1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,199 Speaker 1: Hey, listeners. This episode is part of our new playlist 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: to help everybody get through these times we're living in. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: It's our host faves playlist. Yeah, these are just some 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: of our personal favorites, ones that we had a particular 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: affinity for, and because these are stressful and trying times, 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: we tried to stick to the ones that weren't quite 7 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: as dour. So hopefully they'll give you a little lift, 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: Stay safe. Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm probably Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: And Tracy have a question for you. Sure when you 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: were a kid, did you love the freebees that came 13 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: in cereal? Well, my mother had very strong opinions on 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: which cereals were appropriate. So many of the cereals that 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: we're sold with toys and them we're not also burials 16 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,919 Speaker 1: we were allowed to eat. Ah. That makes me so sad. 17 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: So uh. In case some of our listeners do not know, 18 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: sometimes cereal, particularly cereal aimed at kids, will sometimes come 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: with a toy or another novelty item in the box 20 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: as part of like a marketing promotion to boost sales, 21 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: and I live for that stuff as a kid, and 22 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: I might still live for that stuff as an adult. Uh. 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: My husband and I collect a lot of crazy things 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: and toys, and like you put a Star Wars pen 25 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: in a box and we'll be eating that cereal for 26 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: however long it tastes to get all the pens. But 27 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: this is not a new concept. Pretty early, from about 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: the middle of the twentieth century onward, the serial Wars 29 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: sort of really started to heat up in different promotions 30 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: were tried to outdo one another, and at one point 31 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: in the mid twentieth century, one very famous company had 32 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: a very wacky plan to actually dole out land deeds 33 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: as part of a cereal promotion. And that's what we're 34 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: going to talk about out today. Sergeant Preston of the 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: Yukon was a radio show from the fifties and then 36 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: it made this transition into television. It started actor Dick 37 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: Simmons as the sergeant, and the radio version had featured 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: voice actor Paul Sutton. There was also a husky dog 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: named Yukon King and a trusty horse named Rex, and 40 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: the show's exploits were usually about exciting adventures, most commonly 41 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: with the sergeant of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police taking 42 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: his team of sled dogs through the Yukon in pursuit 43 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: of some bad guys. This TV series ran on CBS 44 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: TV from nineteen fifty five to ninety eight and it 45 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: was sponsored by Kawaker Oats. So the actual attribution of 46 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: who had this idea for this extremely novel promotion is 47 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: a little bit fuzzy because different versions of the story 48 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: credit different people. In some versions, AD executive Bobby Smith 49 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: came up with the idea. For example, his biography credits him, 50 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: uh sometimes it said that it's actually Smith's son who 51 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: gave him the idea, and then yet other tellings of 52 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,279 Speaker 1: the tale it was a last minute bolt of inspiration 53 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: to addmin Bruce Baker, who was a partner at AD 54 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: firm Werry, Baker and Tilden, which is where Bobby Smith works. 55 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: So they're all kind of linked together, but it's not. 56 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: There's not entirely um one version of the story that's 57 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: consistently told. There's always a little bit of wiggle in them. 58 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: We do know that one of these Chicago admin came 59 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: up with the brainchild of offering land deeds in cereal boxes. 60 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: The previous ad campaign which they stated that the grains 61 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: had been fired from guns, was really no longer doing 62 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: it for people. The idea of guns firing the cereal 63 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: was no longer appealing. Yeah, and that that is actually, uh, 64 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: that ad campaign is kind of based in the chemistry 65 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: of how the the puffed wheat and puffed rice came 66 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: to be made in their puffed form. But uh, the 67 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: other thing that Quaker was really having to deal with 68 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: was that other serial companies were cranking up their own 69 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: ad campaigns and they were adding sugar to the cereal, 70 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: which is something that the Quaker company was not in 71 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: favor of. And they had these bounty cartoony mascots to 72 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: try to appeal to kids. So, for example, Tony the Tiger, 73 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: which lives on today and we all recognize, had debuted 74 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen fifties and Kellogg's frosted flakes had 75 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: become increasingly popular with kid consumers. That part's really funny 76 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: to me because if you've heard our episode about John 77 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: Harvey Kellogg, you know he was also not in favor 78 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: of the sugar in the cereals. Yeah, he'd lost control 79 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: of that one. They have this in common with My 80 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: Mom and a piece written for Canadian magazine in the 81 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies by Jack McIvor. Baker is the hero of 82 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: this piece, racking his brain in a bathroom at three 83 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning to try to come up with 84 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: some way to salvage the Quaker account. Yeah. I feel 85 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: compelled to mention that I could not put my hands 86 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: on an official full text copy of this article. Uh. 87 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: It's reprinted times an edited form by multiple tourism groups 88 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: in Canada, and I did find a citation for it, 89 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: so we know it existed. Uh, but I never actually 90 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: got the full text document from the official UH magazine. 91 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: So just know that going forward. I just wanted to 92 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: acknowledge if you go looking at the show notes and 93 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: you go, hey, I never found this real article. That's 94 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,840 Speaker 1: why Baker was interviewed for the piece, and he said 95 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: that he had the idea for the giveaway while he 96 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: was under pressure to come up with something that was 97 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: cheap and moved cereal. Once he had the idea, he 98 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: took the five am train to Chicago, grabbed his art director, 99 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: and whipped up a presentation, which he said to have 100 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: delivered to Quaker at eleven a m that same morning, 101 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: and the Quaker company had some trepidation about this whole 102 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: wacky scheme. They envisioned the whole campaign becoming this nightmare 103 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: of paperwork and expense as they tried to parcel out 104 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: millions of tiny pieces of land, particularly to children, and 105 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: sort of the legal issues surrounding all of that. They 106 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: really were just very hard to sell on this idea. 107 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: It's pretty much the only idea on the table though. 108 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: So to complete with all the sugar and all the 109 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: cartoon characters, Bruce Baker and one of Quakers executives flew 110 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: to Yukon to scout out the possibility of actually bringing 111 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: this wild idea to reality. Yeah, they were going to 112 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: tie in that whole Canadian Mounty story into this, this 113 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: idea of giving away land. Uh. And so once Baker 114 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: and the Quaker executive landed in Canada, UH, they met 115 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: with a lawyer in white Horse and things got a 116 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: little bit smoothed over at this point because the Canadian lawyer, 117 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: whose name was George Van Rogen, who incidentally went on 118 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: to become a senator in Canada, he advised that it 119 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: was not actually going to be necessary to register each 120 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: individual square inch that they intended to give away in 121 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: this promotion that they could just sell it in one 122 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: large parcel and then they're just such tiny increment you 123 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: didn't even have to bother with all of that. Ben 124 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: Rogen was delighted to be working on a novel project 125 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,559 Speaker 1: instead of just drawing up people's wills and whatnot, so 126 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: he helped find a lot for the visiting Americans to 127 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: look at and to consider purchasing. So the men headed 128 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: to Dawson City, which was a gold rush town, and 129 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: then they traveled by boat up river to inspect property 130 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: in Klondike. And the plot of land that they specifically 131 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,239 Speaker 1: looked at was Lot forty to forty three, Group two, 132 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: and it was nineteen point one one acres. It featured 133 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: six hundred and forty feet of riverfront on the west 134 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: bank of the Yukon River, and it was one thousand, 135 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: three hundred and one ft deep. And the Klondike Big 136 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: Inch Land Company Incorporated was eventually established for the purposes 137 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: of this promotion, and it is that company that paid 138 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: a whopping one thousand dollars for this tract of land. 139 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: So once the land had been acquired, deeds were printed 140 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: in each deed was on a seven by five inch 141 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: piece of paper, and that made it thirty five times 142 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: larger than the actual land pieces that they represented. UH. 143 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: And the wording on these deeds was really carefully written 144 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: to be entirely legal. I believe um van Grog van 145 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: Rogen did continue to help them with this since they 146 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: were working on, you know, legal issues both in Canada 147 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: and in the States where the promotion was going to happen. 148 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: And this was the reason that they put so much 149 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: effort into making sure every word on this piece of 150 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: paper was accurate and legally sound. Was allegedly because the 151 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: serial industry at this point had become really rather cutthroat, 152 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: and they were really concerned that a competing company was 153 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: going to try to like just comb through all of 154 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: this UH copy that was on the document to find 155 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: any incongruity or any way to call foul on this 156 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: Quaker Klondike project and consequently shut it down. The deeds 157 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: also made it clear that they did not come with 158 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: mineral rights to the land. Nobody wanted anybody to be 159 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: showing up looking to mind their one square inch of 160 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: land for gold. The owners of these tiny parcels also 161 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: had to allow for easement, which is accessed by other 162 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: people who might need to find their one inch plot. 163 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: So basically it made it so that the deed holders 164 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: property could be stepped on without legal recourse. On January nine, 165 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: this promotion began and they ran ads, of course on 166 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: the television show, but papers across the United States also 167 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,319 Speaker 1: ran ads touting that purchases of Quaker puffed wheat or 168 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: Quaker puffed rights could lead to the ownership of actual 169 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: Yukon land. And these tiny land grabbers could fill out 170 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: a form and they could send it in with a 171 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: box top, and in return they would receive one of 172 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: these deeds that have been so carefully uh compiled, issued 173 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: by the Klondike Big Inch Land Company, and that entitled 174 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,839 Speaker 1: the holder to one square inch of Klondike land. There 175 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: was a whole lot of romance around the marketing of 176 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: all of this. The promotion copy touted in the gold Rush. 177 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: Men fought the wildest country on Earth and the most 178 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: savage of climates to get to the Klondike, where your 179 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: land is. During the winter, the only way to the 180 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,199 Speaker 1: gold fields was by mushing for a week after week. 181 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: The more fortunate were aided by dog teams pulling sleds 182 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: no one knows how many brave men died along the 183 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: frozen Yukon River that runs past your Land. And there 184 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: was also a map of the Yukon territory in these ads, 185 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: and it had this arrow that pointed to a spot 186 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: in the words deed makes you owner of land right here, 187 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: which just delighted me and sent me into fits of 188 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: laughter when I saw it. Also included was a brief 189 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: description of how a lust for gold had driven men 190 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: into this wilderness, hoping to strike it rich. And there 191 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: were heroic descriptions of the mounties that patrolled this land 192 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: and how they always get their man, so that also 193 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: tied in with the television show. Additional wording included talk 194 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:10,199 Speaker 1: of the harsh cold, the dangerous grizzly bears and wolves, 195 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: and the moose and caribou that might trapes across your land. 196 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: The phrase your land was consistently used in all the 197 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: promotional materials, drawing kids into the sales push with this 198 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: empowering language that sparked their young imaginations, and it is 199 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: no surprise that this campaign worked like Gangbusters. Stores were 200 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 1: actually having this problem where they would sell out of 201 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: their puffed cereal stock each day and kids were begging 202 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,960 Speaker 1: their parents to purchase multiple boxes so that they could 203 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: grow their land holdings. And I can't help but think 204 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: of like kids lying on their beds dreaming about the 205 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: huge plots of territory they were slowly amassing through these minuscule, 206 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: little one inch deeds. And the first month of the 207 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: campaign Quaker received tens of thousands of box top requests. 208 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: But then there was a snag and febru Weary nine five, 209 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: just weeks after the campaign had kicked off, the Ohio 210 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: Securities division Quaker had a large operations center in Ohio, 211 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 1: ruled that the company could not legally trade a box 212 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: top for a deed to Yukon land without a state 213 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: license to sell or in territory. And so at this 214 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: point the promotion was really in full swing and it 215 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: was already seeing incredible success, and so Quaker did not 216 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: want to shut this down. So instead of halting the 217 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: promotion and distribution so that they could wait for a 218 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: license to come, the company kind of managed a little loophole. 219 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: They opted instead to give away the deeds in the boxes, 220 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: and because this eliminated the exchange of the box top, 221 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: which could be perceived as a sales contract in when 222 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: it came along with the filled out coupon. This made 223 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: it perfectly legal. It was a free giveaway. They weren't 224 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: selling land, and it meant that this promotion could just 225 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: keep right ongoing because it was so successful that they 226 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: really did not want to stop the momentum. All in all, 227 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: Quaker through the Klondike Big inch Land Company gave away 228 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: twenty one million deeds to Klondike property, and while the 229 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: enthusiasm for Quaker puffed cereals and their gateway to property 230 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: ownership was still fresh in the minds of kids, there 231 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 1: was actually a second tie in promotion that came up 232 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: because as they were running out of their land deeds, 233 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: they wanted to kind of keep things going. So kids 234 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: could then mail in twenty five cents to UH the 235 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: Klondike Big inch Land Company and they would receive what 236 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: was called a small quote poke pouch of genuine Yukon dirt. 237 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: UH and Van Rogen was also involved in this as well. 238 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: He assisted in the acquisition of this dirt. He basically 239 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,839 Speaker 1: had like a business acquaintance kind of sift up lands 240 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,439 Speaker 1: um smooth sand from the bottom of the Yukon River 241 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: and he made it clear, like there couldn't be anything, 242 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: no pebbles in it, no um, nothing dangerous. It really 243 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: just had to be the cleanest possible sand. And then 244 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: they had to have this soil and sand trucked to 245 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: Alaska because they couldn't mail it from Canada without a 246 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: lot of postal complications. So the postmark was actually from 247 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: Alaska and not from uh Yukon territory, but no one 248 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,199 Speaker 1: seemed to mind. And in one interview I noticed that 249 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: Van Rogen said, like, I think a lot of Americans 250 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: think Yukon as part of Alaska anyway, So nobody seemed 251 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: to notice that the postmark wasn't from the area where 252 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: they said that the dirt was coming from. Ten years 253 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: after the promotion, on January twenty second, nineteen sixty five, 254 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: the Klondike Big Inch Land Company was dissolved. The Canadian 255 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 1: government took possession of the land due to non payment 256 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: of thirty seven dollars and twenty cents worth of back taxes. Yeah, 257 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: that figure shows up in a lot of various sources, 258 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: although it never says where it's whether it's Canadian or 259 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: U s currency, not that there's a huge issue at 260 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: that point anyway, It's such a small amount, and the 261 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: Klondike Big Inch Land Company had really just been maintained 262 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: kind of to deal with these various queries that people 263 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: would send periodically about their land. But it really after 264 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: just a few months of this big promotion, it had 265 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: ended and it wasn't really they weren't continuing to give 266 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: away deeds after that point, which is why there's that 267 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: big gap between when they give away the dirt and 268 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: then when the Klondike Company is dissolved. None of those 269 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: individual one inch plots were ever officially registered, so those 270 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: Cereal box deed holders were never really recognized as having 271 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: property in the eyes of the Canadian government. The land 272 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: that was once owned by Quakers Klondike Holding Company has 273 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: since been used for the Dawson City golf course. So 274 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: what's interesting is that, uh, these Klondike deeds continue to 275 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: sort of rear their heads. Uh. The land Title office 276 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: in white Horse, Yukon continues to get a handful of 277 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: inquiries each year from people who have held la onto 278 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: their deeds or they found them in you know, a 279 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: family uh box. And there was an article in the 280 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: Montreal Gazette in nine six that characterize these inquiries as 281 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: pretty much come being grouped into one of these four 282 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: major types. There are general inquiries wondering if the land 283 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: has any value, tax queries from people worried that they're 284 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: not up to date on any taxes owned on their 285 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: square and land parcels, lawyers who find deeds from the 286 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: Klondike Big Inch Land Company in the papers of the 287 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: deceased and are trying to settle estates, and hopeful types 288 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: who are wanting to know if they can rent the 289 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: land for income. Yeah, it's interesting, and I wonder how 290 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: this whole thing would play out if they attempted it today, 291 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: where it's like you have land, the one inch piece 292 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: of land, No, you don't, not really. I think it 293 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: would maybe meet with some some bigger resistance. But um. 294 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: There have also been these various wacky efforts made around 295 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: these teeny parcels. At one point there were a couple 296 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: of men who had a combined four square inches of land, 297 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: and they attempted to declare it as free and independent 298 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: land under the name the Republic of Zandido, which did 299 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: not really play out. Another person sent Quaker string and 300 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: toothpicks so they could build a fence around his property. Uh. 301 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: One man had three of these deeds, and so he 302 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 1: had a three it's three square inch land parcel, and 303 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: it was really his intention that it should be donated 304 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: and used as a national park. According to Verne Thomas, 305 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 1: a representative from a Quakers legal department, in the early 306 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, one man collected deeds from all over, eventually 307 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: amassing ten thousand, eight hundred eighty of them, and this 308 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: added up to about seventy five square feet. He then 309 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: tried to have the square inches consolidated so he could 310 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,120 Speaker 1: take possession of his tract of land, and he requested 311 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 1: that his parcel be carved out near the water. But 312 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: these were all of these various requests of what to do. 313 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: We're pretty much met with a form letter that said, hey, 314 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: that was a promotion. You're really paying for the excitement. Uh. 315 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: And in nine Thomas, who we've mentioned just a moment ago, 316 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: told a reporter quote, the deeds are worthless. They have 317 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,479 Speaker 1: never been of any value except as a promotional gimmick 318 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: by our merchandising people. They really made a very clear 319 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: pr going forward that they were really selling the romance 320 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: and the excitement of this concept, not the actual land. 321 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: While the official statements made by Quaker indicate that the 322 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: deeds were never meant to have any intrinsic value, and 323 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: we're really meant to just be a fun promotion. If 324 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 1: you do still have an original certificate, it does have 325 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: some value because nostalgia dealers and eBay purchasers will take 326 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: them off your hands. And the last several years the 327 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: certificates have gone for anywhere from ten dollars to forty 328 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: dollars on the secondary market. And in the early two thousands, 329 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,199 Speaker 1: a man named David McDonald, who had collected several of 330 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: the deeds on the many plots as a child, held 331 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: and he held onto them into adulthood, and a lot 332 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: of people did. There were people that really squirreled these away, uh, 333 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: you know, in their safe papers, thinking that they were 334 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: going to pay off one day. Uh. But David McDonald 335 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: set out to make a documentary about the Klondike Land 336 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: and the Quaker Company's ad campaign after he had inquired 337 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: with the Canadian government about the whole thing and got 338 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: the same form letter as everyone else. When McDonald started 339 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: researching his film, he discovered that many kids just like 340 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,159 Speaker 1: him had grown up hanging onto their deeds in the 341 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: hopes that one day they would make some money off 342 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: of them and those adult kids or sometimes their families. 343 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: In the cases where the original deed holders have died, 344 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: we're told by Quaker that they had no actual Yukon property. Yeah. 345 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: I tried to hunt down a chance to see McDonald's film, 346 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: which is called Serial Thriller, but I did not manage 347 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: to um to get to see it, which is a 348 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: big foodie on my part because it sounded so fun. 349 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: I just love this idea that there were there was 350 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 1: such an odd little giveaway, like here's some land you 351 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: but not really. Uh. You'll often hear it or see 352 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: it written up in the various articles that have come 353 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 1: up through the years, because periodically they will sort of 354 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: rise to the top. Someone will make an inquiry and 355 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: get very irritated and say I was promised land, but 356 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: they'll get the form letter this is not really I 357 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: think Quaker wishes this had never happened, like it was 358 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: very good for sales uh at the time, but it 359 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 1: really has been kind of an ongoing pain and that 360 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: took us for them. They thought, like I said, they 361 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: continue to get mail every year from people thinking that 362 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: it's time to cash in on their land. It reminds 363 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: me of I think it was a soft drink promotion 364 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: within the last decade or so in which people were 365 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: gonna send in bottle tops, and you know, the more 366 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: bottle tops they could get bigger prizes. And as a 367 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,439 Speaker 1: joke in the ad, there was one that was a 368 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: like a fighter jet or something and that cost fourteen 369 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: million bottle tops or something, and people actually took it 370 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: seriously and tried to get that many bottle tops to 371 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: get their fighter get. Yeah, that's crazy. If it's the 372 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 1: promotion I'm thinking of. I think they capped the number 373 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: of bottle top like you had to digitally enter it, 374 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: and they capped the number you can enter each week 375 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,959 Speaker 1: so that you could really never get to the magical 376 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 1: number to cash in. Uh. But yeah, it's It's one 377 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: of those things people love a free giveaway. I love 378 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:23,959 Speaker 1: freebees as much as anybody. I send away for all 379 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: the crazy stuff because it cracks me up when it 380 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: comes in the mail. But it's one of those things 381 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: where you most people kind of go into it knowing 382 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: this isn't really worth wild stuff, like it has no 383 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: actual value. It's just fun. Or like if you if 384 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,159 Speaker 1: you adopt a wild animal at a wild animal preserve 385 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: that doesn't belong to you. You don't get to go 386 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: pet that animal. It will bite your face. We don't 387 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: want that. I'm just I'd laugh so hard with people 388 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: thinking about their one inch of land and what they're 389 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: gonna do with it. I actually kind of like the 390 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: guy who had to make the seventy ft of the 391 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: land be a real thing, because you could build a 392 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: tiny house on that be pretty happy out in the 393 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: middle of nowhere. Yeah, there was allegedly. I didn't research 394 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: it deeply. I saw it in my research and didn't 395 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: look terribly hard at it. There was allegedly a game 396 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: show at one point that had people try to find 397 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: the square inches, like a specific square inch of one 398 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: of these deeds, like as like the challenge of the 399 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: game show, Like this wasn't the regular thing. It was 400 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: a random challenge as part of their regular series of challenges. 401 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: But uh, they had laid out the parcel of land 402 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: where basically they just did like a simple numbering scheme 403 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: where they started at like the top left corner of 404 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:42,199 Speaker 1: the land if you were looking at it on a 405 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,159 Speaker 1: map and went you know, one through however far it 406 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: could go by inches and then started a second row 407 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: and just kind of went chronologically. So theoretically people that 408 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: went looking for their particular inch, because each inch was 409 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: numbered on these certificates, could theoretically find it. But to 410 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: the best of anyone's knowledge, no one ever actually did that, 411 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: like no one ever pinpointed their one square inch of land. 412 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: It makes me almost want to go looking for one 413 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: of the the certificates just for my own collection of 414 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: weird things, because it's so funny. But you can't see 415 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: images of the certificates online. Uh, And we will link 416 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: to some of those in the show notes. And also 417 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: one of the things I wanted to mention that will 418 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: be in the show notes is um um the commercial 419 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: for Quaker where they talk about the serial being shot 420 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: out of guns, because it's quite wacky cartoon featuring a 421 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: cannon and some kind of revolutionary style costuming, and it's 422 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:44,959 Speaker 1: worth a look. Thank you so much for joining us 423 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: today for this classic. 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