January 31, 2023 • 10 mins
So many origin stories are both curious and unique, and today's tour doesn't deviate from that standard.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcomed Aaron Manky'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. After a long day, it's nice to pour
oneself a stiff drink and kick back, each sip, peeling
away the layers of stress and trouble brought on by
the daily grind. Some people opt for a cold beer,
while others pop the cork on a fresh bottle of wine.
(00:50):
Me I'm a Scotch guy, but for those really tough days,
the kinds that leave us drained and burned out, we
might want something a little stronger, like a sling. A
sling is a standard drink, usually made with an ounce
of water, a teaspoon of sugar, nutmeg, and two ounces
of a spirit of your choice. Slings can be made
with whiskey, or gin or rum, and they got their
(01:12):
start hundreds of years ago. But why are they called
that because you sling them back? Of course, early on,
drinks in America used to be served hot, which was
a holdover from the British way of serving them. It
was believed that even in the summer months, a hot
drink would make a person sweat, thus cooling them off,
but over time traditions changed. Frederick Tutor, also known as
(01:34):
the Ice King, started shipping ice from Massachusetts to the
Caribbean in eighteen o six. By the eighteen thirties, his
ice was being used to refrigerate food and medicines in
places as far away as India. But bars and wealthy
homes saw another use for Tutors frozen product keeping their
drinks cold, and among the kinds of beverages served with
(01:55):
ice in them were slings. Bar patrons couldn't get enough
of these concoctions, which only fueled the growing alcohol epidemic
that eventually led to the prohibition in the nineteen twenties.
Those who did overdo it at the local pub often
felt terrible the next day. They suffered from upset stomachs,
which required a bit of medicine to help ease their pain.
So they would take their bottle of bidders and add
(02:17):
a few dashes to a spoon or dribble them over
a sugar cube, which they would then swallow to settle
their stomachs. That's right, before bidders became a way to
enhance an alcoholic beverage. They were advertised as medicinal cure alls.
In fact, one of the hangover cures that developed out
of all of this was to have a bit of
the hair of the dog that bit you, meaning hangover
(02:38):
sufferers would drink a little more. People started adding their
bidders directly to their drinks, turning them into what they
called bittered slings. But over time that name changed. Bittered
sling wasn't a particularly attractive name for a beverage, so
bartenders and patrons just started calling them something else, and
for that they turned to horses asses. No, they didn't
(03:00):
turn into horses asses, well not unless they'd had a
little bit too much to drink at the bar. Now
they looked to the race tracks for inspiration. You see,
at the time, if someone wanted to purchase a horse,
its owner would have the animal parade around so that
the buyer could examine it. Aside from the color of
the coats and the pep and its stepped though, one
thing they looked for was how it carried its tail.
(03:21):
If a horse's tail was cocked upward, that meant that
it was healthy and in good spirits. But if it
was hanging down, that would be a sign of ill health,
old age, and maybe even poor breeding. So to trick
potential buyers that a horse was in better shape and
it actually might have been, owners would stick a piece
of ginger up the horses well, you get the idea.
(03:42):
This would irritate the horse and cause its tail to
be cocked upright. The practice was atrocious and abusive, but
bartenders started using it to help their patrons. And no,
they didn't stick ginger up their butts. They would mix
a few dashes of bitters in a glass with whiskey,
ice and water and hand it to the patron, telling
them that it would cock their tail or rejuvenate them.
(04:05):
And so the phrase eventually became the name by which
we call all mixed drinks today cocktails. All because somebody
thought it was a good idea to put ginger in
a horse's but no wonder they have such long faces.
(04:34):
And African American Spiritual was published that quickly took the
world by storm. It was recorded by countless artists over
the years and has appeared in a number of movies
and television shows ever since, especially those set up at
a summer camp. It's so well known today it's probably
a cliche, just picture of granola eating camp counselor sitting
(04:54):
around a fire and acoustic guitar in his lap as
he leads the campers in a rollicking rendition of He's
Got the whole World in his hands. It's a song
about God, and for those who believe it explains how
he is in control of the lives that live in
the world he's created. It's meant to convey the comforting
image of an omnipotent being cradling the earth and the
(05:15):
creatures that inhabit it. But one man thought that he
could play God by creating his own world, and little
did he know that his new invention would shake things
up in a whole new way. His name was Irwin Persey,
and he hailed from Austria at the turn of the
twentieth century. In nineteen hundred, when Persey was just twenty
four years old, he was in charge of designing and
(05:36):
repairing medical tools used by doctors and surgeons. Occasionally, when
a doctor was in need of something specific, they would
go to Persey and request a new tool to be made. Irwin,
like I said, was only twenty four years old at
the time when doctors in town came to him with
a desperate plea. They're dark operating rooms needed better lighting.
Lightbulbs had been around for a number of years, but
(05:58):
they were inefficient and the light that they produced was
not enough for them to work by. They needed something
better and brighter, so Perzy got to work. He started
doing research, which brought him to shoemakers. You see, shoemakers
often worked long hours in rooms with minimal lights, so
they relied on a special kind of lamp to keep
their workspace illuminated. It was comprised of four glass balls
(06:21):
or flasks filled with liquid. Sometimes they would be filled
with water, but schnops or absinthe worked as well. The
flasks were of different sizes, with the master shoemaker seated
in front of the largest, while his apprentices sat before
the smaller ones. They hung by leather straps around their
necks from a wooden stool while a candle burned in
the center, and the lamps macab appearances what gave it
(06:44):
its other name, the gallows lamp. A light from the
flame would be amplified by the liquid in the glass
balls in front of it, and if they had been
filled within adult beverage like schnops, the apprentices would take
SIPs while the master was away. Percy liked the idea
of the shoemaker's lamp, but he felt that it needed
something else to make it more suitable for surgeons. He
(07:05):
had a bright idea pun intended by the way of
adding metal flakes to the inside that would help the
light reach farther instead, though it had a different effect.
Shaking the semelina filled glass balls in his hand, Percy
watched as the metal flakes drifted all throughout, the liquid,
settling on the bottom like fresh fallen snow. And so
(07:26):
he pivoted from making light sources for surgeons and opened
a factory to produce his brand new product, the snow globe.
His first snow globe had a tiny model of the
Austrian Basilica inside. It became so popular as a gift
that it wasn't until World War Two when his son,
Irwin Persey the Second expanded the lineup. He had been
working with the U. S. Military when he was told
(07:48):
that the troops would buy his family snow globes if
they were more recognizable figures inside, since the basilica held
almost no meaning to them. So Persey the second returned
to the factory with their feedback and designed three new models.
One had a Christmas tree inside, another had a snowman,
and the last held Santa Claus. Over the years, the
(08:08):
product line has grown and different companies have come up
with their own versions. Go into any souvenir shop today
in any major tourist destination and you're sure to find
a snow globe with Disneyland, or the Chicago Skyline or
the Empire State Building inside. But nothing quite measures up
to what the Perseys have been making for the last
one d and twenty years. The snow inside an authentic
(08:31):
Austrian snow globe is made from a top secret formula
that blends plastic with other materials to provide a squall
that can last up to two minutes. It's an experience
not easily replicated, but perhaps the greatest lasting testament to
Irwin Persey's original creation. Aren't the snow globes with Christmas
trees or snowman inside. It was one specific snow globe,
(08:53):
the only one of its kind, which was made around
nineteen one. It held a small, long cabin and was
owned by a tyrannical newspaper magnate. The globe was destroyed
when it slipped from his fingers upon his untimely death,
a final reminder of the only time in his life
when he was truly happy, frolicking in the snow as
a child and writing his beloved sled Rosebud. Though no
(09:17):
records exist that Percy had created the snow globe for R.
K O Pictures, it is widely believed that the object
owned by Orson Wells character in Citizen Kane was made
by the famous Viennese company Irwin Persey. Did not set
out to make sentimental glass balls filled with water, but
he did, and so much more. He gave every customer
a chance to hold a small world in the palm
(09:40):
of their hands. 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 Manky
in partner ship with How Stuff Works. I make another
(10:02):
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,
Welcomed Aaron Manky'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. After a long day, it's nice to pour
oneself a stiff drink and kick back, each sip, peeling
away the layers of stress and trouble brought on by
the daily grind. Some people opt for a cold beer,
while others pop the cork on a fresh bottle of wine.
(00:50):
Me I'm a Scotch guy, but for those really tough days,
the kinds that leave us drained and burned out, we
might want something a little stronger, like a sling. A
sling is a standard drink, usually made with an ounce
of water, a teaspoon of sugar, nutmeg, and two ounces
of a spirit of your choice. Slings can be made
with whiskey, or gin or rum, and they got their
(01:12):
start hundreds of years ago. But why are they called
that because you sling them back? Of course, early on,
drinks in America used to be served hot, which was
a holdover from the British way of serving them. It
was believed that even in the summer months, a hot
drink would make a person sweat, thus cooling them off,
but over time traditions changed. Frederick Tutor, also known as
(01:34):
the Ice King, started shipping ice from Massachusetts to the
Caribbean in eighteen o six. By the eighteen thirties, his
ice was being used to refrigerate food and medicines in
places as far away as India. But bars and wealthy
homes saw another use for Tutors frozen product keeping their
drinks cold, and among the kinds of beverages served with
(01:55):
ice in them were slings. Bar patrons couldn't get enough
of these concoctions, which only fueled the growing alcohol epidemic
that eventually led to the prohibition in the nineteen twenties.
Those who did overdo it at the local pub often
felt terrible the next day. They suffered from upset stomachs,
which required a bit of medicine to help ease their pain.
So they would take their bottle of bidders and add
(02:17):
a few dashes to a spoon or dribble them over
a sugar cube, which they would then swallow to settle
their stomachs. That's right, before bidders became a way to
enhance an alcoholic beverage. They were advertised as medicinal cure alls.
In fact, one of the hangover cures that developed out
of all of this was to have a bit of
the hair of the dog that bit you, meaning hangover
(02:38):
sufferers would drink a little more. People started adding their
bidders directly to their drinks, turning them into what they
called bittered slings. But over time that name changed. Bittered
sling wasn't a particularly attractive name for a beverage, so
bartenders and patrons just started calling them something else, and
for that they turned to horses asses. No, they didn't
(03:00):
turn into horses asses, well not unless they'd had a
little bit too much to drink at the bar. Now
they looked to the race tracks for inspiration. You see,
at the time, if someone wanted to purchase a horse,
its owner would have the animal parade around so that
the buyer could examine it. Aside from the color of
the coats and the pep and its stepped though, one
thing they looked for was how it carried its tail.
(03:21):
If a horse's tail was cocked upward, that meant that
it was healthy and in good spirits. But if it
was hanging down, that would be a sign of ill health,
old age, and maybe even poor breeding. So to trick
potential buyers that a horse was in better shape and
it actually might have been, owners would stick a piece
of ginger up the horses well, you get the idea.
(03:42):
This would irritate the horse and cause its tail to
be cocked upright. The practice was atrocious and abusive, but
bartenders started using it to help their patrons. And no,
they didn't stick ginger up their butts. They would mix
a few dashes of bitters in a glass with whiskey,
ice and water and hand it to the patron, telling
them that it would cock their tail or rejuvenate them.
(04:05):
And so the phrase eventually became the name by which
we call all mixed drinks today cocktails. All because somebody
thought it was a good idea to put ginger in
a horse's but no wonder they have such long faces.
(04:34):
And African American Spiritual was published that quickly took the
world by storm. It was recorded by countless artists over
the years and has appeared in a number of movies
and television shows ever since, especially those set up at
a summer camp. It's so well known today it's probably
a cliche, just picture of granola eating camp counselor sitting
(04:54):
around a fire and acoustic guitar in his lap as
he leads the campers in a rollicking rendition of He's
Got the whole World in his hands. It's a song
about God, and for those who believe it explains how
he is in control of the lives that live in
the world he's created. It's meant to convey the comforting
image of an omnipotent being cradling the earth and the
(05:15):
creatures that inhabit it. But one man thought that he
could play God by creating his own world, and little
did he know that his new invention would shake things
up in a whole new way. His name was Irwin Persey,
and he hailed from Austria at the turn of the
twentieth century. In nineteen hundred, when Persey was just twenty
four years old, he was in charge of designing and
(05:36):
repairing medical tools used by doctors and surgeons. Occasionally, when
a doctor was in need of something specific, they would
go to Persey and request a new tool to be made. Irwin,
like I said, was only twenty four years old at
the time when doctors in town came to him with
a desperate plea. They're dark operating rooms needed better lighting.
Lightbulbs had been around for a number of years, but
(05:58):
they were inefficient and the light that they produced was
not enough for them to work by. They needed something
better and brighter, so Perzy got to work. He started
doing research, which brought him to shoemakers. You see, shoemakers
often worked long hours in rooms with minimal lights, so
they relied on a special kind of lamp to keep
their workspace illuminated. It was comprised of four glass balls
(06:21):
or flasks filled with liquid. Sometimes they would be filled
with water, but schnops or absinthe worked as well. The
flasks were of different sizes, with the master shoemaker seated
in front of the largest, while his apprentices sat before
the smaller ones. They hung by leather straps around their
necks from a wooden stool while a candle burned in
the center, and the lamps macab appearances what gave it
(06:44):
its other name, the gallows lamp. A light from the
flame would be amplified by the liquid in the glass
balls in front of it, and if they had been
filled within adult beverage like schnops, the apprentices would take
SIPs while the master was away. Percy liked the idea
of the shoemaker's lamp, but he felt that it needed
something else to make it more suitable for surgeons. He
(07:05):
had a bright idea pun intended by the way of
adding metal flakes to the inside that would help the
light reach farther instead, though it had a different effect.
Shaking the semelina filled glass balls in his hand, Percy
watched as the metal flakes drifted all throughout, the liquid,
settling on the bottom like fresh fallen snow. And so
(07:26):
he pivoted from making light sources for surgeons and opened
a factory to produce his brand new product, the snow globe.
His first snow globe had a tiny model of the
Austrian Basilica inside. It became so popular as a gift
that it wasn't until World War Two when his son,
Irwin Persey the Second expanded the lineup. He had been
working with the U. S. Military when he was told
(07:48):
that the troops would buy his family snow globes if
they were more recognizable figures inside, since the basilica held
almost no meaning to them. So Persey the second returned
to the factory with their feedback and designed three new models.
One had a Christmas tree inside, another had a snowman,
and the last held Santa Claus. Over the years, the
(08:08):
product line has grown and different companies have come up
with their own versions. Go into any souvenir shop today
in any major tourist destination and you're sure to find
a snow globe with Disneyland, or the Chicago Skyline or
the Empire State Building inside. But nothing quite measures up
to what the Perseys have been making for the last
one d and twenty years. The snow inside an authentic
(08:31):
Austrian snow globe is made from a top secret formula
that blends plastic with other materials to provide a squall
that can last up to two minutes. It's an experience
not easily replicated, but perhaps the greatest lasting testament to
Irwin Persey's original creation. Aren't the snow globes with Christmas
trees or snowman inside. It was one specific snow globe,
(08:53):
the only one of its kind, which was made around
nineteen one. It held a small, long cabin and was
owned by a tyrannical newspaper magnate. The globe was destroyed
when it slipped from his fingers upon his untimely death,
a final reminder of the only time in his life
when he was truly happy, frolicking in the snow as
a child and writing his beloved sled Rosebud. Though no
(09:17):
records exist that Percy had created the snow globe for R.
K O Pictures, it is widely believed that the object
owned by Orson Wells character in Citizen Kane was made
by the famous Viennese company Irwin Persey. Did not set
out to make sentimental glass balls filled with water, but
he did, and so much more. He gave every customer
a chance to hold a small world in the palm
(09:40):
of their hands. 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 Manky
in partner ship with How Stuff Works. I make another
(10:02):
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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