1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Truly, great ideas don't come around very often, 7 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: the kind of once in a lifetime ideas that not 8 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: only change a person's life, but change the lives of 9 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: people all over the world. Alexander Norris had such an idea. 10 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: Norris was born in Ireland in sevente and emigrated to 11 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: America later in life. He made his home in the 12 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: growing city of Cincinnati, Ohio, along with his two daughters, 13 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: Olivia and Elizabeth. Around eighteen thirty three, Olivia met a 14 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: widower named William who would come over from England several 15 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: years earlier. William had worked in an English general store 16 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: as a child. The shop's owner took the boy under 17 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: his wing and taught him how to dip candles. Williams 18 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: spent years learning the ropes of running a business, and 19 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: when he met his first wife, Martha, he knew it 20 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: was time to strike out on his own. William opened 21 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: a shop in London, which lasted all of twenty four hours. 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: He was robbed the day after his grand opening and 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: could no longer afford to pay back the eight thousand 24 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: dollar debt he owed. Rather than try his luck again 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: and risk another loss, William and his wife's journey to 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: New York City to start a new He opened a 27 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: brand new business doing what he knew best, making candles. 28 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: His new endeavor lasted quite a bit longer than his first, 29 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: but it didn't take long for William to grow restless. 30 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: New opportunities were exploding out west, so William and Martha 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: packed up their things and left New York in eighteen 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: thirty two. Sadly, as they were passing through Cincinnati, Martha 33 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: became bravely ill and passed away. So William put the 34 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,919 Speaker 1: rest of his trip on hold and decided to settle 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: down in Ohio permanently. He found temporary work at a 36 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: local bank before restarting his candle making business once again. 37 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: It was during this time when he met Olivia Norris. 38 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: The two fell in love and were quickly married. Meanwhile, 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: Olivia's sister Elizabeth had also found someone new. His name 40 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: was James. Like William, James was an immigrant as well, 41 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: this time from Ireland. Just like her father. He'd come 42 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,799 Speaker 1: over with many others in eighteen nineteen during a time 43 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: of unrest. His family's intention had been to start a 44 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: new chapter of their lives in Illinois, but James had 45 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: gotten very sick as they were traveling through Cincinnati. It 46 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: took time for him to recover, and his family used 47 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: that time to come to a decision they were just 48 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: going to stay. James started apprenticing under a soap maker 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: in the city at the age of eighteen. He gained 50 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: the skills and knowledge he needed to one day open 51 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: his own soap shop, which he did with a friend 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: who incidentally made candles. After marrying into the Norris family, 53 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: William and James became brothers in law and competitors. Not 54 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: for business, though, but for resources. That was the thing 55 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: about candles and soap. They both used the same raw materials, 56 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: bat and oil. Both men had been supplying their individual 57 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: ventures using the byproducts from Cincinnati's meatpacking industry. That was 58 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: when their new father in law had this brilliant idea. 59 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: What if they just joined forces and started a new company. Together, 60 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: they could funnel all the fat and oil they ever 61 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: needed into one business, rather than having to compete. It 62 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: took them a few years to finally come around to 63 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: the idea, but in eighteen thirty seven, William and James 64 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: entered into a partnership. If only they had timed it better. 65 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: That same year, in economic depression known as the Panic 66 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty seven sent the country into a downward spiral. 67 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: Businesses shuttered and banks were wiped out. It was estimated 68 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: that some areas saw unemployment numbers as high as twenty However, 69 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: despite the financial hardships they faced, William and James stuck 70 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: it out. Even in a depression, people still needed to 71 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: be clean and see in the dark. Once the panic subsided, 72 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: their business grew and they branched out into other products. Today, 73 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: the Little Soap and Candle Making Companies started by James 74 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: and William now produces laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, batteries, 75 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: and shaving razors, amongst so many other things. Little did 76 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: they know that one day their last names would become 77 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: practically synonymous with all our everyday needs, and those names, 78 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: Procter and Gamble imagine the most famous inventions we used today, 79 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: the light bulb, the automobile, even the iPhone. We not 80 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: only know them, but we know the people behind them 81 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: as well. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Steve John brilliant 82 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: minds of their time who ascended to legendary status. But 83 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: there's one man, though, who created some of the most 84 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: widely used inventions in history, and no one knows about him. 85 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: His name was Walter Hunt, and he was born in Martinsburg, 86 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: New York, in seventeen nineties six. Not much is known 87 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: about his upbringing, only what he created later in his life. 88 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: You see, Hunt was a man full of ideas. When 89 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: he saw a problem, he knew exactly how to fix it. 90 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: Take the sewing machine. The first sewing machine patent was 91 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: issued to Charles Frederick Wisenhal in England in seventeen fifty five. 92 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: Over the next several decades, different designs using different types 93 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 1: of stitches popped up from inventors all over the world. 94 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: Almost none were viable for commercial work, though. It wasn't 95 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: until eighteen twenty nine when a French tailor opened a 96 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: clothing company that produced clothes using a brand new machine 97 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: of his own design. Three years later in America, though, 98 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Walter Hunt created the first lock stitch sewing machine. His 99 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: design used a needle and a shuttle that worked in 100 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: in him. As the needle penetrated the fabric to create 101 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: a loop. The shuttle beneath would travel through the loop 102 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: with a separate thread. The loop would then get pulled up, 103 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: locking the alternate thread in place, creating a lock stitch. 104 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: Hunt first suggested his daughter use his machine to start 105 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: her own business making corsets. After giving it some thought, 106 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: though he rescinded that advice. He couldn't bear the idea 107 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: of taking money out of the pockets of tailors and seamstresses. 108 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: It didn't help that the device was prone to frequent jamming. 109 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: Hunt gave up on his sewing machine shortly after and 110 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: didn't give it any further thought. Another man named Elias 111 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: how patented his version of the same machine a few 112 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: years later and made a lot of money from a 113 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: little company called Singer. That was okay, though Hunt had 114 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: more ideas to explore. In eighteen forty nine, he came 115 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: up with a brand new breed of rifle. He called 116 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: it the Volition Repeater, and what made it special was 117 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: its new tubular magazine filled with twelve rounds. The repeater 118 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: had something in common with Hunt's sewing machine, though it 119 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: was unreliable, and although Hunt had the foresight to patent 120 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: his invention this time, he didn't use it to get rich. Instead, 121 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: he sold the design to a man named George Aerosmith. 122 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: Aerosmith was in charge of a team of weapons engineers 123 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: who then improved on Hunt's original design. Their names were 124 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson. Still, Hunt didn't let their 125 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: success get him down. He just moved on to the 126 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: next big thing. Over the course of his life, Walter 127 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: Hunt invented a machine that made nails, an ice plow, 128 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: a knife sharpener, and the device that spun flax. He 129 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: also improved upon the fountain pen, the inkstand, the bicycle, 130 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: and the saw. Hunt even developed shoes that could walk 131 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: on ceilings using suction cups. He was a brilliant inventor, 132 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: but he didn't have a head for business. The money 133 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: he brought in went back out almost immediately, either for 134 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: patents or to fund his next big idea. As a result, 135 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: Hunt was almost always in debt. But it was his 136 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: greatest invention that led to the saddest story of his career. 137 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: Hunt often outsourced the work of drawing his patents to 138 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: local draftsman who would create the numerous diagrams for his 139 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: inventions and then annotate them so that they could be 140 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: submitted to the patent office. He owed one of these 141 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: draftsmen a debt of fifteen dollars to pay him back. 142 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: Hunt came up with a new invention, a kind of pin. 143 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: Now other pins of the day were made using multiple 144 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: wires and various materials. Hunts designed though could be achieved 145 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: through the use of only one wire. It was wound 146 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: into a loop at one end to create a kind 147 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: of spring. On the opposite end, the catch or point 148 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: was contained behind a clasp. Hunt made a prototype using 149 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: an eight inch piece of brass wire and then submitted 150 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: it for approval. He was awarded the patent for his 151 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: new kind of pin on April tenth of eighteen forty nine, 152 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: which he then sold to W. R. Grayson Company for 153 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:46,959 Speaker 1: a total of four hundred dollars. He used fifteen of 154 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: those dollars to pay off his debt and kept the 155 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: other three hundred and eighty five for himself. What he 156 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 1: didn't realize was that W. R. Grayson Company would immediately 157 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: turn around and mass produce Hunt's dress pins, as he 158 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: called them, earning the company millions of dollars in the process. 159 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: Oh and we still use Hunts dress pins today, we 160 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: just know them by a different name, safety Pins. I 161 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 162 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 163 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 164 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 165 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 166 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 167 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 168 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.