August 25, 2020 • 10 mins
It's amazing what you can make out of unusual materials. Whether the end result is a work of art, or a life-long career, those unique ingredients always make for a great story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. People who strive for success often juggle multiple
jobs and hobbies, hoping for their big break. For Claude,
keeping multiple balls in the air was what brought him
that success in the first place. Claude was born in Darby, Pennsylvania.
(00:51):
In His father had served in the Civil War before
settling down to manage a hotel part time and to
sell produce. He also had a short fuse, especially when
it came to his son. It got so bad between
the two of them that Claude often ran away to
live with relatives, but he always came back. When he
was twelve, Claude started working odd jobs around Pennsylvania. However,
(01:13):
he didn't find his true calling until he discovered juggling.
After watching a juggler perform at a theater near his home,
Claude discovered what he wanted to do for the rest
of his life. He devoted the next several years to
perfecting his talent juggling for churchgoers and local audiences. Before
leaving home for the last time. At the age of eighteen,
(01:34):
he played vaudeville, adopting the persona of a tramp juggler
based on a similar character created by fellow performer at
James Edward Harrigan. Claude soon moved on to bigger stages
and brighter lights all over the world. He eventually joined
Zigfield Follies and enhanced his juggling act with comedy. He
juggled everything too, from balls and cigarette boxes hats. If
(01:57):
a ball didn't land exactly the right way, he would
scold it in front of a laughing crowd. If his
cigar missed his mouth, he'd curse it under his breath
to hilarious effect. After a few years of working as
a comic juggler, Claude branched out. He exchanged his hats
and cigar boxes for a script in the Broadway musical
The ham Tree. He never acted before, but it suited
(02:19):
him well and it only led to bigger and better bills.
He even performed for King George the Fifth and Queen
Mary of England. Claude never slowed down, and he didn't
rest his laurels either. He was always looking to make
his act bigger and better. In nineteen fifteen, he went
on Broadway with a new kind of show, involving a
specially made pool table and cues of various shapes, which
(02:42):
he used to make impossible shots. It was in the
same year when Claude made the jump from the stage
to the silver screen. He started in two silent films
before taking another stage role, where he adopted his iconic
part of a smarmie kan man in a top hat
and a coat. Once he made the jump to the
screwing though, the ladder of success only took Claude higher
(03:03):
and higher. His silent work carried over into the talkies
and he became a full fledged movie star. His greatest performance, however,
never took place on stage or screen. Claude made waves,
so to speak. During the summer of the eighteen year
old was recommended for a gig in Atlantic City by
a friend with a connection there. The pay was ten
(03:26):
dollars a week and all he had to do was juggle,
oh and drown. When he wasn't tossing balls and hats
into the air. Claude would swim out into the ocean
and start drowning. A co conspirator would jump into save him,
drawing a crowd. Once he was saved. Onlookers who had
worked up a hunger watching the daring rescue would buy
(03:46):
themselves a hot dog at the nearby vendor who just
happened to be in on the whole thing. Many years
later in life, he bought a house in Hollywood, and
it came with a pool out back, and one day
he was entertaining some friends who asked him why he
never swam in it. It said that he replied, would
you like to swim if you had drowned? One? Sixty
(04:07):
eight times? That drowning routine had brought in big business
for the eateries on the pier, but it wasn't what
made a celebrity out of William Claude Ducinfield. We have
his over at the top antics on stage and on
screen to thank for that. By then, though the world
didn't know him as William Claude Ducinfield. No, the juggler,
pool hustler and professional drowner was better known by his
(04:31):
stage name legendary performer W. C. Fields. Beauty is fleeting
when we visit museums and galleries. We don't think about
(04:53):
the inevitable that the paintings and sculptures we love now
will one day disappear. Time will eventually take the from us,
which is probably for the best. They're beautiful because they're temporary.
Naturalist and cartographer Girolamo Sagato didn't believe that beauty should
be temporary. Born in the tiny village of Sasaparolo, Italy,
(05:14):
in seventeen ninety two, Sagato grew up interested in a
variety of subjects, including mathematics, chemistry, and exploration. On a
trip to Egypt in his mid twenties, Sagato was captivated
by the ancient mummies. He wanted to practice his own
kind of preservation, so he and his partner wrote a
book about what they discovered during their travels. They made
(05:35):
some money from their work and were on their way
to real success, but the good times wouldn't last for long.
Sagato's partner ran off to Paris with everything, all the money,
the notes, and the research they had collected. Crushed by
the loss of his life's work and his friendship, Sigado
retreated into cartography. It was time to move on, and
so he carved a new path in life. He made
(05:57):
maps for roughly a decade before finding his true calling
and making art. In fact, that two of his finest
pieces were a set of tables. The first table was simple,
but pristine and well made. The second was a true
work of art. It was decorated on top with a
marble mosaic inlay of different shapes diamonds, circles, squares, and rectangles,
(06:18):
all adorned with colored stones of varying sizes. The lines
of each section were crisp, as though they were crafted
by a machine, but every part embedded within the table
top had been crafted by hand, his hand. After he
made those tables, Saggato moved on to sculpture. His first
piece was that of a young woman. Her proportions were exact,
(06:39):
and he managed to make her look alive, as though
her skin might react to the slightest touch. Another work
was that of a woman's head with long flowing hair.
It garnered him widespread acclaim in popular magazines like Harper's.
His sculptures were compared to those of famous artists like
Hiram powers, as well as the iconic Grecian Venus to
(07:00):
Edgy statue. But he didn't produce a lot during his
short life, and he passed away at the young age
of forty four, and very few of his pieces still
exist today. Sagato had come up with a specialized technique
for working with his preferred materials. After a break in
and attempted theft of his research, he destroyed every last
scrap of paper that he had. Because of his secrecy,
(07:22):
no one has ever been able to replicate his methods,
not that they would want to. The world probably isn't
ready for more furniture made from corpses. You see, Girolamo
Sgado didn't stick to only using wood for his tables.
He didn't make his master works out of marble either.
Utilizing knowledge from his archaeological digs in Egypt and his
(07:42):
research on ancient mummies, the former cartographer had developed a
brand new way to preserve the human body. It wasn't mummification, though,
it was called mineralization or petrification. He took a body
that was very recently deceased and injected a special substance
into a to preserve its flesh and organs. Everything would
(08:03):
harden to stone, and Sigato would then manipulate it like
a material for his own purposes. Sometimes he would leave
the bodies as is. Other times he would slice and
carve the skin, spleen, liver, and other organs into different shapes,
as he did with his famous table. The result was
a maccab checkerboard pattern inlaid against a wooden backdrop. His
(08:26):
pieces were more artistic than morbid, but many who witnessed
the creations were still dismayed. They didn't understand the science
behind his petrification methods. Instead, they claimed that Sigato had
learned Egyptian magic. So, in a fit of anger and
self doubt, the unconventional artist destroyed all traces of his formula.
(08:48):
His surviving pieces now reside in the Museum of the
Department of Anatomy in Florence. The table we described can
be found at the Royal Palace of Caserta in southern Italy.
Others throughout history have tried to create his formula for
human mineralization, and some have come close, but so far
no one has been able to match it exactly. Giro
(09:09):
Lamo Sagato was one of a kind, and by taking
his secret to the grave. He made sure he would
stay that way. With the formula gone, his remains never
had the chance at longevity he offered to the rest
of his subjects. Ironic absolutely, but more than that, it
sure was curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
(09:33):
of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
and television show, and you can learn all about it
(09:54):
over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
next time, stay cure sarious um.
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. People who strive for success often juggle multiple
jobs and hobbies, hoping for their big break. For Claude,
keeping multiple balls in the air was what brought him
that success in the first place. Claude was born in Darby, Pennsylvania.
(00:51):
In His father had served in the Civil War before
settling down to manage a hotel part time and to
sell produce. He also had a short fuse, especially when
it came to his son. It got so bad between
the two of them that Claude often ran away to
live with relatives, but he always came back. When he
was twelve, Claude started working odd jobs around Pennsylvania. However,
(01:13):
he didn't find his true calling until he discovered juggling.
After watching a juggler perform at a theater near his home,
Claude discovered what he wanted to do for the rest
of his life. He devoted the next several years to
perfecting his talent juggling for churchgoers and local audiences. Before
leaving home for the last time. At the age of eighteen,
(01:34):
he played vaudeville, adopting the persona of a tramp juggler
based on a similar character created by fellow performer at
James Edward Harrigan. Claude soon moved on to bigger stages
and brighter lights all over the world. He eventually joined
Zigfield Follies and enhanced his juggling act with comedy. He
juggled everything too, from balls and cigarette boxes hats. If
(01:57):
a ball didn't land exactly the right way, he would
scold it in front of a laughing crowd. If his
cigar missed his mouth, he'd curse it under his breath
to hilarious effect. After a few years of working as
a comic juggler, Claude branched out. He exchanged his hats
and cigar boxes for a script in the Broadway musical
The ham Tree. He never acted before, but it suited
(02:19):
him well and it only led to bigger and better bills.
He even performed for King George the Fifth and Queen
Mary of England. Claude never slowed down, and he didn't
rest his laurels either. He was always looking to make
his act bigger and better. In nineteen fifteen, he went
on Broadway with a new kind of show, involving a
specially made pool table and cues of various shapes, which
(02:42):
he used to make impossible shots. It was in the
same year when Claude made the jump from the stage
to the silver screen. He started in two silent films
before taking another stage role, where he adopted his iconic
part of a smarmie kan man in a top hat
and a coat. Once he made the jump to the
screwing though, the ladder of success only took Claude higher
(03:03):
and higher. His silent work carried over into the talkies
and he became a full fledged movie star. His greatest performance, however,
never took place on stage or screen. Claude made waves,
so to speak. During the summer of the eighteen year
old was recommended for a gig in Atlantic City by
a friend with a connection there. The pay was ten
(03:26):
dollars a week and all he had to do was juggle,
oh and drown. When he wasn't tossing balls and hats
into the air. Claude would swim out into the ocean
and start drowning. A co conspirator would jump into save him,
drawing a crowd. Once he was saved. Onlookers who had
worked up a hunger watching the daring rescue would buy
(03:46):
themselves a hot dog at the nearby vendor who just
happened to be in on the whole thing. Many years
later in life, he bought a house in Hollywood, and
it came with a pool out back, and one day
he was entertaining some friends who asked him why he
never swam in it. It said that he replied, would
you like to swim if you had drowned? One? Sixty
(04:07):
eight times? That drowning routine had brought in big business
for the eateries on the pier, but it wasn't what
made a celebrity out of William Claude Ducinfield. We have
his over at the top antics on stage and on
screen to thank for that. By then, though the world
didn't know him as William Claude Ducinfield. No, the juggler,
pool hustler and professional drowner was better known by his
(04:31):
stage name legendary performer W. C. Fields. Beauty is fleeting
when we visit museums and galleries. We don't think about
(04:53):
the inevitable that the paintings and sculptures we love now
will one day disappear. Time will eventually take the from us,
which is probably for the best. They're beautiful because they're temporary.
Naturalist and cartographer Girolamo Sagato didn't believe that beauty should
be temporary. Born in the tiny village of Sasaparolo, Italy,
(05:14):
in seventeen ninety two, Sagato grew up interested in a
variety of subjects, including mathematics, chemistry, and exploration. On a
trip to Egypt in his mid twenties, Sagato was captivated
by the ancient mummies. He wanted to practice his own
kind of preservation, so he and his partner wrote a
book about what they discovered during their travels. They made
(05:35):
some money from their work and were on their way
to real success, but the good times wouldn't last for long.
Sagato's partner ran off to Paris with everything, all the money,
the notes, and the research they had collected. Crushed by
the loss of his life's work and his friendship, Sigado
retreated into cartography. It was time to move on, and
so he carved a new path in life. He made
(05:57):
maps for roughly a decade before finding his true calling
and making art. In fact, that two of his finest
pieces were a set of tables. The first table was simple,
but pristine and well made. The second was a true
work of art. It was decorated on top with a
marble mosaic inlay of different shapes diamonds, circles, squares, and rectangles,
(06:18):
all adorned with colored stones of varying sizes. The lines
of each section were crisp, as though they were crafted
by a machine, but every part embedded within the table
top had been crafted by hand, his hand. After he
made those tables, Saggato moved on to sculpture. His first
piece was that of a young woman. Her proportions were exact,
(06:39):
and he managed to make her look alive, as though
her skin might react to the slightest touch. Another work
was that of a woman's head with long flowing hair.
It garnered him widespread acclaim in popular magazines like Harper's.
His sculptures were compared to those of famous artists like
Hiram powers, as well as the iconic Grecian Venus to
(07:00):
Edgy statue. But he didn't produce a lot during his
short life, and he passed away at the young age
of forty four, and very few of his pieces still
exist today. Sagato had come up with a specialized technique
for working with his preferred materials. After a break in
and attempted theft of his research, he destroyed every last
scrap of paper that he had. Because of his secrecy,
(07:22):
no one has ever been able to replicate his methods,
not that they would want to. The world probably isn't
ready for more furniture made from corpses. You see, Girolamo
Sgado didn't stick to only using wood for his tables.
He didn't make his master works out of marble either.
Utilizing knowledge from his archaeological digs in Egypt and his
(07:42):
research on ancient mummies, the former cartographer had developed a
brand new way to preserve the human body. It wasn't mummification, though,
it was called mineralization or petrification. He took a body
that was very recently deceased and injected a special substance
into a to preserve its flesh and organs. Everything would
(08:03):
harden to stone, and Sigato would then manipulate it like
a material for his own purposes. Sometimes he would leave
the bodies as is. Other times he would slice and
carve the skin, spleen, liver, and other organs into different shapes,
as he did with his famous table. The result was
a maccab checkerboard pattern inlaid against a wooden backdrop. His
(08:26):
pieces were more artistic than morbid, but many who witnessed
the creations were still dismayed. They didn't understand the science
behind his petrification methods. Instead, they claimed that Sigato had
learned Egyptian magic. So, in a fit of anger and
self doubt, the unconventional artist destroyed all traces of his formula.
(08:48):
His surviving pieces now reside in the Museum of the
Department of Anatomy in Florence. The table we described can
be found at the Royal Palace of Caserta in southern Italy.
Others throughout history have tried to create his formula for
human mineralization, and some have come close, but so far
no one has been able to match it exactly. Giro
(09:09):
Lamo Sagato was one of a kind, and by taking
his secret to the grave. He made sure he would
stay that way. With the formula gone, his remains never
had the chance at longevity he offered to the rest
of his subjects. Ironic absolutely, but more than that, it
sure was curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
(09:33):
of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
and television show, and you can learn all about it
(09:54):
over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
next time, stay cure sarious um.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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