December 25, 2025 • 10 mins
Today's tour through the Cabinet will involve trimming back the lies to find the truth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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 of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Violets sat in the parlor of Welsh doctor Edward Hughes Jones.
He was twice her age, but she was professing her
love for him. He was so kind and so generous.
She was an heiress. Her first husband was a soldier
who died at sea, but his fortune wouldn't become hers
until her twenty fifth birthday, which was still years away.
(00:57):
In the meantime, doctor Jones was offering to support Violet financially.
They would become engaged and she would pay him back
tenfold in just a few years. She was so grateful
she burst into tears and embraced him. With the help
of doctor Jones and other generous locals, Violet was able
to live the life befitting an heiress. In the early
(01:17):
twentieth century, she stayed in a manor home in Wales
and wore fined for coats and expensive jewelry, when appraiser
remarked that she had the finest collection of diamonds he
had ever seen, more than anything. Violet loved fast cars,
and she acquired a collection of top of the line automobiles.
She raced them through the countryside, and her maintenance bills
(01:38):
grew to thousands of pounds each year, the equivalent to
hundreds of thousands of dollars today. But happiness is always fleeting,
isn't it ed In Violet's case, her lavish lifestyle was
destined to have an expiration date. On January tewod of
nineteen oh nine, Violet was driving one of her cars
on a narrow seaside road just above the wall. She
(02:01):
lost control and crashed, being thrown from the driver's seat
and into the ocean. All that was left of her
was her hat sitting on the road. She was just
shy of her twenty fifth birthday. Violet's mother was filled
with grief. She spread the news far and wide of
her daughter's death, except the police weren't quite as moved
(02:21):
as she was. There were a few things about the
car wreck that didn't add up. For one, there was
no damage to the car other than the driver's side
window being broken. That was supposedly where Violet had been
thrown from the car. But that was the other odd thing.
There was no blood anywhere. If Violet had really gone
through the window, there should have been blood everywhere. This
(02:42):
all led investigators to look deeper into Violet herself. They
found that she was seventeen thousand pounds in debt. That
amount was about a million dollars today, and there was
no record of her ever having a rich soldier husband
who died at sea. Violet Charlesworth, you see, was not
an heiress, but a prolific con artist who had scammed
(03:02):
dozens of people out of their money and then faked
her own death when it came time to pay up.
As investigators searched for her, she became a global folk hero.
Although she was a criminal, her ability to successfully pose
as a member of the upper class and then con
many of them out of their money was looked upon
with admiration. Violet was ironically known for wearing a red cloak.
(03:25):
Many women in the United Kingdom were wearing one in
her honor, although they stopped once police started to question them,
thinking that they were potentially Violet, but soon enough they
would get a much more promising lead. A woman who
looked like Violets and was going by the name Margaret
MacLeod was spotted in Scotland and she'd skipped out on
a hotel bill which definitely sounded like Violet. Reporters found
(03:47):
her first traveling south by train with a swarm of
press taking her picture. She had to admit that she was,
in fact Violet Charlesworth. Over the next several months, Violet's
celebrity only grew. She can now make her own money
honestly by giving interviews to the press. She wrote a
song about her life, she starred in a stage show.
Producers from Hollywood reached out about a silent film deal,
(04:11):
but by nineteen ten, investigators had completed their investigation and
charged both Violets and her mother with fraud. They were
found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. However,
they only served three of those years. Once free, Violet
is said to have moved to Scotland, and after that
she disappears from history. It's possible that she finally decided
(04:32):
to live a quiet life, or it's possible that she
took on a new identity and scammed her way into
another fabulous existence. Ultimately, though we will never know, The
press moved on pretty quickly with the sinking of the
Titanic in nineteen twelve, arguably the biggest news story of
all time up to that point. The Violet story has
survived to the modern day for those curious enough to
(04:54):
learn about it. Although she was a criminal, we can
all sympathize with her desire to live life among societies elites.
Her schemes were always creative, although if she could do
it all over again, maybe she would throw just a
little bit more creativity behind faking that car wreck. Perhaps
(05:25):
one of the most tense places on Earth is the
Demilitarized Zone or the DMZ, that separates North and South
Korea and acts as a buffer between the two countries.
It was created through the Armist Disagreement of nineteen fifty three,
ending the Bloody Korean War, which had caused the collective
death of nearly three million people. The agreement also created
(05:47):
a joint security area at panmud Jam, where North Korean
officials and the United Nations Command would meet to conduct diplomacy.
It was, however, an uneasy piece. Numerous clashes still took
place between North Korea and the UN Command throughout the
nineteen sixties and seventies, but these skirmishes were generally small
enough to keep tensions high, but not to inflame larger conflict.
(06:10):
That is, until the Poplar Tree. The tree had grown
too large for the UN Command's taste, as it blocked
the line of sight between a checkpoint and a nearby
observation post. It was decided that this was unacceptable, and
so a team of UNC and Korean Service Corps were
ordered to prune the tree to create a more direct
line of sight. It would take four attempts to complete.
(06:33):
The first attempt was halted when North Korea objected, stating
both sides would have to agree on whether or not
to cut back the tree. The second attempt was canceled
due to heavy rain, the third would be deadly. After
the first two failed attempts, it was decided that two
US Army officers, Captain Arthur Boniface and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett,
(06:53):
as well as a Korean Army Captain Kim, would escort
engineers to the tree in question as security. At first,
North Korean soldiers merely observed the work, but at eight
thirty am, a mere fifteen minutes into the job. Opposing
soldiers approached the site demanding that the work stop, claiming
that the poplar had been planted by none other than
(07:14):
the leader of North Korea, Kim Il sung. But when
that work did not stop, North Korean soldiers seized the
axes from the workers. In the ensuing brawl, Boniface was
struck down with confiscated axe handles, and a wounded Barrett
managed to escape to hide in a nearby ditch. Neither
man would survive his injuries. Of the three security officers,
(07:36):
only Captain Kim had survived. Things moved quickly in the
aftermath of what became known as the Korean axe murder incident.
American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger suggested bombing barracks on
the North Korean side, and President Gerald Ford called the
event a callous and unprovoked murder, but refused to order
an outright attack. After America's stinging recent loss in Vietnam,
(07:58):
there was little stomach in the administration for another war.
A different plan would have to be made. There had
to be a response that was both adequate for the
gravity of the moment, but that would stop short of
inciting violence, and so South Korean and American forces created
a plan prune the poplar tree in the center of
the conflict once in for all, using American and Korean
(08:20):
military assets in a show of force that would discourage
North Korean violence, and so Operation Paul Bunyan was launched.
The mission was to be non lethal unless North Korea
made it otherwise. Of course, that tree would be trimmed,
and so three days after the attack, a massive convoy
of South Korean and American trucks arrived at the JSA
(08:42):
as helicopters circled overhead. They were backed in turn by
gunships and an aircraft carrier battlegroup in the Sea of Japan.
Out of the military trucks came two security platoons, who
were there to guard teams of military engineers, each armed
with chainsaws, who immediately got to work trimming the poplar
at the center of everything. Although the North Korean military
(09:05):
deployed troops with machine guns, they did not act, likely
cowed by the massive show of force. When the engineers
were done trimming, they had trimmed away all of the
branches entirely, leaving a twenty foot tall stump as a
stark reminder. The event also ended a series of small
but deadly clashes that had dogged the JSA since the
nineteen fifty three Armistice. Occasional deaths would still occur, but
(09:28):
compared to the decades before the incident, they were few
and far between. A plaque was placed at the site
of Boniface and Barrett's murders to honor their sacrifice. In
the end, the poplar's removal was more than a simple
pruning job. By wielding chainsaws under the watchful eyes of
a formidable yet non lethal show of force, the Allies
(09:48):
sent a clear message aggression would be met with strength,
but not with renewed war. It was a measured display
of resolve that turned a flash point of bloodshed into
a lasting symbol of restraint. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
(10:10):
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. 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 worldoflore dot com. And until
(10:32):
next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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 of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Violets sat in the parlor of Welsh doctor Edward Hughes Jones.
He was twice her age, but she was professing her
love for him. He was so kind and so generous.
She was an heiress. Her first husband was a soldier
who died at sea, but his fortune wouldn't become hers
until her twenty fifth birthday, which was still years away.
(00:57):
In the meantime, doctor Jones was offering to support Violet financially.
They would become engaged and she would pay him back
tenfold in just a few years. She was so grateful
she burst into tears and embraced him. With the help
of doctor Jones and other generous locals, Violet was able
to live the life befitting an heiress. In the early
(01:17):
twentieth century, she stayed in a manor home in Wales
and wore fined for coats and expensive jewelry, when appraiser
remarked that she had the finest collection of diamonds he
had ever seen, more than anything. Violet loved fast cars,
and she acquired a collection of top of the line automobiles.
She raced them through the countryside, and her maintenance bills
(01:38):
grew to thousands of pounds each year, the equivalent to
hundreds of thousands of dollars today. But happiness is always fleeting,
isn't it ed In Violet's case, her lavish lifestyle was
destined to have an expiration date. On January tewod of
nineteen oh nine, Violet was driving one of her cars
on a narrow seaside road just above the wall. She
(02:01):
lost control and crashed, being thrown from the driver's seat
and into the ocean. All that was left of her
was her hat sitting on the road. She was just
shy of her twenty fifth birthday. Violet's mother was filled
with grief. She spread the news far and wide of
her daughter's death, except the police weren't quite as moved
(02:21):
as she was. There were a few things about the
car wreck that didn't add up. For one, there was
no damage to the car other than the driver's side
window being broken. That was supposedly where Violet had been
thrown from the car. But that was the other odd thing.
There was no blood anywhere. If Violet had really gone
through the window, there should have been blood everywhere. This
(02:42):
all led investigators to look deeper into Violet herself. They
found that she was seventeen thousand pounds in debt. That
amount was about a million dollars today, and there was
no record of her ever having a rich soldier husband
who died at sea. Violet Charlesworth, you see, was not
an heiress, but a prolific con artist who had scammed
(03:02):
dozens of people out of their money and then faked
her own death when it came time to pay up.
As investigators searched for her, she became a global folk hero.
Although she was a criminal, her ability to successfully pose
as a member of the upper class and then con
many of them out of their money was looked upon
with admiration. Violet was ironically known for wearing a red cloak.
(03:25):
Many women in the United Kingdom were wearing one in
her honor, although they stopped once police started to question them,
thinking that they were potentially Violet, but soon enough they
would get a much more promising lead. A woman who
looked like Violets and was going by the name Margaret
MacLeod was spotted in Scotland and she'd skipped out on
a hotel bill which definitely sounded like Violet. Reporters found
(03:47):
her first traveling south by train with a swarm of
press taking her picture. She had to admit that she was,
in fact Violet Charlesworth. Over the next several months, Violet's
celebrity only grew. She can now make her own money
honestly by giving interviews to the press. She wrote a
song about her life, she starred in a stage show.
Producers from Hollywood reached out about a silent film deal,
(04:11):
but by nineteen ten, investigators had completed their investigation and
charged both Violets and her mother with fraud. They were
found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. However,
they only served three of those years. Once free, Violet
is said to have moved to Scotland, and after that
she disappears from history. It's possible that she finally decided
(04:32):
to live a quiet life, or it's possible that she
took on a new identity and scammed her way into
another fabulous existence. Ultimately, though we will never know, The
press moved on pretty quickly with the sinking of the
Titanic in nineteen twelve, arguably the biggest news story of
all time up to that point. The Violet story has
survived to the modern day for those curious enough to
(04:54):
learn about it. Although she was a criminal, we can
all sympathize with her desire to live life among societies elites.
Her schemes were always creative, although if she could do
it all over again, maybe she would throw just a
little bit more creativity behind faking that car wreck. Perhaps
(05:25):
one of the most tense places on Earth is the
Demilitarized Zone or the DMZ, that separates North and South
Korea and acts as a buffer between the two countries.
It was created through the Armist Disagreement of nineteen fifty three,
ending the Bloody Korean War, which had caused the collective
death of nearly three million people. The agreement also created
(05:47):
a joint security area at panmud Jam, where North Korean
officials and the United Nations Command would meet to conduct diplomacy.
It was, however, an uneasy piece. Numerous clashes still took
place between North Korea and the UN Command throughout the
nineteen sixties and seventies, but these skirmishes were generally small
enough to keep tensions high, but not to inflame larger conflict.
(06:10):
That is, until the Poplar Tree. The tree had grown
too large for the UN Command's taste, as it blocked
the line of sight between a checkpoint and a nearby
observation post. It was decided that this was unacceptable, and
so a team of UNC and Korean Service Corps were
ordered to prune the tree to create a more direct
line of sight. It would take four attempts to complete.
(06:33):
The first attempt was halted when North Korea objected, stating
both sides would have to agree on whether or not
to cut back the tree. The second attempt was canceled
due to heavy rain, the third would be deadly. After
the first two failed attempts, it was decided that two
US Army officers, Captain Arthur Boniface and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett,
(06:53):
as well as a Korean Army Captain Kim, would escort
engineers to the tree in question as security. At first,
North Korean soldiers merely observed the work, but at eight
thirty am, a mere fifteen minutes into the job. Opposing
soldiers approached the site demanding that the work stop, claiming
that the poplar had been planted by none other than
(07:14):
the leader of North Korea, Kim Il sung. But when
that work did not stop, North Korean soldiers seized the
axes from the workers. In the ensuing brawl, Boniface was
struck down with confiscated axe handles, and a wounded Barrett
managed to escape to hide in a nearby ditch. Neither
man would survive his injuries. Of the three security officers,
(07:36):
only Captain Kim had survived. Things moved quickly in the
aftermath of what became known as the Korean axe murder incident.
American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger suggested bombing barracks on
the North Korean side, and President Gerald Ford called the
event a callous and unprovoked murder, but refused to order
an outright attack. After America's stinging recent loss in Vietnam,
(07:58):
there was little stomach in the administration for another war.
A different plan would have to be made. There had
to be a response that was both adequate for the
gravity of the moment, but that would stop short of
inciting violence, and so South Korean and American forces created
a plan prune the poplar tree in the center of
the conflict once in for all, using American and Korean
(08:20):
military assets in a show of force that would discourage
North Korean violence, and so Operation Paul Bunyan was launched.
The mission was to be non lethal unless North Korea
made it otherwise. Of course, that tree would be trimmed,
and so three days after the attack, a massive convoy
of South Korean and American trucks arrived at the JSA
(08:42):
as helicopters circled overhead. They were backed in turn by
gunships and an aircraft carrier battlegroup in the Sea of Japan.
Out of the military trucks came two security platoons, who
were there to guard teams of military engineers, each armed
with chainsaws, who immediately got to work trimming the poplar
at the center of everything. Although the North Korean military
(09:05):
deployed troops with machine guns, they did not act, likely
cowed by the massive show of force. When the engineers
were done trimming, they had trimmed away all of the
branches entirely, leaving a twenty foot tall stump as a
stark reminder. The event also ended a series of small
but deadly clashes that had dogged the JSA since the
nineteen fifty three Armistice. Occasional deaths would still occur, but
(09:28):
compared to the decades before the incident, they were few
and far between. A plaque was placed at the site
of Boniface and Barrett's murders to honor their sacrifice. In
the end, the poplar's removal was more than a simple
pruning job. By wielding chainsaws under the watchful eyes of
a formidable yet non lethal show of force, the Allies
(09:48):
sent a clear message aggression would be met with strength,
but not with renewed war. It was a measured display
of resolve that turned a flash point of bloodshed into
a lasting symbol of restraint. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
(10:10):
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. 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 worldoflore dot com. And until
(10:32):
next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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