1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly fry So. Uh, 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: summer coming, at least in theory, sho. I think I 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: think summer has definitely arrived where you are, which is Atlanta. Yeah, 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess technically it's still cooler than it 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: usually would be this time of year. Yeah, it is 8 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: not warm at all. It's fifty seven degrees right now. 9 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: We're recording this on May thirtieth. Yeah, like, I think 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: our high today might be eighty, which sounds hot to 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: some people, but for Atlanta at the end of May, 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: that's really not. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's been a We've 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: had an unseasonably cool um May up here in New 14 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: England anyway, though, at least in theory, summer is either 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: on the way or here for most but not all 16 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,959 Speaker 1: of our listeners. So seems like a good time talk 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: about swimming. We yes, specifically, we are talking about Annette Kellerman, 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: who gets a lot of the credit for developing the 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: woman's one piece bathing suit and then for making it 20 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: socially appropriate for women in a lot of the English 21 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: speaking world to put on an outfit that you could 22 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: actually swim in without drowning and then go out in 23 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: public that way, and perhaps kind of ironically, she was Australian, 24 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: where it is definitely not coming on summer. So Australians, 25 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,199 Speaker 1: we have some Australian history today that is uh, seasonally 26 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: incongruous for where you actually live, unless you happen to 27 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: be uh somebody who's downloading it late in the game, 28 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: in which case store hooray summer for you as well. 29 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: Annette Kellerman was born in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. 30 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: She was coy about her birth date, and it's variously 31 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: cited as July five or sixth of eighteen eighty six, 32 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven, or eighteen eighty eight. The sixth is 33 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: the most frequently cited date. Her father, Frederick, was a 34 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: violinist born in Australia, and her mother, Alice, was a 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: pianist and a music teacher who was originally from France. 36 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: When she was young, and Nett had to wear braces 37 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: on her legs because of persistent weakness, and not only 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: were these braces painful to wear, but she also found 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: them embarrassing. The cause is unclear. A few sources site 40 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: rickets or polio, and later on in her life she 41 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,519 Speaker 1: speculated that hip might have been a calcium deficiency her 42 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: according to her own account, actual doctors at the time 43 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: said that it was because she had been allowed to 44 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: learn to walk too early, or that she had chalk 45 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: in her bones. Neither of those are real things would 46 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: have caused her to need leg braces. Um, so totally unclear, 47 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: but the braces were a real part of her life. 48 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: That's so she get when you go to cartoon doctors, like, 49 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: chalk in your bones sounds like such a cartoon diagnosis, 50 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: and chalk bones is a nickname for like one congenital 51 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: bone condition, but it has nothing to do with what 52 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: she was experiencing. Is a totally different set of symptoms. 53 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: So very weird. Yeah, whatever the cause of her disability, 54 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: eventually her father visited a doctor who recommended swimming lessons, 55 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: and at first and that was really terrified of this plan, 56 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: possibly because it meant exposing her legs to people, which 57 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: she did not want to do because they were visibly undeveloped, 58 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: and she begged not to have to go, but her 59 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: parents and the doctor were all certain that swimming would 60 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,519 Speaker 1: really help, so she and her brothers were taken to 61 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: Frederick Cavell's baths so they could learn to swim, and 62 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: the Cavils were actually a whole family of swimmers there 63 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: in the International Swimming Hall of Fame for their combined 64 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: contributions to the sport. It took a Net a lot 65 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: longer to get the hang of swimming than it took 66 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: her brothers. They were both able to swim on their 67 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: own after a handful of lessons, but it took a 68 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: net close to twenty But once she knew how to 69 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: do it, as predicted, it really did help her build 70 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: her strength up and her legs, and with the water 71 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: supporting her, she could move around without having to wear 72 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: the braces, and that would later describe her gradual improvement 73 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 1: through swimming as a process of intense joy. By the 74 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: time she reached the age of thirteen, her muscle development 75 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: was more or less typical for a child her age, 76 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: although she was susceptible to muscle strains and had to 77 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: wear very tightly laced boots until she was eighteen. A 78 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: lot of the swimming strokes that are recognized and used 79 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: competitively today were still new or in the process of 80 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: being developed and refined. So what a Net learned at 81 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: first was basically the breaststroke, and that was the stroke 82 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: that she used mostly when she was exercising at first. 83 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: At about the age of fifteen, she started branching out 84 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: into learning other strokes, putting dedicated effort into practicing them 85 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: and getting better at them, and soon she told her 86 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: parents that she wanted to start competing in swimming. Her 87 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: first swimming race was a local event, and she wanted 88 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: Annette's father had been incredulous when she said she wanted 89 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: to enter a swimming race. He had thought of swimming 90 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: as something she was doing because of her disability, not 91 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: as something she would seriously pursue for her own sake. 92 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: But once she had that first win under her belt, 93 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: he was instrumental in her progress as a competitive swimmer, 94 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: essentially becoming both her trainer and her coach. As soon 95 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: as she started seriously competing, a Net started winning races 96 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: and setting records. In nineteen o two, at the age 97 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: of about sixteen, she won a one hundred yard championship 98 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: for New South Wales and also set a world record 99 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: for swimming a mile with a time of thirty two 100 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: minutes and twenty nine seconds. That same year, she started 101 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: participating in long distance swimming races and public diving demonstrations. 102 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: Her time in the water wasn't only about competition, though, 103 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: She started doing mermaid shows in Australian aquariums along with 104 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: other aquatic performances while she was still in her teens. 105 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: Although she was winning races and making a name for 106 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: her self as a competitive swimmer, she wasn't really able 107 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: to earn an income from doing so. So Annette and 108 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: her father moved to England with the hope of finding 109 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: more lucrative opportunities to compete and perform. Once they arrived 110 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: in England, they had a really hard time getting started. 111 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: Although Annette already held multiple records and swimming, they didn't 112 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: know anyone and Annette didn't have a local reputation to 113 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: try to build on, So her father hatched a plan 114 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: to drum up some publicity. She would swim twenty six miles, 115 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: which was forty two kilometers down the Thames from Putney 116 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,239 Speaker 1: to black Wall in five Annette, at about age eighteen, 117 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: became the first woman to make this swim, Although it 118 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: did indeed bring in a lot of media attention. The 119 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: swim itself was terrible. The Thames was filthy, and Annette 120 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: later said she felt like she'd swallowed big mouthfuls of 121 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: oil from the surface of the river. She had also 122 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: had to dodge a lot of flotsam, garbage, tugboats and 123 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: barges along the way. But afterward a sports editor from 124 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: The Daily Mirror approached her with another idea. The Daily 125 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: Mirror was the first paper in the UK to use 126 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: photographs rather than illustrations, and the editor thought that articles 127 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: on a net complete with photographs of her in the 128 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: scandalous swimwear that we're going to talk about a little 129 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: bit more later, if you thought that would sell a 130 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: lot of papers. So we offered to back her in 131 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: attempts and an attempt to swim across the English Channel, 132 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: along with paying for and writing about swims along the 133 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: coast to train for it. This entire enterprise was wildly 134 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: successful in almost every way, and that's training. Swims down 135 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: the coast threw huge crowds, and the articles and their 136 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: corresponding photos sold lots of papers. She swam an average 137 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: of forty five miles or seventy two kilometers per week, 138 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: increasing the distance of each swim until she had done 139 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: the twenty four miles stretch from Dover to Ramsgate. At 140 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: that point she thought she was ready to try to 141 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: conquer the Channel. Although that's a slightly shorter stints than 142 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: her swim down the Thames, swimming in the English Channel 143 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: is far more difficult due to the very cold water, 144 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: the waves and the tides. She made her first attempts 145 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: to swim across the English Channel along with six men 146 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: on August nine oh five. They all started their swim 147 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: at about three in the morning, all from different points 148 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: along the coast, based on where they thought the currents 149 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: and the tides would be the most advantageous. Each swimmer 150 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: was accompanied by a steam tug in a row boat 151 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: in case they fell into some distress along the way, 152 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: and then periodically hot chocolate or food could be handed 153 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: down to the swimmers from these boats to keep their 154 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: energy up. An advertiser had given a net chocolate to 155 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: eat along the way, but the combination of chocolate and 156 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: the choppy water really made her sea sick. The further 157 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: she went, the bigger her pay day would be those 158 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: so she kept herself going through that seasickness by thinking 159 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,079 Speaker 1: the longer you stick, the more you get. She stuck 160 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: it out for about six and a half hours, and 161 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,439 Speaker 1: she was paid thirty pounds. This was the first of 162 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: Kellerman's three attempts to swim that swim the English Channel, 163 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: and as with her swim down the Thames, she was 164 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: the first woman to make the attempt. The closest she 165 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: came in these three attempts to actually crossing was about 166 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: three quarters of the way, which took ten and a 167 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: half hours. Later, Killerman would say she thought she had 168 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: the endurance to swim the channel, but not the raw strength. 169 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: In her book How to Swim, she wrote that she 170 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: didn't think a woman would ever successfully swim the English Channel. 171 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: She was proven wrong in six when Gertrude utterly crossed 172 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: in fourteen hours thirty nine minutes, not only swimming the 173 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: channel but beating the previous record time by more than 174 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: two hours. Today there are lots of women swim across 175 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: the English Channel, including swimming at three consecutive times, like 176 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: swimming it across one way and then going back and 177 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:57,559 Speaker 1: then going back across again, which is astounding to me. 178 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: So in kellerman first attempt to swim across the English Channel. 179 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: The male swimmers who were swimming that night were allowed 180 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: to be nude, but she had to wear a swimsuit 181 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: that chafed her skin just terribly. And this brings us 182 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: to her efforts to make suitable swimwear for women, which 183 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: we will talk about more after a sponsor break. That 184 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: swim down the Thames and the attempts to cross the 185 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: English Channel, We're not Annette Kellerman's only long distance races 186 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: in the nineteen hundreds. Before leaving Australia, she had taken 187 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: multiple long distance swims down the Yarra River, including becoming 188 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: the first woman to complete a ten mile stretch. In 189 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: nineteen o five, she participated in a race down the 190 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,719 Speaker 1: sin where she tied for third with with Thomas William Burgess. 191 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: And her account of this race and how to swim, 192 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: she wrote that well, meeting spectators kept calling out that 193 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: she was almost there and had just two bridges more, 194 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: and when she alized she was not almost there, and 195 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: she became just really discouraged because she had worn herself 196 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: out doing what she thought was her final push to 197 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: the finish line. So when Burgess caught up to her 198 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: and saw that she was crying in a very lovely 199 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: show of sporting behavior. He stayed with her and encouraged 200 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 1: her for the rest of the of the race, and 201 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 1: that is how they came to tie. In June of six, 202 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: Kellerman also won a twenty two mile or thirty six 203 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: kilometer race down the Danube. I think anyone also who 204 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: has ever run a race knows the the ire of 205 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: please don't tell me if you're almost there, when you're not, 206 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: when you're not know anyway, it was a little bit 207 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: unclear to me whether these were the people in the 208 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,719 Speaker 1: guide boat or the people who were just spectators who 209 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: were saying this, but like she they got her a 210 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,439 Speaker 1: couple of times, and then in like time number three 211 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 1: of them being like, you're almost there, she was like, oh, 212 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: I'm not well right. And it's almost always well intentioned, 213 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 1: like if you but let this be a note if 214 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: you're ever spectating and sporting that please don't fimb to 215 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: the participant because it does more to harm their head 216 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: game than than help. And in most of these events, 217 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: Kellerman was one of very few women, and sometimes she 218 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: was the only woman, and she typically swam them wearing 219 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: a swimsuit that was actually made for men, so this 220 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: was not unheard of in Australia at this point. Uh 221 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: swimming was already a more established sport in Australia than 222 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: it was in the United Kingdom or the United States, 223 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: but it was astonishing in a lot of the rest 224 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: of the English speaking world, where water was for bathing, 225 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: not for swimming. Bathing meant getting into the water a 226 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: little way and you might wait or play or maybe 227 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: float a little out there, but you didn't really swim, 228 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: and a lot of people didn't even know how to swim. 229 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: The idea of uh man made swimming pool was also 230 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: still quite recent at this point, like there had not 231 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: even been one built for the Olympics yet. So like 232 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: bathing was a thing that happened at a beach, whether 233 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: it was like a lakeside beach or a seashore beach, 234 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: it did not really happen in a pool. And even 235 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: if you wanted to swim, if you were a woman 236 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: around the turn of the twentieth century, your bathing entire 237 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: was not something you could actually swim in. The standard 238 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: bathing costume for women was essentially a dress with a 239 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 1: length that ranged within a couple of inches above or 240 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: below the knee. It had a blousey top and puffy, 241 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: usually short sleeves, sometimes with the sailor's collar. It was cinched, 242 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: belted or ribboned at the waist and worn with stockings 243 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: and bathing slippers or sometimes even bathing boots that went 244 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: all the way up the calves, and many women wore 245 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: their bathing clothes with corsets and other underpinnings. Here is 246 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,959 Speaker 1: what a net Kellerman had to say about these outfits. 247 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: Quote there is no more reason why you should wear 248 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:59,079 Speaker 1: those awful water overcoats, those awkward, unnecessary, lumpy quote bathing suits. 249 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: Then there is that you should wear lead chains. Heavy 250 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: bathing suits have caused more deaths by drowning than cramps. 251 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: I am certain there isn't a single reason under the 252 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: sun why everybody should not wear lightweight suits. Anyone who 253 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: persuades you to wear the heavy skurty kind is endangering 254 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: your life. Just thinking about wearing tights into the water 255 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: is a horrifying prospect to me. Oh, I don't know why. 256 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: It just kind of grosses me out. Uh. For competitive 257 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: women's swimmers, there was a grudging exception to the standard 258 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: of dress they could wear. A men's bathing suit, which 259 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: was more like a T shirt and shorts, sometimes constructed 260 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: all is one piece, But this also starts a whole 261 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: chicken and egg situation. Women weren't supposed to be seen 262 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: in a tired that they could actually swim in, which 263 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: created a huge barrier for entry for the sport of swimming. Yeah, 264 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: if people were like, well, I guess you can wear 265 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: a men's suit for this race, that left the question of, like, 266 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: all the training you would need to do to be 267 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: able to compete in the race in the first place. 268 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: It was this whole social standard of what was acceptable 269 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: for women to wear that led Kellerman to invent a 270 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: new swimsuit. In five she was scheduled for a swimming 271 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: performance at London's Bath Club and some of the royal 272 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: family was to be in attendance. The men's bathing suit 273 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: that she had been wearing was determined to be inappropriate 274 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: because it was two revealing. So Kellerman bought a pair 275 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: of black stockings and she sewed them to the legs 276 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: of her men's bathing suit, creating what was effectively a 277 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: one piece garment that covered her from her shoulders to 278 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: her feet. From there, she began tweaking and refining this 279 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: original design, eventually developing a one piece, form fitting garment 280 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: without sleeves. The lengths of the legs varied from full 281 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: length and stalking like to stopping at the thigh. Although 282 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: this would be considered pretty modest swimwear by a lot 283 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: of today's standards, it was not at all all modest 284 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: by the standards of the day. Like we said before 285 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: the first break, the very idea of a woman in 286 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: public and such a garment was enough to sell newspapers. 287 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: It's widely reported that in seven Kellerman was arrested for 288 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: indecency on Revere Beach in Massachusetts while wearing one of 289 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: these swimsuits. Although there's no arrest in the log books, 290 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: it's a story that came up again and again and 291 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: again during her own lifetime, including from her own mouth, 292 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: like I don't think she made this up, but people 293 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 1: have noted that, like they can't find a document that 294 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: actually details the arrest. In spite of heavy resistance to 295 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: the idea of women being out in public so relatively unclothed, 296 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,239 Speaker 1: Kellerman persisted. She launched her own line of women's swimwear, 297 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: some of which came with a modesty panel, which was 298 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: a close fitting skirt that went from waste to knee, 299 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: covering the thighs but bringing along far less fabric and 300 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: weight than the previous era of swimsuits. She became so 301 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: closely associated to this type of swim where that soon 302 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: people were calling anything that looked like it in a 303 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: net Kellerman or just a Kellerman, although it was a 304 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: name she trademarked and went to court to defend when 305 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: she needed to, and at some beaches, Kellerman type suits 306 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 1: were actually banned. As Kellerman became more famous and her 307 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: swimsuits became more widely adopted, it gradually became more acceptable 308 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 1: for women to be seen in them and for women 309 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 1: to participate in the sport of swimming, and compounding that, 310 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: for swimming in general to be seen as a recreational activity. 311 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: Some of this was part of an overall growth in 312 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: the popularity of swimming, but it wasn't just happenstance. Kellerman 313 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: was an active advocate for women to learn to swim 314 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: and for swimming to be seen as an acceptable form 315 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: of exercise, recreation, and competition for women. She wrote quote, 316 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: I'm not trying to shut men out of swimming there's 317 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: enough water in the world for all of us. But 318 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: as men can indulge in so many others sports where 319 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: women can make a poor showing or cannot compete at all, 320 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: Swimming may well be called the women's sport. But unfortunately 321 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 1: this progress did not apply to all women. Even though 322 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: Kellerman herself wrote things like quote, there is nothing more 323 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:19,880 Speaker 1: democratic than swimming, and a clean, cool, beautiful, cheap thing 324 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: we all from cats to kings can enjoy, swimming was 325 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: not actually accessible to everyone. In the United States, public 326 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 1: beaches and as they were built, public swimming pools were 327 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: often racially segregated, and the Indigenous population was barred from 328 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: many public swimming areas in Australia, So while Kellerman was 329 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 1: a staunch advocate for making swimming accessible to women, that 330 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: was really most applicable to white women. And to add 331 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: another layer to all of this, a lot of the 332 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: swimming strokes that she learned as a child and then 333 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: helps to popularize and as an adult were either patterned 334 00:18:55,359 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: after or directly taught to white swimmers by Indigenous Australians 335 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: and indigenous people from elsewhere in the Pacific. So like 336 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: a lot of the art and skill of swimming drew 337 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,919 Speaker 1: from indigenous knowledge, but Indigenous people were excluded from a 338 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: lot of public swimming locations. In addition to contributing to 339 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: the popularity and at least for some accessibility of swimming, 340 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: Annette Kellerman's fame and skill led to a completely different 341 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: aspect of her career Vaudeville and Hollywood. We're going to 342 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: talk about that after we pause for a sponsor break. 343 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: A lot of Annette Kellerman's fame as a swimmer came 344 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: because she was naturally a performer. She was definitely talented. 345 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: I don't want to overlook that at all. She legitimately 346 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: won races, and she set records, and she was one 347 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: of the best swimmers of her era. But a lot 348 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: of the attention that she got for those successes was 349 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: due to showmanship and an openness with her body that 350 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 1: was not really typical for the time. A woman swimmer 351 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: was already relatively novel in a lot of places, and 352 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: a woman swimmer who flaunted social expectations to proudly wear 353 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:16,719 Speaker 1: a scandalous swimsuit was a real attention getter. This attention 354 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: actually led her to a career in Vaudeville. In nineteen 355 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: o six, Having performed at the London Hippodrome and won 356 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: numerous races in Europe, she sailed for the United States 357 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: to perform an amusement parks and theaters. Her vaudeville act 358 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: involved a combination of swimming, high diving, water stunts, and 359 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,959 Speaker 1: mermaid shows, for which she often designed all of her 360 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: own costumes. She would eventually donate all of her costumes 361 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: and memorabilia to the Sydney Opera House. We will put 362 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: a link in the show notes where you can go 363 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: look at them. There's a lot. There are lots and 364 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: lots of pictures of this collection that you can browse through, 365 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: and they are fascinating. Although water shows already existed in Vaudeville, 366 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: Kellerman added a lot of her own flare and incorporated 367 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: ballet and other movement in what would become a precursor 368 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: to synchronize swimming. Her biggest production at the New York 369 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: Hippodrome included a core of two hundred mermaids, all swimming 370 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: in tandem. She also tried her hand at other types 371 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: of performance, including male impersonation and high wire walking. By 372 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Kellerman had become one of the highest paid 373 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: performers in vaudeville. Also during her time in vaudeville, she 374 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 1: got married after proposing to her manager, Louis Sullivan, who 375 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: was known as Jimmy in ve Running parallel to her 376 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: time in vaudeville, Kellerman also began acting in films. Her 377 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: first films were a series of silent shorts made while 378 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: she was trying to work out a contract dispute between 379 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: two different theater managers. Later on, when other people started 380 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: to copy her water act and her pay in vaudeville 381 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: consequently plummeted, she turned to film almost entirely. Kellerman's film 382 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: roles involved lots of water and swimming, and sometimes also 383 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:03,479 Speaker 1: played off the fact that the South Pacific was pretty 384 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: exotic two American audiences, which meant that Kellerman herself was 385 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: often seen as exotic as well. Her first full length 386 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: movie was Neptune's Daughter, which came out in nineteen fourteen. 387 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 1: She played a mermaid wearing sheer body suits that matched 388 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: her skin tone. In nineteen sixteen, she started a film 389 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: called The Daughter of the Gods, which was a fantasy drama. 390 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 1: She played Anisia, who was the daughter in question. In 391 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: this film, she had a scene in which she was 392 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: completely nude, although part of her body was covered by 393 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: her hair. It was one of the first fully nude 394 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: appearances by a major star in a non pornographic movie. 395 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: Her final film, Venus of the South Seas, came out 396 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: in nine four. There are definitely people who call the 397 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,360 Speaker 1: Daughter of the Gods role like the first nude appearance 398 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: by a woman in film, and that seems a little there. 399 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: It needs a little more caveats in that um Kellerman 400 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: mostly retired from performing in the nineteen thirties. She and 401 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,120 Speaker 1: her husband moved to California, where she opened a health 402 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:13,360 Speaker 1: food store. She's apparently a vegetarian her whole life. By 403 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: this point she had published books on swimming and on fitness, 404 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: and one called Physical Beauty and How to Keep It. 405 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: This one, to a modern reader, is maybe a little weird. 406 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: It's simultaneously acknowledges the double standards that women face regarding 407 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: our bodies and appearances. But at the same time it 408 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: is a how to manual for how to have an 409 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: ideal body, and it clearly spells out that the point 410 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: in doing so is to keep from losing your figure 411 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: and consequently your husband as you age. So in some ways, 412 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: Like in some ways she was way ahead of her time, 413 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: and in some ways she was squarely a product of it. 414 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: The system is really bad, but here's how to buy in. 415 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: Yeah that yeah, uh that book also, like it's a 416 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: little I don't know what what Annette Kellerman's racial views 417 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: were about, like the contributions of indigenous swimmers swimming and 418 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: all of this sort of stuff, But she has a 419 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: couple of lines in this book that, like, you can 420 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: tell there are some problematic racial and and racist views 421 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:22,919 Speaker 1: in there, Like at one point she says it's the 422 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: only people who need corsets are children and savages, and 423 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: by savages in quotation marks, she means Africans, Like I 424 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: don't want to I don't want to gloss over that. 425 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: But like that, it's a weird intrusion in a book 426 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: that's definitely about um, you know, middle class white women 427 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: retaining their figures, which has its own set of social play. 428 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: Kellerman also established health spas. She wrote newspaper columns on 429 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: health and beauty. She stridently advocated for women to be 430 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: encouraged to be fit and active, and she wrote eight 431 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: children's book called fairy Tales of the South Seas but 432 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: in a lot of ways she had become famous for 433 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: her bathing suits and for the body under them. In 434 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 1: nine Dr Dudley, Sergeant of Harvard, had taken the measurements 435 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: of about one thousand women and compared them to the 436 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: measurements of the Venus de Milo. Kellerman's were closest, and 437 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: he dubbed her the perfect Woman, which, along with that 438 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: Revere Beach arrest, became part of her ongoing marketing. In 439 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: the Harvard Collections, like the Harvard Special Collections, are still 440 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: boxes and boxes of these women's measurement cards that were 441 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: part of this study, which baffles me on a number 442 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,239 Speaker 1: of different It doesn't baffle me that the cards are 443 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: still in the collection. It baffles me that, like, let's 444 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: measure a thousand women and compare them to a statue 445 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: was a study in the first place. So her fame 446 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,679 Speaker 1: for her figure and the clothing being bathing suits on 447 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: it persisted long after the first decade of the nineteen hundreds, 448 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: which was really when Annette Kellerman had introduced and become 449 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: famous for the s bathing suit. In nineteen thirty five, 450 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: an Associated Press reporter tractor down and got her opinion 451 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: on some subtorial Hubbub and Yonkers, New York that was 452 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: over women wearing shorts. She recalled that it had only 453 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: been a couple of decades since that time she was 454 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: arrested and then said, quote, but I've always preached the 455 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 1: importance of caring for the female figure, So the girls 456 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: will have to look to their shapes and not to 457 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: the courts when they appear in suits. But remember, please, 458 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: I am not a nudist. Uh An Associated Press headline 459 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 1: from ninety seven read quote and nett Kellerman still draws 460 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: crowd legs of diving Venus hold former beauty so like 461 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: people were still basically writing about her body years after 462 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: she stopped be performing with it, like she was still 463 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: the go to person to talk to you about scandalous 464 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: swimwear and women's figures. Kellerman and her husband returned to 465 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: Australia a couple of times during the nineteen forties, including 466 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: during World War Two when she entertained troops in the 467 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: South Pacific. In nineteen fifty two, Esther Williams played her 468 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: in the film Million Dollar Mermaid. Kellerman was not a 469 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: fan of this film. They called it quote a silly 470 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: little yarn and also quote a namby panby attempt. She 471 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: was frustrated that she was played by an American in 472 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: this movie, and also that the film was more of 473 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,719 Speaker 1: a swimming spectacular than an actual biography of her. As 474 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: kind of a side note, she was also not a 475 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: fan of the bikini after it was introduced, calling it 476 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: far too revealing and noting that almost nobody had the 477 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: figure to actually wear one. Kellerman and her husband moved 478 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,679 Speaker 1: back to Australia for good in nineteen seventy. She was 479 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: in did into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 480 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: nineteen four, and she died on November six, ninety five, 481 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: at the age of roughly seven. Both sources say eighty 482 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: seven or eighty eight. It's uh, it's a little her 483 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,239 Speaker 1: late eighties, her late eighties. Who wants to end with 484 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: a poem? I do. I'm really excited We've gotten to 485 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: end some episodes with pemns lately. This poem ran in 486 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: the Boston Post on November seven, of Night No More, 487 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: The Gibson Bathing Girls shall grace the Newport's Summer World. 488 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: Annette declares her garments wrong at both ends too extremely long. 489 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: The Gibson Girl maybe a peach as she perambulates the beach. 490 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: But now if in the swim she'd be she must 491 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: with sweet Annette agree her heavy skirt she must replace 492 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 1: with filmy Raymon for the race. Thank you, she will 493 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: consent to dress in such approach to nothing us he 494 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: uh sus Kellerman. Sometimes you will see her name spelled 495 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: with two ends instead of one end, which was apparently 496 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: a nod to her German heritage that she used when 497 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: she published her books, But most sources and as biographies 498 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: have it just with one end. Do you have some 499 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: listener mail with any number of ends in it? I 500 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: sure do. It is from Shannon. It's called a few 501 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: Rambling Thoughts. I'm not going to read all the thoughts 502 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: because some of them are episode suggestions. I've been listening 503 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: to your podcast for a while now. This is my 504 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: first time writing to you, though I've often wanted to. 505 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: I absolutely love your podcast and listen to it while 506 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: I'm driving, while I cleaning, cook et cetera. So thank you. 507 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: Thank you for all the awesome work you do and 508 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: for always being conscientious and respectful about whatever subject you cover. 509 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: I wanted to write for a couple of reasons. First 510 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: of all, in your most recent podcast The Ladies of 511 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: ben gothlind You mentioned that Eleanor and Sarah were top hats. 512 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: In traditional Welsh costume, which seems to originated in the 513 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, women wore top hats 514 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: below or a couple of links for you to look at. 515 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:10,959 Speaker 1: I don't know if this has anything to do with 516 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: Eleanor and Sarah's decisions to wear top hats, but I 517 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: think it's definitely worth mentioning. I don't think it was 518 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: completely unheard of for Welsh women, even if they were 519 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: originally Irish of this time period, to be wearing top hats. 520 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,239 Speaker 1: And she has a couple of links, and I ran 521 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: into some other stuff and we will put things into 522 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: the show notes with some links for folks to go 523 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,440 Speaker 1: look at it. So yes, Uh, there is a Welsh 524 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: hat that is part of Welsh national dress which looks 525 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: kind of like a top hat, except it's even taller 526 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: and a little skinnier. It's like a chimney hat um. 527 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: And it seems as though this was really adopted as 528 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: part of Welsh national dress after uh the deaths of 529 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: the Ladies of Bengal of thank God, So like they 530 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: may have been wearing these hats as part of what 531 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: was the fact and where they were living in Wales, 532 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: but in terms of it being adopted as an actual 533 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: part of Welsh national dress, the hat itself was a 534 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: little bit different from what they're wearing in engravings that 535 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,719 Speaker 1: show them in hats. Um. And then that standard seems 536 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: to have come into play starting right around the time 537 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 1: that they died, but then more definitely by the eighteen forties, 538 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: which would have been a little bit after them. So 539 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: that's definitely worth talking about because it's, um, it's totally 540 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: possible that there were people wearing this is sort of 541 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: a local custom, and I my conclusion would be that 542 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: it's probably simultaneously both local custom and then also it 543 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: was also like the fashion in France at a time 544 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: to have on little hats, top hats. I think top 545 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: hats are good all the time. Sure, I think we 546 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: should bring them back as fairly standard. Fine by me. 547 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: Perhaps I will start wearing and I will look terribly pretentious, 548 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: but it will be so fun. That does sound fun? Um, 549 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: it is it is. The welch had is a slightly 550 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: different shape from what you would think of as a 551 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 1: as a top hat, so we will put links the 552 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: show notes so people can go check that out for themselves, 553 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: and then I'm the rest of the letter uh included 554 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: some episode suggestions also, so thank you so much Shannon 555 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: for writing in with that. If you would like to 556 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: write to us about this or any other podcast or 557 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: a history podcast, at how stuff works dot com. 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You 565 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,120 Speaker 1: can come to our website, which is missing history dot com, 566 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: and you will find a total archive of everything Holly 567 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: and I have ever done on the show, and all 568 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: of the work of past hosts, of which they were many. 569 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: You'll find show notes for all the episodes that Holly 570 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: and I have worked on together. We will find some 571 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: other cool stuff there too, so you can do all 572 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: that and a whole lot more at how stuff works 573 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 1: dot com or missed in history dot com For more 574 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. 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