WEBVTT - The Artifact: The Gadget Cane

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi. My name is Robert Lamb and this is the artifact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time. In

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<v Speaker 2>our recent Stuff to Blow Your Mind series, Oil and

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<v Speaker 2>Troubled Water, we discussed eighteenth century American polymath Benjamin Franklin's

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<v Speaker 2>experiments with oil, experiments which inspired him to carry a

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<v Speaker 2>small quantity of oil on him at all times, hidden

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<v Speaker 2>in a special compartment of his bamboo walking stick. This

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<v Speaker 2>detail can't help but add to the mystique of America's

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<v Speaker 2>weirdest founding father, and it ties directly into the larger

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<v Speaker 2>topic of special items hidden in canes or walking sticks.

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<v Speaker 2>As Michelle Debjek explored in a twenty seventeen Mental Floss article,

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<v Speaker 2>one can find various antique walking sticks and canes with

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<v Speaker 2>all manner of special gadgety features, ranging from the possibly

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<v Speaker 2>practical to these somewhat ridiculous. There's a nineteenth century cane

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<v Speaker 2>with a coin weighing gadget built into the handle. There's

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<v Speaker 2>a magic lantern projector cane, a cider pressed walking stick,

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<v Speaker 2>an architect's cane with drafting tools hidden inside, a spy

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<v Speaker 2>camera cane from the nineteen eighties, a nineteenth century cane

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<v Speaker 2>containing a miniature croquet set, a microscope cane, and a

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<v Speaker 2>nineteenth century eagle headed crossbow cane. There's even a spitting

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<v Speaker 2>cane that naturally reminds one of the gimmicked weapon umbrellas

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<v Speaker 2>favored by Batman villain the Penguin. All of these gadget

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<v Speaker 2>canes clear novelties extend from the popularity of cane swords

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<v Speaker 2>or sword sticks in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>the basic appeal of a hidden blade is understandable. I

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<v Speaker 2>remember when I was a child and I first saw

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<v Speaker 2>Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in the Granada television series.

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<v Speaker 2>I watched him whip out a cane sword and I

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<v Speaker 2>was totally won over by the coolness of the thing.

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<v Speaker 2>But the popularity of this sort of concealed weapon actually

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<v Speaker 2>had to do with how uncool openly carrying a sword

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<v Speaker 2>had become in polite society. Then, as sword canes became fashionable,

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<v Speaker 2>the idea of hiding other various things such as gadgets

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<v Speaker 2>and curios in a cane or walking stick became the

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<v Speaker 2>new fat Now to be clear, sword canes are weapons.

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<v Speaker 2>Murderers have used them in committing their crimes, and they

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<v Speaker 2>are often banned by local or federal laws as they

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<v Speaker 2>are in essence concealed weapons. They also sometimes factor into

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<v Speaker 2>historical mysteries, including the death of nineteenth century American author

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<v Speaker 2>Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's cause of death remains a matter

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<v Speaker 2>of dispute, and the theories range from illness to murder

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<v Speaker 2>and even cooping election fraud. Will likely never know for

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<v Speaker 2>sure what happened, but some theorists have latched onto the

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<v Speaker 2>fact that shortly before his death he managed to borrow

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<v Speaker 2>a sword cane from his friend, doctor John Carter, perhaps

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<v Speaker 2>by accident or perhaps intentionally, and left his own cane

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<v Speaker 2>in its place. If his borrowing of the sword cane

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<v Speaker 2>was intentional, then this could help prop up arguments that

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<v Speaker 2>he anticipated foul play or violence of some sort. However,

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<v Speaker 2>if his death was due to rabies, lead poisoning, or

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<v Speaker 2>any of the other dozen or so maladies that have

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<v Speaker 2>been suggested, then the sword cane doesn't really get us anywhere.

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<v Speaker 2>The hidden blade remains an enigmatic artifact, though for in it,

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<v Speaker 2>we see that old and symbolic human weapon, the sword

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<v Speaker 2>hidden within a walking aid or fashion accessory, hiding murderous

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<v Speaker 2>intent or awareness of some violence in the world when

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<v Speaker 2>we read about it, when we find it among one's possessions,

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<v Speaker 2>we can't help but speculate. Tune in for additional editions

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<v Speaker 2>of the Artifact each week. As always, You can email

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<v Speaker 2>us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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