September 17, 2026 • 11 mins
Death is on the schedule for today's tour, just not in any way you might have predicted.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & 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):
Jose looked out across his home in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico,
or what was left of it. A nearby river had flooded,
and the city was now underwater. He had lost friends
and family, and he would have to start all over.
Jose was a cartoonist who knew how to use new
modern printing technologies like lithography and engraving to mass-produce his cartoons.
(00:59):
Since he couldn't stay in Leon, the next most logical
place to move was Mexico City. where a newspaper could
surely make use of his abilities. Arriving in the city
in 1889, he soon found work with publisher Antonio Venejas Arroyo,
one of the most successful newspapermen in Mexico. Antonio had
a big problem, too. Only 32% of Mexicans at the
(01:21):
time could read. And since he wasn't about to tackle
the country's education problem himself, his next best solution was
to hire Jose to draw eye-catching cartoons in his newspaper.
And Jose, was happy to have the work, and he
set out into the city for inspiration. In early November,
he saw people celebrating All Saints Day, which in Mexico
(01:41):
was a hybrid Catholic and indigenous holiday honoring the dead.
The thought of the old Aztec folklore warmed him on
his cold night. He thought of the priests making offerings
to their ancestors with skeletons and flowers on the altars.
And these ancient Aztec traditions had carried over into José' s time.
with people using crucifixes and saint icons added into the mix.
(02:04):
The old Catholic missionaries had incorporated the holiday rather than
outright abolish it. And this mixture of skulls and saints,
bones and flowers, well, it was almost cute. So he
started incorporating these skulls, or calaveras, into his artwork for
the newspaper. He drew the local peasants as skeletons with
sombreros and skirts, dancing, drinking, and playing instruments. and the
(02:28):
Calaveras were an immediate success. The illiterate audience was pulled in,
recognizing themselves in the artwork. Instead of being off-put by
being depicted as skeletons, people were honored. This artwork connected
them to their ancient indigenous ancestors, as if they were
all one people stretching back through time. And they needed
(02:49):
this encouragement, too, because this was a time of extreme
oppression in Mexico. Just a few years earlier, in 1876,
the dictator Porfirio Diaz had overthrown the Mexican government and
essentially sold the country out to the United States. He
forced the poor from their homes to make railroads and
mines that could export goods to the U.S. He even
(03:10):
forced some workers into laboring on these projects against their will.
This all came to a head in 1911, when Diaz
refused to recognize the results of an election and the
people of the lower and upper classes rioted, ousting him
from the country. This was the beginning of the Mexican Revolution,
which was, in truth, also a civil war between various
(03:31):
political factions in Mexico. And José, our artist, saw the
violence developing all around him and produced even more cartoons,
depicting both the wealthy elites and the poor guerrilla fighters
as caballeros. He tried to show how they were all
human underneath their clothes and skin. But Jose had lived
a hard life in a hard time. He descended into
(03:54):
alcoholism during the next few years, and he died in
1913 from complications related to that disease. He was buried
in an unmarked grave without a penny to his name,
despite his impact on the culture of Mexico. And that
impact would only increase in the years after his death.
José' s artwork continued to be adopted by the people, being
(04:15):
incorporated more and more frequently into Day of the Dead celebrations. Paintings, sculptures, altars,
and toys all mimicked his calaveras. And as a result,
those cute clothed and decorated skeletons became the most famous
artistic image in Mexico, despite people not knowing José' s name.
But he was admired in certain circles— By the 1950s,
(04:38):
José Posada was depicted on the artwork of left-wing newspapers
in Mexico that still wanted more rights for the working class.
They imagined him, in the early 1900s, seeing the violent
industrialization of the Díaz regime and assumed that he would
support their cause. In truth, he was dismayed by the
violence that he saw on both sides of the political spectrum.
(04:59):
But he certainly did criticize the ruling elites, often drawing
calaveras in the wide hats and flowering dresses— of the
wealthy women of this time. As with any country, Mexico
has continued to have its political shifts, but Jose Posada's
impact has only grown. Day of the Dead has become
more and more popular across North America, and the Calaveras
(05:21):
are always present in these celebrations and in depictions of
the holiday. Calaveras have appeared in films like Pixar's Coco
and the James Bond film Spectre. I guess it goes
to show you that you never know just how big
of an impact your work might have on the rest
of the world. For Jose Posada, the results were curious.
(05:55):
The curtains were drawn, the candles had been extinguished, and
Parker's sheets had been neatly pulled back. He snuggled up inside,
his old bones creaking, because he was weary. As the
moonlight shone on his drowsy face, he began to drift
to sleep. But the moonlight suddenly got brighter, a glow
filling his room. He blinked his eyes open, only to
(06:17):
find the ghost of Sir George Villers of Leicestershire standing
in his bedroom. It was early 1628 in England. The
exact date and Parker's full name are unknown to us,
and yet versions of this story have circulated since the
17th century. Whether Parker really saw a ghost is up
to you, but the murder that it supposedly predicted was
(06:40):
absolutely real. Parker had been friends with Sir George in
real life, so he was astonished to see him standing there.
The ghost stepped forward with a dire request for Parker.
He begged him to go to Sir George's son, George Villers,
the Duke of Buckingham, and the Duke was beloved by
the King, James I., and was close friends with his son,
(07:00):
the recently crowned Charles I. He was one of the
most powerful men in England, but his father had a
premonition from the beyond, and if he didn't retreat from court,
from the company of dangerous politicians and generals, he would
soon meet a violent end. So, to some, we have
the ghost of a George who is worried about his
living son George and is bringing a warning to Parker.
(07:24):
And then, The ghost disappeared, and Parker could hardly believe
what had just taken place. In fact, he chose not
to believe it. He brushed it off as a delusion
brought on by fatigue. But the next night, the candles
were once again extinguished, and the bed was once again
turned down. Parker climbed onto the bed and tried to relax,
and just as he drifted off, a loud shout came
(07:45):
from the corner of the room. He jumped up, only
to find the ghost of Sir George Sr. once again
in his room, this time with his teeth bared and
his eyes blazing like fire. He was furious that Parker
had not gone to warn his son, the Duke of Buckingham.
Parker promised that this time he would heed his old
friend's warning and go to see the son. Sometime later,
(08:09):
Parker found himself in Lambeth in southern London by the
River Thames. Parker looked down into the murky water below
and imagined Sir George reaching out to pull him in
if he didn't go through with his demands. Luckily, the
meeting had already been arranged, the Duke arrived with his entourage,
Parker had requested privacy, and so the Duke walked and
talked with him while his men waited behind. And Parker
(08:32):
could see why the king might favor the Duke. He
was quite handsome, with plump red lips, a Roman nose,
bright eyes, and a delicately feathered goatee. The Duke seemed
impatient as Parker shared what had taken place. He acted
like he would rather not be there. like he would
rather still be on a hunting trip that he had
just come from. But when Parker told him that the
(08:53):
ghost had been his own father and said that the
Duke would soon meet a violent end, the Duke just laughed.
He shook his head and walked back to his coach.
That night, Parker couldn't sleep. Sure enough, the ghost of
Sir George Sr. appeared once more, but he wasn't angry
this time. He thanked his old friend Parker for trying
to convince his son to leave court, but he knew
(09:14):
that it hadn't worked. The Duke suddenly pulled a gleaming
dagger from his clothes, which Parker noted were distinctly old-fashioned
from the time when Sir George had died many years earlier.
His ghost proclaimed that the dagger was the weapon that
would soon take his son's life. In August of 1628,
the Duke of Buckingham entered the Greyhound Inn in Portsmouth.
(09:37):
He was there only for a short while before a
shadowy figure emerged, quickly moving toward him before just as
quickly fleeing. When some of the patrons of the inn
turned to ask the Duke if anything was wrong, he
slowly turned around, coughing up blood. He shouted, villain, and
revealed that the shadowy figure had plunged a knife into
(09:57):
his chest. He plucked out the knife and stared at
it for a moment before collapsing onto a table in
front of him. The Duke had been assassinated by John Felton,
a disgruntled lieutenant of one of the Duke's disastrous military campaigns.
He had been denied two promotions and was owed a
large amount of back pay. Although, curiously enough, the Duke's
(10:18):
death wasn't the only one that the ghost had predicted.
You see, when Sir George Sr. last visited Parker in
his sleep, he warned him that he too would soon
meet his death, but it would be due to natural causes.
And sure enough, Parker died of old age not long
after that. It was a chilling end to a chilling story.
But then again, maybe it's not that impressive to predict
(10:40):
the natural death of an aging Englishman and the assassination
of an unpopular politician. If the ghost of Sir George
was real, he made some really easy bets. I hope
you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
This show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership
(11:02):
with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim &
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
grimandmild.com slash curiosities. You'll also find a link to the
official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book, available in bookstores and online,
as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking
(11:23):
for an ad-free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's all
the same stories, but without the interruption for a small
monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at patreon.com
slash grimandmild. And until next time... Stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & 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):
Jose looked out across his home in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico,
or what was left of it. A nearby river had flooded,
and the city was now underwater. He had lost friends
and family, and he would have to start all over.
Jose was a cartoonist who knew how to use new
modern printing technologies like lithography and engraving to mass-produce his cartoons.
(00:59):
Since he couldn't stay in Leon, the next most logical
place to move was Mexico City. where a newspaper could
surely make use of his abilities. Arriving in the city
in 1889, he soon found work with publisher Antonio Venejas Arroyo,
one of the most successful newspapermen in Mexico. Antonio had
a big problem, too. Only 32% of Mexicans at the
(01:21):
time could read. And since he wasn't about to tackle
the country's education problem himself, his next best solution was
to hire Jose to draw eye-catching cartoons in his newspaper.
And Jose, was happy to have the work, and he
set out into the city for inspiration. In early November,
he saw people celebrating All Saints Day, which in Mexico
(01:41):
was a hybrid Catholic and indigenous holiday honoring the dead.
The thought of the old Aztec folklore warmed him on
his cold night. He thought of the priests making offerings
to their ancestors with skeletons and flowers on the altars.
And these ancient Aztec traditions had carried over into José' s time.
with people using crucifixes and saint icons added into the mix.
(02:04):
The old Catholic missionaries had incorporated the holiday rather than
outright abolish it. And this mixture of skulls and saints,
bones and flowers, well, it was almost cute. So he
started incorporating these skulls, or calaveras, into his artwork for
the newspaper. He drew the local peasants as skeletons with
sombreros and skirts, dancing, drinking, and playing instruments. and the
(02:28):
Calaveras were an immediate success. The illiterate audience was pulled in,
recognizing themselves in the artwork. Instead of being off-put by
being depicted as skeletons, people were honored. This artwork connected
them to their ancient indigenous ancestors, as if they were
all one people stretching back through time. And they needed
(02:49):
this encouragement, too, because this was a time of extreme
oppression in Mexico. Just a few years earlier, in 1876,
the dictator Porfirio Diaz had overthrown the Mexican government and
essentially sold the country out to the United States. He
forced the poor from their homes to make railroads and
mines that could export goods to the U.S. He even
(03:10):
forced some workers into laboring on these projects against their will.
This all came to a head in 1911, when Diaz
refused to recognize the results of an election and the
people of the lower and upper classes rioted, ousting him
from the country. This was the beginning of the Mexican Revolution,
which was, in truth, also a civil war between various
(03:31):
political factions in Mexico. And José, our artist, saw the
violence developing all around him and produced even more cartoons,
depicting both the wealthy elites and the poor guerrilla fighters
as caballeros. He tried to show how they were all
human underneath their clothes and skin. But Jose had lived
a hard life in a hard time. He descended into
(03:54):
alcoholism during the next few years, and he died in
1913 from complications related to that disease. He was buried
in an unmarked grave without a penny to his name,
despite his impact on the culture of Mexico. And that
impact would only increase in the years after his death.
José' s artwork continued to be adopted by the people, being
(04:15):
incorporated more and more frequently into Day of the Dead celebrations. Paintings, sculptures, altars,
and toys all mimicked his calaveras. And as a result,
those cute clothed and decorated skeletons became the most famous
artistic image in Mexico, despite people not knowing José' s name.
But he was admired in certain circles— By the 1950s,
(04:38):
José Posada was depicted on the artwork of left-wing newspapers
in Mexico that still wanted more rights for the working class.
They imagined him, in the early 1900s, seeing the violent
industrialization of the Díaz regime and assumed that he would
support their cause. In truth, he was dismayed by the
violence that he saw on both sides of the political spectrum.
(04:59):
But he certainly did criticize the ruling elites, often drawing
calaveras in the wide hats and flowering dresses— of the
wealthy women of this time. As with any country, Mexico
has continued to have its political shifts, but Jose Posada's
impact has only grown. Day of the Dead has become
more and more popular across North America, and the Calaveras
(05:21):
are always present in these celebrations and in depictions of
the holiday. Calaveras have appeared in films like Pixar's Coco
and the James Bond film Spectre. I guess it goes
to show you that you never know just how big
of an impact your work might have on the rest
of the world. For Jose Posada, the results were curious.
(05:55):
The curtains were drawn, the candles had been extinguished, and
Parker's sheets had been neatly pulled back. He snuggled up inside,
his old bones creaking, because he was weary. As the
moonlight shone on his drowsy face, he began to drift
to sleep. But the moonlight suddenly got brighter, a glow
filling his room. He blinked his eyes open, only to
(06:17):
find the ghost of Sir George Villers of Leicestershire standing
in his bedroom. It was early 1628 in England. The
exact date and Parker's full name are unknown to us,
and yet versions of this story have circulated since the
17th century. Whether Parker really saw a ghost is up
to you, but the murder that it supposedly predicted was
(06:40):
absolutely real. Parker had been friends with Sir George in
real life, so he was astonished to see him standing there.
The ghost stepped forward with a dire request for Parker.
He begged him to go to Sir George's son, George Villers,
the Duke of Buckingham, and the Duke was beloved by
the King, James I., and was close friends with his son,
(07:00):
the recently crowned Charles I. He was one of the
most powerful men in England, but his father had a
premonition from the beyond, and if he didn't retreat from court,
from the company of dangerous politicians and generals, he would
soon meet a violent end. So, to some, we have
the ghost of a George who is worried about his
living son George and is bringing a warning to Parker.
(07:24):
And then, The ghost disappeared, and Parker could hardly believe
what had just taken place. In fact, he chose not
to believe it. He brushed it off as a delusion
brought on by fatigue. But the next night, the candles
were once again extinguished, and the bed was once again
turned down. Parker climbed onto the bed and tried to relax,
and just as he drifted off, a loud shout came
(07:45):
from the corner of the room. He jumped up, only
to find the ghost of Sir George Sr. once again
in his room, this time with his teeth bared and
his eyes blazing like fire. He was furious that Parker
had not gone to warn his son, the Duke of Buckingham.
Parker promised that this time he would heed his old
friend's warning and go to see the son. Sometime later,
(08:09):
Parker found himself in Lambeth in southern London by the
River Thames. Parker looked down into the murky water below
and imagined Sir George reaching out to pull him in
if he didn't go through with his demands. Luckily, the
meeting had already been arranged, the Duke arrived with his entourage,
Parker had requested privacy, and so the Duke walked and
talked with him while his men waited behind. And Parker
(08:32):
could see why the king might favor the Duke. He
was quite handsome, with plump red lips, a Roman nose,
bright eyes, and a delicately feathered goatee. The Duke seemed
impatient as Parker shared what had taken place. He acted
like he would rather not be there. like he would
rather still be on a hunting trip that he had
just come from. But when Parker told him that the
(08:53):
ghost had been his own father and said that the
Duke would soon meet a violent end, the Duke just laughed.
He shook his head and walked back to his coach.
That night, Parker couldn't sleep. Sure enough, the ghost of
Sir George Sr. appeared once more, but he wasn't angry
this time. He thanked his old friend Parker for trying
to convince his son to leave court, but he knew
(09:14):
that it hadn't worked. The Duke suddenly pulled a gleaming
dagger from his clothes, which Parker noted were distinctly old-fashioned
from the time when Sir George had died many years earlier.
His ghost proclaimed that the dagger was the weapon that
would soon take his son's life. In August of 1628,
the Duke of Buckingham entered the Greyhound Inn in Portsmouth.
(09:37):
He was there only for a short while before a
shadowy figure emerged, quickly moving toward him before just as
quickly fleeing. When some of the patrons of the inn
turned to ask the Duke if anything was wrong, he
slowly turned around, coughing up blood. He shouted, villain, and
revealed that the shadowy figure had plunged a knife into
(09:57):
his chest. He plucked out the knife and stared at
it for a moment before collapsing onto a table in
front of him. The Duke had been assassinated by John Felton,
a disgruntled lieutenant of one of the Duke's disastrous military campaigns.
He had been denied two promotions and was owed a
large amount of back pay. Although, curiously enough, the Duke's
(10:18):
death wasn't the only one that the ghost had predicted.
You see, when Sir George Sr. last visited Parker in
his sleep, he warned him that he too would soon
meet his death, but it would be due to natural causes.
And sure enough, Parker died of old age not long
after that. It was a chilling end to a chilling story.
But then again, maybe it's not that impressive to predict
(10:40):
the natural death of an aging Englishman and the assassination
of an unpopular politician. If the ghost of Sir George
was real, he made some really easy bets. I hope
you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
This show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership
(11:02):
with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim &
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
grimandmild.com slash curiosities. You'll also find a link to the
official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book, available in bookstores and online,
as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking
(11:23):
for an ad-free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's all
the same stories, but without the interruption for a small
monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at patreon.com
slash grimandmild. And until next time... Stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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