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 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: It's just common sense. Got a cold, banish it faster 7 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: with chicken soup. Want clear skin, avoid eating acne causing chocolate, 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: and you want to see better at night, be sure 9 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: to chomp on some carrots. A lot of what we 10 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: learn about how food affects our bodies, like the advice 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: that I just gave you, traces back to old wives tales. 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: And while these so called facts don't always stand up 13 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: to scientific scrutiny, a lot of them have a kernel 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: of truth. Chicken soup is not a super cure, but 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: it does have vitamins, nutrients, and keeps you hydrated, all 16 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: of which helps colds feel better. Chocolate isn't to blame 17 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: for every pimple, but scientists think there may be a 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: link between eating sugar and growing zits. As for carrots, 19 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: they actually do do a lot for your eyes. They 20 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: contain beta carotene, which can be broken down into vitamin A. 21 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: Vitamin A is necessary for your body to see in 22 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: low light conditions. In fact, people with a vitamin A 23 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: deficiency will have a harder time seeing at night and 24 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: could suffer from night blindness. Still, that doesn't mean crunching 25 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: on carrots will make your peepers superpowered. Eating carrots when 26 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: you have low vitamin A can improve your night vision, 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: but it only affects people with limited or damaged eye sights. 28 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: It won't ever make seen at night like seeing during 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: the day. The popular myth that carrots can make you 30 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: see in the dark comes from an unlikely source. English 31 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: World War II propit. In nineteen forty, the Nazis were 32 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: attacking England directly. During the Blitz, a prolonged bombing campaign 33 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: against key cities in England. German pilots would fly under 34 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: cover of darkness and drop their payload of bombs over ports, factories, 35 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: and government buildings. So to confuse the Germans and make 36 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: it harder to hit their targets, England mandated citywide blackouts. 37 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: Every light was doused and every window was covered without 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: a lit target in the pitch black night, it was 39 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: much harder for the Germans to do real damage. It 40 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: was also much harder for the Royal Air Force to 41 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: find German planes. Pilots eyes and instruments were no match 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: for the British blackouts, which meant new methods were needed. 43 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: At this time, the RAF began experimenting with airborne interception radar. 44 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: Radar had been used successfully on the ground to identify 45 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: approaching enemies, but it was limited in scope. It couldn't 46 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: really reach high enough to give a clear picture of 47 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: German planes. By mounting radar on a fighter planeilots could 48 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: track enemy flyers with precision. So on the night of 49 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: November nineteenth, nineteen forty John Cat's Eyes Cunningham became the 50 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: first pilot to shoot down a plane using airborne radar. 51 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: Not wanting the Germans to catch on to their new technology, 52 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: the British War Ministry decided to use Cunningham as a distraction. 53 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: The next day, they published dozens of news stories claiming 54 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: Cunningham's superhuman night vision was all thanks to a steady 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: diets of vitamin A rich carrots. Now it's not clear 56 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: whether the carrot story ever fooled the Germans. There are 57 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: anecdotes of German commanders upping their pilot's carrot rations, but 58 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: it's never confirmed if this was the case. Regardless, Germany 59 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: would develop its own version of airborne radar soon after. 60 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: But what the kat's eye story did do was cause 61 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: a huge carrot craze in war torn England. Propaganda posters 62 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,839 Speaker 1: declared that carrots would help citizens see during the mandatory blackouts. 63 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: The governments encourage people on the home front to plant 64 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: victory gardens stock full of carrots. Radio shows would encourage 65 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: home cooks to make putting cake and pie out of 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: the starchy treats to replace sugar which had been rationed 67 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: during the war. And on top of that, Disney animators 68 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: even created anthropomorphic carrot characters who extolled the virtues of 69 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: the root vegetables to British children. The carrot messaging worked. 70 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: By nineteen forty two, Britain had a one hundred thousand 71 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: ton surplus of carrots after the war ended. The myth 72 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: that carrots make you see in the dark persisted. At 73 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: first glance, there is some truth to it, especially with 74 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: how vitamin A can help damaged eyesight, but when it 75 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: comes to carrots and night vision, What you see is 76 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: what you get. When Thomas Downing arrived in eighteen nineteen, 77 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: New York City had no fine dining scene to speak of. 78 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: The food culture that did exist was barely recognizable from 79 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: what we have today. There was no pizza, no street dogs. Cheesecake, 80 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: and bagels wouldn't be associated with the city for many years. 81 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: In their place, one dish reigned supreme as New York 82 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: City's street food of choice, oysters, before overfishing in population 83 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: devastated New York Harbor. It was home to some of 84 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: the richest oyster beds in the world. The mollusks were 85 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: harvested by predominantly black oystermen and sold from street cars 86 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: and crowded dining cellars for as little as six cents 87 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: a dozen. New Yorkers couldn't get enough. The city consumed 88 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: roughly a million oysters each day, and it was the 89 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 1: oysters that brought Thomas Downing to New York in the 90 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: first place. A free black man and the son of 91 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: formerly enslaved parents, he learned to fish and harvest oysters 92 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: in his home state of Virginia. He knew the business 93 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: backwards and forwards, and had an eye for picking out 94 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: the mollusks with the best meat, but he wasn't interested 95 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: in simply selling oysters out of a cart like so 96 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: many other oystermen. When he arrived in New York City, 97 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: he saw an opportunity no one else had. In eighteen 98 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: twenty five, he opened Downing's Oyster House on Broad Street, 99 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: at the center of the city's financial district. It was 100 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: the first restaurant of its kind, a high class, fine 101 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: dining establishment that catered to wealthy businessmen who worked at 102 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: the nearby Customs House. Crystal chandeliers and expensive curtains set 103 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: it apart from the dingy cellars where working class New 104 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: Yorkers got their fix, and Downing always sold the best 105 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: oysters the city had to offer. The combination of the 106 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: good food, great location, and high class environment proved to 107 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: be a massive hit with the city's elites. Downing's Oyster 108 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: House was consistently full to bursting with bankers, merchants, politicians, 109 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: lawyers and dignitaries, and businessmen even brought their wives and 110 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: children along, both of whom had until that point traditionally 111 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: been steered clear of eating at restaurants. Imitators were obviously 112 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: quick to follow Downing's lead. The next year, more high 113 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: end restaurants opened nearby. Soon enough, the city was home 114 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: to a vibrant fine dining scene. Meanwhile, Thomas Downing's meteoric 115 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: success continued. He opened more restaurants and eventually expanded into 116 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: a catering business. He even started filling mail orders, shipping 117 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: crates of oysters to Europe and around the world. Despite 118 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: everything on his plate, though, he continued to manage the 119 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: Oyster House on Broad Street, where he rubbed shoulders with 120 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: the most powerful people in New York City. He became 121 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: extremely popular among the city's businessmen. When he died in 122 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six at the age of seventy five, the 123 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce closed for the day so that merchants 124 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: could attend Downing's funeral. After that, his eldest son, George, 125 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: continued to run the Oyster House, and he also continued 126 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: his father's lesser known activities, because ever since Downing's Oyster 127 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: House opened its doors, the Oyster King had been hiding 128 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: something else, and it wasn't pearls. You see, his restaurant 129 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, a network 130 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: which helped over one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. 131 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: Escape slaves freeing from Southern plantations regularly stayed in Downing's 132 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: basement until they could be smuggled out of the city 133 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: and across the border to Canada. They slept amidst the 134 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: restaurants supplies and equipment, listening to the sounds of aristocrats 135 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: dining just over their heads. I think it's fair to 136 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: say that none of Downing's wealthy customers ever guessed what 137 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: he was hiding, nor could they have known that by 138 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,839 Speaker 1: enjoying a lunch of New York City's finest oysters, they 139 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,199 Speaker 1: were helping fund the growing abolition movement. Downey never forgot 140 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: where he came from, and while he worked tirelessly to 141 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: ensure that his customers always left his restaurant full, he 142 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: wasn't so easily satisfied. Not even single handedly creating New 143 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: York City's fine dining scene was enough for him. Downing 144 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: wanted freedom, justice for his people, and he worked towards 145 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: that goal the best way he could, one shuck at 146 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: a time. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 147 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts. 148 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: Or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 149 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 150 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 151 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 152 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 153 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 154 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: stay curious.