January 26, 2021 • 9 mins
Curious origin stories and bizarre dangers are all on display in the Cabinet today.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Benky'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. The closing song of the musical Little Shop
of Horrors bears a stern warning don't feed the plants,
and for good reason. Though they may seem harmless, certain
species of flora can be hazardous to humans and animals alike,
(00:50):
and though none of them have ever eaten people, at
least that we know of, several have been known to
make person wish they'd never been born. Water hemlock, for example,
which is commonly found in the western half of the
United States, can cause seizures and crippling abdominal pain prior
to death if eaten. White snake root is a white
flowered herb that bears a strong resemblance to baby's breath,
(01:13):
but unlike baby's breath, it's deadly to humans. So much so,
in fact, that even drinking milk from cows that have
eaten it has been known to cause nausea and even death,
but there is one plant that is toxic in a
different way. It has left several casualties in its wake,
but not due to its ingestion. Those who met their
end fail to heed one simple warning. Don't touch the gimpy.
(01:39):
Gimpy is considered a shrub, but you wouldn't think so
based on its size. It's technically a small tree which
can range in heights from three to ten feet. It
grows in the rainforests of northeastern Australia and features wide
leaves shaped like hearts, ironic given what happens to those
who make the mistake of touching them. The leaves looks
(02:00):
soft and furry, but each one is covered in thousands
of tiny harpoon like hairs brush against their broad green surfaces,
and the hairs will lodge themselves in the skin, releasing
a toxin that causes pain unlike anything ever felt before.
Educator and scientist Marina Hurley has written about the gimpy
gimpies defense mechanism in the past, describing the sensation as
(02:22):
being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.
And that's no exaggeration. Hurley spent three years exploring the
Australian rainforest studying the gimpy gimpie while clad in protective
gear and welding gloves. Even her precautions weren't enough to
stop the tiny follicles from penetrating her skin. Her reaction
(02:42):
was so severe she was hospitalized and told to avoid
the plant for the rest of her life. Even standing
near its stinging fibers, which are constantly being shed into
the air, can cause reactions worse than spring allergies. Coughing, sneezing,
and nose bleeds have all been reported by people unfortunate
to get within a few feet of them. The only
(03:04):
way to relieve the pain of a gimpy gimpy sting
is to slather the area in hot wax and rip
the hairs out. Not exactly a day at the spot,
Just be careful. Some strands may break off even more,
getting stuck for good and bringing no end to the suffering.
Stories of gimpy gimpy encounters are harrowing and dates all
the way back to the nineteenth century. A surveyor named A. C.
(03:28):
McMillan had taken his horse through a patch of it
in eighteen sixty six, the horse grazed it, and two
hours later it died from the pain. Decades later, a
World War Two soldier accidentally fell into the plant during
training and spent the next three weeks strapped to a
gurney writhing and screaming in agony. Ernie Writer, a botanist
studying the plant in nineteen sixty three, was stung all
(03:51):
over his face, chest and arms. He endured the pain
for two years before it finally subsided, although he claimed
it returned every time he took a coal shower. But
perhaps the most tragic tale is that of another soldier
who found himself with the urgent need to relieve himself
in the forest. He didn't have toilet paper to clean
himself up with, so he reached for the nearest leaf instead.
(04:13):
The burning became so unbearable he took his own life
to make it stop. Clearly, the gimpy gimpie is not
something to be trifled with, like the eastern brown snake
or the box jellyfish. It's a living species with one
of the most dangerous defense mechanisms on Earth. There's a
reason why it often goes by its other more ominous name,
(04:35):
the suicide plant. Everyone has to start somewhere if they
want to move up in the world, from the mail
room clerk who works their way to the corner office
(04:56):
to the young violin student practicing with dreams of the Philharmon.
People don't often start out at the top. It takes
hard work, determination, and a healthy dose of blind luck.
Harry got his start on a dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania.
Born in eighteen seventy nine, he eventually became a resourceful
and opportunistic child. The main job his parents had given
(05:19):
him was to tend the farm, but he also started
milking the cows on the side to earn extra money.
When he got older, he raised frogs in a pond
he dug himself, selling them to local restaurants who made
frog's legs. Harry hadn't come from a big family, which
was probably why he wanted one of his own as
he got older. After his marriage to Blanche Edna Hysen
(05:41):
in nineteen hundred, the couple got to work on growing
their brood, sixteen children in all. Harry's mother and aunt's
also moved in with him, which made for a pretty
crowded house. Of course, it took a lot of money
to feed those hungry mouths. Harry thankfully made a decent
living working for his father in law's canary before finding
his way to managing a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, a
(06:03):
job that obviously reminded him of his childhood days. Harry
enjoyed his work, and he was quite good at it too,
but he also knew that there were bigger opportunities out there.
In nineteen sixteen, he answered an ad placed by a
man named Milton. He owned several dairy farms in a
town an hour north of Harry, and hired Harry to
work at one of them. A year later, though, he
(06:24):
was promoted to manager at a new farm where cows
were milked by machines instead of a farmer's bare hands,
and that was an exciting glimpse of the future. Sadly,
it was also a costly endeavor, one that Milton had
no choice but to shutterer. In nineteen nineteen, Harry, looking
to make ends meet between jobs, took his newfound unemployment
as a scignist start his own company making confections. His
(06:49):
sweet treats were popular in the local stores, but he
wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. Unless he
improved his manufacturing process. This required capital to buy better tools.
He raised enough funds to buy the equipment he needed
by selling stock in his new company. It didn't help, though,
He went under quickly and was forced to work three
jobs to feed his growing family. But Harry continued to
(07:12):
experiment with candies and confections out of his basement. On
the side. He even went to work for Milton again,
who gave him a job in the shipping department at
one of his factories. And it was here where the
struggling candy maker found exactly what he needed to get
his new business off the ground. Harry launched his new
company in n and sold candies to local department stores.
(07:34):
Milton wasn't mad, though. He didn't see his employee as competition,
but as a customer. You see, Milton was Milton Hershey,
founder of the Hershey Candy Company, and he was selling
Harry all the chocolate he needed to make his own products.
Among them were chocolate bars, nuts and raisins coated in
milk and dark chocolate, plus an entirely new creation. You see,
(07:56):
another candy maker had been having trouble fulfilling orders from
a particular customer with a very specific request. They had
asked for something no one else was making, and Harry
saw a way to step in and save the day.
He fulfilled the order and decided to sell the new
product this part of his line as well. It was
a simple concept really around disc of chocolate filled with
(08:18):
a filling in the center. He sold them for a
penny apiece, and sales boomed immediately, so much so that
during World War Two, when sugar and other materials became
too expensive to obtain, he canceled production of all his
candies except this one. In the end, it became his
signature product, a combination of two great tastes that worked
(08:39):
great together the filling in his chocolate peanut butter and
thanks to its popularity, Harry's product is still around today.
We all just know it by his last name. Harry
Burnett Reese, creator of the Reese's Peanut Butter cup, would
go on to become a millionaire thanks to his tenacity
and creativity, and he gave us all something to chew on.
(09:02):
How's that for a suite ending. I hope you've enjoyed
today's guided tour 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 Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works.
(09:24):
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show and you can
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,
Welcome to Aaron Benky'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. The closing song of the musical Little Shop
of Horrors bears a stern warning don't feed the plants,
and for good reason. Though they may seem harmless, certain
species of flora can be hazardous to humans and animals alike,
(00:50):
and though none of them have ever eaten people, at
least that we know of, several have been known to
make person wish they'd never been born. Water hemlock, for example,
which is commonly found in the western half of the
United States, can cause seizures and crippling abdominal pain prior
to death if eaten. White snake root is a white
flowered herb that bears a strong resemblance to baby's breath,
(01:13):
but unlike baby's breath, it's deadly to humans. So much so,
in fact, that even drinking milk from cows that have
eaten it has been known to cause nausea and even death,
but there is one plant that is toxic in a
different way. It has left several casualties in its wake,
but not due to its ingestion. Those who met their
end fail to heed one simple warning. Don't touch the gimpy.
(01:39):
Gimpy is considered a shrub, but you wouldn't think so
based on its size. It's technically a small tree which
can range in heights from three to ten feet. It
grows in the rainforests of northeastern Australia and features wide
leaves shaped like hearts, ironic given what happens to those
who make the mistake of touching them. The leaves looks
(02:00):
soft and furry, but each one is covered in thousands
of tiny harpoon like hairs brush against their broad green surfaces,
and the hairs will lodge themselves in the skin, releasing
a toxin that causes pain unlike anything ever felt before.
Educator and scientist Marina Hurley has written about the gimpy
gimpies defense mechanism in the past, describing the sensation as
(02:22):
being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time.
And that's no exaggeration. Hurley spent three years exploring the
Australian rainforest studying the gimpy gimpie while clad in protective
gear and welding gloves. Even her precautions weren't enough to
stop the tiny follicles from penetrating her skin. Her reaction
(02:42):
was so severe she was hospitalized and told to avoid
the plant for the rest of her life. Even standing
near its stinging fibers, which are constantly being shed into
the air, can cause reactions worse than spring allergies. Coughing, sneezing,
and nose bleeds have all been reported by people unfortunate
to get within a few feet of them. The only
(03:04):
way to relieve the pain of a gimpy gimpy sting
is to slather the area in hot wax and rip
the hairs out. Not exactly a day at the spot,
Just be careful. Some strands may break off even more,
getting stuck for good and bringing no end to the suffering.
Stories of gimpy gimpy encounters are harrowing and dates all
the way back to the nineteenth century. A surveyor named A. C.
(03:28):
McMillan had taken his horse through a patch of it
in eighteen sixty six, the horse grazed it, and two
hours later it died from the pain. Decades later, a
World War Two soldier accidentally fell into the plant during
training and spent the next three weeks strapped to a
gurney writhing and screaming in agony. Ernie Writer, a botanist
studying the plant in nineteen sixty three, was stung all
(03:51):
over his face, chest and arms. He endured the pain
for two years before it finally subsided, although he claimed
it returned every time he took a coal shower. But
perhaps the most tragic tale is that of another soldier
who found himself with the urgent need to relieve himself
in the forest. He didn't have toilet paper to clean
himself up with, so he reached for the nearest leaf instead.
(04:13):
The burning became so unbearable he took his own life
to make it stop. Clearly, the gimpy gimpie is not
something to be trifled with, like the eastern brown snake
or the box jellyfish. It's a living species with one
of the most dangerous defense mechanisms on Earth. There's a
reason why it often goes by its other more ominous name,
(04:35):
the suicide plant. Everyone has to start somewhere if they
want to move up in the world, from the mail
room clerk who works their way to the corner office
(04:56):
to the young violin student practicing with dreams of the Philharmon.
People don't often start out at the top. It takes
hard work, determination, and a healthy dose of blind luck.
Harry got his start on a dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania.
Born in eighteen seventy nine, he eventually became a resourceful
and opportunistic child. The main job his parents had given
(05:19):
him was to tend the farm, but he also started
milking the cows on the side to earn extra money.
When he got older, he raised frogs in a pond
he dug himself, selling them to local restaurants who made
frog's legs. Harry hadn't come from a big family, which
was probably why he wanted one of his own as
he got older. After his marriage to Blanche Edna Hysen
(05:41):
in nineteen hundred, the couple got to work on growing
their brood, sixteen children in all. Harry's mother and aunt's
also moved in with him, which made for a pretty
crowded house. Of course, it took a lot of money
to feed those hungry mouths. Harry thankfully made a decent
living working for his father in law's canary before finding
his way to managing a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, a
(06:03):
job that obviously reminded him of his childhood days. Harry
enjoyed his work, and he was quite good at it too,
but he also knew that there were bigger opportunities out there.
In nineteen sixteen, he answered an ad placed by a
man named Milton. He owned several dairy farms in a
town an hour north of Harry, and hired Harry to
work at one of them. A year later, though, he
(06:24):
was promoted to manager at a new farm where cows
were milked by machines instead of a farmer's bare hands,
and that was an exciting glimpse of the future. Sadly,
it was also a costly endeavor, one that Milton had
no choice but to shutterer. In nineteen nineteen, Harry, looking
to make ends meet between jobs, took his newfound unemployment
as a scignist start his own company making confections. His
(06:49):
sweet treats were popular in the local stores, but he
wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. Unless he
improved his manufacturing process. This required capital to buy better tools.
He raised enough funds to buy the equipment he needed
by selling stock in his new company. It didn't help, though,
He went under quickly and was forced to work three
jobs to feed his growing family. But Harry continued to
(07:12):
experiment with candies and confections out of his basement. On
the side. He even went to work for Milton again,
who gave him a job in the shipping department at
one of his factories. And it was here where the
struggling candy maker found exactly what he needed to get
his new business off the ground. Harry launched his new
company in n and sold candies to local department stores.
(07:34):
Milton wasn't mad, though. He didn't see his employee as competition,
but as a customer. You see, Milton was Milton Hershey,
founder of the Hershey Candy Company, and he was selling
Harry all the chocolate he needed to make his own products.
Among them were chocolate bars, nuts and raisins coated in
milk and dark chocolate, plus an entirely new creation. You see,
(07:56):
another candy maker had been having trouble fulfilling orders from
a particular customer with a very specific request. They had
asked for something no one else was making, and Harry
saw a way to step in and save the day.
He fulfilled the order and decided to sell the new
product this part of his line as well. It was
a simple concept really around disc of chocolate filled with
(08:18):
a filling in the center. He sold them for a
penny apiece, and sales boomed immediately, so much so that
during World War Two, when sugar and other materials became
too expensive to obtain, he canceled production of all his
candies except this one. In the end, it became his
signature product, a combination of two great tastes that worked
(08:39):
great together the filling in his chocolate peanut butter and
thanks to its popularity, Harry's product is still around today.
We all just know it by his last name. Harry
Burnett Reese, creator of the Reese's Peanut Butter cup, would
go on to become a millionaire thanks to his tenacity
and creativity, and he gave us all something to chew on.
(09:02):
How's that for a suite ending. I hope you've enjoyed
today's guided tour 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 Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works.
(09:24):
I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
a podcast, book series, and television show and you can
learn all about it over at the World of Lore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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