1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke'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 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: It was midnight when the smugglers entered the harbor, drifting 7 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: silently between the larger vessels anchored along the docks. Passing 8 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: beneath the bridge, they pulled up alongside a rickety pier 9 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: and got to work unloading their contraband within minutes the 10 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: wharf was groaning from the weight of large wooden crates. 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: The smugglers worked quickly and had almost completed the task 12 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: when pandemonium erupted. A shrill whistle blast pierced the night 13 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: that A small army of police constables poured onto the docks, 14 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: surrounding the smugglers. Those who tried to run at the 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: end of a cudgel, a stack of crates toppled, smashing 16 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: against the dock and spilling their contents over the wooden planks. 17 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: One of the constables knelt, reaching down to reverently touch 18 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: the snow white contraband. The crates were not full of 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,320 Speaker 1: drugs or weapons or stolen jewelry. They contained something even 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: more valuable. This was pont de laisson, a type of 21 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: needle point lace crafted by carmelite nuns from southern France. 22 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: Dubbed the Queen of Lace for its beauty, it was 23 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: among the most desired fabrics in the world. It wasn't 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: the material involved that made the lace so valuable, but 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: the artistry, craftsmanship, and labor that went into every hand 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: stitched piece. A single square centimeter took seven hours to 27 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: create and involved the labor of eighteen craftswomen. The fact 28 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: that it was both beautiful and difficult to create made 29 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: it incredibly popular among European aristocracy, who had been adorning 30 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: themselves a needle point for years. They used lace in 31 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: all their clothing too, but especially their sleeves and oversized collars. 32 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: The incredible popularity of lace eventually caught the attention of 33 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: the French government. The Finance minister was startled by the 34 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: exorbitant sums their nobles were spending on foreign lace, and 35 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: became determined to keep that money within the country. He 36 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: started by heavily investing in the French lace making school, 37 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: then banning foreign lace so that nobles would be forced 38 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: to use homegrown stuff. At the same time, he made 39 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: it illegal to transport French lace out of the country 40 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: so that no one else could copy their designs. As expected, 41 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: the ban led to a massive boon in the French 42 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: lace industry, but it also created incentives for criminals to 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: enter the market. An arms race quickly developed between the 44 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: police and lace smugglers, who came with increasingly clever schemes 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: to get their textiles across the border. They smuggled lace 46 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: inside empty coffins and hollowed out loaves of bread. They 47 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: even wrapped it around large dogs before dressing the animals 48 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: in fake hides. The authorities responded with a series of 49 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: high profile busts. In one instance, a hangman burned hundreds 50 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: of thousands of crowns worth of foreign lace, treating the 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: textile itself as a criminal who deserved to die. The 52 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: situation continued until seventeen eighty nine, when the French Revolution 53 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: virtually wiped out the nobility. The demand for high quality 54 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: lace cratered, putting hundreds of thousands of craftswomen out of work. 55 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: Needle point lace did see a brief resurgence of popularity 56 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: during the Napoleonic era, but met its true end soon 57 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: after during the Industrial Revolution. You see, the textile machines 58 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: that were invented in the mid nineteenth century could easily 59 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: replicate the patterns that had taken human hands countless hours 60 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: to create. This made the lace far less expensive to produce, 61 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: but also less unique and desirable. With the human artistry removed, 62 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: lace became just like any other fabric, and it soon 63 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: fell out of fashion. Wealthy people turned their attention to 64 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: other luxurious fabrics like silk or velvet. Soon enough, hardly 65 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: anyone would remember a time when needle point lace was 66 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: one of the most sought after and most forbidden commodities 67 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: in the world, a time when French fashion police scoured 68 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: their harbors for illicit fabrics and smugglers risk their necks 69 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: to dress the necks of the elite. You've seen it 70 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: in every Thai restaurant from Bangkok to Berlin. Tender rice noodles, 71 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: fresh tamarind, juicy shrimp, squeeze of lime, and just a 72 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: hint of peanuts for some nutty crunch mention. Thai food 73 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: anywhere in the world, and most people's thoughts jumped to 74 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: one iconic dish, pad Thaie, a combination of salty, sweet, acid, 75 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: and spice. Seemed to represent the complexity of Thaie cuisine 76 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,559 Speaker 1: all in one single dish. But pad Thai, which means 77 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: Thai stirfry, didn't have the same journey as other national dishes. 78 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: It didn't come from a grandmother's kitchen or a popular 79 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: roadside stand. Instead, pad Thai was cooked up by a 80 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: dictator obsessed with the flavor of Thai's identity. In the 81 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: late nineteen thirties, Thailand was getting nervous. It was still 82 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: an independent kingdom called Siam, but it seemed like all 83 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: of its neighbors were being colonized. Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and 84 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: Burma were ruled by the French and the English, and 85 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: now word was coming down the line that Japan had 86 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: invaded China and was looking further self. The Prime Minister 87 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,479 Speaker 1: of Thailand at the time was and I have to 88 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: ask your forgiveness in advance for trying to pronounce this 89 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: man's name, a guy named Kleiak Fibun Songkrem, who most 90 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: westerners just called Fibun. Now Fibun had overthrown the monarchy 91 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: and was using the military to rule Siam. He believed 92 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: that colonists saw Siam as a backwards, primitive place in 93 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 1: need of their brand of civilizing. To keep his country free, 94 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: he thought he needed to do what leaders like Benito 95 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: Mussolini had done. He needed to create a strong national identity, 96 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: from music and art to close and even food. From 97 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine to nineteen forty two, Phibun issued twelve 98 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 1: cultural mandates to realize this vision. He changed the name 99 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: of the country from Siam to Thailand. He demanded specific 100 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: types of traditional dress, and he targeted ethnic minorities, including 101 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: banning the Chinese language and driving Chinese food vendors off 102 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: the street. Now amidst this campaign for identity, Fibun decided 103 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: the country needed a national dish, one that would showcase 104 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: the depth and complexity of Thai flavors, but would also 105 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: be a healthy and hearty one with lots of protein 106 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: and vegetables. So he unveiled his new national program called 107 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: Noodle Is Your Lunch. The Public Welfare Department gave out 108 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: noodle carts, ingredients and a new recipe. The national dish 109 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: of modern Thailand pad Thai. And yet, even as Fibun 110 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: claimed this dish encapsulated all of Thai cuisine, many Thai 111 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: people had never tasted did anything like it. Thai food 112 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,479 Speaker 1: is highly dictated by locality, using the fresh ingredients that 113 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: are locally grown, raised, or fished. There it was a 114 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: country that ate rice rather than noodles, So people wondered 115 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: where pad thai had come from. Was it a regional dish, 116 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: something ancient with a long history, And the truth was 117 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: Fibun was just a guy who liked noodles. The meal 118 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: which became pad thai was based on a recipe from 119 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: his housekeeper, who made it often. In truth, it may 120 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: have even come from a Chinese recipe. Noodles were much 121 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: more popular in China than in Thailand, but through his 122 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: cultural programs, pad Thai became ubiquitous across the country. His 123 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: forced national identity still wasn't enough to stave off invasion. 124 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty one, under thread of Japanese attack, Fibun 125 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: agreed to let Japanese soldiers move freely throughout Thailand, and 126 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: as the war ended, the Thai people, sick of his 127 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: harsh rules, ousted him from office, and yet even with 128 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: the Thai people rejecting Fibun's other mandates, pad Thai somehow serve. 129 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: In fact, pad Thai became the driving force behind a 130 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: second cultural identity movement, this time in two thousand and one. 131 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: That year, the Thai government launched a program called Thai 132 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: Kitchen to the World. They wanted to create a concept 133 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: of Thai cultural identity in other countries, to attract tourists 134 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: to Thailand and create a cultural calling card. Part of 135 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: this program was to train chefs and grant loans to 136 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: people who opened Thai restaurants in other countries. The governments 137 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: even came up with three cookie cutter restaurant concepts, from 138 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: cheap eats to fine dining, that restaurant owners could easily copy, 139 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: which is why some Thai restaurants have the same menu 140 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: from Hong Kong to Houston. But many Thai entrepreneurs also 141 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: struck out on their own, creating restaurants that would cater 142 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,719 Speaker 1: to local populations, and many of them found that worldwide 143 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: people loved the sweet, sour, spicy flavors of pad Thai. 144 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: Even in Thailand, the dish has become a popular lunchtime staple. Still, 145 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: if you do venture to Thailand or your local Thai restaurant, 146 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: don't be afraid to try something else on the menu. 147 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 148 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 149 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 150 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: This show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 151 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 152 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 153 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 154 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.