1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History as a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you so much for 3 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: tuning in. I have a question to start off today's show. 4 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: It's it's for my my esteemed co host er, super producer. 5 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: Oh my name is Ben uh No. Do you did 6 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: you ever play sports as a kid. Yeah, I was 7 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: not very good at it. I was in the outfield 8 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: in baseball, and I think I played soccer for like 9 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: a couple of months or something that I was. I 10 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: was a very sluggish child, and you've grown into a 11 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: very sluggish adult. Don't be too hard on yourself. What 12 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: about our super producer, Casey Pegram Casey, did you play 13 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: any sports as a as a we Tyke, I was 14 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: a perpetual left fielder in baseball. Uh, if anything was 15 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: hit in my direction, I was not catching it. And 16 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: if I was at that the only way I was 17 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: getting on base was if I got walked. But once 18 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: I was on base, I was pretty good at running. 19 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: But you know, other than that, no, just getting on 20 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: the base. Yeah, that's the thing that was. That was 21 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: the rub. And maybe that's why in this country it's 22 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: so popular to refer to stages of intimacy as different 23 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,839 Speaker 1: bases on a fields. Right, Yeah, I am still confused. 24 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: I think everybody has a different opinion about what third 25 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: bases or as we said when I was growing up, 26 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: what shortstop. You know, it's always interested in that. Well, 27 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: but then you know, some people refer to the act 28 00:01:53,840 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: of lovemaking as scoring, right, right, dad. Conception sometimes can 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: be getting one past the goalie or sliding into home right. 30 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: And we always we always think of baseball as the 31 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: national pastime in the US, and that's why there are 32 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: so many metaphors or or figures of speech and idioms 33 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: that refer to the sport of baseball. But this wasn't 34 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: always the case. In today's episode, we're looking at another 35 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: strange craze it did. It was not as long lived 36 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: as baseball, but in its heyday it was as popular. 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: And that, my friends, is the sport known as competitive walking. 38 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: It sounds like the laziest sport, the dullest as well. 39 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: It sounds like a timid eric sketch. You know, it's 40 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: like professional paint watching. Yeah, yeah, right there with you. 41 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: It's strange because it was also a spectator sport. According 42 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: to Matthew Algaeo in his book Pedestrianism. In the decades 43 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: after the Civil War, from the eighteen seventies to the 44 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, millions of people were moving into the city 45 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: and there wasn't much for them to do in their 46 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: free time, so pedestrianism competitive walking matches became really popular. 47 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: They were they were a social event for people to 48 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: go to. They were a sport for people to watch. 49 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: And when we first found out about this, it reminded 50 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: me of uh, trying to do that not quite run, 51 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: not quite walk that a lot of kids do in 52 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: elementary school, Like you're in a library and you're chasing someone, 53 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: or you're running down the hall and a teacher shows up, 54 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: so you still kind of you're skittering, but you're you're 55 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: trying not to move your body as though you're running. 56 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: That's what a lot of this stuff looked like. Alice 57 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: Oskara reported uh in an article called the hot nineteenth 58 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: century sport that launched modern sports betting. Pedestrianism actually got 59 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: its start in the English aristocracy. As we know, servants, 60 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: at least a particular flavor of servant were known as footmen, 61 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: and that was largely because their job was to carry 62 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: things on foot and you know, as the super rich 63 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: or sometimes want to do, they turned it into a 64 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: cruel game wherein they pitted footmen against each other first 65 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: for their own amusements, and it became a hot betting situation. 66 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: And at that time, a lot of the emphasis for 67 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: for this sport was going to be on the endurance 68 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: of the participants. And it was always, as you said, 69 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: I'm glad you raised this point, it was always sort 70 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: of this rich person's game. They would consider themselves sportsmen, 71 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: but they were really just sending their servants in as 72 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: their proxies, embedding on them. When we go to the US, 73 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: what we see is, uh, three things had changed post 74 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: Civil War. Uh the nation was industrializing people on more 75 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: spare time than they did a grarian economies. They also 76 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: had a little more disposable income infrastructure and infrastructure exactly. 77 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: And the country overall had recovered from or fallen from 78 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: this stern work ethic, this antebellum work ethic. And now 79 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: people said, you know, it's okay to unwind. I want 80 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: to have a little fun. I got a spare couple 81 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 1: of sawbucks or whatever, so let's uh, let's let's go 82 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: watch the competitive walk and it had some advantages over 83 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: other sports. First, it needed no special equipment. The people 84 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: were the equipment. And second, it didn't really cost much 85 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: to set it up. You didn't have to make a 86 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: purpose built field or anything like that. And wouldn't you 87 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: know it, by the eighteen seventies, the nation was a 88 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: wash in what the Chicago Tribune called walking fever, and 89 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: even even newspapers that covered it were a little bit 90 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: confused by it. Right, this reminds me of like a Mr. 91 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: Show sketch or something. It's like coupon the movie. You know, 92 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: it's like America's got walk in fever. You know, it's 93 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: like the dullest sounding type of fever that America could 94 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: ever possibly catch. And the reason I say they were 95 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: confused is because papers of the note would would say 96 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: stuff like, well, let's take the Chicago Tribune example, which 97 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: we found via mental flaws. The Chicago Tribune said walking 98 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: is at best not an absorbably entrancing sport. But according 99 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: to mental flaws, the Tribune was neglecting a very specific fact. 100 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: People have more free time, which meant that a large 101 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: segment of the population was bored. People were desperate for entertainment, 102 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: not everybody had easily accessible droves of knowledge the way 103 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: that we have with cell phones. Right, and even like 104 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: catching a play or like a concert or something outside 105 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: of you know, a home situation would have been available, 106 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: but too expensive to to do like on the regular. 107 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: You know, it would be a special occasion for sure. Absolutely. Yeah. 108 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: So a ticket to a theatrical show, to a play 109 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: in Chicago at the time would cost you one dollar, 110 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: and that was about twice the price of a ticket 111 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: to a week long world class walking match. They really 112 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: were bored, weren't they. These people were walking in circles, 113 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: by the way, in this particular match. The Mental Flaws 114 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: article that just mentioned, also written by Matthew Algio, the 115 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: author of Pedestrianism, has the headline the insane six day, 116 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: five hundred mile race that riveted America. That's right, six days, 117 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: five miles. They were walking in a circle. It reminds 118 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: me of questions people have asked me about racing before, 119 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: when when they say, you know, why do people watch 120 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: things like NASCAR? Right, at least with NASCAR, they're going 121 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: quite fast. It's a little more there's puts a lot 122 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: of potential for fiery crashes there that the stakes are 123 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: a lot higher. Yeah, I think that's part of why 124 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: people watch it. I do appreciate al Geo's characterization. He 125 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: is he's giving this much more credit than I think 126 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: it deserves. Uh and and really tries to really sex 127 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: up this whole walking idea. And he's describing the countdown 128 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: that would have led to the beginning of this race one, two, 129 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: on three they were off with hips swiveling and arms pumping. 130 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: The Great Walking Match for the Championship of the World 131 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: had begun hips swiveling and arms pumping. So this implies 132 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 1: that their power walking then, right, and power walking or 133 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: race walking as it's called officially, is in Olympic sport today. Uh. 134 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: And it's more them worth watching a couple of clips 135 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: on YouTube if if you'd like a chuckle. Now, I'm 136 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: not saying these people are serious athletes. I'm saying that 137 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: when you're outside of the world of their world, that 138 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: type of walking looks odd. So we know that in 139 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: this endurance match, the six hundred miles and six days. Uh, 140 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: we know, thanks to al Geo's research a little bit 141 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: about the day to day of the race, the racers 142 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: were on the track continuously. They'd have these cots set 143 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: up inside the track and they could nap maybe three 144 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: hours a day, but other than that, for about twenty 145 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: one hours a day, they were power walking around this 146 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: track and the rules were simple. They would just map 147 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: out a dirt track on the floor of an arena. 148 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: A lot of these matches took place at the first 149 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden in New York, and the lap was 150 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: about a seventh or an eighth of a mile. You 151 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: could only walk. The only reason, by the way, that 152 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: this was six days was because at the time, public 153 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: amusements were banned on Sunday. Otherwise it probably would have 154 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: went longer seven days at least. So they started right 155 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: after midnight twelve oh one Sunday night Monday morning, and 156 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: that's when they had that countdown that you were talking about. No, 157 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: and then they just kept walking until midnight the next Saturday. There, wait, 158 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: what about pea breaks? They took pea breaks, and you know, 159 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: like I just said, they had the cots where they 160 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: slept for three hours a day. But but but what 161 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: what they have like porta porta potties, rudimentary like the 162 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: outhouses they had to Yeah, they weren't horses, they didn't 163 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: just go while they were walking. You didn't think they 164 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: maybe wore special you know, absorbent pants or something. I 165 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: don't know. I don't believe, so, I don't believe. So, Uh, 166 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: there is there there is one thing. Uh. The pedestrians 167 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: and those were the participants in these uh did drink 168 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: a lot, not necessarily a lot of water. They drink 169 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: a lot of champagne during the race. Was considered a stimulants. 170 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: Their trainers told them to drink champagne because they were 171 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: under the impression for some reason that this would give 172 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: them an advantage. The problem was that a lot of 173 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: these dudes would just slug it by the bottle. So 174 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: that's not a stimulant. That's the opposite now, and it 175 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't It gets you kind of dehydrated if you're just 176 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: drinking lots of alcohol and sweating and not drinking water, 177 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: right right, I guess depends on how fast you're walking 178 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: and what time of year would this have been? November? Right, 179 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: so Chili, Yeah, Yeah, it's getting there, especially if we're 180 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: talking northeast, right and New York and November. It's not 181 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: exactly sweltering. Also, I want to say that this was 182 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: a big social event. People weren't just in silence holding 183 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,319 Speaker 1: their you know, their betting tokens. There were brass bands 184 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: were playing songs. There are people selling snacks that were 185 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: popular at the time, like roasted chestnuts and pickled eggs. 186 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: I think the ladder is gross. That's just me. You 187 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: had a roast a chestnut? I have Yeah, yeah, I've 188 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: made roasted chestnue. I've never had one, but they always 189 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: make them in New York around the holidays on the 190 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: little you know, the street carts, and they really smell good. 191 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: They're they're great. I would say, also, you should be 192 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: able to get some year round at h Mart at 193 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,599 Speaker 1: least chestnuts roast and he's put them in like on 194 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: a sheet pan and like put them in the oven 195 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 1: with I'll send you this thing, please do. Yeah. So 196 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: this was also a scene and be seen kind of gathering. 197 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 1: But there were a lot of big hats. Future President 198 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: Chester Arthur, not Chestnut Arthur, but Chester Arthur was at 199 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: this one. James Blaine, a senator from Maine, was a 200 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: big fan of pedestrianism. James Blaine, a senator from main Yes, 201 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,319 Speaker 1: and leaning into the sketch comedy aspect of this. So 202 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: sometimes people in the crowd would be there to see 203 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: the famous spectators as much as they were to actually 204 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: be at the power wall. So it's kind of like golf, Yeah, 205 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: very much so, and a lot of standing around, you think, 206 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: because they were they were going in a fixed track situation. Ye, 207 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: so they would be in stands. I would imagine like bandstands, 208 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: or you would kind of see how long was a lap? 209 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: Did it say? It's a seventh or n eighth of 210 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: a mile? Okay, so it wouldn't take a whole heck 211 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: of a long time for them to get back around. Note, 212 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: so you'd be but it would take you a long 213 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: time to track the progress of your your person. They 214 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,439 Speaker 1: had people assigned right to watch each I guess. So 215 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 1: I just wonder, like with the whole sleeping cot situation, 216 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: how would they keep track, Like it would be like 217 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: you know, like in terms of like who is ahead. Yeah, 218 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:39,839 Speaker 1: they would keep a they would keep a clock, and 219 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 1: they would add your total times. But also because this 220 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: started as a sport that was centered on gambling, there 221 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:52,079 Speaker 1: were multiple ways for uh for the gamblers, the true 222 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: players here to win. You could gamble on who was 223 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: going to be the first person to drop out, or 224 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: who would be the first person to achieve a given 225 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: number of miles? Got it? Got it? So you could 226 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: go any number of directions with this. There were so 227 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: many ways you could gamble. Also, and this comes to 228 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: us from the NPR statements. Also the pedestrians themselves, we're 229 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: not necessarily wealthy people, so it was pretty easy to 230 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: rig the odds. Yeah, you could pay someone to drop 231 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: out first take a dive where yeah no. And also 232 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: that kind of goes hand in hand back to the 233 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: roots of the sport, with the aristocrats being the ones, 234 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: you know, watching for theirn amusement and potentially you know, prospering, 235 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: and then the lower classes being the one that actually 236 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: had to do the work. And yeah, that's okay, that's 237 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: a great segue to talking about the people were actually 238 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: doing the work. Because like any other sport, this sport 239 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: had its Lebron's, you know, had its uh Larry Birds. 240 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: It's uh, what are some andre Agassi Hale I'm just 241 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: naming was a soccer guy. Yeah, I'm just naming different 242 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: sp is tennis. Yeah. Yeah. My favorite tennis star name 243 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: it was from when I was a kid growing up 244 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: a journey was Boris Becker. That's not bad. I've never 245 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: heard of it. Yeah, he was big and like when 246 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: I was a child, and he was he was an 247 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: adult tennis player, right, he was an adultnis like your 248 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: shady passed as a child tennis player. I was a 249 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: child tennis prodigy. Actually, well you were a prodigy. I 250 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: gave it up, though. I just gave it up for 251 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 1: for for outfield being an outfield turd. Yeah, which your 252 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: conversion of almost religious proportions, so comparitive walking is no different. 253 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: They have these icons at the time. Did you tell 254 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: us a little bit about the guy was like the 255 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: the the protagonist, the main character of competitive walking. You 256 00:15:54,920 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: mean Edward Paston Weston, the very same the household name. Yeah, 257 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: Edward Payson Weston was. He was absurdly famous because again 258 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: we have to remember that nation had walk in fever 259 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: and you know, uh, it was hot um. As ridiculous 260 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: as it sounds that he was, he was, he was. 261 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: He was bringing the heat um in the nineteenth century. 262 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: He was originally a bookseller, a door to door salesman 263 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: of books. He lived in Providence, Rhode Island, and then Um. 264 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty he and a friend made a gentlemanly 265 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: wager on the outcome of the election, and he actually 266 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: bet against Abraham Lincoln and lost, uh, in spectacular form. 267 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: And his punishment was that he had to walk from Boston, Massachusetts, 268 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: to Washington, d C. In ten days. Wow, that is 269 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: a crazy bet. He really thought Lincoln was gonna look 270 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: it was obviously yeah, um, and he had to go 271 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: see the inauguration in person um. And it became kind 272 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: of almost like a I don't know how the media 273 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: caught wind of it, or if he he made a 274 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: big deal about it, but whatever the circumstances where it 275 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: became kind of a media blitz. It went, as we 276 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: would say today, viral, because this was walking in the 277 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,639 Speaker 1: Northeast in the middle of winter, the roads were not 278 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: that great, and all along the way people who had 279 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: heard about the story would come watch him. You know, 280 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: many of them, no doubt, expect him to fail or falter. 281 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: But he made it in time. And then after the 282 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: Civil War he was still famous and he said, you 283 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: know what, it's worked so well, I'm just gonna keep 284 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: doing it. Right. But instead of being the dead of winter, uh, 285 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: walking in the horrible conditions, you know, um alone, he 286 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: did in front of crowds indoors uh you know where 287 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: he would go to like roller skating rinks or different 288 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: places like that, community centers, and would walk like a 289 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: hundred miles or something like that, like in a day, 290 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,959 Speaker 1: and people would again I can't get over how bored 291 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,680 Speaker 1: people must have been to find this, you know guy, 292 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: I really look at his gate, look at his form, 293 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: like like I really gotta gotta walk to him. Um. Yeah. 294 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: They would watch him again in circles, walk around in 295 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: circles like all day, and they'd pay, you know, a 296 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: dime or something to to see this happen. I guess 297 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,440 Speaker 1: it was also like you know, it was it brought 298 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: people out, so people, you know, that was part of 299 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: the entertainment too. I don't imagine everyone was just eyes 300 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: on him, you know for a day. Yeah, it was 301 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: more like let's do something different, let's get some culture. Also, 302 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: he became a national symbol in some ways of classism. 303 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: He he was like a figure skater, and that he 304 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: would dress in very garish, flashy outfits, and he was 305 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: I guess for another sports analogy, he was like the 306 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: Yankees or the Patriots, because people knew that he would 307 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: often win these things, and as as you said, sometimes 308 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: he would just pay. He would just hold exhibitions and 309 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: people would see him not necessarily competing against someone, they 310 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: would just pay to watch him walk in a circle. 311 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: I mean, that's good work if you can get it. 312 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: And we for Pete's Sacred podcasters. So he also made 313 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: his name when he walked. At one point he walked 314 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: twelve hundred miles from Maine to Chicago Portland, Maine and 315 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: under a month, and he won ten thousand dollars in 316 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty seven dollars in the process. So people thought 317 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: he resembled old money, old America. And we know how 318 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: these kind of competitive sports work. So of course he 319 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: had a rival and nemesis who represented the working class, 320 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: you know, the blue collar and immigrants. He was an 321 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:56,199 Speaker 1: Irish immigrant from County Cork, Ireland who had come to 322 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,719 Speaker 1: the States about ten years prior to the the walking 323 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: craze being a thing, and he had no money, no job, 324 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,399 Speaker 1: and just was a scrappy kind of personality and found 325 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: his way into this kind of upstart um pastime, right, 326 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,199 Speaker 1: and he was no slouch of his own. He had uh, 327 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: he walked a hundred in sixteen miles and under twenty 328 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: four hours. He was very much seen as the upstart, 329 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: the working man's hero. Uh. The public was going gaga 330 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: for the hype about these two having a match. He 331 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: also represented hope for Chicago's Irish community because his last 332 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: name was O'Leary, and you know, in the eighteen hundreds, 333 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,960 Speaker 1: of course, Catherine O'Leary no relation, had been blamed for 334 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: being responsible the Great Fire of eighteen seventy one. You know, 335 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: she's the one Mrs O'Leary's cow who allegedly knocked over 336 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 1: a lantern. So she was a scapegoat, and this kind 337 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: of discriminated Asian against her bled out into the rest 338 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: of the city's Irish immigrant population. So Dan O'Leary was 339 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: seen as like the Irish hope and was proving that 340 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: Irish people in Chicago weren't all bad. This is why 341 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: Algo calls them Weston and O'Leary the Muhammad Ali and 342 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: Joe Fraser of their generation. Weston's flashy, he's moneyed. He 343 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: wears capes when he walks, which I think has some hotzpah. 344 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: He is more, I would say, the businessman of the two, 345 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 1: because he understands if you entertain people. Uh, you can 346 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: make as much money off the entertainment as you can 347 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 1: off the athleticism, whereas Dan O'Leary is much more on 348 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: the athletic side. Right right, You got what you get. 349 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: He's in it to walk. Yeah, it's about the walking. 350 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: Gand you know, did you mention that, Uh dude also 351 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: carried a cane and Weston like, yeah, likely. I just 352 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: imagine him wearing a monocle, you know, and top hat 353 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,360 Speaker 1: and a cane and a cape and really really thought 354 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 1: pretty highly of himself. It would seem yep, there's the 355 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: cock of the walk, as they say, there we go, 356 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: or the cane of the lane. Yeah, he said he 357 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 1: definitely tried to stay in his lane. Uh, you know, 358 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: cape of the scrape, this cape of the pave, and 359 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: they're not all gonna work. No, So this this becomes 360 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: in many ways an analog for cultural tensions that are brewing. 361 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: Don't feel too bad for a Leary because over the 362 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: course of his career as a pedestrian, he made the 363 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: equivalent of a million dollars or so just walking again. 364 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: Can un emphasize this enough in circles. Now at this point, 365 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: you maybe saying Casey nol Ben. It sounds like a 366 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: heck of a time. But why why can't I pay 367 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: to watch people walk in circles nowadays? Why is the 368 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: only thing left to me, you know, stump ling around 369 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: at Chelsea Market and watching people who patently do not 370 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: know how to walk? While we have an answer for you, 371 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: America's craze. The walking craze face some stiff competition in 372 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, primarily because of something that emerged called 373 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: the safety bicycle. Unlike earlier models of the bicycle, like 374 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,679 Speaker 1: the Penny Farthing and so on, the safety bicycle had 375 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: patently unsafe which aparently unsafe. The safety bicycle had two 376 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: similar size wheels. Crazy. Who to thunk it? I feel 377 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: like that's the one you should have thought. Who came 378 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: up with the big wheel in front of the tiny 379 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: wheel and back? It makes absolutely no sense. You're riding 380 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: up so high. I guess innovation happens in you know, 381 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: spurts or whatever, but like it just seemed like it 382 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: would have been a no brainer to have two wheels 383 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: the same size. Knowing how a car works, you know, 384 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: like it's like half a car, right, and the Penny 385 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: Farthings and trying to think of a more articulate way 386 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: to say this. They sucked. They were they were just terrible. 387 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: They had vacuum. But the safety bicycle was nimble, it 388 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,639 Speaker 1: was faster, they were more interesting to watch when they 389 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: were in a race. It was cooler to see people 390 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,439 Speaker 1: on a bicycle racing or bicycles racing than it was 391 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: to see people just sort of walking around, even if 392 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: they did have capes. Also, this is the thing, if 393 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: somebody messes up in a bicycle race, it's a way 394 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: better crash right back to the NASCAR thing. Faster, more 395 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: potential for havoc, you know, more potential for schaden freud, 396 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: all the stuff that that makes a good spectators board. 397 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: Did we mention that a lot of these big walking 398 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: matches took place of the original Madison Square garden. That's 399 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,959 Speaker 1: the first one. Yeah, that's how big this this craze was. 400 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: But all good things are incredibly weird, and dolphings must 401 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,120 Speaker 1: come to an end. And you know, the bicycle racing, 402 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: combined with a few other factors, really put a nail 403 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: on the coffin of of America's pastime, the walking craze, 404 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: and and and one of them was what we talked 405 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: about the top of the show. Baseball. Yeah, the National 406 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: League have been founded in eighteen seventy six. It became 407 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: a profitable business when the team owners reorganized. People who 408 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:30,719 Speaker 1: once had watched walking matches now wanted to watch baseball. 409 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: And this meant by rounds the middle of the eighteen nineties, 410 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: pedestrianism was on its way down. It was being beset 411 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: with charges of race fixing, of corruption that have been 412 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 1: there since the beginning, and doping, right, performance enhancing drugs. 413 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: No way, not from a place where where participants guzzled champagne, 414 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: right exactly. And I'm guessing you know you just needed 415 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: something that would give you a little more pep, a 416 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,199 Speaker 1: little more zip in your staff up. Uh. And that 417 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: would have been like chewing uh, coca leaves. Yeah, that's 418 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,679 Speaker 1: how Western went down. That's his armstrong moment exactly. Um, 419 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: they certainly wouldn't have had anything like the modern doping 420 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: techniques that we see today with the steroids and the 421 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: like or you know, human growth hormones or whatever. They 422 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: just have the good old chewing a coca leave. And 423 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, chewing a cocoa leave would be 424 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: a stimulant buzz equivalent to doing cocaine. I could I mean, 425 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: I could see like I could see that because people 426 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: did consider it unsportsmanlike. Well, Western was caught chewing cocoa leaves. 427 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: I think at the time it wasn't illegal. I guess 428 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: it's illegal to chew those today. I guess it's like 429 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: doing cocaine. It would be a tantamount to possession of 430 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,880 Speaker 1: a controlled substance. Okay, I see. Uh And Weston when 431 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: he was caught said his doctor told him to do it, 432 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: but people said, you know this is this is a 433 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: bad sign. Have you guys heard of baseball? Let's go 434 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,360 Speaker 1: watch that. The six day races are a little more 435 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: like freak shows than they are like feats of athletic prowess. 436 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: So this all culminated, uh in the the extinction the 437 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: downfall of competitive walking and pedestrianism in the eight nineties. 438 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: But make no mistake, folks, pedestrianism created a legacy that 439 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: remains today. One of the biggest legacies it's left us 440 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: with is the idea of corporate sponsorship. Talk about that, right, 441 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: so uh So. Dan O'Leary, the Workingman's Hero, was a 442 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: spokesman for a brand of Salt. A guy named John 443 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: Hughes was sponsored by the National Police Gazette that was 444 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: a newspaper at the time, and he raced with a 445 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,679 Speaker 1: shirt that had the papers logo on it because you know, 446 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: his body is the race car and this sort of 447 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 1: this sort of deal. My little league baseball team was 448 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: sponsored by a local plumbing company. Cool. Do you remember 449 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: their name? Nope? Remember they were those plumbing Let's see, 450 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: in my we had some we had some different in 451 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,120 Speaker 1: some different corporate sponsors. I think a lot of Little 452 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,679 Speaker 1: League places are like that. I was in a teamo 453 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 1: sponsored by the Church of Starry Wisdom. I thought you 454 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: were going to say the Church of Satan. That would 455 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: have been cool. Oh, the Church or Starry Wisdom is 456 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: as a whole different. Well, it's not that different. It's 457 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: a good reference. This is a cult. I've never heard 458 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: of this. It sounds cool. Google and check it out later, 459 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: but don't don't reveal that there. We want to want 460 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,159 Speaker 1: to keep that that reference for for folks who already 461 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: caught it. So these guys also were immortalized on some 462 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: of the first precursors to baseball cards, cigarette trading cards. 463 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: Back in the eighteen hundreds, you buy a pack of 464 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: cigarettes and you might get a trading card with one 465 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: of your favorite athletes, and one of your favorite athletes 466 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: might have been someone like Dan oh Leary. So one 467 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: thing we do have to say to the pedestrians. You know, 468 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: it's easy for us to crack on them a little 469 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 1: bit and say walking, how hard is that? But if 470 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: you're familiar with uh, the Richard Bachman story, The Running Man, 471 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: and the fantastic film adaptation thereofs starting Arnold Schwarzenegger, then 472 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: you know that walking for a long period can be uh, 473 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: can be some real exercise. And those pedestrians put modern 474 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: running backs to shame. During a football game that might last, 475 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: you know, three plus hours, players only really run about 476 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: one point to five miles, much less than the pedestrians 477 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: with the eighteen hundreds. Also, Running Man, huh do you 478 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,239 Speaker 1: guys remember that film? Yeah? I still don't understand why 479 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 1: I have one guy saying opera did he did he remember? 480 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like one of the one of 481 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: the plans they're like they're like they're like gladiators almost yeaheah, yeah, yeah, 482 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: I just wanted to take a second to uh to 483 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 1: plug the career of Arnold Schwartzeneager believe is the protagonist 484 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: and the film adaptation of The Running Man. Right absolutely, Um, 485 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: let's see, I'm trying to get a list of the 486 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: different gladiators, and the gosh one of him is Jesse 487 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: the body Ventura. Remember that. Yeah, yeah, unless I'm mistaken. 488 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: Hang on, We've got buzz Saw, who kills the runners 489 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: with his chainsaw and even cuts hard metal. Okay, that's 490 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: that's helpful. This is from a Wicki fandom. Wicki. We've 491 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: got Dynamo. He's glad. He just played by Arolyn van Litt, 492 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: who uses electricity. I believe that's the that's the opera guy. 493 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: He does look very operatic. He's got like a like 494 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: a right of the Valkyrie. He's kind of outfit on 495 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: and Jesse ventures Captain Freedom. He Isn't it cool? I 496 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: wasn't making that out. That We've got Fireball, whose power 497 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: surprise surprises. He should just fireballs. And then we've got 498 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: my favorite, who really just looks like an embarrassing hockey player. 499 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: He's like goalie. He's got all this padding on. His 500 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: name is sub zero uh, and he's he's got a 501 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: sharp stick and a hockey puck that has explosives. I 502 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: think it was Dynamo who had a little kind of 503 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,239 Speaker 1: go kart thing, got it, And and right, you are 504 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: a Captain Freedom baby. Um, he is a he's described 505 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: here as a pensioned gladiator. He is the best. I 506 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 1: think that this is a British site. I think it 507 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: means he's like the retired, he's retired, or he's he's 508 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: a veteran gladiator emeritus. Perhaps he's pensioned. So by the 509 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: way he kills, he kills people with his bare hands, 510 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: he doesn't need a weapon. No, no, he considers that 511 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: on sportsman like. That's not what Captain Freedom is about. 512 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: So let's let's go back to Weston and O'Leary because 513 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: you may have noticed, folks, we didn't tell you what 514 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: happened to them. So no, what what happened to Western 515 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: O'Leary after pedestrianism was no longer the national craze. Well, 516 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: you know, you can take the pensioned walksman out of 517 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: the walking race, but you can't take the walking race 518 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: out of the pensioned walksman. He got there. Yeah, that 519 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: was made me sweat a little bit. So, um, you 520 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: know he kept on walking. He was seventy three years old. 521 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 1: He walked from New York to Minneapolis, UM and he 522 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: is a little sad actually on en route would sell 523 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,840 Speaker 1: ten cents souvenir programs. But I don't think he had 524 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: the didn't have the following that he once did. I 525 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: think he was largely just kind of selling them, sort 526 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: of like a Harry Krishna at an airport. You know. Yeah, 527 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: and oh Leary decided that he would hitch his walking 528 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,960 Speaker 1: wagon to the rising craze of baseball. He became a 529 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: baseball pedestrian self described, he would stage walking exhibitions before 530 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: games in ballparks around the US, and then he would 531 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: sometimes challenge one of the players on a team to 532 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: run around the bases twice while he walked around them 533 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: once and he often won, which was good pr for them. 534 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: And then this is another set part. After he did 535 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,959 Speaker 1: all that, he will walk through the stands literally with 536 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: his hat in his hand, getting nickels and dimes to 537 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: take care of him so he could so we could 538 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: have money to live off of h during the off 539 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 1: seasons when he when he would spend time in California. 540 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: You know, I actually think this could be at the 541 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: very least like an episode of television or something. You know, 542 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: I would love to see this as a short film perhaps, Yeah, 543 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: I would watch it. I would watch as a full 544 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: length kind of league at their own thing. Yeah, But 545 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: it's also like it's it's the end of an era 546 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 1: and you had someone who kind of rose to the 547 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: top of this very odd fad, this kind of flash 548 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: in the pan thing, and then gets replaced by something 549 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: almost overnight that has a lot more staying power and 550 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: to like be you know, established as like the leader 551 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: in your field, and then your field just starts to 552 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: disappear and you have to scrap for nickels and dimes 553 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: and you know, challenge the people who literally replaced you too, 554 00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: foot races. You know. It's it's a sad kind of feeling, 555 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,360 Speaker 1: you know, you really if you really do again. It 556 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: reminds me of a Mr. Show sketch where they're talking 557 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:11,720 Speaker 1: about megaphone, like the megaphone tour Um has like counterfeit 558 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: money machine. But the whole idea is that these guys 559 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 1: are megaphone crooners, and then something came along and replaced 560 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: megaphone crooning, and then people were megaphoned out I don't 561 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: want to lose the threat though with O'Leary, because he 562 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:31,320 Speaker 1: is an interesting contrast. He wasn't he wasn't caught doping. 563 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: It makes sense. Yeah, And he gave health advice based 564 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: on walking. And he would say what people would ask 565 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 1: him for exercise suggestions, especially for people who were too 566 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 1: physically weak, were impaired to play baseball or more demanding sport, 567 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: and he would say, do not take strolls. Vigorous breathing 568 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: is what builds up a healthy life. So he wanted 569 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 1: you to walk like a machine, walk like him. And 570 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: he lived well into his eighties and people who saw 571 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: him said, even when he was old, he's still walked 572 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: that way, Ramrod straight. Uh. And and no coco leaves, 573 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: you would casey off air you had said that there's 574 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,720 Speaker 1: something about coca leaves that might be of interest. Yeah. 575 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: So it's not equivalent to actually doing cocaine if you 576 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:21,800 Speaker 1: chew a coca leaf, but it is a mild stimulant. 577 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: This is coming from an Associated Press article. Uh. Suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, 578 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: and fatigue, and it's also used to mask altitude sickness. 579 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: So in Bolivia, for instance, you know the people who 580 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,959 Speaker 1: live like up in the mountains, are you know, fond 581 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:39,000 Speaker 1: of chewing it just to kind of keep their energy up. 582 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: This became kind of a political issue because if a Morales, 583 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,120 Speaker 1: previous president of Olivia was very much in favor of 584 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: legalizing coca leaves and and allowing farmers to grow them 585 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: and chew them and so on, and the United States 586 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:54,680 Speaker 1: was not a favor of that. And you see how 587 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:59,280 Speaker 1: that all ended. Casey on the case and the speaking 588 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: of deans, I believe we have reached one. We should 589 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:08,200 Speaker 1: also say that there were many other people who broke through. 590 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: Were focusing on O'Leary and Weston, but it would be 591 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: remiss if we did not shout out Frank Heart, an 592 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:19,280 Speaker 1: immigrant from Haiti who entered a six day race in Boston, 593 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 1: performed so well that he moved up to the quote 594 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:27,479 Speaker 1: unquote major leagues of pedestrianism, and he was taking part 595 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,160 Speaker 1: in what was uh He was a breakout what was 596 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: largely considered a white dominated sport. This sport also open 597 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,839 Speaker 1: doors for other men and women of color. We saw 598 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: people like Aida Anderson, who proved that pedestrianism could help 599 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 1: women achieved new status levels as well. And Frank Hart 600 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: by the way once he won uh prestigious race in 601 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:56,520 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, headlines published his name from Coast to Coast. 602 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: And this was at a time when because of the 603 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: color of their in people weren't afforded full citizenship. So pedestrianism, 604 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: in a very real way helped break down some of 605 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,760 Speaker 1: the disgusting barriers of race that existed in this country. 606 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 1: Which is weird because when before we did this episode, 607 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,000 Speaker 1: had any of us heard of pedestrianism other than like 608 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: people walking on sidewalks. No, And I think we're gonna 609 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 1: get to this in a later episode. But when I 610 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,960 Speaker 1: think of pedestrian I think of the time when the 611 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: auto industry essentially wanted to malign pedestrians by inventing the 612 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,560 Speaker 1: abusive term jaywalkers. That's correct. I did an episode of 613 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: car Stuff about a few years back, but no one 614 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: listened to that because we're doing it on this totally 615 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,919 Speaker 1: doing it. And pedestrian itself as a word usually means 616 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:47,880 Speaker 1: something's very hum drum and run of the mill and 617 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,920 Speaker 1: kind of basic, right, Like vanilla ice cream is the 618 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,000 Speaker 1: pedestrian choice of ice cream. But you know what is 619 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 1: absolutely not pedestrian The eggnog that we are about to 620 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: crack open. Made are good pal Alex Williams. Thank you 621 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,640 Speaker 1: so much, Alex for composing this track and for making 622 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:08,399 Speaker 1: some eggnog for us based on the recipe of one 623 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: George Washington. It's true, I can't wait to sip that 624 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:16,200 Speaker 1: knog as always big. Thanks to Casey super producer Casey 625 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: pegram Our Eachard associate Gabe Christopher hasiotis here in spirit 626 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,120 Speaker 1: thanks to of course Eve's Jeff Cote, our colleague who 627 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 1: has her own history podcasts. I'm popular in this state 628 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: and history class. And of course thank you pedestrians the 629 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: world over. We've all been We've all been pedestrians at 630 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: some point or another. And of course thanks to you 631 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: know right back at you Ben, See you next time. Books. 632 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I 633 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 634 00:38:58,760 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.