1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 2: Does anyone else have. 7 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: A favorite Halloween party game? I think we can all 8 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: agree that spooky season can last year round if you're lucky, 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: But there are some games that can really only be 10 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: played when the Great Pumpkin is ready to make an appearance, 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: from treasure hunts to bobbing for apples. Most of us 12 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: grew up with these traditions, but I have to say 13 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: that there are some older and weirder ones than you 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: would ever expect. So let's start off with the basics. 15 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: Where do Halloween come from? It's really an amalgamation of 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: different cultural traditions, but the roots stretched back to an 17 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: ancient Celtic festival called sween, a word that, by the way, 18 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: is often pronounced sam hayne because of the way it's spelled, 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: but you're getting it straight from the source here. They 20 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: believe that the veil between this world and the next 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: was the thinnest at that time of the year, and 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: so they conducted a series of rituals, festivals, and bonfires 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: to appease or even banish any spirits that happened to 24 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: make an appearance. This grew out of a combination of 25 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: Celtic and Roman traditions, and some of the customs were 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: pretty durable, like the turnips that they carved with faces, 27 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: the precursors of modern day jack lanterns, dressing up in 28 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: costumes to be mistaken for another spirit and left alone, 29 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: although their costumes tended to be animal hides and paint. 30 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: Even trick or treating has a medieval equivalent in the 31 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: concept of souling traveling to wealthy houses and offering prayers 32 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: in exchange for food and drink. That evolved into children 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: trading poems or songs for snacks, a trick for a 34 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: treat for some though, the creepy party games weren't just 35 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: for the end of harvest time. They could be played 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: year round. I think we've seen time and time again 37 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: that the Victorians knew how to take macab to a 38 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: whole new level. It turns out that they even applied 39 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: that to their games. For much of the eighteenth and 40 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,959 Speaker 1: nineteenth centuries, ancient Egypt was the obsession d joure. The 41 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: Europeans were fascinated with Egypt, and not just in the 42 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: colonial sense. Egyptomania took over literature, art, and science, largely 43 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: thanks to Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt and Syria. The treasures 44 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,959 Speaker 1: he brought back to Europe drove an interest that was 45 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: sparked way back in the fifteen hundreds to new heights 46 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: for anyone who wanted to access ancient Egypt. In London, 47 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: Thomas Pettigrew was a good friend to have. Petigrew was 48 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: an English surgeon, and he had recently developed a new 49 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: form of entertainment. If you had some quick cash and 50 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 1: were in the right place at the right time, you 51 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: could get a ticket to the Royal College of Surgeons. 52 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: It was like trying to rush Hamilton tickets at the 53 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: box office. Some got lucky, didn't. Anyone who managed to 54 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: get inside, though, could look forward to the spectacle of 55 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: a lifetime. A live demonstration by Pedigrew on January fifteenth 56 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty four. A wrapped audience stared, maybe enthralled 57 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: or disgusted as the surgeon slowly unwrapped a mummy from 58 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: the twenty first dynasty for science. Of course, that's right. 59 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: Victorians went to mummy unwrapping parties the same way that 60 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: you or I might catch a Broadway show or a 61 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: Rolling Stones concert, just with more dust and corpses. Now, 62 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: to be completely fair to Pedigrew, there were already weird 63 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: habits surrounding mummies in Europe well before he started his demonstrations. 64 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: Mummies were for sale in Egypt and abroad, and once 65 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: people acquired a body, they did all kinds of distasteful 66 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: things with it, and I mean literally. Some mummies were 67 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: eaten as a source of medical practice. Mummia, a product 68 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: made from mummified corpses, was sold in apothecary shops for 69 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: centuries and consumed by the rich and the poor. It 70 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: had to have tasted terrible, of course, but ground mummies 71 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: were prescribed for everything from headaches to the plague. By 72 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: the Victorian age, people weren't eating the mummies anymore, but 73 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: that wasn't because they had gained any kind of respect 74 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: for the dead. Mummy unwrapping parties became popular pastimes, creating 75 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: a huge demand in Egypt for new subjects. This probably 76 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: stressed out the people sent to scour tombs. There were 77 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: only so many mummies to be found, and this resulted 78 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: in forgeries rather than royal corpses. Some Europeans got peasants bodies, 79 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: some fresher than others. Unwrapping was sort of a ritual 80 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: in and of itself, and Victorians delighted in the combination 81 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: of macab behavior and ancient Egypt. This from the people 82 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: who were too scandalized to show up in public without 83 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: a chaperone. Of course, usually a lecture preceded the festivities, 84 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: and then the unwrapper would start unrolling bandages until the 85 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: body itself was revealed. Oftentimes guests collected any objects or 86 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: amulets encased within the body. One observer at the unwrapping 87 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: of a woman named Nez noted offhandedly that the jeweled 88 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: hawk on her necklace would make a lovely watch charm. 89 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: All good things must come to an end. Of course, 90 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: with the rise of preservation rather than desecration among the 91 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: scientific and archaeological communities, mummy wrapping fell out of favor. 92 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: It didn't completely stop, though, People are still curious right 93 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: but thanks to the advent of X rays and full 94 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: body scans, we can now see the person underneath without 95 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: disturbing their final rest, proof that mummies, like so many 96 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: of the other Halloween icons we know, aren't as simple 97 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: as you'd first believe. 98 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 2: They do in fact have layers. One of the. 99 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: Best things about studying history is finding out that humans 100 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: have always been well human if you know what to 101 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: look for, the patterns of thoughts and actions are pretty clear, 102 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: and I think it helps us be a bit more 103 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: connected to those who came before us. Some bonds, though, 104 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: are a little less pleasant. One thing consistently handed down 105 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: from generation to generation is fear, and sometimes it's entirely logical, 106 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: or it used to be anyway. Fear of bugs and 107 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: certain animals is only sensible when trying to survive in 108 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: an unpredictable, deadly world. Its common sense, rather than cowardice, 109 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: that gives us the jitters whenever we're confronted with something 110 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: that could cause us harm. Even if these things aren't 111 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: as much of a threat now, we still have those 112 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: leftover instincts from our ancestors. With new technology, many of 113 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: these old phobias have been erased entirely or at least contained, 114 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,239 Speaker 1: but a few still hang on. I'm pretty sure everyone 115 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: at some point in their lives has had the dream 116 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: of getting buried alive. Tapophobia is the fear of being 117 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 1: buried alive, and it's had a hold on humanity for centuries. 118 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: Shakespeare's Juliette wonders if she might wake in her own 119 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: tomb if she isn't rescued in time. In the Victorian age, 120 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: plenty of penny dress full magazines circulated throughout England with 121 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: horrible stories of people waking up in their own coffins 122 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: too late to be rescued. Hans Christian Anderson demanded that 123 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: his veins be cut open after his death to ensure 124 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: that he wasn't prematurely buried. And it wasn't just the 125 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: poets and the artists who were afraid. It was everybody, 126 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: and for very good reason. As it turns out, being 127 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: buried alive was shockingly common in the days before brain scans. 128 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: Sometimes it was intentional, in the cases of punishment or sacrifice, 129 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: but oftentimes people just didn't realize they were doing it, 130 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: at least until it was too late, and it was 131 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: a hideous way to go. There are accounts from the 132 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: fourteenth century of John Dunn's Scotus's tomb being opened and 133 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: his body found outside the coffin with bloody fingertips, suggesting 134 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: the priest had tried and failed to free himself. While 135 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: this tale might not be true or at least exaggerated, 136 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: poor Alice Blunden's story is well documented. This seventeenth century 137 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: englishwoman was knocked out after drinking too much poppy tea. 138 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: The opiate put her in such a deep sleep that 139 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: her doctor held a mirror under her nose, and she 140 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: didn't seem to be breathing. Not wanting the body to smell, 141 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: her family buried her quickly, and it might have been 142 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: a sad but ordinary story for the time, except children 143 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: playing near her grave started hearing noises. When they ran 144 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: to get the schoolmaster to check, he could hear Blundon 145 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: screaming inside, still alive. It took another day to fully 146 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: exume her, and she was so sick and exhausted from 147 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: her struggle that she looked dead and was returned to 148 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: her coffin. This time the family posted a guard, but 149 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: he deserted his post, and in the morning, luckless Alice 150 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: was found dead once more. She'd made one final attempt. 151 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 2: To free herself. 152 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: So how did people combat this horrific scenario. Well, it 153 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: turns out that folks were willing to do just about 154 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: anything to avoid the worst, including but not limited to 155 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:55,359 Speaker 1: having their fingers cut off, creating waiting mortuaries and tobacco 156 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: smoke enemas. Yes, someone would literally blow smoke up your well. 157 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: You know, I can only imagine the shock of what 158 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: was happening would blow over quickly once someone realized what 159 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: they had avoided. The people only grew more innovative in 160 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as outbreaks of cholera and 161 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: several bacterial infections swept across Europe and the Americas, leaving 162 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: so many people drained and dehydrated that they barely looked alive. Luckily, 163 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: there was a deluge of new inventions for invalids to 164 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: rely on, something called the safety coffin. They came in 165 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: all shape, sizes, and models. Some had glass panels that 166 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: fogged up if the person inside was still breathing. Some 167 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: had tubes that reached up through the earth that a 168 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: groundskeeper could sniff every day to make sure the body 169 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: was decomposing on schedule. Most basic models had noisemakers attached 170 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: like bells or horns that rested above the ground so 171 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: a passer buyer could hear the clamor and come investigate. 172 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: The victim had a string attached to their hand in 173 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: the coffin, and the other ends stretched to the bell 174 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: next to their grave. Presumably if they woke up, they 175 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: pulled for dear life, hoping someone passing by would hear them. 176 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,839 Speaker 1: There's no indication of what would happen if a gust 177 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: of wind moved the bell or knocked it over, and honestly, 178 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: maybe it's best not to ask now. Plenty of these 179 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: safety coffins were patented and advertised to willing customers, and 180 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: the designs only improved over time. German doctor Adolph Gutsmith 181 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: created his own coffin in eighteen twenty two that had 182 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: a tube designed to feed the unfortunate and give them 183 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: air until they could be exhumed. He demonstrated the effectiveness 184 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: of his device by getting buried alive and spending several 185 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: hours underground, even enjoying a lovely meal before emerging unscathed. 186 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: And as far as we can tell, there are no 187 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: records of the effectiveness of these devices or if anyone 188 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: managed to use their primary feature as intended. Honestly, I 189 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: hope they never had to, but it's nice to know that, 190 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: in the rare cases that they did, these folks would 191 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: be saved by the bell. I hope you've enjoyed today's 192 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Ques Curiosities subscribe for 193 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,559 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 194 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 195 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 196 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 197 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 198 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 199 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.