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 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Recent events have given people all over the 7 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: world a chance to discover or rediscover new hobbies and interests. 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: Some who have missed their normal lives have found a 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: little culture by making sour dough bread and kombucha. Others 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: have taken up painting, guitar and even podcasting. One hobby, however, 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: is one almost all of us have done. We might 12 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: forget about it as we get older, but it has 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: been a mainstay of rainy days and quiet afternoons seemingly forever, 14 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: and it got its start back in the seventeen sixties. 15 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: John Spillsbury was born in England in seventeen thirty nine. 16 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: He had one younger brother and an older brother who 17 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: his father also named Jonathan. This strange, confusing choice got 18 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: John mixed up with his brother quite often. Spillsbury took 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: an apprenticeship with Thomas Jefferies, a cartographer who held the 20 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: title of geographer to King George the third. Jeffreys maps 21 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: were among the most celebrated and reliable of the time, 22 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: including surveys of Virginia, New England, and the West Indies, 23 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: and their maps were not only used to help sailors 24 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: learn what resided on distant shores, but to educate children 25 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: as well. After all, the world was changing and it 26 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: was important that every person, regardless of their age, understood how. 27 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: In addition, maps were ideal propaganda tools. As England continued 28 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: its imperial march across the globe, it erected new borders 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: and altered how its people saw their country, not as 30 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: a land unto itself, but as one that was superior 31 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: to everyone else. Such a sense of nationalism was key 32 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: to indoctrinating young children into believing in England's superiority. However, 33 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,679 Speaker 1: there was a problem. Kids just weren't good at geography. 34 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: Chuck it up to the ever changing borders or how 35 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: complicated the maps were, the children had a hard time 36 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: remembering where countries were located. Not to worry, though, that 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: Spillsbury had an idea. He knew how to make geography 38 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: more fun, and he turned it into a game. He 39 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: took a map of Europe and glued it to a 40 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: thin board of mahogany. Then he cut the map up 41 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: using a tiny saw to divide the countries into separate pieces. 42 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: Marketry saws were capable of making small, precise ornamental cuts, 43 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: and were often used to perform inlay work in furniture. 44 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: Spillsbury's educational creations were expensive due to their premium materials 45 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 1: and handcrafted nature. As a result, only the very wealthy 46 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: could afford them. King Charles the Third, who had relied 47 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: on Thomas Freeze maps, was now buying Spillsbury's dissected maps 48 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: for his own kids. As time went on, though makers 49 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: branched out with their own designs. Beside maps, they still 50 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: used wood for the backings, since wood was considered a 51 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,839 Speaker 1: much higher quality material than the ever increasingly popular and 52 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: cheaper cardboard. Tools grew more advanced as well. Marketry saws 53 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: gave way to fret saws, which featured a high arch 54 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: and a thin blade perfect for carving delicate curves into 55 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: the wood. Throughout the eighteen hundreds and well into the 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds, cut up pictures and maps became popular 57 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: ways for people to pass the time after the stock 58 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: market crash of nineteen nine. People used them to keep busy, 59 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: as they could be purchased once and reassembled over and 60 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: over again, far less expensive than live entertainments or going 61 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: to the movies. These activities also piqued the interest of adults, 62 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: who enjoyed putting together more and more complicated dissections with 63 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: more pieces. The close of World War Two brought an 64 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: end to the sale of wooden pieces, with cardboard proving 65 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: more cost effective to both manufacture and purchase. Today, these 66 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: brain training pastimes are done on dining room tables and 67 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: playroom floors all over the world. They range in skill 68 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: levels from just a few pieces all the way up 69 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: to five thousand and beyond. Some companies even make three 70 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: D versions of them, and several medical publications have argued 71 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: that doing them regularly can help stave off such neurological 72 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: diseases like Alzheimer's. John Spillsbury probably had no idea his 73 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: invention would catch on in such a fun way. All 74 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: he wanted to do was teach kids geography. Instead, he 75 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: designed a quiet, contemplative hobby to help people unwind. He 76 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: created the jigsaw puzzle. All it took was a hammer, 77 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: a bucket, and a little patience. Frozen pieces were lumped 78 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,239 Speaker 1: together and smashed with the hammer, and then the mash 79 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: was poured into a tub, and when the weather warmed up, 80 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: oil pooled on the surface of the mash and was 81 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,119 Speaker 1: ready to be gathered and used. It was so easy 82 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: that it earned a simple name, self running oil. Some 83 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: people preferred seal oil in their lamps, mostly Greenland's Inuit communities, 84 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: but when seal blubber wasn't around, self running oil was 85 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: a good substitute. In eighteen oh five, some green Landers 86 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: started experimenting with this self running oil. They wanted to 87 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: see if there was more they could do with it. 88 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: After all, whale oil had been used to light lamps 89 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: and make soap since the fifteen hundreds, so there was 90 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: some inspiration to see what else could be done. It 91 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,359 Speaker 1: was still decades before petroleum would land on the scene, 92 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: but in Greenland they weren't short of ideas, and when 93 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: people trying it, they found that with self running oil 94 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: they had a light source that worked just as well 95 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: as any whale oil. In fact, if they boiled the mash, 96 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: they could produce two different kinds of oil, a light 97 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: machine oil and a second darker product as well. Yes, 98 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: the darker ooze from the second boil had an offensive odor, 99 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: but when it was treated with caustic soda, it came 100 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: out a smooth, reddish brown color, and it burned clean. 101 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: When it was lit, it barely gave off any smoke, 102 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: even less than a wax taper. And the oil was 103 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: so light that people using it in their lamps said 104 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: that it just ran up the wick. So it was 105 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: a perfect indoor light, even in small spaces. You might 106 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: say that nothing could hold a candle to it. But 107 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: it wasn't just useful for fueling lamps. When it was processed, 108 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: it could be used for other work as well, like 109 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: tanning hides, and that's where it's more odorous qualities weren't 110 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: all that much of a downside. Soon enough, self running 111 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: oil was just too useful not to harvest and too 112 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: valuable not to buy and sell. Plus there was a 113 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: lot of it off the coast of Greenland. When the 114 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: experiments at the beginning of the eighteen hundreds turned out 115 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: the first usable products, only a little harvesting was being done, 116 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: but by the end of the century, a whole industry 117 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: had grown up and the harvest had multiplied a thousandfold 118 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,239 Speaker 1: or more. One sailor said that he had spent thirty 119 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: years hunting self running oil, and over the course of 120 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: his career he had brought in eighteen thousand gallons of 121 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: the raw materials to be refined. Boats were going out 122 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: from Greenland, Norway and Iceland to crisscross the cold waters 123 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: of the Arctic, and in the winters, the solid ice 124 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: around North Greenland allowed for the oil to be gathered 125 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: without any boats at all. It just took a few 126 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: people working together. A hole in the ice was enough, 127 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: so with a hammer, a bucket, a few friends and 128 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: some patients, anyone could get into the self running oil business. 129 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: But the experimenting didn't stop there. How about mixing the 130 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: self running oil with seal oil or cod liver oil. Well, 131 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: that worked like a charm too soon. Not only was 132 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: self running oil the ordinary way of lighting homes in 133 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: North Greenland, but it became a major export. As its 134 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: reputation grew and spread, orders came in from tanneries and 135 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: other businesses across Sweden and Germany. Self running oil was 136 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: a hit. In fact, by the end of the century. 137 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: Most of the oil was sold overseas and a famous 138 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: blend that came to be known as trek Kroner Tran 139 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: or three crowns oil. It became one of the Royal 140 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: Greenland trades finest products, and the innovation didn't stop there. 141 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: Over the years, self running oil became an ingredient in 142 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: all kinds of inventions, for better or for worse. It 143 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: was used in the recipe for glycerin and nitroglycerin, yes, 144 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: the nitro that's in dynamite and the machine. Oil was 145 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: also used as an industrial lubricant, and there was no 146 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: shortage of demand for explosives during both World Wars. Eventually, 147 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: synthetic oils would replace the self running oil harvested in 148 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: the Arctic waters. Today, it's mostly used as a dietary 149 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: supplement because somewhere along the line it was discovered that 150 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: self running oil also had some vitamin A in it. 151 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: But even into the nineteen fifties it was still tanning 152 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: hides and greasing machinery. People were buying the oil and 153 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: huge amounts, and Norway especially stepped up to provide The 154 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 1: Danish Navy even had one of their submarines named after 155 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: the oil source have colin, but that makes sense if 156 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: you've already guessed that the oil came from a predator. 157 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: Most of us would approach with fear, like a stick 158 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: of dynamite about to blow up, because for more than 159 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 1: a century, the self running oil was collected by intrepid 160 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: sailors and fishermen who found a way to make a 161 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: living by skimming the oil off a mash of the 162 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: liver of the half collin, the Danish name for the 163 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: Arctic greenland shark. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 164 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 165 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 166 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky 167 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,199 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 168 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 169 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 170 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot Come and until 171 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,079 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious. H