1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. The idea of a human animal hybrid is 7 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: nothing new. Anyone who has any familiarity with mythology the 8 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: world over will have heard of minotaurs, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, 9 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: and all kinds of fun combinations that stimulate the imagination. 10 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: But most people by now at least know to categorize 11 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: these creatures in the fiction category of their mental library, 12 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,959 Speaker 1: not in the nonfiction section. But there are apparently some 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: exceptions to that rule. There's at least one particular human 14 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: animal hybrid that is so well documented that no one 15 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: knows heads or tails what to make of it, other 16 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: than to accept it. It started in the Netherlands. In 17 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: one According to the legend, a Dutch heiress by the 18 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,279 Speaker 1: surname of Jacobs encountered a mother and her perfectly normal 19 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: children begging on the streets, having nothing but bitterness in 20 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: her own cold heart. The heiress told the woman to 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: be gone and take her pig children with her. The 22 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: beggar woman, on hearing this, said that if her children 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: were pigs, then made the heiress's children be pigs as well. 24 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: In the story books, we would call this the inciting incident, 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: the start of the action. It's a classic hex only 26 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: partially hidden, and surely you can bet what happened next. 27 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: True to the curse, Jacob went on to deliver just 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: a few short weeks later, and you guessed it. This 29 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: child had the body of a human and the head 30 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: of a pig. She was believed to speak in grunts 31 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: and eat from a trough. Thus the first sighting of 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: the pig faced woman, but not the last. The British 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: weren't too far behind. They began to spread the story 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: of a Dutch woman by the name of tannekin Skinker, 35 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: who was also a pig faced woman, whose mother had 36 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: put her in the exact saint predicament as Jacobs, cruel 37 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: to a beggar woman and cursed to have piggish children. 38 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 1: Numerous onlookers heard the curse and drew the parallels between 39 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: the two and assumed that this was all the same 40 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: family skinkers. Story grew from there beyond what Jacobs did. 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: Her parents, desperate to continue the family line, offered a 42 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: comfy dowry of forty pounds, but there were no suitors. 43 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: She did, after all, have the head of a pig. Ironically, 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: not even a pig farmer would marry her, and her 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: family solicited. Quite a few varieties of the story recount 46 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: that this unusual woman resided in London's hole Born district. 47 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: She was recorded as being tall and I quote well proportioned, 48 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: while keeping her less than ordinary face hidden behind a 49 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: hood and a black velvety mask, and the records retain 50 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: their consistency as this woman supposedly talked in grunts like 51 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: the others. This story spread so far and so wide 52 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: that by the seventeen thirties it became accepted as fact. 53 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: Everyday folks from town to city to countryside recounted stories 54 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: of the deformed woman, of varying names, but of the 55 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: exact same pig face. And it should be mentioned that 56 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: this pig faced woman is not to be confused with 57 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: one Griselda Stevens, who had an actual physical deformity that 58 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: left her face in a state resembling that of a hog. No, 59 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: this was actually explainable, and believe it or not, her 60 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: own problems of being misconstrued as a pig faced woman 61 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: were thanks in part to the well circulated stories of 62 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: her Dutch predecessors. The actual hybrid of cursed origins, if 63 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: you will, through Griselda, though the legend continued on into 64 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century through the noble pig woman of Manchester Square. 65 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: Of course, it was only hearsay the word of a 66 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: passer by seeing a snout or hearing an oink. Nothing 67 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: concrete yet one more rumor, no doubt, perpetuated by the 68 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: original tale. Yeah, this rumor swept across England in eighteen 69 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: fourteen and eighteen fifteen, with newspapers writing her existence as fact, 70 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: not the fiction that she undoubtedly had to be. The newspaper, 71 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: like most media outlets, was less than kind, writing that 72 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: she would have to be wooed by grunts if anyone 73 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: wished to take her hand in marriage. I can't help 74 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: but hope that whoever wrote the article was the next 75 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: to be hext. There is a moral to the story, though, 76 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: when you see someone less fortunate than you, try not 77 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: to be so cruel, Otherwise you run the risk of 78 00:04:47,000 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: your kids being well pigheaded. World War two was a 79 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: long and deadly conflict. Sixteen million US troops fought alongside 80 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: millions more from across the globe, with over four hundred 81 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: thousand Americans dying for their country. Those who were stationed overseas, 82 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,799 Speaker 1: far from their families and friends, longed for the comforts 83 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: of home, the warmth of their own beds, hugs from 84 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: children left behind, and even something as simple as seeing 85 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: a movie in a big theater, which is why the 86 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,919 Speaker 1: United Service Organization was formed otherwise known as the USO. 87 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: Between nineteen forty one and ninety seven. Popular celebrities of 88 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: the time, people like Bob Hope, Judy Garland, and Humphrey 89 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: Bogart put on shows for the troops to bring a 90 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: little bit of home to the front lines. But the 91 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: U s O wasn't the only game in town when 92 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: it came to entertaining the Allies. England had its own 93 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: organization called e n s A. The Entertainment's National Service 94 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,239 Speaker 1: Association NSA brought the likes of Laurence Olivier and Peter 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: Sellers to the British Armed Forces. The same way that 96 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: the USO brought Being Crosby to the Yanks, and among 97 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: Ensa's top performers was a man named George Formby. Now 98 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: Formby was born in Lancashire, England, in nineteen o four 99 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: to a father who was no stranger to entertaining. He 100 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: was widely known in music halls as a singer and 101 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: a comedian, but didn't want his son to take up 102 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: the family business. Sadly, George Sr. Died in nine one 103 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: of a bronchial infection, leaving a void in his son's 104 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: life as well as a void on the stage. Despite 105 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,679 Speaker 1: never having seen his father perform with his own eyes, 106 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: George Jr. Was inspired to take up the act himself 107 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,040 Speaker 1: after an impostor started performing under the name the new 108 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: George Formby, and so George Jr. Learned how to imitate 109 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: his father from listening to his records while his mother 110 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: taught him all the original jokes. George also added some 111 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: of his own material, like playing the ukulele, which helped 112 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: the staff pulished him is more than just a carbon 113 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: copy of his late father. With help from his wife 114 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 1: and fellow performer Barrel Ingham, Formby worked his way up 115 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: to packed audiences, record deals, and even film roles. He 116 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: signed a seven year contract with English film studio Associated 117 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: Talking Pictures, run by a producer named Basil Dean. Dean 118 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: had passed on form By early on, but eventually saw 119 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: something in him, mainly that audiences seemed to enjoy him, 120 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: so it wasn't a surprise that when Dean left a 121 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: TP to head up ENSA, he brought Formby along for 122 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: the ride. George was paid ten pounds a week and 123 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: flew out to France in March of nineteen forty to 124 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: perform for the British Army's Expeditionary Force. He took his 125 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: duties to the troops seriously, to both at home and abroad. 126 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: When he wasn't singing and dancing for the soldiers in Europe, 127 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: he was touring factories and concert halls back home to 128 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: raise money on their behalf. He also continued to make 129 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: movies and took a six film deal with Columbia Pictures 130 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: in America. But he was never afraid to do anything 131 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: for a laugh, even in the middle of a war zone. 132 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: He would sit on top of a Sherman tank surrounded 133 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: by soldiers as he sang them a funny tune. He'd 134 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: also stand in fields riddled with bombed out craters as 135 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: he strummed his ukulele. In fact, after the Allies landed 136 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: at Normandy, Formby traveled there to entertain them. On one occasion, 137 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: he was unable to give the men a proper concert 138 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: as the Germans were too close for it to be 139 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: done safely. Instead, he crawled into the trenches with them 140 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: and told them jokes to keep their spirits up. And 141 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: then he set out to see the sixth Airborne Division, 142 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: who had been holding their position near several key bridges 143 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: for fifty six days. Formby put on nine shows for 144 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: them in a single day, and he did it standing 145 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: in front of a sandbag wall as the troops hid 146 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,719 Speaker 1: in the safety of their foxholes. It didn't matter how 147 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: dangerous it was. Formby's duty was to keep morale high 148 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: and provide some much needed relief to the war We 149 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: are soldiers, and he continued to make movies and work 150 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 1: on behalf of ENSA until the end of the war. 151 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: George Formby died in nineteen sixty one, having performed in 152 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: front of no fewer than three million servicemen during the war. 153 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: He never killed anyone. Nor did he storm the beaches 154 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: at Normandy, but he was a hero. Nonetheless, James Brown 155 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: is often credited as the hardest working man in show business, 156 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,479 Speaker 1: but George Formby easily gave him a run for his money, 157 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: and he literally did it from the trenches of a 158 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: war zone. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 159 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 160 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 161 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky 162 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 163 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 164 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 165 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 166 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:10,199 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious. Yeah h