenty five different states. The 392 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 2: eggs were delivered in a very carefully controlled procession. They 393 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 2: arrived in Delaware at set times so that they could 394 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 2: be loaded into incubators without interruption. While the eggs were incubating, 395 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 2: each set was assigned a number so that the breeders 396 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 2: would remain anonymous during judging. Once the eggs hatched, four 397 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 2: hundred birds from each contestant, plus ten as a backup, 398 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 2: were taken to specially built barns and raised for twelve weeks. 399 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 2: All of the birds were kept on the same diet, 400 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 2: with everything about their care and environment being very tightly controlled. 401 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 2: After twelve weeks, they were slaughtered and New York dressed, 402 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 2: meaning their feathers were plucked, but otherwise their bodies and 403 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 2: organs were left intact. Every sixth bird from the dressing 404 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 2: line was collected for judging, for a total of fifty 405 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,360 Speaker 2: birds per contestant. These birds were judged according to two 406 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 2: sets of criteria, economy of production and carcass characteristics. For 407 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 2: economy of production, judges evaluated the egg production rate of 408 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 2: the parent flock, the percent of all the eggs that 409 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 2: were successfully hatched, the number of chicks who survived until 410 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 2: the age of twelve weeks, their weight at the age 411 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,239 Speaker 2: of twelve weeks, how quickly they grew their feathers and 412 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 2: how uniform those feathers were, and the uniformity of the 413 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 2: size and color of all the birds in the flock. 414 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 2: Although this contest was focused on producing birds that would 415 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 2: have a lot of meat, egg production was still an 416 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 2: important factor. Out of one hundred total points in economy 417 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 2: of production, up to twenty five could come from the 418 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 2: egg production for the parent flock. Each of the standards 419 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 2: we just mentioned was worth fewer points, with the uniformity 420 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 2: of the type and color of the flock earning up 421 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 2: to five points. For carcass characteristics, the birds were judged 422 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,479 Speaker 2: on several factors affecting how much meat they would yield, 423 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 2: including how well proportioned the body was, the size and 424 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 2: shape of the breast, the shape of the keel bone, 425 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 2: which is a breastbone that needed to be well covered 426 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 2: with meat, straight and parallel with the back. Judges also 427 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 2: looked at how plump and meaty the chickens thigh joints, drumsticks, 428 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 2: and backs were. 429 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: From there, they looked at the condition of the bird's 430 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: skin and pin feathers. Their skin needed to be bright, soft, pliable, 431 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: smooth and uniformly colored, and they needed to be free 432 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: from unsightly pin feathers, particularly dark ones. As with the 433 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: economy of production, judging these traits could earn one hundred 434 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: total points, eighty for the factors affecting the bird's edible 435 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: meat yield, and twenty for the condition of the skin 436 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 1: and pin feathers. The del Marva Chicken of Tomorrow Festival 437 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: was held in Georgetown, Delaware, as a finale to this 438 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: whole contest, and winners were announced on June twenty fourth, 439 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight. The runner up was Henry Saliot of 440 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: Arbor Acres Farm and glass and Bury, Connecticut. He was 441 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: the son of Italian immigrants, and he'd left school in 442 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: the eighth grade, and an article that was written after 443 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: his death, a relative attributed this to Salio having dyslexia. 444 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: When he was still a teenager, he had started raising 445 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: chickens on his parents' farm. In nineteen thirty seven, a 446 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: meat processor asked if Salio could breed chickens with all 447 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,880 Speaker 1: white feathers, because the feathers of Plymouth rock chickens being 448 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: raised caused staining during kosher processing. Salio did this, naming 449 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: the breed he developed Arbor Acre's white Plymouth Rock. That 450 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: was the breed he entered into the Chicken of Tomorrow contest, 451 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: where those all white feathers were seen as a big plus. 452 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: A lot of brief write ups about the Chicken of 453 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: Tomorrow contest describe Henry Salio as a teenager. And while 454 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: he did start breeding chickens as a teen and he 455 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: was still in his twenties when he developed this breed, 456 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: he was thirty seven when the contest took place. The 457 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: overall was submitted by Charles and Kenneth Vantras of Vantras 458 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: Hatchery and Marysville, California. These birds were across between red 459 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: cornish chickens and New Hampshire reds, and this was fairly 460 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: unusual for the time. The vast majority of the contestants 461 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: submitted pure bread chickens rather than cross breeds or hybrids. 462 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: The overall perception was that pure bread chickens were most 463 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: likely to retain the characteristics that they had been bred for, 464 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: and that crosses might not breed true or produce the 465 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: expected and desired characteristics in the next generation of young 466 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: But Vantras had developed a hybrid that was better at 467 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: converting feed into meat and produced more meat than any 468 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,959 Speaker 1: of the other contestants. Most broiler chickens of the area 469 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: produced about two and a half pounds of meat, but 470 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: the Vantresses chickens grew to four pounds on twelve pounds 471 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: of feed. After the contest, both Henry Salio and the 472 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: Vantris brothers and their chickens became an enormous part of 473 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: the poultry industry in the United States. Vantris's stock was 474 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: eventually crossed with Salio's. Salio became a major industrial chicken supplier, 475 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: and in nineteen sixty four arbor Acres was bought by 476 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: Nelson Rockefeller's International Basic Economy Corporation IBEC. Which launched arbor 477 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: Acres into an international brand. Today it's part of Aviagen 478 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 1: Broiler Breeders. Salio also became a director at Purdue Farms 479 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: and was a lifetime director of the National Broiler Council, 480 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: which later became the National Chicken Council. In two thousand 481 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: and one, he started Pureline Genetics to breed chickens without 482 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: the use of antibiotics. In the nineteen fifties, it had 483 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: been discovered that chickens grew bigger and faster when given antibiotics, 484 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: although of course that later led to concerns about antibiotic 485 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: resistant bacteria. Salio died in two thousand and three at 486 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: the age of ninety two. 487 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 2: Vantress Farms also became a major international broiler chicken supplier, 488 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 2: and today Vantress Farms as cob Vantress owned by Tyson Foods, 489 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 2: and both cob Bantriss and Viagin provide breeding stock for 490 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 2: broiler farms all over the world. I've found varying estimates, 491 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 2: but at least sixty percent of the broiler chickens living 492 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 2: today all over the world come from one of these 493 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 2: two companies, maybe even more. Most of the other contestants 494 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 2: in the contest did not fare nearly as well. About 495 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 2: half of them went out of business in the years 496 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 2: after the contest as arbor Acres and Vantriss Farms started 497 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 2: to dominate the broiler industry, and that is in spite 498 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,480 Speaker 2: of massive growth in the US chicken industry. The number 499 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 2: of chickens raised in the United States increased from two 500 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 2: hundred seventy five million in nineteen forty six to six 501 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,719 Speaker 2: hundred and sixteen million just four years later. One of 502 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 2: the reasons that arbor Acres and Vantriss Farms became the 503 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 2: source of so many of the world's broiler chickens wasn't 504 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,239 Speaker 2: just because of the traits of those chickens. It was 505 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 2: because of their use of hybrid breeds. Although arbor Acres 506 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 2: had won an honorable mention with a breed that had 507 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 2: been developed by Henry Salliot, by nineteen fifty nine it 508 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 2: had begun breeding hybrids as well. Because of the combinations 509 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 2: of dominant and recessive genes that were involved in giving 510 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 2: these birds their desired traits, their breeding had to be 511 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 2: really carefully managed by people who knew which birds should 512 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 2: be allowed to reproduce with each other. Farmers could not 513 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 2: simply breed the chickens that they bought from one of 514 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 2: these companies with each other or with their existing flocks 515 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 2: and expect to get the same results. So farmers had 516 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 2: to keep going back to the supplier to buy new 517 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 2: chicks every year. Was a little bit like copy protection, 518 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 2: except for birds. 519 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: This also meant that, at least in terms of commercial 520 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: chicken farming, the various breeds that farmers had previously worked 521 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: with were soon replaced by standardized, uniform hybrids. Those other 522 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 1: breeds haven't entirely gone away. Many still exist on small farms, 523 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: and in recent years in the US there has been 524 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: a surge in people raising flocks in their backyards as 525 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: a hobby. In some parts of the world, these commercial 526 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: hybrid chickens also haven't become quite as ubiquitous as in 527 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: the United States, or they took much longer to get 528 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: a foothold. But there is way less genetic diversity in 529 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,240 Speaker 1: the broiler industry today than there was on chicken farms 530 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: one hundred years. 531 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 2: Ago, and many of those same traits that make these 532 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 2: chickens so much more profitable and efficient in terms of 533 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 2: things like how much feed it takes to raise them, 534 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 2: those are just not good for the chickens themselves. Today's 535 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 2: commercial broiler chickens really could not survive and most environments 536 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 2: outside of chicken farms. Their size and their weight makes 537 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 2: them prone to leg, joint and heart problems, and their 538 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 2: really fast growth rate can lead to metabolic disorders. 539 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: That's in addition to the effects of the conditions in 540 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 1: which many of these birds are kept. Although there has 541 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: been a push in recent years for birds to be 542 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: raised more humanely with adequate indoor space and access to 543 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:28,400 Speaker 1: the outdoors, that isn't the case on every farm. Illnesses 544 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,280 Speaker 1: continue to be a major thread at many farms, including 545 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: things like salmonila that we referenced earlier and avian flu, 546 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: which has led to the culling of millions and millions 547 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: of chickens as well as other birds in an attempt 548 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: to control the spread. 549 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 2: These changes to the poultry industry that followed this contest 550 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 2: have also contributed to it becoming a lot more vertically integrated. 551 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:55,800 Speaker 2: So rather than separate businesses breeding chickens and providing eggs 552 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 2: to hatcheries and raising the chicks and slaughtering the grown 553 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 2: chickens and then preparing and packaging the meat, poultry producers 554 00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 2: have started controlling that whole process ends to end as 555 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 2: one company, and. 556 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,760 Speaker 1: Chickens have continued to get much bigger. In twenty fourteen, 557 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,720 Speaker 1: a team from the University of Alberta published a study 558 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 1: comparing chickens from nineteen fifty seven, nineteen seventy eight and 559 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: two thousand and five, using strains that have been maintained 560 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: at the University of Alberta Poultry Research Center and at 561 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,720 Speaker 1: the Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario, and feeding and raising 562 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 1: all the chickens in the same way. On average, the 563 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 1: two thousand and five chickens were about four times heavier 564 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: than the nineteen fifty seven chickens. The two thousand and 565 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 1: five strain was also about three times more efficient at 566 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:45,879 Speaker 1: converting feed into meat. 567 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:50,640 Speaker 2: Although the Chicken of Tomorrow contest was hugely influential in 568 00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 2: all of this sort of starting the chicken industry on 569 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 2: this path, we should also note that this did not 570 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 2: happen in isolation. The USDA Extension Service heavily promoted broiler 571 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 2: raising to farmers as a profitable business and promoted chicken 572 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 2: to housewives as an inexpensive source of meat for their families, 573 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,759 Speaker 2: especially among communities that weren't already eating more chicken than average. 574 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:21,480 Speaker 2: Government nutrition standards encouraged chicken as a healthy food. Chicken 575 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 2: producers also started selling chicken meat that was ready to 576 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 2: be cooked and eaten, rather than selling New York dressed 577 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 2: birds which still had their heads and feet and internal 578 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:35,800 Speaker 2: organs in place. This eventually progressed to selling specific cuts 579 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 2: of meat together, packaged in tray packs. In more recent years, 580 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:42,120 Speaker 2: some people have turned to chicken as a source of 581 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,560 Speaker 2: meat based protein that has less of an environmental impact 582 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:49,480 Speaker 2: than beef does, particularly in terms of things like greenhouse 583 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,720 Speaker 2: gas emissions. So all of that has contributed to chicken 584 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 2: moving to be a more ubiquitous part of a lot 585 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,880 Speaker 2: of people's diets, rather than just thinking of it as 586 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 2: something for special occasions like it was one hundred years ago. 587 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,320 Speaker 1: The USDA is obviously still around, but the A and 588 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 1: P grocery store chain closed down in twenty fifteen after 589 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: filing for bankruptcy protection twice over the course of five years. 590 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: So that's the Chicken of Tomorrow there. 591 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:24,840 Speaker 2: I saw a couple of things from more recent years 592 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:26,880 Speaker 2: as I was working on this, where the name Chicken 593 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,360 Speaker 2: of Tomorrow has been adopted to sort of talk about 594 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 2: the next phase in chicken production in some cases with 595 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 2: that being more focused on like the welfare of the 596 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:44,840 Speaker 2: animals and the environmental impact of because even like, even 597 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 2: if you take into consideration that in general, raising chickens 598 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:53,600 Speaker 2: produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than raising beef, there's a 599 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:58,040 Speaker 2: lot of poop. There's so much poop. That poop contains 600 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 2: a lot of ammonia. Like they're there's other things to 601 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 2: look at as well. 602 00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: While we talk about the Chicken of tomorrow? Do you 603 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:07,720 Speaker 1: have the listener mail of today? 604 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:14,280 Speaker 2: I do. It is from Kay. They wrote, Hey, Racy 605 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,560 Speaker 2: and Holly. As I was listening to the Mary Dire episode, 606 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 2: her name rang an increasingly loud bell. After checking my 607 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:23,880 Speaker 2: camera roll, I realized it's because there's a statue of 608 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 2: her at my alma mater, Earlham College, home of the 609 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 2: fighting Quakers. No one ever knows about Arlam, so it 610 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 2: was very exciting to realize this personal connection. Just as 611 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 2: I made the connection, you mentioned that the statue is 612 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,359 Speaker 2: a casting of the one outside the State House. I've 613 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:44,360 Speaker 2: attached to a photo I took on my most recent campus visit. 614 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,080 Speaker 2: I thought you might enjoy knowing the Arlham fight song, 615 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:53,359 Speaker 2: which is traditionally chanted fast and at loud volume. Fight 616 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,919 Speaker 2: fight inner Light, kill Quakers, kill, knock them dead, beat 617 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,239 Speaker 2: them senseless, do it till we reach consensus? In a 618 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,240 Speaker 2: pause for a second and say that is the best 619 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,720 Speaker 2: fight song I have ever heard in my life. 620 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 1: It is. It also seems like the most non Quaker 621 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:13,080 Speaker 1: string of words I can ever consider I'll kill. 622 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 2: The inner light part and the consensus part are very Quaker, 623 00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 2: but yeah, the fighting and knocking dead and beating him 624 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 2: senses is like not what you would typically expect when 625 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 2: discussing Quakers who tend to be pacifist. So anyway, to 626 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 2: return to the email, one of the highlights of my 627 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 2: Earlam career was the two hours of orientation my senior 628 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,360 Speaker 2: year that I got to dress as Big Earl the Quaker, 629 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 2: our mascot. It was a blazingly hot and humid August day, 630 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,399 Speaker 2: so I was quite ready for my shift to be done, 631 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 2: but I remember him fondly. Uh ps. By probable total coincidence. 632 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 2: This episode published on Earlham Day. It's an annual alumni 633 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,320 Speaker 2: and others fundraiser that tries to help our tiny rural 634 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:59,239 Speaker 2: liberal arts schools stay afloat in increasingly expensive times. Thank 635 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 2: you so much for this email. K. Thank you so 636 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 2: much again for sending me the best fight song I 637 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,280 Speaker 2: have ever heard in my life. I was so delighted 638 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:10,080 Speaker 2: about this that I sent it to multiple people. Thank 639 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:15,440 Speaker 2: you as well for the pictures. I'm gonna see. I 640 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,920 Speaker 2: gotta adjust my laptop. Here is the picture Holly of 641 00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:24,320 Speaker 2: K being very relieved after getting out of this mascot costume. 642 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 2: Thank you again so much, Ka, I loved this email 643 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 2: a lot. Before we go on to our sign off, 644 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:39,720 Speaker 2: we've gotten a number of queries lately about our mailing address, 645 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 2: and we have said a couple of times that we 646 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:48,720 Speaker 2: were between offices. That between offices state lasted for many months, 647 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,520 Speaker 2: longer than I think anyone expected that it was going to. 648 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:55,480 Speaker 2: It was a very long time. We are now as 649 00:40:55,520 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 2: a business. The iHeart Podcast studio is opening for business. 650 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:05,680 Speaker 2: We would like to very gently discourage the sending of 651 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 2: physical gifts because while we know people want to reach 652 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:13,279 Speaker 2: out to us and want to connect, and we do 653 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,000 Speaker 2: love the thought genuinely, we love the thought behind all 654 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 2: of this. In our old office space, it became something 655 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:26,560 Speaker 2: that was no longer manageable for us and for our 656 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,239 Speaker 2: office staff. This new space is really focused mostly on 657 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:35,000 Speaker 2: podcast recording studios. Neither of us is going to have 658 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 2: like a permanent desk space that is ours to receive 659 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,640 Speaker 2: mail at. So we love you, Thank you so much. 660 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 2: Anyone who has ever thought to send us something, We 661 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:51,600 Speaker 2: don't think we're going to be able to accept that 662 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:55,560 Speaker 2: in a way that feels workable for everyone who is 663 00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:00,439 Speaker 2: involved with things like managing what's coming into and going 664 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 2: out of the new studio space. 665 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,040 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Since I am the only one adjacent to 666 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:10,280 Speaker 1: that studio and adjacent isn't doing a lot of lifting, 667 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:13,040 Speaker 1: it's quite a drive for me. It's almost an hour 668 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 1: drive if there's any traffic at all, because of like 669 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,799 Speaker 1: where I am in the city and where it is 670 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:18,920 Speaker 1: in the city. 671 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:20,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 672 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,640 Speaker 1: And I on the occasions, even when we were in 673 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,399 Speaker 1: the old space and we were working from home more, 674 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:28,520 Speaker 1: it was like I would go and they would just 675 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: hand me several packing boxes and be like, right, here's 676 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:35,680 Speaker 1: all your stuff, and I would be like, I'm gonna cry. 677 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,880 Speaker 1: I can't go through all this. I do not have, yeah, 678 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:41,560 Speaker 1: with all our time. So I mean, the thing is 679 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:43,319 Speaker 1: if you're like, oh, but I really want to send it. 680 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:46,480 Speaker 1: Please know, even if you did, we either would not 681 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:48,960 Speaker 1: get it because I don't go in at all anymore 682 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 1: except on very rare occasions. I live in another state, 683 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,200 Speaker 1: and if we did, it's kind of going to get 684 00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 1: lost in the shuffle or it won't get unpacked for 685 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:03,640 Speaker 1: literally possibly more than a year. So it's again I 686 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,160 Speaker 1: want to reiterate with Tracy. So we are so grateful 687 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,760 Speaker 1: and really delay in the fact that people share things 688 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:11,680 Speaker 1: with us and and want to send us things, But 689 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:17,040 Speaker 1: you should put those resources in a place that makes 690 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 1: you happy and pretend that's a gift from us. 691 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:25,080 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, Your gifts to us could be a donation 692 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 2: to your local food bank, book donated to your local library, 693 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:35,520 Speaker 2: book sale, like any anything. So again, it's one of 694 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,400 Speaker 2: those things that I feel guilty even even making this request. 695 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:41,000 Speaker 2: We love all of you, for sure, we just do 696 00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:43,080 Speaker 2: not We do not want to have a situation where 697 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,759 Speaker 2: one of us walks into the office after months possibly 698 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,359 Speaker 2: of not being there, and uh and like then there's 699 00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:57,040 Speaker 2: to the glowering office manager and our office manager is 700 00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:58,799 Speaker 2: amazing not ah. 701 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:03,399 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Literally, my desk when I still had one, 702 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:07,640 Speaker 1: would look like a giant like shipping container. Or trash 703 00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:10,920 Speaker 1: pile when I got there, because occasionally some good soul 704 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,480 Speaker 1: had without me, I still don't know who it was. 705 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:17,040 Speaker 1: Was like I'll start opening things for them, and then 706 00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:19,120 Speaker 1: they would just get piled on top of each other, 707 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:23,360 Speaker 1: and then like presumably probably cleaning crew would move things, 708 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:26,480 Speaker 1: and like the two and from situation was getting a 709 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:30,240 Speaker 1: little yeah jumbled. So I still have things I don't 710 00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:31,480 Speaker 1: know who sent them, Like. 711 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:36,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, I had gone through everything that I knew about 712 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,360 Speaker 2: that was addressed to me or was mine at the 713 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,680 Speaker 2: office before we moved out of that space. And yet 714 00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:46,640 Speaker 2: when the final move out happens, I got a couple 715 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:48,840 Speaker 2: of big boxes shipped to me, and I know you 716 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,239 Speaker 2: got more than a couple of boxes sent to you. 717 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:56,680 Speaker 1: So the courier van showed up in my front yard. 718 00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:59,400 Speaker 1: It just started unloading like a team of people, and 719 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:00,399 Speaker 1: I was like, uh oh. 720 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:08,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, So again with all possible love, virtual communications are best. 721 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:11,640 Speaker 2: And on that note, if you would like to write 722 00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:14,040 Speaker 2: to us about this or any other podcast, Word History 723 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:17,760 Speaker 2: podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. We're all over social media 724 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:20,720 Speaker 2: at Miston History. That's where you can find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 725 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,960 Speaker 2: and Instagram. You can subscribe to our show on the 726 00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:26,120 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app or wherever else do you like to get 727 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:33,800 Speaker 2: your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 728 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:38,239 Speaker 2: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 729 00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:41,759 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 730 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:44,480 Speaker 2: favorite shows.