1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from works 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracie Wilson. 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying. I went to Iceland. I know it 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: was for fun and not for work, which is why 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: you did not hear any Iceland episodes before I went 6 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: to there. I also did not take any notes for 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: the podcast while I was there. But what I did 8 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: do is get immersed in a lot of Icelandic history, 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: because it's just about impossible to go to Iceland and 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 1: not do that, Like you would literally have to go 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: into a hotel and not leave or talk to anyone. Uh, 12 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: there are lots of museums in Iceland and lots of 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: historical sites that are very easy to get to and 14 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: visibly marked from the road, so you kind of would 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: would have to work. It's the same little symbol as 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: a command key on a mac is this sort of 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: point of interest sign in Iceland and a lot of 18 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:07,839 Speaker 1: other sort of Northern European countries, so it's very easy 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: to find things to learn about. And then sometimes you 20 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: just take a walk to give your camera battery a 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: little bit more time to recharge, and then you stumble 22 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: across a consecrated pool that's tied to both Iceland's saga 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,759 Speaker 1: age and historical events during the Reformation. It's just everywhere. 24 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: That one pool is everywhere lurking. That one pool was 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: behind a guesthouse that we stayed at. We literally had 26 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: no idea there was anything interesting back there and then there. 27 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: It was one of the events that I learned about 28 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: that fascinated me the most, though, was from Iceland's much 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: more recent history than that particular serendipitous fond uh. And 30 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: it's really on the cusp of how recent we normally 31 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: get on the podcast. It is a massive and prolonged 32 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: volcanic eruption on the island of hay May. Heads up 33 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: that every piece of non ice Landic video footage I 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: have seen about this eruption pronounces it in some other 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: way like him or hay Mai or hay Me, but 36 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: hay May use closest to how I've heard people actually 37 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: pronouncing it while I was in Iceland. Hayma is a 38 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: small island off of Iceland's southern coast, and it's part 39 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: of the Vestman Air Archipelago, which is also known in 40 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: English as the Westman Islands and this eruption is what 41 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about today. Iceland is located 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, basically a long, mostly underwater 43 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: volcanic mountain range that runs all the way from the 44 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: Arctic down towards the southern tip of Africa. And this 45 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: ridge exists because of the divergence of tectonic plates. As 46 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: the plates slowly move apart, magma rises up and lava 47 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: fills that gap that's created gradually and sometimes suddenly, forming mountains. 48 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: And most of this happens under water, but in some 49 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: places the resulting mountains are tall enough to break through 50 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: the surface of the ocean, and this is the case 51 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: with Iceland, which eyes along the North American and Eurasian plates. 52 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: Iceland itself is a relatively young island, and in the 53 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: grand scheme of things, it really hasn't been inhabited for 54 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: very long. The first permanent settlement there was established in 55 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: the ninth century. The first written record of a volcanic 56 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,519 Speaker 1: eruption on Iceland is from the tenth century, and volcanoes 57 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: have been an ongoing part of life in Iceland for 58 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: all of the centuries since then. Iceland is home to 59 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: well over a hundred volcanoes, and there are about thirty 60 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: active volcanic systems. Thirteen volcanoes have erupted since Iceland was settled, 61 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: with the links of the eruptions ranging from hours to months, 62 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: and a lot of people like to make the average 63 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: one eruption every five years. This brings us to the 64 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: Westman Islands. This is a group of fifteen Ish islands. 65 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: It depends on how you classify them where that number 66 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: exactly lands along with lots of smaller islets, including some 67 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: of the youngest islands on Earth. One of these is 68 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: the island of Searcy, which was formed through volcanic activity 69 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three, so very young Searty has been 70 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: protected since it was originally formed, allowing scientists to study 71 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: the way species make their way to a new environment. 72 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: Hay May is the largest island in the West Bend 73 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: Islands and it's home to those islands only town, which 74 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: is also called Vestman Air. There are a couple of 75 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: summer homes on other islands in this archipelago, but Haymay 76 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: is the only one that's inhabited year round by an 77 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: actual established community. Although it's the biggest island in the 78 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: Westman Islands, Hamy is still quite small. It's about five 79 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: square miles or thirteen square kilometers, And there's a ten 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: CNN article that describes Hamy as quote a baron chunk 81 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: of volcanic rock. That is not an apt description. It 82 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: is volcanic, it is rocky, but it is plenty green, 83 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: and there are birds everywhere, and in the summer months, 84 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: it's actually home to one of the biggest puffin popula 85 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: sations in all of Iceland, so it is also adorable. 86 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: I was just gonna say, we should have a moment 87 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: to pause so everyone can go, oh the puffins. I 88 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: got the hold of puffin while I was there. It 89 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: was not a wild puffin. It was a rescued puffin. 90 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: I did not go pick up a puffin on a cliff. 91 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: That would be bad. Hey May's coast is largely formed 92 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: of tall cliffs with basalt stacks extending out into the 93 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: ocean in the middle. It's flatter, and before nineteen seventy 94 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: three it's most prominent feature in its relatively flat interior 95 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: was the volcanic cone known as Halgafel. I'm going to 96 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: take a moment and mentioned that in icelandic an l 97 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: at the end of the word makes a sound that's 98 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: classified as a voiceless lateral fricative. This is not a 99 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: sound that exists in English, and then two l's in 100 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: a row haven't even slightly different non English phony. Trying 101 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: to replicate the sound throughout the podcast would be extremely 102 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: distracting because it's it's like you put your tongue at 103 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: the top of your mouth and then kind of exhale 104 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: a little bit. It sounds very sibilant and kind of tiskey, 105 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: and it would be really distracting to hear two people 106 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: that don't speak Icelandic try to do that for all 107 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: of these volcano names. So we're just going to say 108 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: it the way it is spelled, which is more like 109 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 1: Helga fell. So Helga fell and the rest of the 110 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: island of Hami is Or was believed to be extinct 111 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: or at least dormant by both the residents of the 112 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: island and scientists. There had been plenty of offshore eruptions 113 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: of other volcanoes, including that one that created the island 114 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: of Surtsey a decade before this story happened. There had 115 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: also been plenty of eruptions on the mainland of Iceland, 116 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: but Helga fell had undergone no known eruptions since the 117 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: settlement of Iceland. Everybody thought where they were living was 118 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: a pretty safe spot to be. On January three, a 119 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: series of small seismic tremors rattled through southern Iceland, with 120 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:02,159 Speaker 1: about two hundred seismic events over about fourteen hours. Another 121 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: shallower series of earthquakes started on the twenty second, at 122 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: around ten pm, and some of them could be felt 123 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: on the island of Hamay, but all were small, with 124 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: the largest having a magnitude of about three. If this 125 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: had happened today, these earthquakes would have basically been a 126 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: thirty hour heads up to the residents of Hamy that 127 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: something big was about to happen and they should probably evacuate. 128 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,679 Speaker 1: But at the time, the field of seismology and Iceland 129 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: seismic network we're a lot less advanced than they are today. 130 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: Seismologists didn't have a way of pinpointing the epicenter of 131 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: these little earthquakes, and those that did think the sem 132 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: seismic activity was a warning of something that was going 133 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: to be in the form of an eruption were more 134 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: focused on Katla, which is a volcano on the mainland 135 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: which is known to be active, and has in fact 136 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: erupted more than twenty times since Iceland was settled. But 137 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: what this seismic activity was really foreshadowing was a massive 138 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,239 Speaker 1: eruption on Hamy itself, which we were going to talk about, 139 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: but first we are going to pause for a word 140 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: from one of our fantastic sponsors. When shaking and noise 141 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: started on the island of Hamy at about two o'clock 142 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: in the morning on January nineteen seventy three, the residents 143 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: who noticed it and had also felt the earlier earthquakes 144 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: thought this was just another one. They're kind of like, 145 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: here we go again. What was really happening, though, was 146 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: that a fissure was opening up along the eastern side 147 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,679 Speaker 1: of Haymy, just over a thousand yards from the center 148 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: of town. In about two hundred yards from the edge 149 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: of town. That's roughly nine hundred meters and a hundred 150 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: and eighty meters for those who are in the world 151 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: of metric measurements. The fissure quickly spread. It ran roughly 152 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: southwest to northeast, stretching all the way from Hamy southern 153 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: to its northern coasts and beyond. With submarine volcanic activity 154 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: going on at either end. At the beginning of the eruption, 155 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: a curtain made up of about four the fountains of 156 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: malten lava launched out of this fissure, which was incredibly dramatic, 157 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: but not at least for a first the first few hours, 158 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: all that damaging a natural slope of land kind of 159 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: directed the falling lava away from the town, and then 160 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: favorable wind also at first kept most of the tefra, 161 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: which is sort of a catch all term for a 162 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: volcanic material that has launched into the air, kept most 163 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: of the tefra from coming toward the town, and this 164 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: meant that even though the residents of Hamay had been 165 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: taken completely by surprise by the sudden appearance of a 166 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: huge fissure and a curtain of lava right next to 167 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: their town on an island believed to be volcanically inactive, 168 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: they had time to evacuate before things became really dangerous. 169 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: Volcanoes were aknown hazard, and Hamay and the mainland both 170 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: had evacuation plans in place. The evacuation itself was also 171 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: aided by another stroke of incredibly good fortune that there 172 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: were people that even described as being providential a storm 173 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: had moved through the region on the twenty second, so 174 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 1: Hammy's fishing fleet was all safely docked at the harbor, 175 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: along with some boats that really worked from the mainland 176 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: but had taken refuge in Hammy when the gale blew in. 177 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: In other words, the island had a ready made evacuation 178 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: fleet that was already there in the harbor, which was 179 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: at that point not being threatened by the erupting volcano 180 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: thanks to the lay of the land and the prevailing winds. 181 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: The town's fire department and police used horns and sirens 182 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: to wake residents and inform them of the danger. Residents 183 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: took what they could carry. They crowded into fishing boats 184 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: to be taken to the mainland port of Thorlo Sutton 185 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: and then on too Rakivic, which is Iceland's capital, by bus. 186 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: This was a trip that, while not necessarily comfortable, was 187 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: made safely by all who were evacuated. Although the storm 188 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: had passed, the water was still choppy, so seasickness was 189 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: a problem. It also took a lot longer than it 190 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: takes to get to the mainland by boat today. A 191 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: now there's a ferry terminal at Landia Hutton that's much 192 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: closer to the island. People who were ill or elderly 193 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: were mostly airlifted from Hamany's airport to the Reikjavik and 194 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: Keflavik airports on the mainland, which are about forty five 195 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: minutes apart by car. The evacuation flights used planes and 196 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: helicopters from the U. S manned Iceland Defense Force and 197 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: Iceland Air The evacuation was completely successful, with about five thousand, 198 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: three hundred people safely taken to the mainland, where they 199 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: all met up in Reikjavik. And this was a really 200 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: calm and efficient affair. In five or six hours, anyone 201 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: who could leave the island had left the island, and 202 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: from the boats people could see this curtain of fire 203 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: along the edge of the town as well as under 204 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: the water as they passed by. This makes me think 205 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: of the contrast of how sometimes these things happen and 206 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: there's always that person that holds out and says they're 207 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: not going to leave. But everyone left in a very order. 208 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: There were a very few people who stayed behind to 209 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,439 Speaker 1: basically fight the volcano, but there was It was a 210 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: very calm evacuation. I think the fact that a lot 211 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: of the adults on the island had been able to 212 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: see the formation of certaincy to the south of them 213 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 1: from the island, uh and like that had not endangered 214 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: them probably helped people stay calm. I mean, people in 215 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: Iceland seemed pretty pragmatic about volcanoes in a lot of ways, 216 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 1: uh from my experience in ten days of being there. 217 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: Later the Government of Iceland sent workers to remove cultural 218 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: and historical artifacts from the island. Four hundred head of 219 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: livestock were also evacuated from the island. Because this was 220 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: deep in the Icelandic winter, Kvik had a lot of 221 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: hotel rooms available, so after being received fed and temporarily 222 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: sheltered at schools, Haymy's residents who didn't have family on 223 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: the mainland were mostly housed in bacon hotel rooms. Most 224 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,240 Speaker 1: of the residents did would have family that they could 225 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: stay with, though, so the housing needs that that needed 226 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: to be provided by the government of the Government of 227 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: Iceland turned out to be pretty minimal. At the same time, though, 228 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: you can just sort of imagine how a close knit 229 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 1: community of only a little more than five thousand people 230 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: all living together on a little island, it is it 231 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: was splitting people up, even if they were staying with family, 232 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: was still pretty traumatic for the community itself. The government 233 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: of Iceland created and funded an emergency relief fund for 234 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: people who had been displaced by the volcano. They requested 235 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: prefabricated housing from Sweden, Canada, and Norway in order to 236 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: build temporary housing on the coast so the people from 237 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: Hamy who had made their living in fishing could continue 238 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: to work and hopefully lower the impact on Iceland's economy 239 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: by the disruption in Hamy's fishing industry. For the next 240 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: few months, the only people on Hamy would be the 241 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: very few people who couldn't leave because of something related 242 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: to their jobs like say that, people who kept really 243 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: critical things running uh and the people who were trying 244 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: to save the town, as well as scientists, some of 245 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: whom were from Iceland and somewhere from elsewhere. He came 246 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: in to study the eruption in progress. Not long after 247 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: this very well organized evacuation was complete, lava stopped erupting 248 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: from most of the fissure, concentrating itself primarily in one 249 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: roughly central portion of it. Cinders and debris from this 250 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: eruption started to form a cone, which would eventually be 251 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: named eld Fell or Fire Mountain. Within a couple of days, 252 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: eld Felt grew to one d ten yards or one 253 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: hundred meters tall. However, the narrowing of the eruption from 254 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: a curtain too more like a cone did not mean 255 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: it was any less destructive. It was actually the opposite 256 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: that was true. The favorable wind that had kept the 257 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: volcanic debris mostly away from the town during the evacuation shifted, 258 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: which sent tefra, burning cenders and lava bombs toward homes 259 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: and other buildings. Some of these buildings immediately caught fire, 260 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: Others were buried and crushed and falling tefra. Some were 261 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: just crushed under the weight of volcanic material, even if 262 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: they were spared from catching fire. Emergency crews cleared debris 263 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: off of roofs to try to keep them from collapsing, 264 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 1: and propped them up from the inside. They put corrugated 265 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: iron over windows on the volcanic side of the buildings 266 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: to try to keep volcanic bombs from shattering them and 267 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: setting houses on fire from the inside, and they erected 268 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: barriers along one side of the lava field. In the 269 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: hope of slowing its progression. Moving into February of ninety three, 270 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: the cone continued to grow. It roughly doubled in height. 271 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: By the middle of the month, A very steep rim 272 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: started to form on one side of Eldfell thanks to 273 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: a combination of wind and falling tephra. A lake of 274 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: lava started to form in the middle of the cone also, 275 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: and soon pressure from the lava lake combined with the 276 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: wind and caused this increasingly steep rim to collapse. The 277 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: collapsing wall in the mountain rolled across the eastern side 278 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,479 Speaker 1: out of the town and buried a number of houses. 279 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: At about this time, the volcano also started to emit 280 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Air around 281 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: the volcano became progressively more dangerous to breaze. Birds and 282 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: other animals began to die as the build up of 283 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: gases in the air became poisonous. According to the museum 284 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: now located on the site of the eruption, poisonous gases 285 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: were the cause of the soul human fatality directly tied 286 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: to this eruption. At about at the same time as 287 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: Ldfell's rim collapsed and buried more of the town. The 288 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: lava flow from the volcano shifted directions as well. A 289 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: submarine lava flow broke a cable and a pipeline, which 290 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: were responsible for carrying electricity and drinking water from the 291 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: mainland to the island. On top of that, lava started 292 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: to threaten the islands. Port hey May had a natural 293 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: harbor that was sheltered on one side by a cliff, 294 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: and this harbor was critically important to both the islands 295 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: and i Sland's economy. If the volcano filled in or 296 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: blocked the harbor, it would become vastly harder to get 297 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: people and supplies on and off the island for the 298 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,400 Speaker 1: remediation and cleanup efforts as well. This meant that Haymany 299 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: needed a way to fight back against this volcano, and 300 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that, but first we will 301 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:27,439 Speaker 1: pause for another sponsor break. Today's podcast is brought to 302 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: you by square Space. 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So no matter how technical your 322 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: problem is or if it actually seems really trivial, it 323 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: doesn't matter, as somebody there is going to help you out. 324 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: Start your free trial today at square space dot com 325 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: and in to offer code history to get ten percent 326 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: off your first purchase. Square Space set your website apart. 327 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: As we alluded to before the break, Haymy was home 328 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 1: to a protected harbor that was critically important to the 329 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: Little Islands survival was one of two ways to get 330 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: on and off the island, the other being Ham's airport. 331 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,360 Speaker 1: On top of that, fishing was one of Hammy's most 332 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: important industries, and Hammy's fishing industry was also extremely important 333 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: to Iceland's fishing industry as a whole twenty percent of 334 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: Iceland's fish processing plants were located on the island, So 335 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: without a working port, the island of Hammy would be 336 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: far less habitable and far less economically sustainable once the 337 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: eruption eruption was over, and really if if Hammy's fishing 338 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: industry was destroyed, that was going to be a huge 339 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: problem for Iceland's economy as well. Real threats to the 340 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: port began on February eleventh when a huge flow of 341 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 1: lava broke through Eldfell's base. It was about twenty meters 342 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: wide and twenty meters tall, and it threatened to fill 343 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: in the harbor. At this point, cargo planes had to 344 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: be requested to transport heavy earth moving equipment onto the 345 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: island because this flow of lava meant the harbor could 346 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: no longer accommodate boats large enough to carry them. It 347 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: was basically making the harbor shallow were the only things 348 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: that had a shallower draft could really get in and 349 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: out of there. In an effort to cool the lava 350 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: and slow it down, crews started spraying it with water, 351 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,719 Speaker 1: first from the town's fire trucks using the municipal water supply. 352 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: Then a pumping ship was requested from the United States, 353 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: which would continue to draw water from the municipal supply. Basically, 354 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 1: the municipal water supply was the big volcano fighting power 355 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,919 Speaker 1: source until the lava we mentioned earlier broke that pipeline 356 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: that had been carrying the water from the mainland, so 357 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: the decision was made at that point to try seawater. 358 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: The government of Iceland requested more pumping equipment from the 359 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: United States, and in the end, more than nineteen miles 360 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: that's thirty kilometers of pipe and forty three pumps operated 361 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: by seventy five workers at the peak of the operation 362 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: hurled water at the advancing lava in the hope of 363 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: cooling it down. Some of this work, and other work 364 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: associated with trying to salvage as much of the town 365 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: as possible, was incredibly dangerous due to the proximity to 366 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: the volcano as well as the poisonous gases in the 367 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: air and decreased visibility due to steam from cooling operations 368 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: and blowing ash and cinders. Over the next few months, 369 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: an estimated five point five million tons of seawater were 370 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: used to try to cool the lava down and divert 371 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: it away from the harbor and later from the town 372 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: as well. Basically, the lava heated up the water, making 373 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: lots and lots of steam and cooling off in the process. 374 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,479 Speaker 1: As it cooled, the lava hardened, eventually making a wall 375 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: that molten lava couldn't could creep over but not really breakthrough. 376 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: So as this creeping lava would sort of top the 377 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: solid layer, they would spray that part to make this 378 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: increasingly tall wall of of hardened lava. There are some 379 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 1: people who will argue that we can never really know 380 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,400 Speaker 1: if this worked, because who knows how the lava would 381 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: have behaved without all of this human intervention. However, the 382 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 1: lava flow was stopped yards or a hundred meters short 383 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: of blocking the harbor, and its progress was slowed through 384 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: the town as well. However, several of Iceland's fish processing 385 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: plants were destroyed before the water project could really begin. 386 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,120 Speaker 1: Yeah I feel like some of the people who were like, well, 387 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: the lava could have completely shifted course will never know. 388 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: I feel like they're just kind of naysayers wanting to 389 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,479 Speaker 1: say nay about it. The eruption was declared over on 390 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: July third, nineteen seventy three, and had been slowing down 391 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: for a while, but that was really five months. It 392 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: was more than five months after it had started. Water 393 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: cooling operations stopped on the tenth of July, and schools 394 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: were reopened that fall. It's estimated that two hundred million 395 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: tons of ash and lava fell in and around hey 396 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: May during the eruption. Lfell grew to a height of 397 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 1: six hundred and fifty six feet that's two hundred meters. 398 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 1: About a third of the town was destroyed. Not all 399 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,919 Speaker 1: of the five thousand, three hundred people who had evacuated returned. 400 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: The population today is only four thousand, five hundred, so 401 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: it is still below its nineteen seventy three pre volcano level. Yeah, 402 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: there are still houses that are are buried, and a 403 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,920 Speaker 1: lot of the people who didn't return where people whose 404 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: houses were under so much, uh so much volcanic debris 405 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: that they were like, it's never gonna get dug out, 406 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: and even if it is dug out, everything that is 407 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: in there is crushed. Uh. However, all of that lava 408 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 1: and tafra did wound up having some favorable impacts on 409 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: the island. I mean, there was definitely a huge loss 410 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: of property, fortunately not a loss of human life other 411 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: than the one person um who was killed because of 412 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: the poisonous gases. But the lava flow that almost blocked 413 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: the harbor was made into a breakwater and it now 414 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: provides more shelter for the harbor from a direction that 415 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,040 Speaker 1: it had previously been exposed to. This huge increase and 416 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: volcanic material on the island also provided a much needed 417 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: source of landfill. Previously, if they had needed to fill 418 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: land in any way, they would have to sort of 419 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: have earth shipped in on a boat, which was not 420 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: very practical. Um, and the cooling lava under the surface 421 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,400 Speaker 1: of the island is now one of the island's primary 422 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: sources of heat and hot water. In two thousand five, 423 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: the town council of Vestmaner agreed to excavate some of 424 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,880 Speaker 1: the houses that were still buried. Lots of comparisons were 425 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: made to Pompeii. Under that ash. Some of the homes 426 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: were still intact, and even the ones that were crushed 427 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: still contained most of their owner's possessions. A museum, Eldheimar 428 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: opened in two thousand fourteen, and its centerpiece is one 429 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: of the homes that was crushed volcanic debris. And all 430 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: that museum is really cool. We should go you've are yen, 431 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: I'll just go. Yeah, if you uh, if you are 432 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: in Iceland, if you can get to Haymy from a 433 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:06,679 Speaker 1: brief a brief air plane, a little airplane, little airplane. 434 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: Little airplanes still make me kind of nervous. So I 435 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,199 Speaker 1: personally like the ferry. The ferry is about half an 436 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: hour um and this particular we didn't really plan an 437 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: itinerary beyond our lodging. We didn't we didn't plot out 438 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: day by day what we wanted to do, and so 439 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: we were staying somewhere not far away. And I realized 440 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: that this volcano or this volcano museum was on the 441 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: island and said, hey, do you want to take the 442 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: ferry and check this out? And we did so. Yeah. 443 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: That's that's how basically, uh, people fought a volcano, and 444 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,679 Speaker 1: mostly one using what feels to me like a child's 445 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: logic of can't we just spray this with water and cool? 446 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: A little child's logic that mostly worked in this case. Yeah, 447 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: do you want to polish this episode off with some 448 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: listener mail? I do that. Listener mail is from Rachel, 449 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 1: and Rachel says hello. I'm an avid listener. I discovered 450 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,959 Speaker 1: the podcast last summer when I started a fitness regiment 451 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: and was super sick of listening to the same playlists 452 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: over and over and over. I typically walk one to 453 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: one and a half miles a day, and your podcast 454 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: have made my walks much more interesting. I'm writing today 455 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: after listening to the White Wedding episode. I myself in 456 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: the wedding industry. I've been a wedding photographer for almost 457 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: ten years. I completely understand the sticker shocks the couples 458 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: feel when they begin to plan a wedding, and it 459 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: can seem, sometimes justly, that things cost more just because 460 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: the event is a wedding. You had referenced this wedding 461 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 1: up charge in the podcast, and I wanted to take 462 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,640 Speaker 1: a second to address that and hopefully hopefully defend my industry. Yes, 463 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: it is true weddings can cost a lot of money, 464 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: but The misconception that vendors are charging more because they 465 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: can quote get more out of the bride trying to 466 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: plan the perfect wedding is false. We're in no way 467 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: trying to price gouge engaged couples. What must be understood 468 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: is that most wedding vendors are boutique businesses, and most 469 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: of these businesses are not only owned by individuals, but 470 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,679 Speaker 1: also by that same person. If you hire my company 471 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: to be your photographer, you get me. I don't send 472 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: out a fleet of employees to cover our events because 473 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: we develop a relationship with our couples and we feel 474 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: the success of their day lies in our hands. Because 475 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,719 Speaker 1: it is impossible for me to be in more than 476 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 1: one place at a time, I can only book one 477 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 1: wedding per week. I discreet that my services cost thousands 478 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: of dollars, but I'm limited in the number of events 479 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: I can do per year. Because I own my company 480 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: and handled not only the photographer, photography, editing business, running meetings, 481 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: engagement sessions, and communication with my clients. I work in 482 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: excess of sixty or more hours per week, if even 483 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: in the off season, when I may not be shooting 484 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: an event, when dividing out the hours worked by our 485 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: gross you would be able to see that the prices 486 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 1: wedding vendors command are actually quite reasonable. This is not 487 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: just in the photography business, but also for florists, cake bakers, 488 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: caters and planners. Weddings demand of not a lot of 489 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: attention and hours, and that is why the cost is 490 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: more than other events. For example, a wedding cake requires 491 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: days to create a birthday cake only hours. Cake bakers 492 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: must deliver the cake and many times cut the cake. 493 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: None that is required. None of that is required for 494 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: a birthday cake. Once again, I love your show. Thank 495 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,239 Speaker 1: you for entertaining me while I'm on my walks. Um 496 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,160 Speaker 1: and that is from Rachel. Thank you Rachel for sending 497 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: that note. I want to say, number one, these points 498 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: are true. Number two, that's not what we were talking 499 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: about when we said wedding markup. Uh. That's basically the 500 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,439 Speaker 1: exact same explanation I gave to Patrick who is now 501 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,359 Speaker 1: my husband, to explain to him why we were going 502 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: to spend lots of money on a wedding photographer. Right. 503 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: I wanted a wedding photographer who who knew what he 504 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: was doing, who would give us pictures that we would 505 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,719 Speaker 1: be really happy with. Um, we needed to have our 506 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: wedding where my mother lives so that my mother could 507 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: be present at the wedding. That having it anywhere else 508 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: was not an option, and I that meant that there 509 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: would be other people who couldn't be with us because 510 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: of travel. Um, and I wanted to make sure that 511 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: we would have pictures and video to share with them 512 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: that would really capture what the day was like. And 513 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: so I used basically that same explanation to explain why 514 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: the wedding photographer was going to cost or than Patrick 515 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 1: really felt comfortable spending a photographer. But that's not what 516 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: I'm talking about when I say wedding markup. When I 517 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: say wedding markup, I mean like six identical dresses and 518 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: the white one costs two thousand additional dollars. Yeah. I 519 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: have some knowledge of this from the bridal gown side, 520 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 1: because I have made a lot of wedding gowns in 521 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: my time. Um uh, both as like a jobby job 522 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: and you know, just in making them for friends. Um. 523 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: Particularly in the larger bridle industry of fashion, like in 524 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: the larger stores, boutique stores are definitely not what I'm 525 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: referring to in that case here, because you will notice 526 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: there is always particularly if it is a store that 527 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: also offers alterations. M hmm. This is not always the case, 528 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: but there are certainly sometimes instances where they encourage people 529 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: to order address that they know is not going to 530 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,959 Speaker 1: be the appropriate size because where they really make their 531 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: moneys and alterations. I remember seeing an episode of a 532 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: TV show where someone learned her dress is going to 533 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: cost five dollars to him and she was crying about it. 534 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: Uh So, yeah, I definitely we we both know lots 535 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: of people who work in creative industries and specifically in 536 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: wedding industries, and because they are experts in their field, 537 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: they charge rates for their work that I am happy 538 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: people are able to make uh and and to be 539 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: able to support themselves doing this work. But that's like 540 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: what we were really talking about was things like um uh. 541 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: When I was pricing cakes, I found several bakers whose 542 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: baseline for wedding cakes was more than double per serving 543 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: like any other cake. But that was before also having 544 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: a cake cutting fee and a delivery fee, or having 545 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: talked to the couple at all about what their needs are. 546 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 1: And then uh, there's also tied into the whole thing 547 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: that a whole industry of wedding magazines and websites that 548 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think intentionally. I mean, we used to 549 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: have a wedding website as part of our business when 550 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: we were owned by Discovery Channel, so we have like 551 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,479 Speaker 1: some firsthand experience were you you were here at this point, Uh, 552 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 1: we have some firsthand experience and in writing about weddings 553 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 1: and what how wedding websites operate and and often they 554 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: maybe not consciously, but definitely do concretely reinforce what is 555 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: expected of a wedding and what is expected of a 556 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: bride and sort of put out the idea that, for example, 557 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: if your cake is not a multi tier wedding cake 558 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: that's like exquisitely perfect and beautiful and covered in seamless 559 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: uh beautiful sheerness, that everybody is going to think your 560 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: wedding is tacky and that is all they are going 561 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: to remember about your wedding for the rest of their life, 562 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: and from now on you will be remembered as the 563 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: cheap bride who had a grocery store sheet cake instead 564 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: of one that cost seven hundred dollars. So yeah, I 565 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: definitely respect like the hard work that people who own 566 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: beautique businesses and people who do like one on one 567 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: work with couples, uh to to make their day wonderful. 568 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: We definitely relied on some of those people for our wedding. 569 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: What I'm talking about is like the more here's a 570 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: mass produced dress that costs two thousand more dollars because 571 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: it's white. Or here are mass produced bras and undergarments 572 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: that also cost sixty dollars more than comparable ones because 573 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: they are from the bridal collection. Like that's the kind 574 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: of stuff I'm talking about. Well, and I will also 575 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: in defense of the bridal industry because I said I 576 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: have been part of it at various points on the 577 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: curve in my life. And I'm gonna preface this by 578 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,959 Speaker 1: saying hashtag not all brides, but some of that up 579 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: charge is in dealing with It's very stressful sometimes to 580 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: deal with wedding parties brides. And I don't mean to 581 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: in any way um despair any particular bride. It's just 582 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: understandable that people get very worked up over their wedding. 583 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: They want everything to be perfect, and so sometimes things 584 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: can get a little dramatic. A little um high anxiety, 585 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: and I have to admit there is a certain degree 586 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,560 Speaker 1: of up charge that I'm like, that's just like the 587 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: fee for your sanity, Like, like, I know this is 588 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,239 Speaker 1: going to be a rough ride, so I should at 589 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: least make it worth my while. Understand that. Yeah, we're 590 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: getting sort of into stuff Mom never told you territory. Like, 591 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: I feel like some of that is a is a 592 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: circular problem because that then we circle back onto you. 593 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: Uh so much cultural Yeah, so many advertisements and so 594 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: many magazines that are geared towards this is the best 595 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: day of your life and it must be perfect. And 596 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 1: I would like to tell you that idea is crap. Uh. 597 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: I took a cue from my dear friend Juliana Finch, 598 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,239 Speaker 1: who who banned the word perfect, because like, saying this 599 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: is my day and it has to be perfect just 600 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: sets everybody up for a way more stress. I do 601 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: feel also compelled to say, just for the record, you 602 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:32,840 Speaker 1: were the antithesis of a bread zilla. So and so 603 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 1: many things that I was like, sure, Tracy, I've changed 604 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: the design of the beating on your dress. Cool. Uh. Yeah. 605 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: My favorite moment was realizing that the direction cards that 606 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: I had printed out for everyone who was staying at 607 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: the hotel had incorrect directions on how to get to 608 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: the venue because the exit from the parking deck was 609 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,880 Speaker 1: and I was like, wow, let's see how life can 610 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: go on anyway. So yes, I I definitely admire in 611 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: respect people who are doing good quality, professional work as 612 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,719 Speaker 1: a service. That's you know that people are in a 613 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: demanding position, but definitely not what we meant when we 614 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: said wedding markup. So if you would like to write 615 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast, we are 616 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. We're 617 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: also on Facebook at facebook dot com slash miss in 618 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: history and on Twitter at miss in History. Our tumbler 619 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: is miss in History dot tumbler dot com. We're also 620 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: on Pinterest at pentriest dot com slash missed in History. 621 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: Our instagram is at missed in History, and you can 622 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: come to our parent companies website. It is how stuff 623 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,480 Speaker 1: works dot com. But the word volcano in the search 624 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,080 Speaker 1: bar you will find a classic house stuff works article 625 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,600 Speaker 1: about how volcanoes work. It will explain in some more 626 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: details about exactly what was going on from that volcano 627 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,480 Speaker 1: when Hey May you basically exploded into a curtain of fire. Uh. 628 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: You can come to our website, which is missed in 629 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:00,759 Speaker 1: history dot com, where you will find show notes for 630 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: all of the episodes Holly and I have ever worked on. 631 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: You will find an archive of every episode we have 632 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,000 Speaker 1: ever done. You will find uh some tips about how 633 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 1: to search the archive. They're the lots of different stuff. 634 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:13,359 Speaker 1: So you can do all that and a whole lot 635 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 1: more at how stuff works dot com or missed in 636 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: history dot com for more on this and thousands of 637 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 1: other topics because it how stuff works dot co.