1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosity is a production 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: open book, all of these amazing tales are right there 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Earworms. There are those songs you 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 1: get stuck in your head and just can't seem to shake. 8 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: I'll spare you the torture of mentioning the names of 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: a few, knowing what sort of impact they might have 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: on your day, But I think we can all agree 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: that earworms exist and can really burrow their way into 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: our minds. There's no science behind it, from what I 13 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: can tell, it just seems that every so often the 14 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: composer happily stumbles upon a few notes arranged in just 15 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: the right way that produce an almost infectious tune. Kids 16 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: love to share them, adults love to hate them, and 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: everyone does their best to avoid them if they can. 18 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: One early version of an earworm started out life in 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: France in the early seventeen hundreds. It was a folk 20 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: song written to lament the death of the first Duke 21 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 1: of Marlborough, who had been rumored to have died during 22 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: a battle in seventeen o nine. Even though his death 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: wasn't true, the song struck a chord and stuck around 24 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: for many decades. It floated on the fringes of French society, 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: known only by a few. It wasn't printed or included 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: in collections of other songs. It was just the sort 27 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: of tune you heard at a friend's house or at 28 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: a local gathering, and if you remembered it, you might 29 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: share it with someone else. And of course all the 30 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: best earworms are really easy to remember. Then something changed 31 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: in the seventeen eighties. The simple tunes started to get 32 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,559 Speaker 1: pulled into new compositions of the day, sort of a 33 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: calling card that composers knew their listeners would understand and 34 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: relate to. But things really took off when King Louis 35 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: the sixteenth and his Queen Marie Antoinette had a new 36 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: baby in sevent You see, Little Louis the seventeenth had 37 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: his very own wet nurse, a poor woman from a 38 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: small village south of Paris. One of the skills that 39 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: she brought to the job was her knowledge of lesser 40 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: known folk songs, and this one, the ear worm we're 41 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: talking about today, known as the Marlborough has Left the 42 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: War song, was a tune that had been floating around 43 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: in her village for a very long time, so she 44 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: sang it to little baby Louis, which of course meant 45 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: that Marie Antoinette heard the tune in the process, and 46 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: the earworm took roots. She started humming and singing it 47 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: as she walked around the palace, infecting others in the process. 48 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: From there, the song went viral in away most social 49 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: media influencers could only dream of. It showed up in 50 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: plays and musicals, It could be heard in the background 51 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: at fancy dinner parties of the wealthy elite, and it 52 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: was heard by tourists and travelers, so much so that 53 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: some of them complained that the song was everywhere and 54 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: they were sick of it. But that's not how earworms work. 55 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: You can't just make them go away, can't you. From France, 56 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: the little Song spread to England and from there out 57 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: even further. Charles Dickens included it in an issue of 58 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: his weekly magazine Household Words, and in Spain it's sometimes 59 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: even sung at birthday parties But the biggest change, and 60 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: the one that made it memorable to just about everyone 61 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: around the world, was the new set of English lyrics 62 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: that replaced the original French ones. Now no one really 63 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: knows who wrote them. The words aren't a translation of 64 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: the French words, just an entirely new set of lyrics 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: paired up to the old folk song's melody, and the 66 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: mood definitely changed since the original French song was about 67 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: the death of a nobleman, and the new English version 68 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: is more of a general celebration song, a celebration of 69 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: someone great, someone special, someone jolly. But the rich story 70 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: behind the song means that every time we sing it, 71 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: we draw a line backwards in time to the early 72 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds and straight through some of the most memorable 73 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: figures in history. You might sing it at an office 74 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: party or a gathering to celebrate a retirement, or maybe 75 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: you just like the way the tune sounds and can't 76 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: seem to get it out of your mind. It's an earworm, 77 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: after all, one of the first, and I doubts it 78 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: will ever go away. The song for He's a jolly 79 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: good fellow. Everyone needs a hobby, something they can do 80 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: to unwind and channel their creativity into Albert Einstein played 81 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: piano and violin. Humphrey Bogart was an avid chess player, 82 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: even once coming to a draw with noted Polish grandmaster 83 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: Samuel Raszewski and actor Daniel day. Lewis left his craft 84 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteen nineties for ten months to pursue 85 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: one of his passions, shoemaking. And then there was Horace 86 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in eighteen forty nine. Horace didn't 87 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: play an instrument or hustle amateurs at chess. No, he 88 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: didn't cobble together shoes In Italy, Horace Fletcher like to chew. 89 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: As a young man, Fletcher traveled around performing odd jobs 90 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: following his interests. He worked as a writer and artist, 91 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: and even managed in New Orleans opera house for a time. 92 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: He loved to read, and he indulged in many of 93 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: life's pleasures, mainly food. It was this pleasure, however, that 94 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: inflicted some of the worst pain he'd ever experienced in 95 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: his life. For one, as he got older, he struggled 96 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: with obesity and its side effects, such as chronic stomach pains. 97 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: He also found himself being refused coverage from a life 98 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: insurance policy, a rejection that sounded alarm bells for him. 99 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: He quickly realized it was time to make a change. 100 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: One day, while traveling to Chicago on business, the middle 101 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: aged Fletcher began chewing his food. He'd always chewed his 102 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: food before, but this time was different. He kept chewing, 103 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: and chewing and chewing until all that was left was 104 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: a liquid e goo on his tongue. He believed that 105 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: this was the key to proper digestion and weight management. 106 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 1: According to this new practice, which he dubbed Fletcherism, all 107 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: food needs to be chewed until it has been turned 108 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: into a liquid. Any solid particles were deemed unnecessary and 109 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: could be spat out. It sounds absurd today, but at 110 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: the time Fletcherism caught on, he became known as the 111 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: Great Masticator and argued that his practice could increase a 112 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: person's strength despite reducing the amount of food they actually ate. 113 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: He also had strict rules about when to consume sustenance. 114 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: Followers were instructed to avoid eating when they were sad 115 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: or angry, and to wait until they reached a point 116 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: that Fletcher called good and hungry. No midnight snacks for him. 117 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: He started touring the United States giving lectures on his methods, 118 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: methods which were scoffed at by doctors and scientists as 119 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: nothing more than self important hokum. That didn't matter, though 120 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: Fletcherism had reached far more important spokespeople than doctors. Celebrities 121 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: and titans of industry had begun chewing with wild abandoned. 122 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: Among them were John D. Rockefeller and author Upton Sinclair. 123 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: Even Mark Twain was considered a friend. But something as 124 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: important as eating healthy couldn't rely on word of mouth 125 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: from business men and writers alone. Fletcher needed to show 126 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: its merits definitively. With the help of Yale University's athletic department, 127 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: the sixty year old master Cator put on a demonstration 128 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: of his system and how it had reinvigorated his youthful stamina. 129 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: He performed a series of strength and endurance tests, even 130 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: competing alongside Yale's own athletes. According to the stories, he 131 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: outperformed all of them, going so far as to lift 132 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: three hundred pounds of dead weight with his right calf 133 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: over three hundred times, quite a feat. Meanwhile, Fletcherism was 134 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: working its way overseas, where London diners would throw munching parties. There, 135 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: people would eat together in one big room, seated close together, 136 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: chewing their food hundreds of times a minute until it 137 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: had been reduced to liquid. Stop watches were even implemented 138 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: to time how long people chewed. Fletcher continued to elaborate 139 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: on his system. He devised menus where he listed how 140 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: many choose it, took the breakdown specific foods, and pushed 141 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: low protein diets. Although Fletcherism made its founder a millionaire, 142 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: though the fad eventually fell out of favor. Physicians advocated 143 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: against it, not only because it lacked empirical evidence to 144 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: back up its claims, but also because its followers were 145 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: at risk for things like constipation and other elements. Fletcherism 146 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: was just one in a long line of food fats, 147 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: right up there with Lord Byron's vinegar and water diet 148 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: and the popular grapefruit diet of the nineteen thirties. And 149 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 1: that's the problem with food fads. They promise good health 150 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: and weight loss, but in reality their flaws simply make 151 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: them too hard for people to swallow. I hope you've 152 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 153 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 154 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 155 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 156 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 157 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 158 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 159 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,319 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.