1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,599 Speaker 1: The advent of cinema in the late nineteenth century changed 7 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: the world. Even though motion pictures started as a sideshow oddity, 8 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: their popularity grew fast as the years went by. Single 9 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: shot films slowly started to evolve in complexity, and audience's 10 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: tastes evolved along with them. Within a few decades, people 11 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: were no longer diving out of the way of trains 12 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: coming toward the movie screen, and the first proper era 13 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: of filmmaking took off, the Silent Era. Talking about it 14 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: now a century later, there are many misconceptions about the 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: Silent era. For instance, most of the films were not 16 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: presented in black and white, but hand tinted in vivid 17 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: monochrome hues. It was primitive technology, sure, but audiences of 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: the time were just as used to color films as 19 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: we are today. Another misconception is how the world at 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: large took to cinema. Every country had a different entertainment landscape, 21 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: and for many countries outside of Europe and America, moviegoers 22 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: wanted different things out of their entertainment. So follow me 23 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: to early twentieth century Japan to see what I mean. 24 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: Japan was in the process of modernizing following the Meiji Restoration. 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: Industry and commerce was booming, but for entertainment, people largely 26 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: still looked to the classics. Kabuki theater was in the 27 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: middle of a resurgence in popularity and remained the dominant 28 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: entertainment for a night out on the town. So when 29 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: movies were first deriving from Europe, they seemed like an oddity. However, 30 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: this oddity sparked an entirely new class of entertainer which 31 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: eventually allowed movies to take over Japanese pop culture. Early 32 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: imported movies were simple scenes of daily life without much 33 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: narrative to speak of, so in order to increase the 34 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: value of the knight's entertainment, theatrical venues hired a performer 35 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: to interpret the silent action on screen for the audience. 36 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: This role became known as the benshi or orader, and 37 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: they weren't just necessary for interpreting Western movies to a 38 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: Japanese audience. They became an integral part of all movie 39 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: going experiences, even films produced in Japan. A benshi became 40 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: just as much of a draw for a film as 41 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: the content of the movie itself. Many picture houses promoted 42 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: their live performers on the posters with the movie stars, 43 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: and this emphasis was an important one. Their job was 44 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: not just to blankly recite what's happening on the screen 45 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: and read the title cards. They guide viewers through jarring 46 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: cuts or seeing transitions, provided voices for all the different characters, 47 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: and would sometimes even recite poetry to describe the emotions 48 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: of an evocative visual. A great benchi projecting his or 49 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: her voice over the musicians in a thousand person theater 50 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: would become a celebrity in their own right. In the 51 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: nineteen tens, benhi training schools opened throughout Japan. Their classes 52 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: included extensive voice training and education in various performance styles 53 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: that suits different sorts of films. The wannabe benchis were 54 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: also educated in history, geography, and world cultures to better 55 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: prepare them for interpreting foreign films. And as benshi became 56 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: more legitimate throughout the country, the government stepped in to 57 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: make sure that they were properly licensed and abiding by 58 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: public morals and standards. Sensa benhi could interpret a piece 59 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: of art for the Japanese public, their performances would be 60 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: monitored by public officials. If they didn't abide by censorship laws, 61 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: their licenses would be revoked immediately. Now, the narration of 62 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: benhi provided was known as setsume, and it was ultimately 63 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: their skill at setsume that would make a benhi's career. 64 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: At the peak of the profession around nineteen twenty seven, 65 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: there were over sixty eight hundred benchi throughout Japan, and 66 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: there were also benhi equivalents in nearby countries including Korea 67 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: and Taiwan. It also lasted a little longer than it 68 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: did in the West. When sound films started to overtake 69 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: silence in the late nineteen twenties, it took many years 70 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: to catch on across the Pacific, but inevitably the popularity 71 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: of benhi began to fade. By the nineteen thirties, the 72 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: profession was almost gone. However, it never truly went extinct. 73 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: Small groups of dedicated performers kept the practice alive and 74 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: became famous faces in the world of film preservation and exhibition. 75 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: The most famous of these might just be Midori Suwato, 76 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: a woman whose narration of silent films remains popular to 77 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: this day. She's still alive and still performing the art 78 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: of setsume, lending her voice to movie stars who would 79 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: otherwise be mute. It turns out that the silent era 80 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: in Japan was never very silent at all. Is it 81 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: possible to elect a queen? Usually the answer to that 82 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: question is no. Elective monarchies have existed throughout human history, 83 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,239 Speaker 1: but the kings and queens we remember are often parts 84 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: of dynasties, chosen by bloodline or a conquest, which is 85 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: perhaps why among ordinary people there are often little competitions 86 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: to choose queens of our own. A queen, after all, 87 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: is a great title for a figurehead, even if she 88 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: has no real power. Perhaps you're familiar with the concept 89 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: of a may queen, a woman who was appointed in 90 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: a midsummer festival to be dressed in flat hours and 91 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: celebrate nature. It's an old and extremely popular tradition, but 92 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: at some point this practice spread from folklore to that 93 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: of the Industrial Society of Great Britain. It began as 94 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: a publicity stunt. In nineteen twenty five, to celebrate their 95 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: one hundred year anniversary, the Stockton and Darlington Railroad held 96 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: a beauty pageant where they crowned Helena Wotton as their 97 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: first railway Queen. For a year, this symbolic figure would 98 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: represent the great progress and the shining future of the 99 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: industrial age. Even though it was commemorating an anniversary, the 100 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: railway queen was not a one time appointment. Every year 101 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: afterward the railway would appoint a new queen with all 102 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: the fanfare and publicity of the first. Although the early 103 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: queens were all daughters of railroad company employees, soon the 104 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: candidates expanded to their greater British public and other industries 105 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: caught on as well, leading to an explosion of industrial queens. 106 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: In the nineteen thirties. There was a cotton Queen, a 107 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: wool queen, a coal queen, queens of silk, salt, fish, 108 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: and radio. It became the go to method for celebrating 109 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: each given quarter of British industry. The United States also 110 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: got in on the action, crowning their own queens of industry, 111 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,239 Speaker 1: but what did a Queen of industry actually do well? 112 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: Their role was ceremonial, to be sure, the early critics 113 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: who labeled it as a publicity stunt couldn't have been 114 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: more correct, But there was more to being a queen 115 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: of industry than being a pretty face. They were expected 116 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: to give speeches, make public appearances, advocating for their industry. Essentially, 117 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: they were the face of their field for the entire year. 118 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: As a result, this appointment catapulted a number of young 119 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: women and girls into something resembling celebrity in the most 120 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: dramatic cases. This even led to opportunities to go abroad 121 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: and observe how other countries handle their industries. For example, 122 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty five, the fifteen year old Audrey Mossum 123 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: was crown Britain's Railway Queen. The following year saw her 124 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: experience a whirlwind of public appearances and ceremonies, culminating in 125 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: a controversial trip to the East. The Railway Queen, you see, 126 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: had been invited to go to the Soviet Union. She 127 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: would undertake this trip in the summer of nineteen thirty six, 128 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: traveling by rail from Mince to Moscow, where she met 129 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: Joseph Stalin himself, the head of Soviet Russia, greeted her 130 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: before a crowd of railway workers, and the widow of 131 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: Vladimir Lenin presented her with a special Russian nestingdal to 132 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: commemorate her visit. Since the nineteen thirties, competition to be 133 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: crowned a Queen of Industry became more and more stiff. 134 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: Rather than simply be chosen by a small group of companies, 135 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: these became full competitions, with finalists and a panel of 136 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: carefully selected judges. After the Second World War, the role 137 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,239 Speaker 1: of the Queens of Industry even expanded to one of recruitment. 138 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,239 Speaker 1: You see, women were not just the faces of industry, 139 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: they were increasingly part of it. Companies produced recruitment films 140 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: starring the Queens of Industry in order to encourage women 141 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: to join the workforce. Like actual royalty, though these Queens 142 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: of Industry would have a tense relationship with the workers themselves. 143 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: From the beginning, the title was roundly criticized as a 144 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: distraction from the growing power of trade unions. Union members 145 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: would eventually allow their families to participate in these sorts 146 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: of pageants, but they would abstain from participating if a 147 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: strike was called. The final Queens of Industry were appointed 148 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties, showing how the practice had faded 149 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: as times and tastes changed. Beauty competitions in general have 150 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: become less in vogue, and labor disputes between workers and 151 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: government backed management have made the whole thing seem much 152 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: less quaint. Communities, though, have always been good at finding 153 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: fresh ways to overcome the problems they face. The Queens 154 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: of Industry might be a thing of the past, but 155 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 1: they definitely seemed to serve a purpose at the time, 156 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: and looking back, they left us with something incredibly valuable, 157 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: a curious chapter in history. I hope you've enjoyed today's 158 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 159 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 160 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 161 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 162 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 163 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 164 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 165 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.