1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeart 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,479 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: In New Jersey Native and West Coast transplant, Craig Newmark 7 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: had an idea. He started an email distribution list to 8 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: keep a few of his friends abreast of local events. 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: Word got around, and pretty soon Craig was adding new 10 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: members and new information for his growing group of subscribers. 11 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: When the list got to be too unwieldy, heat pivoted 12 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: into something new, a website where people could post all 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: kinds of wings, such as classified ads, items for sale, 14 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: and where their band would be performing next. He called 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: it Craig's List, and over the next twenty seven years 16 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: it became something of a time capsule, preserving a piece 17 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: of the Internet as it once was. It's sparse, black 18 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: and white and blue design has barely changed, as have 19 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: the kinds of items published to its thousands of pages. 20 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: One of the most popular categories is missed connections where 21 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: people post cryptic messages to others they might have crossed 22 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: paths with during their day, the glance across a crowded 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: subway car, or the accidental traffic jam in the supermarket ale. 24 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: Missed connections is where love lorn hopefuls prey that special 25 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: someone is reading. But one years ago, before the first 26 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: miss connection was ever posted, there was the Bridegroom's Oak, 27 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: located in the dad Hour Forced in Schleiswig Holstein, Germany. 28 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: The Bridegroom's Oak is an oak tree over five years old. 29 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: It's trunk is sixteen feet around and it rises to 30 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: a soaring eighty two feet tall. It was a gift 31 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: him the son of a Celtic chieftain who had been 32 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: tied to a different tree in the forest. A young 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: girl came along and freed him, and the chieftain planted 34 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: the oak to thank her for her kindness. At least 35 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,679 Speaker 1: that's the story that people tell. In the past. Young 36 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: women were encouraged to circle the tree several times under 37 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: the light of a full moon. As they walked around it, 38 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: they were instructed to think about the suitor they loved 39 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: most without saying a word. If they performed the ritual correctly, 40 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: they would be married within a year. The tree earned 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: its name during the late eighteen hundreds, when the daughter 42 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: of a forester and a chocolate maker's son from Leipzig 43 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: fell in love. The girl's father didn't want her marrying 44 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: the boy, and so he forbade them from tying the 45 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: not so the lovers decided to carry on their relationship 46 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: behind his back. They wrote each other letters, which they 47 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: deposited in a giant hole in the middle of an 48 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: oak tree near their house. Soon enough, her father relented 49 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: and gave his blessing. The two were married under that 50 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: same tree in June. As the story of the Roman 51 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: that spread beyond the forest, others started coming to the 52 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: tree to leave their own letters, hoping to find true love. 53 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,839 Speaker 1: They called it the brow to gum Cyca or Bridegroom's Oak, 54 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: and those who availed themselves of its services made sure 55 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: to leave a return address so that whomever read the 56 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: letters knew how to get in touch with them. A 57 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: step ladder was even installed at the base of the 58 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: tree in to allow visitors easier access to the whole. 59 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,959 Speaker 1: The post office even began honoring the bridegroom oak as 60 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: an official letterbox, so that love sick people from all 61 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: over the world could write to the tree and wait 62 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: for their one true love to write them back. Today, 63 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: there is a small wooden fence that forms a perimeter 64 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: around the oak, save for one opening to allow visitors 65 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: access to the step ladder. Legend has it that over 66 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: one couples got married after depositing letters in that tree, 67 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: and crazily enough, one of those marriages happened to involve 68 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: the very maleman who had spent twenty years of his 69 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: career delivering other people's letters to the tree. In the 70 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, the postman was invited to appear on a 71 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: television program and a woman who had watched him decided 72 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: to write a letter to him. She had sent it 73 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: to the tree, knowing that he would be the one 74 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: to deliver it. The two eventually met and remain married 75 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: to this day. But the Bridegroom's oak didn't just bring 76 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: people together, It too had its own love story, and 77 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: it was one for the ages. In two thousand nine, 78 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,559 Speaker 1: the tree was wedded to the Himmelgeist Chestnut in dusl Dorf, 79 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: as it also had its own postal address. Sadly, the 80 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: chestnut was not long for this world. It was cut 81 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: down in two thousand fifteen due to an incurable fungus. 82 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: The bridegroom's oak stands today as a widower, It's only 83 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: purpose to bring others together. Unable to turn over a 84 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: new leaf. She almost looks like a little girl playing 85 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: dress up with her mother's clothing. In a halt that 86 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: author Henry James called ill fitting valerie, Lady Mew intensely 87 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: gazes at the viewer with her slender profile and a 88 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,799 Speaker 1: seemingly bland backdrop. This might just have been a portrait 89 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: of any other upper class British lady, but behind the 90 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: lace was one of the most scandalous women of the 91 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: Victorian era. If you've been listening since the early days, 92 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: the name Mew might sound familiar to you. But in 93 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: case you don't want to comb through more than four 94 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: episodes to find number thirty, I'll refresh your memory. On Monday, 95 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: October seventeenth, eighteen fourteen, a vat inside the Horseshoe Brewery 96 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: of London malfunctioned. The twenty two foot high tank was 97 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: held together with iron rings and was meant to store 98 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: three thousand five hundred barrels of brown porter ale for fermentation. 99 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: On that day in eighteen fourteen, though, one of the 100 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: rings around the tank snapped, the whole thing burst, creating 101 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: a fifteen foot high wave of beer that destroyed several 102 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: buildings and killed nine people. The Horseshoe Brewery was owned 103 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: by the Mew family and was one of the largest 104 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: porter brewers in London. The eighteen fourteen disaster barely put 105 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: a dent in their profits, too, the courts had ruled 106 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: it an act of God after all. Soon Henry Mu 107 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: was created a baronet, a hereditary title awarded to commoners. 108 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: But this story isn't about that event. No, that's just 109 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: the little scene setting for the person who is yet 110 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: to come. The Mew family might have faded into healthy 111 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: obscurity after this tragedy if not for the wife of 112 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: the third baronet, Valerie Lady Mu, who seemed to be 113 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: the living embodiment of the phrase may you live in 114 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: interesting times. If the times weren't interesting enough for her, 115 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: she certainly had a way of livening things up. Valerie 116 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: Susan Langdon seemed to come from nothing, in that nothing 117 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: seems to be known about her origins. She later admitted 118 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: that she'd been an actress and even learned how to 119 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: play the banjo, two pursuits that British aristocrats didn't greet 120 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: with admiration. Acting was seen as one of the low 121 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: forms of employment for women back then, and was often 122 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: synonymous with sex work in high society. No one knows 123 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: exactly how she met Sir Henry Mew. She was rumored 124 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: to have been working as a performer and barmaid at 125 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: the Casino de Venice in Holborn when she caught his eye. 126 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: The two married in secret in eighteen seventy eight, and 127 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: to say the marriage caused a scandal is an understatement. 128 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: We can only imagine the reaction the rest of the 129 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: new family had to their newest member behind closed doors, 130 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: but outside the house they presented a unified front in 131 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: opposition to Valerie, but she didn't care. Now possessing money 132 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: and emoticum of influence, Valerie made a splash. In eighteen 133 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: eighty three, Sir Henry's father passed away and the newlyweds 134 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: inherited the family seat, a mansion called St Theobald's in Herefordshire. 135 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: Valerie began transforming the palatial residence to her liking. Immediately 136 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: she made it into a playground for the wealthy and 137 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: powerful of London. She threw lavish parties and entertained her 138 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: guests with her in house, roller skating rink, their swimming pool, 139 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: and a museum of Egyptian antiquities. The crowning glory of 140 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: the four hundred tons structure was Sir Christopher Wren's temple bar, 141 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: which Valerie paid to have deconstructed, moved from London, and 142 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,239 Speaker 1: then reconstructed as their new entrance gate. The astonishing house 143 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,559 Speaker 1: and parties attracted anyone who was everyone, including the Prince 144 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: of Wales. Valerie could even be seen riding around town 145 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: in a high Phaeton, the sports car equivalent of a carriage, 146 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,079 Speaker 1: but hers was drawn by a matched pair of zebras. 147 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: No one could ignore her, no matter how much they 148 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: wanted to. There's no record of whether Sir Henry and 149 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: his unconventional bride loved each other, but when he died 150 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: in January of nineteen hundred, Valerie was the only person 151 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: named in his will. She had become one of the 152 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: wealthiest women in Britain. After that, Valerie threw herself into widowhood. 153 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: She owned a couple of race horses, although they didn't 154 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: win often, and she was a equent visitor to a 155 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 1: philosophical club called the Theosophical Society, and could be seen 156 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,719 Speaker 1: at everything from art openings to prize fights in a 157 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: variety of disguises. But here's the thing. Although they drank 158 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: her booze and ate her food, no one seemed to 159 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,319 Speaker 1: want much from Valerie. She tried to leave her spectacular 160 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: collection of antiquities to the British Museum, but the snobs 161 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: there didn't want them, so they were sold after her death, 162 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: and during the Second Boer War, when Valerie read about 163 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: early British reverses, she bought and paid for six naval 164 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: twelve pounder long guns that could be moved on special carriages. Initially, 165 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: the War Office refused, so they were sent straight to 166 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: South Africa. But the most enduring a valeries flights of 167 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: fancy was to commission three paintings by the scandalous artist 168 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: James Whistler. Whistler was bankrupt when he took the contract 169 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: for the three portraits, which were almost never finished. Apparently 170 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: Valerie and Whistler rubbed each other the wrong way, so 171 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: Whistler destroyed the final painting, portrait of Lady mew In 172 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: First and They Never Spoke Again. One of the previous portraits, 173 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: though Harmony and Pink and Gray, alludes to Valerie's past, 174 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: but it also seems to capture her renegade spirit. In it, 175 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: she gazes out towards the audience, wearing a costume like 176 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: dress while standing on stage defiant to the last. I 177 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 178 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 179 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:33,559 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 180 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 181 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 182 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 183 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 184 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.