1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Secret societies litter the historical timeline with their 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: closed doors and shuttered windows. They are veritable factories of curiosity. 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: From templars and Freemason's to the always fascinating Illuminati. Each 9 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: one is riddled with mystery. But those aren't the only three. 10 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: They just so happened to be the ones that most 11 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: people can name, because most secret societies usually fail to 12 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: pique our curiosity. Take, for instance, a rather obscure order 13 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: that arose in Bavaria back in sev The Pope had 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,919 Speaker 1: just issued a papal bull forbidding any Catholic from joining 15 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: the Freemasons, and that just didn't sit well with one 16 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: particular group. They wanted to join the elites and the 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: hallowed halls of Freemasons, but the risk of excommunication made 18 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: them pause. As such, an idea donned on the former 19 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 1: Freemason elector of the city of Cologne, a guy named 20 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: Clemens August of Vittelsbach. It was clemens brilliant idea to 21 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: subvert this papal bull by creating another society of Freemasons 22 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: and simply giving it a different name. But they would 23 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: not lose the selectivity that all secret orders must have. 24 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: This one required all aspiring members to possess and I quote, loyalty, trust, discretion, tenderness, sweetness, humanity, 25 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: in a word, all the qualities that are the basis 26 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: of love and friendship. Also, according to the doctrine of 27 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: their club, the qualities of the icon of their order. 28 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: To make it more official, this new society came complete 29 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: with their own initiation rituals, many of which were quite progressive. 30 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: Men and women alike were free to join, so long 31 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: as they were Catholic, embodied the traits of their beloved icon, 32 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: and willing to go through the rather particular initiation rites. 33 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: On the day of initiation, all aspiring novices would put 34 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: on a brass color and scratch at the order's door 35 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: to be let in. They would then be blindfolded and 36 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: paraded around the room nine times, and all while the 37 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: initiated members within barked loudly in an attempt to shake 38 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: the Novices into giving up their claim to the Order, 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: testing their metal, if you will. But it didn't end there. 40 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: If novices passed the gauntlet of noise and humiliation, they 41 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: would then be required to kiss the backside of a 42 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: porcelain figure of the group's icon, more specifically, just under 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: the tail, because you see, this Secret Society's mascot wasn't 44 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: a dead saint or an old world deity, No, it 45 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: was a porcelain dog. When the dedication was thoroughly proven 46 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: and unquestionably sound, new members were given silver medallions with 47 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: the emblem of the Society emblazoned for all to see. 48 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: Not exactly subtle, but it did the trick, although they 49 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: didn't need to do it for long, because the Secret 50 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: Society's lifespan could only be considered long in dog years. 51 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: A mere ten years after founding, another branch attempted to 52 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: start up elsewhere, only to be shut down soon after. 53 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: A government investigation into the Order and their lodge began 54 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,119 Speaker 1: in Earnest and all of those secrets started to come 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: to light. The government wasn't pleased with the fees and 56 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: the controls that the Order held over its members, so 57 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: they shut down the new branch of the Order before 58 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: it was even house trained. According to German records, the 59 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: Order itself was short lived, with the original group disbanding 60 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: not long after, although some records in France suggest it 61 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: might have hung on until nineteen o two. Now back 62 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: to the matter of the mascots of this order. All 63 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: good secret societies require a figurehead of some sort, right, 64 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: the emblem by which all members hold themselves too. And 65 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: since the members of this society were so inspired by 66 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: the Canine, you might imagine they went with a powerful, 67 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: mighty and intimidating breed. But if you did, you'd be wrong. 68 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: You see, they called themselves the Order of the Pug. 69 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: Life imitates art. It's a saying that has come to 70 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: signify that moment when something we experience in reality feels 71 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: inspired by a creative work. For example, the book The 72 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: Wreck of the titan told the story of a massive 73 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: British ocean liner hitting an iceberg and sinking in the 74 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: North Atlantic. It was published in and just fourteen years later, 75 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: the real life Titanic met the exact same fate on 76 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: its maiden voyage. But it was Oscar Wilde who said 77 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 1: life imitates art far more than art imitates life. He 78 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: believed art didn't inspire real life experiences in situations, it 79 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: changed how we viewed them. For example, when we see 80 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: fog rolling over a field as something beautiful, it's because 81 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: painters like JMW. Turner were able to capture that beauty 82 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: in their paintings. To us, life imitates art because we 83 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: view life through a more artistic lens. But there have 84 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: been occasions when that saying was flipped around, when art 85 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: in fact imitated life, and one such person to experience 86 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: that was Thomas Gagan. He didn't know it at the time, 87 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: but his house was going to inspire several works of 88 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: art over the next fifty years. In Thomas was working 89 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: as the District Attorney of Rockland County, New York, just 90 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: over thirty miles north of Manhattan. He bought a large 91 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: Victorian style home in the town of Haverstraw, but it 92 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 1: had seen better days. It had been built back in 93 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: five near a hill overlooking the Hudson River, but had 94 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: sat abandoned for years. Kids in town thought it was haunted, 95 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: of course, but that didn't stop drifters from stopping by 96 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,359 Speaker 1: for a night's rest, often sleeping in the kitchen on 97 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: a pile of hay. After World War One, Thomas bought 98 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: the dwelling and renovated it so that he and his 99 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,119 Speaker 1: family could live there comfortably. It was three stories tall, 100 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: with a covered porch and a tower like central section 101 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: in front that soared above the rest of the house. 102 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: It boasted a manswered roof common for the era, which 103 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: sloped twice on each side, The upper slope on top 104 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: connected to the steeper slope on the bottom, with dormer 105 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: windows jutting out around its perimeter. Thomas's daughter, Amo, was 106 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: the oldest of six and slept in a room on 107 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 1: the second floor. She could see the Hudson from her window. 108 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: One day in while gazing out at the landscape, she 109 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: noticed a man on the other side of the tracks. 110 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: He had a small canvas set up on a portable easel, 111 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: and he was painting something. Little did she know she 112 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: was watching a legend create what would become one of 113 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: the most important paintings of the twentieth century. House by 114 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: the Railroad by Edward Hopper. Hopper's interpretation of the house 115 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: was smaller in scale. The windows practically covered the narrower 116 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: sides and roof, with the interior shades pulled to various heights. Inside, 117 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: it's bright white exterior popped against the shadow cast by 118 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: the setting sun, which turned the house's front to a 119 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: more muddled gray blue color, and across the foreground the 120 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: artist painted a length of red oxidized train tracks. Hopper's 121 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: painting portrayed the home as the solitary occupant of a 122 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: town so remote even the trains stopped going there. It 123 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: became iconic, so much so that the Museum of Modern 124 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: Art featured it in their first American Art exhibition in 125 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: nine The following year, it was inducted as a permanent 126 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: part of their collection. But the curators at the Museum 127 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: of Modern Art weren't the only ones captivated by the house. 128 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: Three thousand miles away and thirty years later, a film 129 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: director was looking for inspiration. He had recently acquired the 130 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: rights to a scintillating new book that told the story 131 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,679 Speaker 1: of a lonely man living by himself in a creepy 132 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: house at the top of a hill. Hopper's painting had 133 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: been an inspiration to the director, who got to work 134 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: with his set designers building his own version of the 135 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: house on the Universal Studios back lot. For his rendition, however, 136 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: he used parts of the Dowed House from the nineteen 137 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: fifty movie Harvey starring Jimmy Stewarts. Most notably, he utilized 138 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: the front of the home with a round porthole window 139 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: in the middle of its mansored roof. Like Thomas Gagan's 140 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: residence back in New York, the towering structure loomed ominously 141 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: over the rest of the house. The director also had 142 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: the exterior weathered and darkened. The dilapidated appearance gave the 143 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: home an even more haunted look, which was exactly what 144 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: Mr Hitchcock was hoping for. After all, it wouldn't have 145 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: been scary for Norman Bates to care for his motel 146 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: guests in a house that looked all clean and new. 147 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: Visitors to Haverstraw don't often realize that the Gagan House 148 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: inspired both Hopper's painting and Norman Bates home in the 149 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: film version of Psycho, but the resemblance isn't hard to see. 150 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: Art imitated life, and we're all the richer for it. 151 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 152 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 153 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,959 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 154 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 155 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 156 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 157 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 158 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.