May 1, 2025 • 10 mins
Oftentimes, you make an impact on the world around you by standing out. This pair of stories shows just some of the ways that can be done.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
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Episode Transcript
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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 right there on display, just waiting
for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Prolific authors leave behind a great deal when they die,
not just their completed works, but every piece of paper
that ever touched their pens suddenly becomes valuable for their
next of kin. Going through the notes and assembling a
legacy for the deceased writer can be a lifelong duty.
In nineteen twelve, an irishwoman named Florence fell into this
very situation. She became a widow at the age of
(00:58):
fifty four, her husband succumbing to disease almost immediately. She
had work to do, not just in arranging his funeral
or comforting his bereaved friends, but she also had to
manage his literary estate for work. Her husband, Abe, had
been a theater manager for most of his life and
the assistant to a famous stage actor, and while the
short stories and books were well received, they'd never sold
(01:20):
quite as well as he had hoped. Florence hoped in
her own way that she could provide literary success for
her husband in death that he had not achieved in life.
So throughout the nineteen tens she edited together collections of
his short stories and negotiated with publishers to keep his
novels in print. They provided the same modest income that
they always had, never quite enough. And then in nineteen
(01:43):
twenty two, ten years after her husband's death, she received
a strange letter in the mail. The envelope contained a
handbill advertising and upcoming motion picture screening in Berlin. It
wasn't an invitation, she lived in London, after all, but
looking at the handbill there was no denying that it
was meant for her. Her emblazoned underneath the film's title
(02:03):
was her husband's name. They had changed the title in
many plot elements, but the film was undeniably based on
the book that Abe had written twenty five years before,
and Florence was insulted. Despite making a screen adaptation of
her husband's work, the producers had not asked for her
permission or made any effort to secure film rights for
the material. Florence didn't have the money to hire a
(02:25):
lawyer herself. But she couldn't let this sort of behavior stand.
She contacted the British Incorporated Society of Authors, imploring them
to sponsor a copyright lawsuit against the production company, Prana Film.
They accepted and engaged a Berlin based lawyer to take
on Florence's case. As you'd imagine, the case dragged on
for years, but as it did, the offending film spread
(02:47):
from country to country. The case rolled on for more
years to come. Prana Film fought Florence every step of
the way, but ultimately the court found the case in
the widow's favor. There would be no payout. However, in
the court of the lawsuit, Prana Film ran out of
money and declared bankruptcy. They couldn't afford to pay Florence
even if the court ordered them to, so she had
(03:08):
to get justice some other way. In July of nineteen
twenty five, at her own request, the court ordered the
producers to destroy all copies of the film in circulation.
Unfortunately for her, this order would be difficult to enforce.
Each copy of the film was seven reels of thirty
five millimeter film stock, and once they were sent abroad,
tracking them down required a lot of legwork. The film
(03:31):
had already played in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, and by
the late nineteen twenties copies were already spreading to the
United States and Great Britain. Ultimately, a great many copies
of this offending film would be destroyed, but at least
one print would survive, preserving the adaptation for one hundred
years to come. You may have already guessed by now
that the Florence of this story is Florence Balcom, who
(03:54):
had become the wife of Brahms Stoker, author of Dracula.
She managed his literary estate for the rest of his life.
The motion picture that she tried so hard to destroy
is Nosferatu, the silent film that today is considered a
landmark in the history of horror cinema. In a strange way,
the result of Florence's Stoker lawsuit is a historical compromise.
(04:16):
The producers of Nosferatu never made a profit from her
husband's work, yet the groundbreaking art that resulted from their
copyright infringement survived to the present day. The value of
a work of art is greater than the amount of
profit it makes in its lifetime. Bromstoker's Dracula, despite being
one of the most beloved novels of its era, was
(04:36):
not enough to guarantee financial security for his family. If
it had been, maybe Florence wouldn't have pursued Prana film
so aggressively. But Dracula and Nosferatu by extension, is a
tenacious tale. Even when you try to kill it, it'll
just rise up from the dead again, ready to spread
the vampire's curse to a whole new generation. Everyone has preferences.
(05:13):
You might want your dream partner to be athletic, or
love the opera, or be really really into camping. Your friend,
on the other hand, might want a homebody who loves
to cook and play chess. For King Frederick William the
First of Prussia, there was only one thing he cared
about when it came to picking soldiers for his own
personal regiment. He didn't care if they could shoot, or march,
(05:33):
or even win in battle. None of that mattered so
long as they were tall. When King Frederick took the
throne in seventeen thirteen, his first order of business was
strengthening his army. But while the rest of his troops
recruited average type men, he had a special project of
creating a regiment entirely composed of the largest men he
could find. To join the regiment, a soldier had to
(05:56):
be at least six foot two, a tall order today
back then now. King Frederick himself was only five foot six,
but that didn't stop him from scouring the country for
tall recruits, and when Prussia's supply had been exhausted, he
turned to other kingdoms. Zar Peter the Great of Russia
sent Frederick a platoon of giant fighters as a gift,
(06:17):
as did the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Other lanky
legioneers were begged, borrowed, or stolen from other armies. They
were promised high pay, and if that didn't work, sometimes
they were simply kidnapped. One of the tallest men in
the regiment, the towering seven foot one inch Irishman James Kirkland,
was tricked into service when he boarded a Prussian ship. Now,
(06:38):
life wasn't all that bad for this regiment. The group,
nicknamed the Potsdam Giants or the Longfellows, enjoyed better housing,
better rations, and better pay than the rest of the
king's army. However, the pay scale was decided by height,
which probably left some of the smaller recruits feeling underappreciated.
Despite all of this, not every one of his soldiers
(06:59):
was with their new life. Some, especially those who had
been kidnapped, deserted the regiment, or even tried to take
their own lives. Still, things weren't terrible for the Potsdam giants.
For example, they never really saw any real action. Rather
than being on the front lines, they remained in the capitol,
acting as more of a ceremonial guard than a deadly
military team. King Frederick oversaw drills of the Longfellows every day,
(07:24):
delighting and watching them march through their maneuvers. He dressed
them in striking uniforms with blue and gold jackets, clean
white pants, and red hats that were eighteen inches tall,
adding nearly two feet so they are already impressive height.
It was Frederick's favorite diversion to parade them before visiting
diplomats and leaders, having them march in time following their mascot,
(07:45):
a particularly large bear. He also enjoyed spending time with
the troops and painting their images from memory. Even in
his sick bed, he delighted in being brought to a
window to watch the tall soldiers march outside. The kings
of session with tall soldiers, and the limited supply available
soon led him into a new, darker direction. In his
(08:07):
own personal eugenics experiments, he paired tall men with tall
brides in hopes that their children would become fresh new
recruits for his army. Although he didn't live long enough
to see these children grow up. There were rumors for
generations that the people of Potsdam were particularly vertically gifted,
and in another dark turn, rumors swirled that the king
tried to make his soldiers even taller by affixing them
(08:29):
by the hand and feet to torture devices called the rack.
He likely hoped that he could stretch these soldiers even longer,
but as the story goes, he gave up when too
many of them died in the process. Despite his interest
in building up his regiment, though King Frederick's rule was
mostly peaceful, he spent his time not in battle but
reforming the military, bringing on new recruits and training them
(08:51):
in new fighting techniques. By the time the king died
in seventeen forty, the army had three two hundred giants
on its roster, but his us on Frederick the Great
didn't have the same enthusiasm for height as his father.
Frederick the Great disbanded the regiment, sending soldiers to serve
in other areas of the army. And here's hoping that
those who were kidnapped were also allowed to return home.
(09:14):
And Frederick the Great is remembered as both an impressive
military leader and a patron of the arts. He made
Prussia a huge military power, embraced Enlightenment ideals, and even
wrote operas. But unlike his father, his enthusiasm for giants
in uniform, well, let's just say that fell a little short.
(09:36):
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. I make another award winning show
called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
(09:59):
and you can learn all about it over at Theworldoflore
dot com. And until 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 right there on display, just waiting
for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Prolific authors leave behind a great deal when they die,
not just their completed works, but every piece of paper
that ever touched their pens suddenly becomes valuable for their
next of kin. Going through the notes and assembling a
legacy for the deceased writer can be a lifelong duty.
In nineteen twelve, an irishwoman named Florence fell into this
very situation. She became a widow at the age of
(00:58):
fifty four, her husband succumbing to disease almost immediately. She
had work to do, not just in arranging his funeral
or comforting his bereaved friends, but she also had to
manage his literary estate for work. Her husband, Abe, had
been a theater manager for most of his life and
the assistant to a famous stage actor, and while the
short stories and books were well received, they'd never sold
(01:20):
quite as well as he had hoped. Florence hoped in
her own way that she could provide literary success for
her husband in death that he had not achieved in life.
So throughout the nineteen tens she edited together collections of
his short stories and negotiated with publishers to keep his
novels in print. They provided the same modest income that
they always had, never quite enough. And then in nineteen
(01:43):
twenty two, ten years after her husband's death, she received
a strange letter in the mail. The envelope contained a
handbill advertising and upcoming motion picture screening in Berlin. It
wasn't an invitation, she lived in London, after all, but
looking at the handbill there was no denying that it
was meant for her. Her emblazoned underneath the film's title
(02:03):
was her husband's name. They had changed the title in
many plot elements, but the film was undeniably based on
the book that Abe had written twenty five years before,
and Florence was insulted. Despite making a screen adaptation of
her husband's work, the producers had not asked for her
permission or made any effort to secure film rights for
the material. Florence didn't have the money to hire a
(02:25):
lawyer herself. But she couldn't let this sort of behavior stand.
She contacted the British Incorporated Society of Authors, imploring them
to sponsor a copyright lawsuit against the production company, Prana Film.
They accepted and engaged a Berlin based lawyer to take
on Florence's case. As you'd imagine, the case dragged on
for years, but as it did, the offending film spread
(02:47):
from country to country. The case rolled on for more
years to come. Prana Film fought Florence every step of
the way, but ultimately the court found the case in
the widow's favor. There would be no payout. However, in
the court of the lawsuit, Prana Film ran out of
money and declared bankruptcy. They couldn't afford to pay Florence
even if the court ordered them to, so she had
(03:08):
to get justice some other way. In July of nineteen
twenty five, at her own request, the court ordered the
producers to destroy all copies of the film in circulation.
Unfortunately for her, this order would be difficult to enforce.
Each copy of the film was seven reels of thirty
five millimeter film stock, and once they were sent abroad,
tracking them down required a lot of legwork. The film
(03:31):
had already played in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, and by
the late nineteen twenties copies were already spreading to the
United States and Great Britain. Ultimately, a great many copies
of this offending film would be destroyed, but at least
one print would survive, preserving the adaptation for one hundred
years to come. You may have already guessed by now
that the Florence of this story is Florence Balcom, who
(03:54):
had become the wife of Brahms Stoker, author of Dracula.
She managed his literary estate for the rest of his life.
The motion picture that she tried so hard to destroy
is Nosferatu, the silent film that today is considered a
landmark in the history of horror cinema. In a strange way,
the result of Florence's Stoker lawsuit is a historical compromise.
(04:16):
The producers of Nosferatu never made a profit from her
husband's work, yet the groundbreaking art that resulted from their
copyright infringement survived to the present day. The value of
a work of art is greater than the amount of
profit it makes in its lifetime. Bromstoker's Dracula, despite being
one of the most beloved novels of its era, was
(04:36):
not enough to guarantee financial security for his family. If
it had been, maybe Florence wouldn't have pursued Prana film
so aggressively. But Dracula and Nosferatu by extension, is a
tenacious tale. Even when you try to kill it, it'll
just rise up from the dead again, ready to spread
the vampire's curse to a whole new generation. Everyone has preferences.
(05:13):
You might want your dream partner to be athletic, or
love the opera, or be really really into camping. Your friend,
on the other hand, might want a homebody who loves
to cook and play chess. For King Frederick William the
First of Prussia, there was only one thing he cared
about when it came to picking soldiers for his own
personal regiment. He didn't care if they could shoot, or march,
(05:33):
or even win in battle. None of that mattered so
long as they were tall. When King Frederick took the
throne in seventeen thirteen, his first order of business was
strengthening his army. But while the rest of his troops
recruited average type men, he had a special project of
creating a regiment entirely composed of the largest men he
could find. To join the regiment, a soldier had to
(05:56):
be at least six foot two, a tall order today
back then now. King Frederick himself was only five foot six,
but that didn't stop him from scouring the country for
tall recruits, and when Prussia's supply had been exhausted, he
turned to other kingdoms. Zar Peter the Great of Russia
sent Frederick a platoon of giant fighters as a gift,
(06:17):
as did the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Other lanky
legioneers were begged, borrowed, or stolen from other armies. They
were promised high pay, and if that didn't work, sometimes
they were simply kidnapped. One of the tallest men in
the regiment, the towering seven foot one inch Irishman James Kirkland,
was tricked into service when he boarded a Prussian ship. Now,
(06:38):
life wasn't all that bad for this regiment. The group,
nicknamed the Potsdam Giants or the Longfellows, enjoyed better housing,
better rations, and better pay than the rest of the
king's army. However, the pay scale was decided by height,
which probably left some of the smaller recruits feeling underappreciated.
Despite all of this, not every one of his soldiers
(06:59):
was with their new life. Some, especially those who had
been kidnapped, deserted the regiment, or even tried to take
their own lives. Still, things weren't terrible for the Potsdam giants.
For example, they never really saw any real action. Rather
than being on the front lines, they remained in the capitol,
acting as more of a ceremonial guard than a deadly
military team. King Frederick oversaw drills of the Longfellows every day,
(07:24):
delighting and watching them march through their maneuvers. He dressed
them in striking uniforms with blue and gold jackets, clean
white pants, and red hats that were eighteen inches tall,
adding nearly two feet so they are already impressive height.
It was Frederick's favorite diversion to parade them before visiting
diplomats and leaders, having them march in time following their mascot,
(07:45):
a particularly large bear. He also enjoyed spending time with
the troops and painting their images from memory. Even in
his sick bed, he delighted in being brought to a
window to watch the tall soldiers march outside. The kings
of session with tall soldiers, and the limited supply available
soon led him into a new, darker direction. In his
(08:07):
own personal eugenics experiments, he paired tall men with tall
brides in hopes that their children would become fresh new
recruits for his army. Although he didn't live long enough
to see these children grow up. There were rumors for
generations that the people of Potsdam were particularly vertically gifted,
and in another dark turn, rumors swirled that the king
tried to make his soldiers even taller by affixing them
(08:29):
by the hand and feet to torture devices called the rack.
He likely hoped that he could stretch these soldiers even longer,
but as the story goes, he gave up when too
many of them died in the process. Despite his interest
in building up his regiment, though King Frederick's rule was
mostly peaceful, he spent his time not in battle but
reforming the military, bringing on new recruits and training them
(08:51):
in new fighting techniques. By the time the king died
in seventeen forty, the army had three two hundred giants
on its roster, but his us on Frederick the Great
didn't have the same enthusiasm for height as his father.
Frederick the Great disbanded the regiment, sending soldiers to serve
in other areas of the army. And here's hoping that
those who were kidnapped were also allowed to return home.
(09:14):
And Frederick the Great is remembered as both an impressive
military leader and a patron of the arts. He made
Prussia a huge military power, embraced Enlightenment ideals, and even
wrote operas. But unlike his father, his enthusiasm for giants
in uniform, well, let's just say that fell a little short.
(09:36):
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. I make another award winning show
called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
(09:59):
and you can learn all about it over at Theworldoflore
dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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