Send In the Clowns

We go abroad today to explore a pair of curiosities that changed the world around them.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menke'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):
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's a
phrase that we've all heard before, and we've also heard
the stories of how far some people in history were
willing to go for the sake of looking good. But
what about how far their looks might take them. Well,
For one young woman, beauty turned out to be a
ticket to a brand new life, that is, if she
could escape her dangerous reality. Rose was born in January

(00:59):
of eighteen twenty five for in a small French village
located in the picturesque region of Normandy, but her childhood
was far from idyllic. Her father was abusive, and when
she was still a young girl, her mother fled home
to escape him. So Rose grew up looking out for herself.
But as independent as she was, she was still at
the mercy of her father's will. When she was just

(01:20):
fourteen years old, he sold her to a seventy year
old man who bought her to work in his shop.
It must have been scary for a teenage girl, but
there was one silver lining to all this. The old
man's shop was located in Paris. Rose was going to
leave her little village behind and head to the big city.
Once there, she was immediately put to work, but she

(01:40):
didn't want to be a shop girl forever. To her surprise,
working her way up in the world didn't turn out
to be hard. You see, people in Paris often complimented
her appearance, which was new for her. They marveled at
her wide, sparkling eyes, her rosy cheeks, pale skin, and
thin frame. This was the height of the Victorian era,
mind you, when aristocratic women and used heavy makeup and

(02:01):
tight corsets to emulate a look that Rose just happened
to possess naturally. Young men came in and out of
the shop every day, most of whom were university students
hoping to make their mark on the world. But in
a city like Paris, it was hard to stand out,
even for someone who had the rare opportunity to earn
an education. But in a world of exclusive parties and

(02:22):
elite societies. These young men knew that one thing would
always help them stand out in a crowd, a beautiful
woman at their side, and honestly, Rose knew this too.
She quickly learned how to flash a smile to get
their attention and then reel them in with a little flirting.
She impressed them with her poison intellect, and within no
time she had left the shop behind. Soon enough, Rose

(02:43):
met a well known duke who, like everyone else, was
stunned by her beauty and her intellect. He also knew
about her past and wanted to help her, so he
taught her how to dress like an aristocrat, and honestly,
Rose's sense of style came naturally. Once she had mastered
the details, like how to lay petticoats or pair a
shawl with a parasol, she became a fashion icon, and

(03:05):
in Paris that was saying something. But of course, Rose
alfonsine Plessi was more than just a pretty face. As
a final touch, she changed her name to Marie Duplessi,
which sounded more refined than her birth name, and this
is the change that she needed. By eighteen forty seven,
at the age of just twenty three, she was viewed
as one of the most fashionable women in Paris. However,

(03:27):
it wasn't just her glamorous looks and lifestyle that earned
her such admiration. You see, long before arriving in Paris,
Marie had encountered something dangerous that had changed her and
made her more attractive. She had encountered tuberculosis or TB
for short. It was a serious lung infection that had
been ravaging Europe, and it was the effects of the

(03:48):
disease that had turned her into an icon. Why well,
people who suffered from TV were seen by many as
doomed and romantic. The fever gave victims a rosy complexion
and red lips, as well as sparkling eyes. Add in
the severe weight loss and the pale skin and TB
created quite the look, and as victorians were wont to do,

(04:10):
they idolized it and copied it. But Marie, even before
setting foots in Paris, she had acquired the look the
natural way. She gave off that ever so attractive sense
of frailty and mystique, all thanks to the effects of tuberculosis.
Not all stories get a happy ending, though Marie eventually
died from her illness, but rather than move on and

(04:32):
forget her, popular culture grieved her with novels and operas.
In tribute of her, artists painted her portraits, their attraction
to her beauty untouched even by death. So yes, beauty
might very well be in the eye of the beholder,
But as Marie's story shows us, beauty can also be
a curse. Today, Toronto, Canada is a glistening metropolis, home

(05:10):
to world class food and art, the Toronto International Film Festival,
the Stanley Cup, and, perhaps most importantly, Keanu Reeves. Back
in the eighteen fifties, though the city had not yet
outgrown its frontier town roots, life was tougher, neighborhoods were rougher,
and if a citizen of Toronto needed help, there was
no guarantee that they would get it from the city. Say,

(05:31):
for instance, that your business caught fire. Back then, Toronto
didn't have a public fire brigade. Most cities didn't. In fact, Instead,
the second that smoke started rising, rival firefighting companies would
rush to the scene and try to claim that the
blaze was theirs, sometimes with disastrous results, like how in
June of eighteen fifty five, when a fire broke out

(05:51):
on Church Streets in Toronto. The Hook and Latter Brigade
arrived on the scene first, but didn't fight the fire. Instead,
they fought the next fire company that arrived. Firefighters from
both sides brawled in the streets and even looted the
home that they were supposed to save. The police weren't
any better either. Cops were appointed back then, not hired,
and often had little to no training. There was almost

(06:14):
no accountability, and many ignored orders from their superior officers
to do what they wanted. So when the police arrived
at the Hook and Ladder fights in eighteen fifty five,
many constables joined in on the brawl. While the police
and firefighters fought, the business owners were left to watch
their lives work crumble to ashes. The incident was still

(06:35):
smoldering in the public's mind when just a few weeks later,
the Hook and Ladders got into trouble once again. On
the night of July twelfth of eighteen fifty five, several
firemen were patronizing a brothel when a new group of
customers arrived. S. B. Howe's circus was in town and
several clowns had come to enjoy the bordello's service. Now
you might be picturing Bozo the clown walking into a bar,

(06:57):
but these clowns were tough customers. When they weren't entertaining crowds,
they were performing the difficult labor of putting up tents,
building platforms, and keeping the circus safe. It's not entirely
clear who set things off or how. Perhaps insults were
traded or tempers flared. Most believe that at some point
during the night, though, a drunk fireman knocked off a

(07:18):
clown's hat when he refused to apologize, a fight broke out.
The clowns emerged victorious injuring several firefighters and sending the
hook and latter boys packing. And I know what you're thinking,
a fight between clowns and firemen has to be a
once in a lifetime thing, But you'd be wrong. Upset
at being bested by these clowns, the very next day,

(07:39):
the firemen launched their counter attack in Toronto. At this time,
many public officials, firemen, and police belonged to a Protestant
group called the Orange Order. Beyond their political aspirations, Orange Men,
as they were called, were also known for their brawling,
usually choosing to focus on fighting Catholics on Friday, the
thirteenth of June. However, they went after this sir. The

(08:01):
gathering crowd through stones, overturned wagons, beat up performers, and
tore down the big top. When flames broke out and
someone rang for the fire brigade, the Hook and Ladders
answered the call. They rushed straight past the fires and
jumped into the melee. Neither the police chief nor the
mayor showing up, did anything to stop the violence. It
wasn't until the militia arrived that the brawl finally ended.

(08:24):
After the Toronto Circus riot, city officials tried to do
their typical corrupt routine. The police claimed that it was
too dark to identify any of the orangemen who participated
in the violence. It was discovered that Police Chief Samuel Sherwood,
another orangeman by the way, delayed sending constables to keep
the peace as long as he could. This time, however,

(08:44):
the city wanted justice. The riot was the final straw.
In response to the public uproar, an inquest was launched
into the city police force. For the next few years,
city government officials made several attempts to clear out the
corrupt police force. Four years later, in eighteen fifty nine,
the entire police force was fired and a new training
system was put in place. Many of the fired constables

(09:06):
were later rehired, but it marked the beginning of Toronto's
efforts to modernize their justice system. In eighteen seventy four,
city run volunteer firefighting brigades were established in Toronto, leading
to the public fire service that they have today. You know,
we often fall into the trap of thinking that change
must only come through official channels. To revamp a city system,

(09:28):
for example, you might have to sign petitions, pass a
new law, or even run for office. But it doesn't
always have to be that challenging. Sometimes all it takes
is a bit of clowning around. I hope you've enjoyed
today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for

(09:49):
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 over at Theworldoflore dot com and

(10:12):
until next time, stay curious,