1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome back everyone. I'm Eves and you're listening 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a show where we 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: peel back a new layer of history every day. Today 5 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: is October nine. The day was October nine, eight fifty five. 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: Joshua Starddard received a patent for the steam powered calliope, 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: an instrument that produces musical notes when steam is sent 8 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: through large whistles. The steam calliope is loud and shrill, 9 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: and it was used mainly on riverboats and in circuses 10 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: and fairs where steam was readily available. The calliope is 11 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: sometimes called the steam piano or steam organ. Stoddard was 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: a beekeeper, following in line with the family business. Because 13 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: his family was well off, Stardard had time to invent things. 14 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: One of those creations was the calliope. The original calliope 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: at fifteen whistles of different sizes attached in a row 16 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: to the top of a small steam boiler. Stoddard was 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: issued Patent number thirteen thousand, six sixty eight for his 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: so called Apparatus for producing music by steam or compressed air. 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: In his patent, Stoddard noted that His use of a 20 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: puppet valve now called a poppet valve to let steam 21 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: or air escape was an important feature of the instrument. 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: As a spoke cylinder revolved, it pressed on the puppet 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: valve stems, lifting them and letting steam into the whistles. 24 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: That meant it was the first patented completely mechanical calliope, 25 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: though Stoddard did later replace the cylinder with a keyboard 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: so the instrument could be played by hand. The Starddard 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: received the patent for the steam calliope. His design built 28 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: on existing instruments and concepts. In an eighteen fifty one 29 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: issue of the day in Journal and Advertiser, Will Why 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: of DuPont, Indiana claimed that he quote invented a plan 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: whereby music can be produced on steamboats of the softest 32 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: and most pathetic character by the agency of steam. He 33 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: described the instrument as having a horizontal pipe with seven 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: or more whistles in it that had different sizes and tones, 35 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: and he said it was operated by a set of keys, 36 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: but there was no evidence that he ever patented or 37 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: built that instrument. Stoddard envisioned the calliope as a replacement 38 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: for the caroline or church bills, but the instrument found 39 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: success in being mounted on parade wagons and circuses. There 40 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: will be a driver who controlled the wagon, a fireman 41 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: to stoke the boiler, and a musician to play the 42 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: callyope's keyboard. Calliope whistles are tuned to a chromatic scale, 43 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: but the instrument is known for its off pitch notes 44 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: because of how hard it is to tune accurately. Stoddard's 45 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: calliope made its first official debut in July of eighteen 46 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: fifty five. In its second appearance on Worcester Common on 47 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: July four, audiences enjoyed performances of Pop Goes, the Weasel, 48 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: and Yankee Doodle. Some models of calliopes could be heard 49 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: for several miles. Because calliopes were so loud, they were 50 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,119 Speaker 1: good at attracting attention, so they were installed on river 51 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: boats and circuses and on steam driven caro sales. But 52 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: it was so loud that some of Stoddard's family and 53 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: the people in Worcester were ashamed of the instrument. The 54 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: city of Worcester even passed an ordinance that banned playing 55 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: the calliope within city limits. The loudness of the instrument 56 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: also was not great for calliope players, as it could 57 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: cause premature hearing loss. Stoddard started the American Steam Music 58 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: Company to make the calliope for railroads and steamships. Stoddard 59 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: created improved models of the calliope, and the instrument was 60 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: installed on many boats. The number of whistles on a 61 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: callyope varied from around twenty to thirty two, and people 62 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: experimented with different uses for the calliope, like using it 63 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: to alert ships captains of changing weather conditions. Though it 64 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: wasn't long before Starter lost control of the company, other 65 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: companies manufactured callyopes for years, as many calliopes were automated 66 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: through the use of a cylinder or music role. By 67 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, callyope players became less integral to 68 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: the operation of the instruments, but they still had a 69 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: keyboard allowing a person to play the callyope manually. Around 70 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: this time, compressed air began to replace the steam used 71 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:45,239 Speaker 1: in callyopes, which was safer and more convenient. Calliopes still 72 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: exist today, and some are still in working order, though 73 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: most are no longer playable. Stoddart didn't make a bunch 74 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: of money off of the Calliope, and after he lost 75 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: his company, he returned to farming and beekeeping. I'm Eve 76 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: Steff Code and hopefully you know a little more about 77 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. 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