Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Guess what Will?
Speaker 2: What's that Mango?
Speaker 1: So the other day I was reading this interview with
Speaker 1: Matt Greenig, the creator of The Simpsons, and this was
Speaker 1: in Smithsonian. And you know how they never revealed where
Speaker 1: the town of Springfield is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like this running gag throughout.
Speaker 1: The show exactly. So the town's geography sort of shifts
Speaker 1: as needed to suit the plot. So if you look
Speaker 1: across the whole series, which is I can't believe it,
Speaker 1: thirty six seasons.
Speaker 2: At this point, God, that's crazy.
Speaker 1: Springfield not only has deserts, but glaciers, beaches, swamps, and
Speaker 1: according to one episode, the state somehow borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine,
Speaker 1: and Kentucky, which is of course geographically impossible.
Speaker 2: Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah, I do love the
Speaker 2: idea of being a writer on such a huge and
Speaker 2: fun show that you just get to mess with the
Speaker 2: fans and the viewers all the time. It's pretty great.
Speaker 1: I know, it's amazing. But Granigg actually had a reason
Speaker 1: for naming the simpsons hometown Springfield. Apparently, as a kid,
Speaker 1: he was a huge fan of Father Knows Best, which
Speaker 1: is that nineteen fifties sitcom, and because the show was
Speaker 1: set in a fictional place called Springfield, Granegg actually assumed
Speaker 1: it took place in his hometown of Springfield, Oregon. But
Speaker 1: it wasn't until years later that he found out there
Speaker 1: were lots of other Springfields out there, and the one
Speaker 1: in Father Knows Best wasn't meant to represent any specific
Speaker 1: one of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I see, so Springfield and the Simpsons is inspired
Speaker 2: by Grannig's hometown, but it's it's really meant to be
Speaker 2: this kind of generic or any town USA.
Speaker 1: And Greenig said he wanted viewers in all different Springfields
Speaker 1: to have the same experience he did as a kid,
Speaker 1: to just assume that the Springfield and their favorite show
Speaker 1: was meant to be their Springfield, wherever that might be.
Speaker 1: So even after all these years, he's still committed to
Speaker 1: the He told Smithsonian, quote, I don't want to ruin
Speaker 1: it for people. Whenever people say it's Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield,
Speaker 1: Massachusetts or Springfield wherever, I always go, Yep, that's right.
Speaker 2: You know, I'd never thought about that way, But it's
Speaker 2: actually kind of sweet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it got me wondering, why are there so
Speaker 1: many places called Springfield, which town started the trend? And
Speaker 1: what if anything, do they have in common? So to
Speaker 1: find that out, I thought we could do a WorldWind
Speaker 1: tour and visit a whole bunch of Springfield today to
Speaker 1: see what we can learn about them. Why don't we
Speaker 1: dive in?
Speaker 2: Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm
Speaker 2: Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good
Speaker 2: friend mangesh hot ticketter And on the other side of
Speaker 2: that soundproof glass tucking into what he claims is the
Speaker 2: signature dish of spring Filled Illinois. That's our good friend
Speaker 2: and producer Dylan Fagan.
Speaker 1: What is he eating? It looks like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: like a pretty decadent open faced sandwich over there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did not recognize it. I was asking him
Speaker 2: about it earlier and he says, it's something called a
Speaker 2: horseshoe sandwich. It was invented at the Leland Hotel. This
Speaker 2: was back in the nineteen twenties, so it's around one
Speaker 2: hundred years old now, and the name comes from the
Speaker 2: fact that it was originally made with slices of ham
Speaker 2: that were cut into the shape of a horseshoe. Now,
Speaker 2: the thick bread was also served on this sizzling hot platter,
Speaker 2: which was meant to represent an anvil, and the French
Speaker 2: fries piled on top are supposed to symbolize the nails
Speaker 2: and the horseshoe. So there's a whole lot of symbolism
Speaker 2: in this dish. But it looks a little weird, but
Speaker 2: he seems to be enjoying it.
Speaker 1: And what about that thick layer of cheese sauce that's
Speaker 1: on top. What's that supposed to represent?
Speaker 2: I think that part is more about the flavor than
Speaker 2: the symbolism, and I will confess it looks pretty delicious.
Speaker 2: But kudos to Dylan for going the extra mile, as
Speaker 2: he always does. And so we ordered this from door Dash,
Speaker 2: all the way from a Springfield so many states over.
Speaker 2: That's the kind of dedication Dylan is always showing us.
Speaker 2: Speaking of which, why did we decide to do an
Speaker 2: episode on Springfield's Mango.
Speaker 1: Well, as I'm sure our listeners know, Springfield has been
Speaker 1: in the news a lot lately. It's been tied to
Speaker 1: so many weird statements about the place that are incorrect,
Speaker 1: But we thought it'd be fun to uncover some weird
Speaker 1: facts about Springfield that make the people of various Springfield's proud.
Speaker 2: That's a good reason to do this. Well, to kick
Speaker 2: this off, why don't we talk about what a common
Speaker 2: name Springfield really is. So, according to the US Board
Speaker 2: of Geographic Names, there is at least one town or
Speaker 2: city called Springfield in thirty four of the fifty states,
Speaker 2: and there are more than forty Springfields in total.
Speaker 1: I guess that makes sense. It's like a name here.
Speaker 1: But does that make it one of the most common
Speaker 1: place names in America?
Speaker 2: Well, you would think so, but actually not. Like if
Speaker 2: you include all the populated areas such as neighborhoods unincorporated communities,
Speaker 2: we actually have more fair views than anything else. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't have guessed that, But if you think about it,
Speaker 2: you could probably think of a few of them, nearly
Speaker 2: three hundred of them in total. But if you restrict
Speaker 2: the search to cities and towns, then Washington is the
Speaker 2: number one place. So according to the World Atlas, there
Speaker 2: are eighty eight washington spread throughout the country, more than
Speaker 2: double the number of Springfields, and most of them are
Speaker 2: of course named after Denzel, which totally makes sense. I
Speaker 2: love how sometimes we're spreading lives ourselves. But what's surprising, though,
Speaker 2: is where the name Springfield comes from. So most of
Speaker 2: the nation's springfields actually took their names from Springfield, Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: This was a city found that in sixteen thirty six
Speaker 2: as the first springfield in the New World, and because
Speaker 2: it developed into such an import manufacturing center, the settlers
Speaker 2: who passed through and were impressed by the development, they
Speaker 2: decided to borrow this name for their own new communities.
Speaker 1: So I guess it kind of ends up being this
Speaker 1: aspirational good luck charm, like hoping their own towns would
Speaker 1: get to be that successful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, you might assume a
Speaker 2: place named Springfield is because of its topographical features, but
Speaker 2: in reality it might just be this lingering tribute to
Speaker 2: the heyday of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: That's really funny. You know. I have a good friend
Speaker 1: named Howard schu and his parents named him that because
Speaker 1: they thought it sounded like Howard Hughes and they thought
Speaker 1: he might become wealthy by association.
Speaker 2: But that's super weird.
Speaker 1: The springfield in Massachusetts, Like, does that one have any springs?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you'll be pleased to hear that because Springfield,
Speaker 2: Massachusetts sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River,
Speaker 2: he does indeed have some natural springs and some of
Speaker 2: the most fertile fields in all of New England. So
Speaker 2: no faulse advertising. But weirdly, that's not actually why the
Speaker 2: city was named Springfield in the first place.
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course that would make too much sense. So
Speaker 1: I'm guessing there's a Springfield somewhere else that this is
Speaker 1: named after.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It turns out that almost every English speaking country
Speaker 2: in the world has at least one populated area called Springfield.
Speaker 2: US of course now has the most, but there are
Speaker 2: still multiple Springfields in places like the UK, Ireland, Australia,
Speaker 2: South Africa, even Jamaica, and a few other countries including
Speaker 2: New Zealand, Canada, Barbados. They all have one Springfield apiece.
Speaker 1: I admired the restraint on their part, But which one
Speaker 1: of those is the namesake of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: That would be the one that started it all. This
Speaker 2: is Springfield, Essex and England. It's a tiny parish and
Speaker 2: it predates the settlement in Massachusetts by at least a
Speaker 2: few hundred years. That Springfield took its name from the
Speaker 2: many natural springs that flow into the nearby river Chelmer.
Speaker 2: Now the Springfield and Essex wasn't even included on maps
Speaker 2: in this seventeenth century, so it wasn't exactly on the
Speaker 2: short list to have an American settlement named after it.
Speaker 2: But then in the sixteen thirties, one of Springfield's hometown
Speaker 2: sons wound up founding his own town on the outer
Speaker 2: edges of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Now his name was William Penchon,
Speaker 2: and in sixteen thirty six he purchased the land on
Speaker 2: both sides of the Connecticut River. And this was from
Speaker 2: a local native tribe that he made the purchase from.
Speaker 2: And at first he kept the Native American name for
Speaker 2: the village, which was Agawam, but then in sixteen forty
Speaker 2: he decided to change it to Springfield as a way
Speaker 2: to honor his birthplace.
Speaker 1: Huh. And I'm guessing it developed pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So by the eighteen hundred, Springfield, Massachusetts had grown
Speaker 2: into this great industrial city. An historian named Robert Lee
Speaker 2: Ramsey writes, quote, a brood of little Springfields borrowed its
Speaker 2: name in all the neighbor states. Then it spread southward
Speaker 2: and across the Mountains to Tennessee and Kentucky. Twenty six
Speaker 2: American springfields all issued from the loins of an ancient
Speaker 2: village in Essex.
Speaker 1: That is both a bizarre trend and so weird that
Speaker 1: he brought the word loins into it.
Speaker 2: Like he didn't need to do that straight from the loins.
Speaker 1: It does in fitting that Springfield, mass is the firstborn
Speaker 1: because it's actually known as the city of first I
Speaker 1: didn't realize this until I looked it up. And the
Speaker 1: title doesn't come from its name, but from the long
Speaker 1: list of innovations that springfielder is produced during the nineteenth
Speaker 1: and twentieth century. So actually, let me just run through
Speaker 1: a quick list here. Springfield, Massachusetts is known as the
Speaker 1: first assembly line in manufacturing, which was pioneered by Thomas Blanchard.
Speaker 1: It was used for making gun barrels. It was also
Speaker 1: the first in reproducing late for making identical machine parts.
Speaker 1: This was Blanchard again. And the first horseless carriage in
Speaker 1: America comes from Springfield, which was a steam powered wag,
Speaker 1: again also made by Thomas Blanchard.
Speaker 2: I feel like maybe you've just put together a list
Speaker 2: of things that come from Thomas Blanchart, Like there have
Speaker 2: to be some historic first that are tied to other people.
Speaker 2: But like, isn't Springfield, Massachusetts actually the birthplace of basketball?
Speaker 1: It's so weird Thomas Blanchard also invented basketball.
Speaker 2: No, I don't think that's true.
Speaker 1: Springfield is indeed credited with the creation of basketball. This
Speaker 1: was back in the late nineteenth century when the YMCA
Speaker 1: was starting to put a greater emphasis on exercise and
Speaker 1: physical fitness. So, for instance, the YMCA in Boston installed
Speaker 1: the country's first indoor swimming pools. The Y and Holyoak
Speaker 1: developed the game of volleyball, and in eighteen ninety one
Speaker 1: an instructor in Springfield came up with basketball. His name was,
Speaker 1: of course, James Naismith, and he devised the sport as
Speaker 1: a way to keep his students active indoors during those
Speaker 1: whole New England winters. Now the name of the game
Speaker 1: actually refers to peach basket. It's that Nasmith nail to
Speaker 1: the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony to serve as goals.
Speaker 1: But strangely, he didn't think to cut out the bottoms
Speaker 1: of the basket, so for the first several years of
Speaker 1: the game, someone had to stand at each end of
Speaker 1: the balcony to retrieve the ball from the basket and
Speaker 1: put it back into play.
Speaker 2: That is amazing. I do remember much of this because
Speaker 2: in seventh grade, one of the first speeches I ever
Speaker 2: had to give in front of a class was about
Speaker 2: the invention of basketball. So came across some of these
Speaker 2: backs in the past. But I do love imagining, like
Speaker 2: if the game was still like this today, just two
Speaker 2: dudes on ladders at either ends of the court fishing
Speaker 2: the ball after every single shot. I love that he
Speaker 2: didn't think to maybe put a hole in the bottom
Speaker 2: of the basket.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's ridiculous. Okay, So we've talked about a fictional springfield,
Speaker 1: the world's oldest springfield, and America's first springfield. But I
Speaker 1: want to tell you about the one with the most cheese.
Speaker 2: Ooh, that teaser feels like the right way to go
Speaker 2: to a commercial. So we'll be right back after a
Speaker 2: quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're
Speaker 2: talking about the weirdest things you never knew about the
Speaker 2: many places called springfield. All right, Mango, So you had
Speaker 2: this great teaser before the break, and you talked about
Speaker 2: the most cheese laden Springfield of them all. So where
Speaker 2: we had it? Is it Wisconsin, California, Idaho? Where we're going?
Speaker 1: So our next stop is actually Springfield, Missouri, where more
Speaker 1: than seven million pounds of cheese are stored year round
Speaker 1: in a massive underground warehouse. You may have heard about
Speaker 1: this online a few years ago. There was a bunch
Speaker 1: of chatter on social media about the Springfield Cheese Caves.
Speaker 1: But basically, there's this huge system of man made caverns
Speaker 1: hundreds of feet beneath Springfield, and they were originally opened
Speaker 1: as a limestone quarry back in nineteen forty sive but
Speaker 1: years later, once the mines were spent, the owners decided
Speaker 1: to convert the caverns into this giant, enormous, climate controlled
Speaker 1: storage center. The warehouse actually spends three point two million
Speaker 1: square feet in total, and about fifty different companies red
Speaker 1: space there.
Speaker 2: Wow, and are all these companies like in the cheese business?
Speaker 2: How it feels like a very strangely specific pivot for
Speaker 2: a mining company, just like go all in on cheese storage.
Speaker 2: Please tell me that's.
Speaker 1: True, So I wish it was. It's not just cheese,
Speaker 1: but a sizable portion of the warehouse is dedicated to
Speaker 1: dairy products. And that's because the natural temperature of the caves,
Speaker 1: about sixty degrees fahrenheit, is ideal for aging certain types
Speaker 1: of cheese and for storing dry food products in general.
Speaker 2: So what kinds of cheese are we talking about here?
Speaker 2: And exactly how much is down there? Like you said,
Speaker 2: seven million pounds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's the number reported by the Springfield Newsleader,
Speaker 1: and this is back in twenty twenty two. But it's
Speaker 1: worth noting that because of privacy agreements, the warehouse can't
Speaker 1: reveal which company is actually leased space there or what
Speaker 1: they use it for. But several companies have confirmed their
Speaker 1: usage of the cheese caves, including Craft, which uses the
Speaker 1: space to age its cheeses, and the Dairy Farmers of America,
Speaker 1: who are the true cheese barrens of the Springfield Underground.
Speaker 1: For more than thirty years, the DFA has stored cheese
Speaker 1: and other dry dairy ingredients in the cave, sometimes as
Speaker 1: much as seven million pounds of it for themselves, and
Speaker 1: their supply never stays put for long. It's almost like
Speaker 1: constantly being sold off to other companies or trucked out
Speaker 1: of there, and it's refreshed with new batches it is.
Speaker 2: Wild to think there's this whole big dairy operation going
Speaker 2: on down there and all these other cold storage caves
Speaker 2: all over the country.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the people who are living on top of
Speaker 1: it kind of never even see it. But luckily, the
Speaker 1: Springfield in Missouri has a lot more going for it
Speaker 1: than just cheese caves. For instance, it's also home to
Speaker 1: the country's last producer of magnetic tape for cassettes, the
Speaker 1: National Audio Company, And it's considered the birthplace of Root
Speaker 1: sixty six because it was at a nineteen twenty six
Speaker 1: meeting in Springfield that that legendary highway got its iconic name.
Speaker 2: That is true, But Mango, you are burying the lead
Speaker 2: here because I also read up on Missouri Springfield this week,
Speaker 2: and it turns out the town is also famous for
Speaker 2: enduring a harrowing cobra siege back in the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 2: Did you read about this citywide snake attack. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: pretty much the case. So it all started in the
Speaker 2: early fall of nineteen fifty three. There was a homeowner
Speaker 2: in Springfield that found a live cobra in his yard
Speaker 2: and quickly took it down with his garden hoe, which
Speaker 2: I think is the only way you're supposed to kill
Speaker 2: a snake. It feels like that's what you hear from everyone.
Speaker 2: But then one week later, another cobra was spotted and
Speaker 2: killed right across the street. So at that point the
Speaker 2: police get involved, and they called in a local science
Speaker 2: teacher who was able to identify the species as a
Speaker 2: venomous Indian cobra, which obviously isn't native to Masiz So
Speaker 2: right off the bat, the police began questioning this guy
Speaker 2: named Rio Marr and I may be mispronouncing that name,
Speaker 2: but he owned a pet shop about a block away
Speaker 2: from where the cobras were spotted. While he admitted to
Speaker 2: stocking cobras in his store, he claimed that all the
Speaker 2: snakes were accounted for. Now, it seemed unlikely that two
Speaker 2: wandering cobras would just slither their way into Springfield and
Speaker 2: hang out right outside the local pet shop, but without
Speaker 2: any evidence to implicate more, the investigation hit this dead end.
Speaker 2: But in the weeks that followed, more and more cobras
Speaker 2: began popping up all over town. Can you imagine how
Speaker 2: paranoia It's so gross, And of course residents went into
Speaker 2: this full blown panic and people were jumping at the
Speaker 2: side of every stray stick they came across, and the
Speaker 2: town had to get doses of anti venom to help
Speaker 2: keep the peace.
Speaker 1: This whole thing feels like such a nightmare, and cobras
Speaker 1: are terrifying. Was anyone actually injured by the snakes.
Speaker 2: Miraculously, No, but like nine of the eleven cobras that
Speaker 2: appeared in Springfield, that eleven as lucky eleven eleven cobras,
Speaker 2: so most of them were dispatched with garden hose, just
Speaker 2: like the first one. But two of the snakes were
Speaker 2: repeatedly run over with cars and yes, again repeatedly run
Speaker 2: over with cars, which I sort of get it when
Speaker 2: you're that scared of it, but another was crushed by
Speaker 2: a rock. I love that I have the list of
Speaker 2: how all of them I just posed stuff, And one
Speaker 2: especially hardy cobra was actually tear gassed, shot five times
Speaker 2: and then hit with the garden hoe, which I know
Speaker 2: is actually sort of making me sad to read about that,
Speaker 2: but it's also just so ridiculous. I think that might
Speaker 2: have been a little bit of an overreaction.
Speaker 1: Is so sad, but I mean, also it almost feels
Speaker 1: like the garden hoe industry was behind it.
Speaker 2: Good point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so this feels like a problem that a local
Speaker 1: pet store was like stalking pet cobras to begin with.
Speaker 1: But did they ever find out where all these cobras
Speaker 1: came from?
Speaker 2: So they did, but get this, it wasn't until thirty
Speaker 2: five years later. So during that time, locals continued to
Speaker 2: suspect that Moore was responsible for the cobra scare, but
Speaker 2: he maintained his innocence all the way to his death
Speaker 2: in the nineteen seventies. Then in nineteen eighty eight, once
Speaker 2: the statute of limitations had long expired, the real culprit
Speaker 2: came forward. It was this local man named Carl Barnett,
Speaker 2: and he had been fourteen years old in the fall
Speaker 2: of nineteen fifty three, and he had orchestrated the cobra
Speaker 2: scare as revenge against the pet store owner. How crazy
Speaker 2: is this like.
Speaker 1: A plot twist?
Speaker 2: It really is. According to Carl's confession, he had procured
Speaker 2: an exotic fish from more as part of a trade.
Speaker 2: But then when the fish died a few hours later,
Speaker 2: the pet shop owner told him, you know, tough luck,
Speaker 2: A deal is a deal, And on his way out
Speaker 2: of the store, Carl spotted a crate of snakes out back,
Speaker 2: and as a way to get even with the clerk
Speaker 2: who had wronged them, he set them all free. I mean,
Speaker 2: talk about revenge.
Speaker 1: That is so insane and it almost sounds like the
Speaker 1: beginning of like a super villain origin story.
Speaker 2: It's so yeah, I expect somebody like it bit and
Speaker 2: then they turn into the Phobra or something. But I
Speaker 2: do want to mention that, according to Carl, he did
Speaker 2: not know the snakes were venomous when he turned them loose.
Speaker 2: But anyway, I know we've got lots more to say
Speaker 2: about Springfield's but let's take another quick break.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, so we've talked about Springfield, mass the city
Speaker 1: of first and Springfield, Missouri, the city of cheese and cobras,
Speaker 1: one of the lesser known cheese pairings out there. But
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Springfield that's in the news right now, Springfield, Ohio,
Speaker 1: which actually has three famous monikers over the years, the
Speaker 1: Home City, the Champion City, and the City of Roses.
Speaker 1: I know we split this one up, but where do
Speaker 1: you want to start?
Speaker 2: All right? Well, why don't we start with the home city?
Speaker 2: Because while two of the names have to do with
Speaker 2: the rich agricultural history of Springfield. The Home City is
Speaker 2: kind of the outlier here, so it actually refers to
Speaker 2: the period in the early twentieth century when fraternal organizations
Speaker 2: were highly active in this area. So you had groups
Speaker 2: like the Masonic Lodge and the Oddfellows and the Knights
Speaker 2: of Pathias, and they were looking for ways to give
Speaker 2: back to the community and show that they were more
Speaker 2: than just these social clubs. So to do this, each
Speaker 2: lodge built a series of homes in Springfield to shelter
Speaker 2: local orphans as well as aging members of their respective orders.
Speaker 2: So although Springfield is now facing a major housing shortage
Speaker 2: along with many other parts of the country, there was
Speaker 2: a time when housing the needy was a top priority
Speaker 2: for the town, so much so that it earned the
Speaker 2: nickname Home City.
Speaker 1: That's really kind of sweet. So maybe the real way
Speaker 1: to solve the housing crisis is for everyone to join
Speaker 1: a fraternal order. Again, think you assume that's what you're saying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly what I'm getting at. So I'm now
Speaker 2: going to list out all of your options for fraternal organizations.
Speaker 2: Will post it at the end of this episode. But
Speaker 2: that's a pretty funny idea.
Speaker 1: So getting back to nicknames, Springfield's first and longest lasting
Speaker 1: nickname was the Champion City, and it wasn't because of
Speaker 1: a famous sports team or a pivotal battle, but because
Speaker 1: of the Champion Reaper Company. Now in the mid eighteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: a local entrepreneur named William Whitelee invented a combination reaper
Speaker 1: and mower, which quickly revolutionized the agricultural industry and led
Speaker 1: to an economic boom in Springfield. The Champion Company's manufacturing
Speaker 1: success put the town on the map for the next
Speaker 1: fifty years or so, and after merging with several other
Speaker 1: companies to become in an out national harvester in nineteen
Speaker 1: oh two, they remained at the forefront of that agricultural
Speaker 1: machinery business while also branching out into truck production. All
Speaker 1: these years later, the company, now known as International Motors,
Speaker 1: still has a truck plant in Springfield, and it remains
Speaker 1: one of the town's largest employers.
Speaker 2: You Know, it is nice to hear that that industrial
Speaker 2: legacy is still alive and kicking, you know. Unfortunately, this
Speaker 2: same can't be said for Springfield's once thriving floral industry.
Speaker 2: And this was news to me, but apparently the town
Speaker 2: was once one of the nation's top rose growers for
Speaker 2: almost a century, and the catalyst for all of that
Speaker 2: growth was an innovative shipping process that allowed these young
Speaker 2: and dormant rose bushes to be shipped safely by rail
Speaker 2: all across the country. And once the process was introduced
Speaker 2: in the late eighteen seventies, a multimillion dollar mail order
Speaker 2: business sprang up almost overnight, and so for about seventy
Speaker 2: years or so, Springfield grew and shipped more roses than
Speaker 2: any other city in the US. According to this nineteen
Speaker 2: nineteen publication from the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the city's
Speaker 2: thirty three greenhouses produced approximately nine million, six hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty seven thousand roses every single year. Wow, And if
Speaker 2: you counted all the greenhouses in the greater Clark County area,
Speaker 2: the total was substantially higher.
Speaker 1: That's fascinating. But you said that's no longer the case today, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. So by the nineteen thirties, the Springfield
Speaker 2: rose industry was facing some, you know, stiff competition from
Speaker 2: other growers who had honed in on their market, and
Speaker 2: to make matters worse, the advent of the airplane meant
Speaker 2: that shipping roses by rail was no longer really the
Speaker 2: fastest or even the safest method, and so as a result,
Speaker 2: Springfield's floral industry withered by the end of the decade,
Speaker 2: and really by the early nineteen fifties, most of the
Speaker 2: town's commercial greenhouses had closed down for good.
Speaker 1: Sadly, yeah, that is said, but how about we close
Speaker 1: this on a more hopeful note, because the death of
Speaker 1: the industry wasn't the end of Springfield's agricultural legacy. And
Speaker 1: that's because the town. I did not know this before
Speaker 1: this research. The town is actually the birthplace for four
Speaker 1: H clubs.
Speaker 2: No kidding. So how did that come about?
Speaker 1: So it started as the brainchild of this person named
Speaker 1: Albert Belmont Graham. He served as superintendent of schools in Springfield,
Speaker 1: and this was at the turn of the twentieth century.
Speaker 1: He was a huge proponent of agriculture as a means
Speaker 1: of developing youth, both kind of as a way to
Speaker 1: make more responsible individuals, but also to turn them into
Speaker 1: more productive members of the community. So in nineteen oh
Speaker 1: two he held a meeting with about thirty boys and
Speaker 1: girls in the county courthouse basement, and together they started
Speaker 1: investigating all the ins and outs of agriculture, from how
Speaker 1: to plant a garden to how to identify local wildlife
Speaker 1: like weeds and insects. And for the first couple of years,
Speaker 1: the group called itself the Boys and Girls Agricultural Club,
Speaker 1: and the Springfield Club was the one and only chapter.
Speaker 1: But once Ohio State University caught wind of this program,
Speaker 1: the college used its influence to help establish new branches
Speaker 1: throughout the entire state, and by nineteen oh five, there
Speaker 1: were more than two thousand kids within sixteen counties taking
Speaker 1: part of the program. It proved so popular that in
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, the state established the Department of Boys and
Speaker 1: Girls Club Work, marking the official start of the Ohio
Speaker 1: four Age Program.
Speaker 2: Wow, you know, I actually saw a four age sign
Speaker 2: not too long ago, and I was trying to remember
Speaker 2: what do those four ages stand for?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was curious about that too, and it spelled
Speaker 1: out in the group's official pledge. It goes, I pledged
Speaker 1: my head to clear thinking, my heart to a greater loyalty,
Speaker 1: my hands to larger service, my health to better living
Speaker 1: for my club, my community, my country, and my world.
Speaker 1: And although the four Age program has since spread to
Speaker 1: all fifty states and even abroad to more than eighty countries.
Speaker 1: Its heritage belongs squarely to Ohio and Ringfield in particular,
Speaker 1: and since there are no cultural or economic or social
Speaker 1: restrictions on four age membership, many young Springfielders today still
Speaker 1: take the pledge and work side by side with one another,
Speaker 1: native born and foreign transplants alike.
Speaker 2: That was a good way to wrap this one up.
Speaker 2: Thanks for ending on a high note. But before we
Speaker 2: go for the day, I feel like we should run
Speaker 2: through a few more Springfields in today's fact off.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2: Okay, here's something I never knew before this week. So,
Speaker 2: the state of Illinois actually went through two different capitals
Speaker 2: before finally landing on Springfield. The first town, Kaskilaskia, only
Speaker 2: held the title for a year or so after Illinois
Speaker 2: entered the Union. This was in eighteen eighteen, but the
Speaker 2: second one, Van Dalia, would still likely be the seat
Speaker 2: of power today if not for a little known guy
Speaker 2: named Abraham Lincoln. He and his fellow state legislators felt
Speaker 2: the capital should be closer to the geographical center of
Speaker 2: the state. So in eighteen thirty seven, Lincoln introduced a
Speaker 2: measure that would move the capital to Springfield, which conveniently
Speaker 2: was also where he lived and practiced law. And the
Speaker 2: legislation was backed by eight of Lincoln's colleagues and the
Speaker 2: Whig Party, And because each one of them stood at
Speaker 2: least six feet tall, the press started referring to them
Speaker 2: as the Long nine. And thanks to their prodigious height
Speaker 2: and a few political favors, those lanky statesmen were able
Speaker 2: to push through a bill and relocate the Illinois capital
Speaker 2: for a second time, and by the end of eighteen
Speaker 2: thirty nine, the state government had officially set up shop
Speaker 2: in Springfield and it has remained there ever since.
Speaker 1: That is so weird. I've never heard of Vandalia or
Speaker 1: another town you mentioned in Illinois. It's funny how state
Speaker 1: capitals end up being like the lesser known cities sometimes.
Speaker 2: Also the idea of these this what was it, nine
Speaker 2: people being over six feet tall at that point, it
Speaker 2: just feels like there weren't that many people that would
Speaker 2: have been six feet tall then, I.
Speaker 1: Know, before basketball, so right exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, back to Naysmith, he invented that.
Speaker 1: So here's a funny one I found out about the
Speaker 1: naming of Springfield, Missouri way back in eighteen thirty three,
Speaker 1: and this comes from a book called Our Storehouse of
Speaker 1: Missouri place Names, and it says, quote, everybody in Green
Speaker 1: County was invited to come in and vote their choice
Speaker 1: of a name for the county seat. James Wilson had
Speaker 1: a jug of white whiskey, and as fast as the
Speaker 1: people came in, he took them over to his tent
Speaker 1: and said, I was born and raised in a beautiful
Speaker 1: little town in Massachusetts named Springfield, and it would please
Speaker 1: me very much if you would go over and vote
Speaker 1: to name this town Springfield. Then he produced his jug,
Speaker 1: and needless to say, Wilson had his way.
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't say that that his method seems
Speaker 2: like the best, but it does help explain why a
Speaker 2: bunch of Southerners would adopt the name from New England.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, whiskey can be pretty persuasive.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, switching gears a little. My next fact
Speaker 2: isn't about a place called Springfield. It's about a band
Speaker 2: called Springfield Buffalo Springfield. Of course. Now, most people assume
Speaker 2: the band's name was a nod to American cities, but
Speaker 2: according to the liner notes of their box set, the
Speaker 2: inspiration was actually a steamroller made by Buffalo's Springfield Roller Company,
Speaker 2: and the band saw one of the rollers parked outside
Speaker 2: the window of where they were staying, and they thought
Speaker 2: it had a nice ring to it. And so, to
Speaker 2: bring this full circle, the company that made the steamroller
Speaker 2: was actually the result of a merger between two separate businesses,
Speaker 2: one based in Buffalo, New York and the other in Springfield, Ohio. So,
Speaker 2: in a roundabout way, the band is named for a
Speaker 2: Springfield after all.
Speaker 1: That's pretty interesting. Well, speaking of going full circle, back
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven, twentieth Century Fox was publicizing
Speaker 1: the Simpsons movie, and part of the way they did
Speaker 1: this was by donating an eleven half foot fiberglass donut
Speaker 1: to the city of Springfield, New Zealand. This colossal breakfast
Speaker 1: street was proudly displayed in a public park for the
Speaker 1: next two years, but in two thousand and nine, a
Speaker 1: fun hating arsonist torched the donut, Rainbow sprinkles and all.
Speaker 1: There was a brief, sad interim where the town used
Speaker 1: a big pink truck tire as a temporary replacement, but
Speaker 1: thankfully the Fox movie Studio came through with a new,
Speaker 1: much sturdier concrete donut and it still stands in the
Speaker 1: town today.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's pretty good. But I will see your giant
Speaker 2: donut and I will raise you a giant fork. So
Speaker 2: the second tallest fork in the world. The second tallest
Speaker 2: fork in the world. He's thirty five feet tall, weighs
Speaker 2: eleven tons, and proudly stands times down outside of an
Speaker 2: agency headquarters in Springfield, Missouri. It was originally built in
Speaker 2: the late nineties to promote a now closed restaurant, but
Speaker 2: since the ad agency had a lot of clients in
Speaker 2: the food industry, they decided to save the fork and
Speaker 2: install it outside of their office building.
Speaker 1: I'm glad the fork found a new home, but I
Speaker 1: am curious. Where's the first tallest fork in the world.
Speaker 2: You knew I was wanting you to ask that, So
Speaker 2: it actually used to be the one in Missouri, but
Speaker 2: as of twenty twenty two, the title now belongs to Fairview, Oregon,
Speaker 2: which installed a thirty seven foot tall fork outside the
Speaker 2: city's new food plaza. But don't feel too badly for
Speaker 2: the Springfield fork because it still holds the record as
Speaker 2: the world's heaviest fork, and it also makes a cameo
Speaker 2: in Chapel Roon's video Hot to Go.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty good silver lining. And also, I love
Speaker 1: that you brought Fairview into this, says, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the few place names in the country that's more
Speaker 1: common than Springfield.
Speaker 2: That's right, Fairview is the most common toponym, which is
Speaker 2: a fancy word for a place name.
Speaker 1: Well, I love the fact that two of the most
Speaker 1: common toponyms are home to two of the largest utensils
Speaker 1: in the world, so that I think you deserved this
Speaker 1: week's trophy.
Speaker 2: Ah, thanks so much, and special thanks to the people
Speaker 2: of the world Springfields for inspiring today's episode. That's it
Speaker 2: for today's Part Time Genius. We'll be back with a
Speaker 2: brand new show next week from Mary, Gabe, Dylan, Mango
Speaker 2: and me. Thanks so much for listening, and hey, don't
Speaker 2: forget if you have questions, tips, comments, you can always
Speaker 2: reach our moms at ptgenius Moms at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2: They always love hearing from you. And you know what,
Speaker 2: after doing today's episode and thinking about all these Springfields,
Speaker 2: Mango and Gabe and I are sort of inspired to
Speaker 2: maybe take a tour of the world and if there
Speaker 2: are places weird, places you've always wanted to go or
Speaker 2: learn more about Be sure to hit us up about
Speaker 2: that as well. We would love your tips on places
Speaker 2: we should go and focus on in the episode. Petgenius
Speaker 2: Moms at gmail dot com. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1: This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me mongas
Speaker 1: Hetikler and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
Speaker 1: episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
Speaker 1: with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
Speaker 1: for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social
Speaker 1: media support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and Vine Shorey.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
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