WEBVTT - Incredible Facts about Springfields across America! (Plus: what it has to do with 🧀 🧀 🧀 and 🐍 !) 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:13.120 and iHeartRadio. Guess what Will? 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:14.320 What's that Mango? 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.440 So the other day I was reading this interview with 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.759 Matt Greenig, the creator of The Simpsons, and this was 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.759 in Smithsonian. And you know how they never revealed where 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:25.040 the town of Springfield is. 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:27.520 Yeah, it's like this running gag throughout. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.160 The show exactly. So the town's geography sort of shifts 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.599 as needed to suit the plot. So if you look 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.040 across the whole series, which is I can't believe it, 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:37.920 thirty six seasons. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:39.040 At this point, God, that's crazy. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.800 Springfield not only has deserts, but glaciers, beaches, swamps, and 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:49.280 according to one episode, the state somehow borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine, 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.720 and Kentucky, which is of course geographically impossible. 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.520 Thank you for clarifying that. Yeah, I do love the 0:00:57.600 --> 0:00:59.720 idea of being a writer on such a huge and 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.000 fun show that you just get to mess with the 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.400 fans and the viewers all the time. It's pretty great. 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.240 I know, it's amazing. But Granigg actually had a reason 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.160 for naming the simpsons hometown Springfield. Apparently, as a kid, 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.640 he was a huge fan of Father Knows Best, which 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.800 is that nineteen fifties sitcom, and because the show was 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.920 set in a fictional place called Springfield, Granegg actually assumed 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:25.440 it took place in his hometown of Springfield, Oregon. But 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.240 it wasn't until years later that he found out there 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.800 were lots of other Springfields out there, and the one 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.880 in Father Knows Best wasn't meant to represent any specific 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:35.880 one of them. 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.040 Yeah, I see, so Springfield and the Simpsons is inspired 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.720 by Grannig's hometown, but it's it's really meant to be 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.319 this kind of generic or any town USA. 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:48.360 And Greenig said he wanted viewers in all different Springfields 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.320 to have the same experience he did as a kid, 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.280 to just assume that the Springfield and their favorite show 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.840 was meant to be their Springfield, wherever that might be. 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.720 So even after all these years, he's still committed to 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.920 the He told Smithsonian, quote, I don't want to ruin 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.800 it for people. Whenever people say it's Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:11.160 Massachusetts or Springfield wherever, I always go, Yep, that's right. 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:13.440 You know, I'd never thought about that way, But it's 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:14.360 actually kind of sweet. 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.280 Yeah, and it got me wondering, why are there so 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.760 many places called Springfield, which town started the trend? And 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:24.120 what if anything, do they have in common? So to 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:25.920 find that out, I thought we could do a WorldWind 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.760 tour and visit a whole bunch of Springfield today to 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.920 see what we can learn about them. Why don't we 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:31.280 dive in? 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.639 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.280 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.760 friend mangesh hot ticketter And on the other side of 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.720 that soundproof glass tucking into what he claims is the 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:08.359 signature dish of spring Filled Illinois. That's our good friend 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.160 and producer Dylan Fagan. 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.160 What is he eating? It looks like, I don't know, 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.280 like a pretty decadent open faced sandwich over there. 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.920 Yeah, I did not recognize it. I was asking him 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.000 about it earlier and he says, it's something called a 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:24.960 horseshoe sandwich. It was invented at the Leland Hotel. This 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.400 was back in the nineteen twenties, so it's around one 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.760 hundred years old now, and the name comes from the 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.080 fact that it was originally made with slices of ham 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.480 that were cut into the shape of a horseshoe. Now, 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.000 the thick bread was also served on this sizzling hot platter, 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.040 which was meant to represent an anvil, and the French 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.119 fries piled on top are supposed to symbolize the nails 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.640 and the horseshoe. So there's a whole lot of symbolism 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.440 in this dish. But it looks a little weird, but 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:52.560 he seems to be enjoying it. 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:55.960 And what about that thick layer of cheese sauce that's 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.000 on top. What's that supposed to represent? 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.960 I think that part is more about the flavor than 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.800 the symbolism, and I will confess it looks pretty delicious. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:08.080 But kudos to Dylan for going the extra mile, as 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.880 he always does. And so we ordered this from door Dash, 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.800 all the way from a Springfield so many states over. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.760 That's the kind of dedication Dylan is always showing us. 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.600 Speaking of which, why did we decide to do an 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:21.520 episode on Springfield's Mango. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.320 Well, as I'm sure our listeners know, Springfield has been 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.279 in the news a lot lately. It's been tied to 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:31.280 so many weird statements about the place that are incorrect, 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.599 But we thought it'd be fun to uncover some weird 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:37.839 facts about Springfield that make the people of various Springfield's proud. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.320 That's a good reason to do this. Well, to kick 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:42.640 this off, why don't we talk about what a common 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:46.600 name Springfield really is. So, according to the US Board 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.960 of Geographic Names, there is at least one town or 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.240 city called Springfield in thirty four of the fifty states, 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.560 and there are more than forty Springfields in total. 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.400 I guess that makes sense. It's like a name here. 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:02.719 But does that make it one of the most common 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:04.320 place names in America? 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.640 Well, you would think so, but actually not. Like if 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:11.360 you include all the populated areas such as neighborhoods unincorporated communities, 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.920 we actually have more fair views than anything else. I 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:16.760 wouldn't have guessed that, But if you think about it, 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:18.520 you could probably think of a few of them, nearly 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.880 three hundred of them in total. But if you restrict 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.560 the search to cities and towns, then Washington is the 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.080 number one place. So according to the World Atlas, there 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.680 are eighty eight washington spread throughout the country, more than 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.320 double the number of Springfields, and most of them are 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:40.800 of course named after Denzel, which totally makes sense. I 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.880 love how sometimes we're spreading lives ourselves. But what's surprising, though, 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.120 is where the name Springfield comes from. So most of 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:52.120 the nation's springfields actually took their names from Springfield, Massachusetts. 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.240 This was a city found that in sixteen thirty six 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.720 as the first springfield in the New World, and because 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.400 it developed into such an import manufacturing center, the settlers 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:05.520 who passed through and were impressed by the development, they 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.360 decided to borrow this name for their own new communities. 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.360 So I guess it kind of ends up being this 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.039 aspirational good luck charm, like hoping their own towns would 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:15.200 get to be that successful. 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.039 Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, you might assume a 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.800 place named Springfield is because of its topographical features, but 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.880 in reality it might just be this lingering tribute to 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.120 the heyday of Springfield, Massachusetts. 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:30.760 That's really funny. You know. I have a good friend 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.200 named Howard schu and his parents named him that because 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.200 they thought it sounded like Howard Hughes and they thought 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.680 he might become wealthy by association. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:41.239 But that's super weird. 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:45.440 The springfield in Massachusetts, Like, does that one have any springs? 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.000 Yeah, well, you'll be pleased to hear that because Springfield, 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.279 Massachusetts sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River, 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.880 he does indeed have some natural springs and some of 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.599 the most fertile fields in all of New England. So 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.560 no faulse advertising. But weirdly, that's not actually why the 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:04.880 city was named Springfield in the first place. 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.320 Yeah, of course that would make too much sense. So 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.120 I'm guessing there's a Springfield somewhere else that this is 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:11.720 named after. 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.440 Yeah. It turns out that almost every English speaking country 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:19.160 in the world has at least one populated area called Springfield. 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.040 US of course now has the most, but there are 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:26.880 still multiple Springfields in places like the UK, Ireland, Australia, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.920 South Africa, even Jamaica, and a few other countries including 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:35.480 New Zealand, Canada, Barbados. They all have one Springfield apiece. 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:40.240 I admired the restraint on their part, But which one 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:43.360 of those is the namesake of Springfield, Massachusetts. 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.000 That would be the one that started it all. This 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.920 is Springfield, Essex and England. It's a tiny parish and 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.840 it predates the settlement in Massachusetts by at least a 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.840 few hundred years. That Springfield took its name from the 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.320 many natural springs that flow into the nearby river Chelmer. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.880 Now the Springfield and Essex wasn't even included on maps 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.880 in this seventeenth century, so it wasn't exactly on the 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.640 short list to have an American settlement named after it. 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.400 But then in the sixteen thirties, one of Springfield's hometown 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.720 sons wound up founding his own town on the outer 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:20.200 edges of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Now his name was William Penchon, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.360 and in sixteen thirty six he purchased the land on 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.560 both sides of the Connecticut River. And this was from 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.200 a local native tribe that he made the purchase from. 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.960 And at first he kept the Native American name for 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.520 the village, which was Agawam, but then in sixteen forty 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.160 he decided to change it to Springfield as a way 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:38.560 to honor his birthplace. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.880 Huh. And I'm guessing it developed pretty quickly. 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.480 Yeah, So by the eighteen hundred, Springfield, Massachusetts had grown 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:49.320 into this great industrial city. An historian named Robert Lee 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.439 Ramsey writes, quote, a brood of little Springfields borrowed its 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.359 name in all the neighbor states. Then it spread southward 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:01.520 and across the Mountains to Tennessee and Kentucky. Twenty six 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.080 American springfields all issued from the loins of an ancient 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:06.439 village in Essex. 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.080 That is both a bizarre trend and so weird that 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:13.960 he brought the word loins into it. 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.080 Like he didn't need to do that straight from the loins. 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.520 It does in fitting that Springfield, mass is the firstborn 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.120 because it's actually known as the city of first I 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.440 didn't realize this until I looked it up. And the 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.440 title doesn't come from its name, but from the long 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:32.280 list of innovations that springfielder is produced during the nineteenth 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.040 and twentieth century. So actually, let me just run through 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:39.120 a quick list here. Springfield, Massachusetts is known as the 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:44.160 first assembly line in manufacturing, which was pioneered by Thomas Blanchard. 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.400 It was used for making gun barrels. It was also 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:52.319 the first in reproducing late for making identical machine parts. 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:56.880 This was Blanchard again. And the first horseless carriage in 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.960 America comes from Springfield, which was a steam powered wag, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.920 again also made by Thomas Blanchard. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.640 I feel like maybe you've just put together a list 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.280 of things that come from Thomas Blanchart, Like there have 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.240 to be some historic first that are tied to other people. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.520 But like, isn't Springfield, Massachusetts actually the birthplace of basketball? 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.080 It's so weird Thomas Blanchard also invented basketball. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.040 No, I don't think that's true. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.680 Springfield is indeed credited with the creation of basketball. This 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.200 was back in the late nineteenth century when the YMCA 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.480 was starting to put a greater emphasis on exercise and 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:37.439 physical fitness. So, for instance, the YMCA in Boston installed 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:41.559 the country's first indoor swimming pools. The Y and Holyoak 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.760 developed the game of volleyball, and in eighteen ninety one 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:49.120 an instructor in Springfield came up with basketball. His name was, 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.960 of course, James Naismith, and he devised the sport as 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.839 a way to keep his students active indoors during those 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.000 whole New England winters. Now the name of the game 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.520 actually refers to peach basket. It's that Nasmith nail to 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.680 the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony to serve as goals. 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.640 But strangely, he didn't think to cut out the bottoms 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.040 of the basket, so for the first several years of 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.760 the game, someone had to stand at each end of 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.120 the balcony to retrieve the ball from the basket and 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:16.080 put it back into play. 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.199 That is amazing. I do remember much of this because 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.400 in seventh grade, one of the first speeches I ever 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.320 had to give in front of a class was about 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.960 the invention of basketball. So came across some of these 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.160 backs in the past. But I do love imagining, like 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.280 if the game was still like this today, just two 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.600 dudes on ladders at either ends of the court fishing 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:37.840 the ball after every single shot. I love that he 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.920 didn't think to maybe put a hole in the bottom 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:40.520 of the basket. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:45.000 Yeah, it's ridiculous. Okay, So we've talked about a fictional springfield, 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:49.480 the world's oldest springfield, and America's first springfield. But I 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.080 want to tell you about the one with the most cheese. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.000 Ooh, that teaser feels like the right way to go 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.199 to a commercial. So we'll be right back after a 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:15.679 quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.400 talking about the weirdest things you never knew about the 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:22.040 many places called springfield. All right, Mango, So you had 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.280 this great teaser before the break, and you talked about 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:29.280 the most cheese laden Springfield of them all. So where 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.880 we had it? Is it Wisconsin, California, Idaho? Where we're going? 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:37.640 So our next stop is actually Springfield, Missouri, where more 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.920 than seven million pounds of cheese are stored year round 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.240 in a massive underground warehouse. You may have heard about 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.240 this online a few years ago. There was a bunch 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.679 of chatter on social media about the Springfield Cheese Caves. 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.880 But basically, there's this huge system of man made caverns 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.559 hundreds of feet beneath Springfield, and they were originally opened 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.480 as a limestone quarry back in nineteen forty sive but 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.920 years later, once the mines were spent, the owners decided 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:08.240 to convert the caverns into this giant, enormous, climate controlled 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:12.200 storage center. The warehouse actually spends three point two million 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:16.120 square feet in total, and about fifty different companies red 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:16.680 space there. 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.000 Wow, and are all these companies like in the cheese business? 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.840 How it feels like a very strangely specific pivot for 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:26.160 a mining company, just like go all in on cheese storage. 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:27.280 Please tell me that's. 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:31.040 True, So I wish it was. It's not just cheese, 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.920 but a sizable portion of the warehouse is dedicated to 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.199 dairy products. And that's because the natural temperature of the caves, 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.880 about sixty degrees fahrenheit, is ideal for aging certain types 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.920 of cheese and for storing dry food products in general. 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.160 So what kinds of cheese are we talking about here? 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.200 And exactly how much is down there? Like you said, 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.079 seven million pounds. 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.160 Yeah, so that's the number reported by the Springfield Newsleader, 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:56.920 and this is back in twenty twenty two. But it's 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.439 worth noting that because of privacy agreements, the warehouse can't 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.320 reveal which company is actually leased space there or what 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:07.000 they use it for. But several companies have confirmed their 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.520 usage of the cheese caves, including Craft, which uses the 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.959 space to age its cheeses, and the Dairy Farmers of America, 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.960 who are the true cheese barrens of the Springfield Underground. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.600 For more than thirty years, the DFA has stored cheese 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.760 and other dry dairy ingredients in the cave, sometimes as 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.440 much as seven million pounds of it for themselves, and 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:30.160 their supply never stays put for long. It's almost like 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:33.000 constantly being sold off to other companies or trucked out 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.200 of there, and it's refreshed with new batches it is. 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.160 Wild to think there's this whole big dairy operation going 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:41.920 on down there and all these other cold storage caves 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:42.920 all over the country. 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.560 Yeah, and the people who are living on top of 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.520 it kind of never even see it. But luckily, the 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.200 Springfield in Missouri has a lot more going for it 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.880 than just cheese caves. For instance, it's also home to 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.520 the country's last producer of magnetic tape for cassettes, the 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:01.320 National Audio Company, And it's considered the birthplace of Root 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.240 sixty six because it was at a nineteen twenty six 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:08.520 meeting in Springfield that that legendary highway got its iconic name. 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.760 That is true, But Mango, you are burying the lead 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.080 here because I also read up on Missouri Springfield this week, 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.280 and it turns out the town is also famous for 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:23.240 enduring a harrowing cobra siege back in the nineteen fifties. 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.280 Did you read about this citywide snake attack. Yeah, it's 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.760 pretty much the case. So it all started in the 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.240 early fall of nineteen fifty three. There was a homeowner 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.040 in Springfield that found a live cobra in his yard 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.880 and quickly took it down with his garden hoe, which 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:40.640 I think is the only way you're supposed to kill 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.720 a snake. It feels like that's what you hear from everyone. 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.520 But then one week later, another cobra was spotted and 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.760 killed right across the street. So at that point the 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.760 police get involved, and they called in a local science 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.520 teacher who was able to identify the species as a 0:15:55.640 --> 0:16:00.840 venomous Indian cobra, which obviously isn't native to Masiz So 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.720 right off the bat, the police began questioning this guy 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:07.360 named Rio Marr and I may be mispronouncing that name, 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.000 but he owned a pet shop about a block away 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.320 from where the cobras were spotted. While he admitted to 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.040 stocking cobras in his store, he claimed that all the 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:19.640 snakes were accounted for. Now, it seemed unlikely that two 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.080 wandering cobras would just slither their way into Springfield and 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.920 hang out right outside the local pet shop, but without 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.760 any evidence to implicate more, the investigation hit this dead end. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.720 But in the weeks that followed, more and more cobras 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.360 began popping up all over town. Can you imagine how 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:43.280 paranoia It's so gross, And of course residents went into 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.560 this full blown panic and people were jumping at the 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.080 side of every stray stick they came across, and the 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.280 town had to get doses of anti venom to help 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:53.320 keep the peace. 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:58.800 This whole thing feels like such a nightmare, and cobras 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.520 are terrifying. Was anyone actually injured by the snakes. 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.840 Miraculously, No, but like nine of the eleven cobras that 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:12.480 appeared in Springfield, that eleven as lucky eleven eleven cobras, 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:16.080 so most of them were dispatched with garden hose, just 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.880 like the first one. But two of the snakes were 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:23.560 repeatedly run over with cars and yes, again repeatedly run 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:25.440 over with cars, which I sort of get it when 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.879 you're that scared of it, but another was crushed by 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.480 a rock. I love that I have the list of 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.080 how all of them I just posed stuff, And one 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:38.000 especially hardy cobra was actually tear gassed, shot five times 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.840 and then hit with the garden hoe, which I know 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.040 is actually sort of making me sad to read about that, 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.520 but it's also just so ridiculous. I think that might 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:47.080 have been a little bit of an overreaction. 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:52.240 Is so sad, but I mean, also it almost feels 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.160 like the garden hoe industry was behind it. 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:56.480 Good point. 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:02.320 Yeah, so this feels like a problem that a local 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.840 pet store was like stalking pet cobras to begin with. 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.040 But did they ever find out where all these cobras 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:09.160 came from? 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.600 So they did, but get this, it wasn't until thirty 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:17.040 five years later. So during that time, locals continued to 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.679 suspect that Moore was responsible for the cobra scare, but 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.360 he maintained his innocence all the way to his death 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.359 in the nineteen seventies. Then in nineteen eighty eight, once 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:31.280 the statute of limitations had long expired, the real culprit 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.560 came forward. It was this local man named Carl Barnett, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:36.960 and he had been fourteen years old in the fall 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.479 of nineteen fifty three, and he had orchestrated the cobra 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.840 scare as revenge against the pet store owner. How crazy 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:45.520 is this like. 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:46.440 A plot twist? 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.200 It really is. According to Carl's confession, he had procured 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.360 an exotic fish from more as part of a trade. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:55.960 But then when the fish died a few hours later, 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.560 the pet shop owner told him, you know, tough luck, 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.120 A deal is a deal, And on his way out 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:04.359 of the store, Carl spotted a crate of snakes out back, 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:06.840 and as a way to get even with the clerk 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:10.160 who had wronged them, he set them all free. I mean, 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:11.600 talk about revenge. 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.919 That is so insane and it almost sounds like the 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.760 beginning of like a super villain origin story. 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:21.479 It's so yeah, I expect somebody like it bit and 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.520 then they turn into the Phobra or something. But I 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.520 do want to mention that, according to Carl, he did 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.800 not know the snakes were venomous when he turned them loose. 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:31.920 But anyway, I know we've got lots more to say 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:48.560 about Springfield's but let's take another quick break. 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.080 Okay, Well, so we've talked about Springfield, mass the city 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:57.160 of first and Springfield, Missouri, the city of cheese and cobras, 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.480 one of the lesser known cheese pairings out there. But 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:05.159 let's talk about the Springfield that's in the news right now, Springfield, Ohio, 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:09.320 which actually has three famous monikers over the years, the 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:12.640 Home City, the Champion City, and the City of Roses. 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.200 I know we split this one up, but where do 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:15.720 you want to start? 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.440 All right? Well, why don't we start with the home city? 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.960 Because while two of the names have to do with 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:24.720 the rich agricultural history of Springfield. The Home City is 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.320 kind of the outlier here, so it actually refers to 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:30.840 the period in the early twentieth century when fraternal organizations 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:33.880 were highly active in this area. So you had groups 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:37.600 like the Masonic Lodge and the Oddfellows and the Knights 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.680 of Pathias, and they were looking for ways to give 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:42.800 back to the community and show that they were more 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.280 than just these social clubs. So to do this, each 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:49.359 lodge built a series of homes in Springfield to shelter 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:53.240 local orphans as well as aging members of their respective orders. 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.240 So although Springfield is now facing a major housing shortage 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.720 along with many other parts of the country, there was 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.960 a time when housing the needy was a top priority 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.159 for the town, so much so that it earned the 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:06.600 nickname Home City. 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.440 That's really kind of sweet. So maybe the real way 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.160 to solve the housing crisis is for everyone to join 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.080 a fraternal order. Again, think you assume that's what you're saying. 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.199 Yeah, that's exactly what I'm getting at. So I'm now 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.280 going to list out all of your options for fraternal organizations. 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:23.320 Will post it at the end of this episode. But 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:25.119 that's a pretty funny idea. 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:30.040 So getting back to nicknames, Springfield's first and longest lasting 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:34.000 nickname was the Champion City, and it wasn't because of 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.199 a famous sports team or a pivotal battle, but because 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:41.400 of the Champion Reaper Company. Now in the mid eighteen hundreds, 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.320