1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: to the show Ridiculous Historians. As always, thank you so 3 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. My name is Ben. This is 4 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: an interesting one today. I gotta ask, um, you know, 5 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: when you hear the word fudge, what do you think 6 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: of inferior chocolate? Here we go, Uh, super producer, Casey Pegrom, 7 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: what about you? I like fudge, So I'm gonna say 8 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: it is a not a superior chocolate per se, but 9 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: you know it's on equal footing with milk chocolate or 10 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: chocolate or any of the other fine chocolate products. That 11 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: to disagree, my friend, I will I will say, like 12 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: I do have experiences of going to like Helen Georgia 13 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,479 Speaker 1: and like getting fudged there and it's just too much. 14 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: It's just too heavy and you feel sick for like 15 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,199 Speaker 1: the rest of the day after you consume it. So moderation, 16 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: But um, yeah, I like, I like a little fudge now. 17 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: And then I guess my thing is I'm known by 18 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: the way, I just don't know what it is like 19 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: is it's like it's almost chocolate, it's almost caramel, it's 20 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: bordering on cake. It's just it occupies this liminal space 21 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: of confections that I just can't quite wrap my head around. Yeah, yeah, 22 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: that that's my take on fudge. It's also a fun 23 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: substitute word for a naughty word aspect of it. It's funny. 24 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: We Uh, we were supposed to start recording about a 25 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: half hour ago, but we ended up just shooting the 26 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: breeze about multiple things, including the most famous use of 27 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: fudge as a curse word I think was in the 28 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: Christmas Story. Uh. And you're right, I like the freeze 29 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: liminal space here because I like, maybe like you k cy, 30 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: I like many people associate fudge with stuff you would 31 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: see in like a country store on a rural road trip, 32 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: next to the pepper jelly or whatever. And I think 33 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: most of us associate fudge with chocolate. But it doesn't 34 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: have to be right. There's maple fudge. There's all kinds 35 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: of fudge in there, like a seventies kind of southern 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: rock band called Vanilla Fudge. Oh. Absolutely, there is anybody 37 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: that saw the Tarantino movie once by a time in Hollywood. 38 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: The climax of that movie is a vanilla fudge. Oh 39 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: that's the uh set me for you? Why don't you 40 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: babe that that whole thing's somebody else's song, but it's 41 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: their version, and if you go on YouTube and look 42 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: up the live version, it is the most seventies thing 43 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: you will ever see in your life. I love it. Well, 44 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: we've got to stop the show for a second because 45 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: we have to check out Vanilla Fudge. I can't believe 46 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: someone beat us to that name. We're gonna have to 47 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: come up with something new for our band. But while 48 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: we're exploring that, we have to tell you, I don't 49 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,679 Speaker 1: know about you, guys, but I just found out that 50 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: I didn't know anything about fudge, like the history of fudge, 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: the actual origin story, in the genesis of it. Fudge 52 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: is first off, much more recent invention than I had thought. 53 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: I don't know about you guys. And secondly, as we're 54 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: gonna find today, fudge was in its heyday associated not 55 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: with like rural country stores or cracker barrels or whatever, 56 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: but it was associated instead with a bit of rebellion. Yeah, 57 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: it's true. I didn't realize it was such a relatively 58 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: modern invention too. I assumed it was like developed on 59 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: the prairie by the pioneers, you know, or even earlier 60 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: than that. It's just I just assumed fudge should always 61 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: kind of been you know, you you'd turn your butter 62 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: and you'd make your fudge. But that's not the case 63 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: at all. Um, let's start with a little bit of etymology. 64 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: Fudge it wasn't the other way around. Fudge wasn't a 65 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: word derived from the chocolate a thing. It was the 66 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: other way around. Fudge was a verb before it was 67 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: a confection around the seventeenth century. Um, it was something 68 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: you would use to say, Oh, I'm gonna fudge that, 69 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: you know, sort of cheat something to the left or 70 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: to the right a little bit like maybe you've got 71 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: some woodworking that you're doing. I don't know, just an example, 72 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: and you need to fudge two pieces so they become flush. 73 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: That's not a great example, obviously, I'm not a carpenter. 74 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: Bank can you think of a better example of fudging 75 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: something in the physical sense? Yeah, I think the woodworking 76 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: example is good. I think that I don't know how 77 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: accessible this is to our fellow listeners, but I think 78 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: the three of all us have all fudged a little 79 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: something in production where we maybe don't have the ideal 80 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: audio we wants, but we're like we could play with 81 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: this a little bit, so we've been able to fudge around. 82 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting because etymologists now think that fudge 83 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: came from an older, obsolete term fadge, which sounds like 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: fudge with a weird New England accent f A d 85 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: G right, exactly, f A d G E with the 86 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: silent e, which I still don't understand. One of the 87 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: great mysteries of the English language, the silent e. But 88 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: that's the story for another day. Yeah, the Oxford English Dictionary. Um, 89 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: there's an article on the invention of fudge on Chowhound 90 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: and they referred to that entry where it describes fudge 91 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: or fadge as meaning to fit together or even the 92 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: idea of something turning out well, the implication maybe being 93 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: despite less than ideal circumstances. But the implication is more 94 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: that it wasn't about a mistake exactly. But we also 95 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: know that there is at least legend fudge legend uh 96 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: fudging about the idea that someone was trying to make 97 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: a batch of caramels. As I was saying earlier, like 98 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: what is fudge and they ended up with fudge? Um, 99 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: because fudge contains sugar crystals, and that's actually something that 100 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: kind of is a no no in baking. For the 101 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: most part, you don't want there to be sugar crystals 102 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: because that can give a grainy kind of texture, and 103 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: fudge is sort of the exception to that rule. Uh. 104 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: It's these micro crystals of sugar that give it that 105 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: firm texture, and they're small enough so they do melt 106 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: in your mouth and they don't feel weird and sand 107 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: like on your tongue, but they melt so quickly that 108 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: it has sort of a smooth consistency. And I think 109 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: that's part of my weirdness with fudge, is the consistency. 110 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: It doesn't act quite like chocolate because the crystals are there. 111 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: It's a little bigger, so it has more of a 112 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: I don't know, gloopy kind of thing. I don't want 113 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: to nag fudge for anybody, but clearly, yeah, it's uh 114 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: it's got almost a paste like consistency. Uh. For anyone 115 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: familiar with um, the Middle Eastern North African food hulva, 116 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: which is a popular snack, it's like that. Uh. That 117 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: might not be the best comparison, but you're spot on 118 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: with the weird state and importance of the sugar crystals. 119 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: So in a previous episode, we we endeavored to clumsily 120 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: teach you how to whistle, and you, guys, I listened 121 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: back to that part. It's actually it was worth it. 122 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: It was pretty hilarious. I made my kid listen to it. 123 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: I held the phone up to her ear just during 124 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: the mouth sounds part, and she just made the most 125 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: offended face. But then she started laughing uncontrollably, because it's 126 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: just it's I don't know, not to like talk about ourselves, 127 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: but it is simultaneously disgusting and endearing, you know. For 128 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: that one, I think it's okay for us to talk 129 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: about ourselves this way, because we're not saying we did 130 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: a good job. I think the fun part of that 131 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: was the brilliant fact that none of the three of 132 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: us pointed out that maybe we shouldn't try to explain 133 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: how to put fingers in our mouths while we were 134 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: doing it. But but still, it's pretty hilarious. So now 135 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: we're gonna attempt to teach you the secret to cooking udge. 136 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: This is with help from the Exploratorium. So now that 137 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: you've mastered that weird problematic wolf whistle, it's time to 138 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: begin your fudge career. Likenell said, you want these crystals 139 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: to form. Forget all the other stuff you hear about candy. 140 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: This is not applied to fudge. But you want them 141 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: to form at a certain time, as certain temperatures. So 142 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: if you want to avoid that gross kind of grainy fudge, 143 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: it's not so much how you cook it as it 144 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: is how you cool it. So you'll see a fudge 145 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: recipe that will call for just in general, call for 146 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: heating all the ingredients to two hundred and thirty four 147 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit. That's what's called the softball stage, where you 148 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: can kind of mold it and then you allow it 149 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: to cool, don't touch it, allow it to cool to 150 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: about a hundred and ten degrees fahrenheit, and then when 151 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: it hits one ten, that's when you start stirring. And 152 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: you keep stirring and stirring and stirring as the candy 153 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: becomes thicker and thicker and thicker. And what's happening is 154 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: every time you stir, you're creating more crystal seeds, and 155 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: you get lots and lots of tiny ones instead of 156 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: the big ones. And I think that that goes to 157 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: the texture you're talking about, right, Yeah, it absolutely does. 158 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: And you know, if you stirch too much, you don't 159 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: get the crystals at all, I guess, or there's so 160 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: many of them that doesn't give you the same consistency. 161 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: Don't stir enough, it becomes grainy and unpleasant. So it 162 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: really is. I mean, honestly, fudge making is kind of 163 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,439 Speaker 1: an art, you know, if you have to really keep 164 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: an eye on the temperature. Uh, it's not something that 165 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:33,679 Speaker 1: you can just go in and do without knowing what 166 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: you're doing. So kudos to all the fudge stirs the 167 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: fudge and I don't know what's what's the word for 168 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: a fudge maker, fudge enthusiast. I like it. I like it, 169 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: But you're right, Casey. I do think about, like, you know, 170 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: the little candy stores on the boardwalk in Savannah or 171 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: in Hell and where you can get a free sample, 172 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: you know, and you can see their whole assembly line 173 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: for like making fudge and prelins or saltwater taffy and 174 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: all that. That's definitely what I think of when I 175 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: think of this treat. So yeah, like chocolate caramels could 176 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,959 Speaker 1: be seen as being kind of the progenitor, is that 177 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: the right word or the precursor I guess to to 178 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: to fudge, and those have been around since the eighteen sixties. 179 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: We found a recipe uh in an eighteen seventy cookbook 180 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: from Maryland, um very very similar process. Uh So totally 181 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: understand the notion that fudge was created by fudging this 182 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: caramel recipe, because if you end up with these crystals 183 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:39,959 Speaker 1: like we're talking about, which you would not want in 184 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: a sticky, chewy kind of caramel, you would end up 185 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: with a little bit more of a crumbly and substantial 186 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: kind of like we said, fudgie. Really for lack of 187 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: I mean, that's really it's the best word for it, 188 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: because that's kind of what it is. Really nothing else 189 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: quite like it, and that's one theory behind it. But 190 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: we really still aren't quite a hundred percent sure of 191 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: who truly invented the dessert. But we do know is 192 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: where it came from, which is a college, Vassar University 193 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen nine two or thereabouts. Yeah, be not confused, folks, 194 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: Fudge is marketed in a dishonest way. Fudge is a 195 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 1: food of the elite. Okay, it's not. It wasn't a 196 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: case where somebody was selling produce on the side of 197 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: the road and accidentally also made fudge. No, this comes 198 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: from a storied institution, like you said, Noel Uh. The 199 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: earliest origin of it dates back to a document by 200 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: one Immelin Battersby Heartridge. She wrote a letter describing her 201 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: encounter with fudge. But she says this happened while she 202 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: was attending classes at Vassar in the eighties eight eight six. 203 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: But she says there was already fudge in play. There 204 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: was a store in Baltimore that was selling it for 205 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: like forty cents a pound, So we know it originated 206 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: around that time, but we don't know exactly who invented it. 207 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: For a long time, Heartridge was credited with inventing the 208 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: substance fudge, but Vasser itself disagrees. They have an article 209 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: in their encyclopedia called Vasser Myths and Legends that says, essentially, 210 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: look Emmelyn Heartridge described fudge. That's the first known written 211 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: account we have of fudge. But she in her own 212 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: letter said that she got the instructions to make it 213 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 1: from someone else. Well good on Vassar were trying to 214 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: set the record straight and not just you know, co 215 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: opting fudge for themselves, because we know that Vasser has 216 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: a really interesting history when it comes to food. Was 217 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: originally a women's college. Now it's a co ed private school. 218 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: UM that happened in a nineteen sixty nine pretty recently. 219 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: Was founded in eighteen sixty one by Matthew Asser. UM 220 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 1: very remarkable architecture. Uh. There's a pub on the campus 221 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: called the Mug for short, which is the full name 222 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: is Matthews Mug named after the the owner and founder, 223 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: who is a brewer. And Vasser, as many of you 224 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: will know, is located in one of my favorite cities 225 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: to say out loud in New York, but Keepsie. And 226 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: it's fun to look at because it looks like it 227 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,560 Speaker 1: would be spelled poof Keepsie because it's p o U 228 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: g h k e E p s i E. But 229 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: it's Pokeepsie. It's a good one. I'm a shoeboygan man myself, 230 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: but that's just because of our our recent episode. Um, 231 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,959 Speaker 1: you know what, one day, forget it. One day, let's 232 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: just do an episode, perhaps a listener mail episode, where 233 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: we just read off weird place names. I don't know 234 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: about you, guys. It's always hilarious to me when we 235 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: have someone right in and they're like, you know that 236 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: weird cacophonous agglomeration of consonants and vowels that you tried 237 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: to pronounce is actually pronounced papoloia And you're like, no, 238 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: there's not a p in there. Those are all g 239 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: anyway proper names. So there's another one in like Boston, 240 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: for example, that's you know, it looks peabody, but they 241 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: say it's pbody, pbody, pbody. You know, who's to know 242 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: unless you've heard it spoken, unless you grew up in 243 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: that area. But you know, our listeners are always super 244 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: respectful when they correct us, and we appreciate that. I 245 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: want to do this before we move on. UM. I 246 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: don't know about u k s here, you know, but 247 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: being a nerd, I spent the vast majority of things 248 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: I learned I learned by reading, which doesn't help with pronunciation, right. 249 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: Uh So I want to give a shout out to 250 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: the person who wrote to us on our if you 251 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: guys are our wolf Whistle episode and said it's pronounced Boson, 252 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: not boatswain, So we see, we hear you, thank you. 253 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: It was all of us what that now. I don't 254 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: accept that. I reject that someone made a horrible mistake. 255 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: They did, But I mean, what is a living language 256 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: but a mixed tape of horrible mistakes that we all accepted. 257 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: But it's a boat job. It's a job that takes 258 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: place on a boat. How can you take the boat 259 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: out of this boat job? It's yeah, it's weird. There's 260 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,880 Speaker 1: so many maritime traditions, you know what I mean? And 261 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: boatswain has pronounced boson. So there we have it. Which 262 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: I learned something anyway, Speaking of learning, back to Poughkeepsie. 263 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: So it's interesting because Vassar has this fascinating history with 264 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: food and it exists before fudge. We would introduce you 265 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: to one Ellen Swallow Richards class of eighteen seventy, widely 266 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: acknowledged as America's first professional female chemist. Not the first 267 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: female chemist, of course, just the first one who had 268 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: the full time job doing it. And one thing that 269 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: she is known for today was a book she wrote 270 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: called Food as a Factor in Student Life. This convinced 271 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: the Boston School Committee to change its usual pol sees 272 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: about diet. She was so ahead of her time, you know, 273 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,480 Speaker 1: even I think we've all even in recent years, uh 274 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: started to understand the link between nutrition and development, especially 275 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: in kids, right in elementary schools and middle schools. Uh, 276 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: this goes on when you're in college. And she has 277 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: a quote she went to the Women's Congress at the 278 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: eight ninety three Chicago's World Fair and raised an excellent point. 279 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: I don't know, you want to do the honors? Sure? Yeah. 280 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: And I think it's interesting too because we know that 281 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: there's a history of college students eating like trash. You know, 282 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: the idea of like ramen and and you know Kraft mcarnie. 283 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: And she's pervades to this day because it's like a 284 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: period where you don't really have a lot of money 285 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: and you're kind of trying to let just make it 286 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: on what you've got. So definitely an argument that continues 287 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: to be part of student life, right. Um. And she 288 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: was really ahead of the curve. So she says the following. 289 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: A cow is worth to the state perhaps a hundred 290 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: dollars a year. A trained my mind, one hundred thousand 291 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: dollars a year. A nation which so carefully feeds its 292 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: cattle should take care of its young men and women 293 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: with promising brains. In fact, the future of our nation 294 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: may be said to depend on the feeding of the 295 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: students now in the schools. Yep, yeah, and that's I mean, 296 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: she makes an excellent point, and you make an excellent 297 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 1: point as well. No, the only thing that I am 298 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,639 Speaker 1: not with you on is that Ramen is amazing cheap ramen. 299 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: I I want to thank my college days and my 300 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: like my traveling hobo days, for lack of a better word, 301 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: for teaching me how amazing. Robin is you a little 302 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: sesame oil and that bad boy a soft boiled egg. Well, yeah, 303 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: of course it tastes good. Bad I love ramen, but 304 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: the sodium content is like through the roof of the 305 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: noodles are deep fried, and you know, it's just like 306 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: there's really nothing of value and its unless you, you know, 307 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: sex it up a little bit and add a little 308 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: cabbage or a little vegetable or a soft boiled egg. 309 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: Like you said, that is the beauty of ramen. Though 310 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: it's very adaptable. But I don't think that kids and 311 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: dorms are doing a whole lot of that's true. Oh gosh, yeah, 312 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: that's true. And you make a good point about nutrition. 313 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: I just I just have to go to bat fork Man, 314 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: I missed going out to like a Ramen place, but 315 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: you're right, You're right, And Richards has this interest in 316 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 1: the science of nutrition right now. Historians believe this is 317 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: partially inspired by some classes she took with Vassar's professor 318 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 1: of astronomy, Maria Mitchell. Maria Mitchell held weekly gatherings for 319 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: her classes at her own apartment, which was inside the observatory. 320 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: How cool is that? And students really look forward to 321 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: this time because they would have kind of a social visit, 322 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,879 Speaker 1: almost a salon, right, They would drink coffee, they would 323 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: have you know, cookies and snacks or and then they 324 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: would get to meet Professor Mitchell's friends, right, her fellow 325 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: intellectuals who included, uh, quite prominent activists and forward thinkers 326 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: like Elizabeth Katie Stanton and Lucy Stone Blackwell. This was 327 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: a great opportunity for these kids. But there's a question 328 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: was were they there because they wanted to learn more 329 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: about the suffrage movement uh and abolition and other progressive policies, 330 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: or were they there because Ms. Mitchell's cookies were better 331 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: fair than they could get normally. Yeah, it's a good question. Um. 332 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: Vassar has all these great resources like the encyclopedia we 333 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,360 Speaker 1: talked about, and and a and a very um intense 334 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: archive that shows that Hannah Lionman, who's the college's first 335 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,959 Speaker 1: woman principle, really was into this Victorian idea that women 336 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: are frail and delicate creatures and need to subsist only 337 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: on biscuits and bland t I'm I'm you know, editorializing 338 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: there a little bit, but the idea that they didn't 339 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: need any kind of robust flavors or anything, or any 340 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 1: you know, hearty um food. They just needed the word 341 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: is bland nourishment. That that was in the archives. Um. 342 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: And in eighteen sixty six she wrote this letter to 343 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: Vaster's president, and she complained that new students were getting 344 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: too many packages from home with unhealthy foods and treats. 345 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: Since she wrote this, the short supply and improper selection 346 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 1: of food during the first months had the effect of 347 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: exalting eating into a prominent theme of conversation and of 348 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: perpetuating a habit I had hoped measurably to eradicate love 349 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: old letters of receiving boxes from home. Um, yeah, so 350 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: that's where she was coming from. Boxes from home, by 351 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: the way, is italicized so picked her it as occur word. Yeah, 352 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of us who are 353 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: in college now or are planning to go to college, 354 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,959 Speaker 1: or have attended. Uh know that food is food has 355 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: always been more than just nutrition, right, Food is conversation, 356 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,959 Speaker 1: breaking bread not for nothing? Do some of the oldest 357 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: works of literature talk about the importance of eating together. Um, 358 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: So these students, these kids, some of the best and 359 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: brightest in the country, weren't content to sit around with 360 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,920 Speaker 1: the equivalent of just uh, I guess the plane non 361 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: spiced food. Like we all look, I'll say it, we 362 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: all hear that stereotype nowadays about you know, quote unquote 363 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: white people not spicing their food. Not only was this 364 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: happening at vaster but they they had like a scientific, 365 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 1: they're perceived scientific basis for that. I don't know, is 366 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,240 Speaker 1: that going too far? Like they explicitly say, bland food 367 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: and lack of spices. Did you say that, no question 368 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: about it? Okay, okay, so they said that we're not 369 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,719 Speaker 1: making that up. But anyway, in this fertile cultural soil, 370 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: ellicit fudge parties begin. So these kids, who again are brilliant, 371 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: they say, look, if we can't get the kind of 372 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: cool stuff we want, the kind of sweets we want 373 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: or something, then will begin making them for ourselves. And 374 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: this is very mcgiver and it's as dangerous as that 375 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: dryer we were talking about earlier off air. That's an 376 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: Easter egg for just the three of us. I guess 377 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,160 Speaker 1: um they would take their their gaslights that they used 378 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: in their dorms at night and they would use the 379 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: gas from the gaslight where they would use spirit lamps 380 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: from the chemistry lab to heat up these confections and 381 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: they would like make fudge basically with the stuff they 382 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: could find in their rumor on campus. Yeah, at great 383 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: like physical peril to themselves and others. I mean, think 384 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: about it. They're using these very dangerous like lab items 385 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: in a dorm arm that could easily be you know 386 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: what if they get into the throes of fudge ecstasy 387 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: and they're like fudge drunk and then they knock over 388 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,199 Speaker 1: a Bunsen burner and the whole place goes up. You know, 389 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: I'm just speculating here, but uh, surely fudge drunkenness is 390 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: a thing. But luckily it didn't happen, But it was 391 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: controversial activity. These were considered illicit fudge parties. Oh no, no, no, no, no, 392 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: uh hold the fudge, hold the fudge phone. Casey just 393 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: pointed something out off Mike the Casey. I feel like 394 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: you have to you have to be on air. We 395 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: want to be transparent. You have you have admonished us, 396 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: and quite correctly. You know, it's one of those things 397 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: where we're we're rounding the thirty minute mark and uh, 398 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: the ending is nowhere in sight. So I think we 399 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: all know what that means. I think it is a 400 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: bifurcated podcast that we're that we're doing right now. And hey, 401 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: not gonna lie. Uh that is perfectly serendipitous because all 402 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: three of us, I think, are out on vacation next week. 403 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: So hey, you gotta feed the content monster. And I 404 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: think this one actually is worthy, much more so than 405 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: I realized on the on the onset that there's a 406 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: lot of stuff wrapped up in in fudge, not literally 407 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: but just you know, historically speaking sometimes literally though, I 408 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: think that's a good point. Yeah, we have so much 409 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: more fudge to get to. We have so much to 410 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: sling there we go, we have we have so much 411 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: more fudge to unpack, to to heat up this. We 412 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: have not yet begun to fudge. It's true, so we 413 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: are going to make this a super parter. So please 414 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: join us for the studying conclusion to this fudge saga 415 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: on the next episode of Ridiculous History. In the meantime, 416 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: hughes thanks to producer Casey Pegraham, Alex Williams who composed 417 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: our theme, and of course Christopher haciotis here in spirit. 418 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: Big Old thanks to Gabe Muisier, who I will I 419 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,159 Speaker 1: will title as the Emperor of Fudge in a tangential 420 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: Wallace Stevens reference uh and big thanks of worse as 421 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: always to our pure podcaster Eve's Jeff Coke. While you're 422 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: waiting for part two of our continuing fudge stravaganza, why 423 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: not check out her show This Day in History. You 424 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,639 Speaker 1: can also continue the conversation with your favorite or at 425 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: least favorite fudge recipes on the internet with the best 426 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: part of this show, your fellow listeners. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. 427 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 1: Check out Ridiculous Historians on Facebook and pro tip you 428 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: can find us as individuals if you would. If you 429 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: would like to send us your best worst fudge puns, 430 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: It's true, you can find me exclusively on Instagram where 431 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 1: I am at how Now Noel Brown and you can 432 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: find me on Twitter where I'm at Ben Bolland hs W. 433 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: You can find me on Instagram where I am at 434 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: Ben Bolland. Who knows. Maybe I'll try this mash potato 435 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: fludge recipe I found and post the results. You see 436 00:25:53,680 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: you next time. Books. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 437 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 438 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: your favorite shows