June 3, 2021 • 9 mins
Have you ever stopped to think about some of the utterly amazing jobs a few people have been able to have over the years? If not, these two stories will show you just how curious they can be.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Benky'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. Everybody has a hidden talent, something that they
can do that sets them apart from everyone else. It
might be juggling, or playing the musical instruments, or singing
something they're not known for but can break out at
(00:48):
birthday parties or road trips. But it's rare for someone
to make a living at their hidden talent, especially if
it's one they might be ashamed of. Roland had won
such talent what we might all a knack for funny sounds.
In fact, it was a skill that he parlayed into
a gig as a court jester for King Henry the
Second of England in the middle of the twelfth century.
(01:09):
The king was so enamored with Roland's ability that he
gave him a large home in the village of Hemmingstone
in Suffolk, as well as thirty acres of land so
what had Roland done to earn such a grand wage.
He was required to perform for the King's court every
Christmas in an act that was described as one jump,
one whistle, and one fart. Roland, you see, was best
(01:31):
known as Roland the Farter, and he was a professional
flatte list. And he wasn't the only one. Hundreds of
years earlier, stories had been written about people who could
break wind at the drop of a hat. In Japan,
between the twelfth and fourteen centuries, there were stories of
a man named Fukutomi no Oribe who performed elaborate fart
dances for a Japanese aristocracy, and the tradition continued well
(01:55):
into the eighteen hundreds. Joseph Peugeot from France certainly made
a good living too in his own horn. Joseph's father
had been a sculptor, but probably didn't expect his son
to go into such an explosive line of work. But
Joseph did well for himself. He first discovered his unique
talent at a young age while visiting the beach. He
had gone for a swim and had taken a deep
(02:15):
breath before ducking under the water. As he floated beneath
the sea, he felt something cold entering him from behind.
He immediately ran out of the water, only to find
some of the sea leaking out of him the way
it had come in. When he got older, he figured
out that he could suck in air the same way.
Joseph eventually found work as a baker, but he didn't
let his day job get in the way of his passion.
(02:38):
He often pretended to play musical instruments for the customers
from behind the counter. Little did they know that he
actually had turned his rear end into a special kind
of trumpet. His daily performances led him to believe that
he could parlay his skills from the bakery to the stage. Today,
such an act would be seen as crass or low brow. Well,
(02:58):
people thought the same thing back, and he teen seven too,
and they loved it. His act grew so popular that
he took it to Paris and began performing at the
renowned Mulan Rouge. Dressed in a red coat and white gloves,
lou Pete Dumano, as he called himself, warmed things up
with some light flatulence. He would call out each break
of wind with a whimsical name or description. For example,
(03:20):
He introduced the sound of bride might make at her wedding,
and then let out a tiny squeak. He also imitated
a dressmaker ripping a long piece of fabric by ripping
a fart that was ten seconds long. He extinguished candles
from several feet away. He played popular songs from his rear, and,
just as his forefathers had done hundreds of years earlier,
(03:42):
performed for royalty from all over Europe. Joseph's piece to resistance,
by the way, was his impression of a cannon blast,
which he fired out of his behind with all his might.
The good news was that none of his tooths smelled,
but that didn't stop women from fainting at the sound
of them. It got so bad nerves were hired to
stand by and carry female guests into the hall after
(04:04):
they had passed out. Despite the dramatic response, though Joseph
packed them in at the Moulin Rouge. At his peak,
he brought in twenty tho francs per show. Eventually, his
act got so big he started touring on his own,
performing for audiences until the start of World War One.
The war efforts forced him into early retirement and back
(04:24):
to his first love baking. He even opened a biscuit
factory in Toulon before his death in nine But don't worry,
they were real, not air biscuits. Value, like beauty, is
(04:49):
in the eye of the beholder. Even though a certain
object may not be worth a lot of money, it
may have immeasurable sentimental value. A family photo album, baby's blankets,
and a high school football trophy won't earn anything from Southby's,
but not having them would devastate their owners. But what
does a person do when the thing they are given
isn't only worth a lot of money but priceless. Sal
(05:13):
Dominic knew exactly what they would do. They'd hold onto it.
Dominic was born in nineteen o four in Figures, Catalonia,
in Spain, just along the French border. He took an
interest to the arts, much to the chagrin of his father,
who was a strict disciplinarian. His mother, however, supported her
son's passions wholeheartedly. Dominic had also had an older brother
(05:35):
who had died almost a year before he was born,
though he never met him. The weight of that child's
death hung heavily among the family, including and especially on
the young Dominic, as he got older, he was given
the opportunity to truly explore his artistic side when he
enrolled at the municipal drawing school at Figueires in nineteen sixteen. Surprisingly,
it was his father who turned the family home into
(05:57):
a gallery the following year to support his son endeavors.
He put up his charcoal drawings for visitors to admire.
Not long after, Dominic had a more traditional exhibition at
a local theater. He started to discover himself in college.
In the early nineteen twenties, he moved to Madrid and
developed a new look for himself, one that was not
(06:18):
met kindly by his classmates. He was an odd fellow
who grew his hair out and wore a long coat
with stockings. In other words, he dressed like a dandy.
But he was talented, and he surrounded himself with others
like himself. One of his deepest friendships was with Spanish
poet and playwright Frederico Garcia Lorca, which they maintained until
(06:39):
Lorca's untimely death during the Spanish Civil War in nineteen
thirty six. In nineteen twenty two, Dominic earned an art
education like no other. He began spending his sundays at
the famed Prado Museum in Madrid, studying the paintings of
the old masters. He'd sit and sketch, learning how they
formed their shapes and used their colors. But the museum
(07:01):
wasn't the only thing that had an influence on him.
His own work was being shaped by the ever changing
art movements around him. Cubism had been popular in places
like Paris, but hadn't yet made its way to Madrid.
Dominic changed that while also experimenting with more avant garde
movements like futurism and data. As time went on, the
young artists continued to hone his skills, meeting many of
(07:24):
his contemporaries throughout his journey. These were painters who would
go on to become legends in their own right, like
Pablo Picasso and John Miro, and word of his talent
soon began to expand beyond his circle of friends. Dominic's
reputation often preceded him wherever he went. As he moved
away from Cubism and realism and deeper into surrealist imagery,
(07:45):
the eccentric artists started creating his own personal style. He
even moved beyond paintings into other mediums, such as film.
Despite Dominic's success, his father resented his behavior. For one,
the artist had entered into a relationship with a woman
ten years younger than himself. He had also exhibited a
drawing that depicted an outline of Jesus Christ titled sometimes
(08:07):
I Spit with Pleasure on the portrait of my mother.
The title had been a part of the persona he'd
made for himself to fit in with his art scene friends.
His father didn't care who he was trying to impress.
His son had brought shame on the family. Dominic refused
to apologize for the sketch, and turn, his father kicked
him out of the home and removed him from his will.
(08:29):
His father may have disapproved of them, but Dominic's paintings
and drawings continued to gather a claim, turning him into
quite the celebrity. He often dined in upscale restaurants, surrounded
by friends and peers as other diners gaucked. Of course,
those meals added up, and when the waiter would bring
the check, Dominic had no compunctions about paying for the
whole table. Now being a celebrity, it wasn't unheard of
(08:52):
for him to get a free meal every now and then,
but for the instances when he would in fact have
to pay the full amount, he came up with a
fool proof way to avoid spending any money. He would
take out his checkbook, right out the amount for the bill,
and then sketch a little doodle on the back in
a way he was making a bet that the restaurant
wouldn't cash a check with a piece of original art
(09:14):
by sal Dominic otherwise known as Salvador Dolli, And more
often than not it was a bet he won. 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
(09:37):
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 the World
of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Ye
Welcome to Aaron Benky'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. Everybody has a hidden talent, something that they
can do that sets them apart from everyone else. It
might be juggling, or playing the musical instruments, or singing
something they're not known for but can break out at
(00:48):
birthday parties or road trips. But it's rare for someone
to make a living at their hidden talent, especially if
it's one they might be ashamed of. Roland had won
such talent what we might all a knack for funny sounds.
In fact, it was a skill that he parlayed into
a gig as a court jester for King Henry the
Second of England in the middle of the twelfth century.
(01:09):
The king was so enamored with Roland's ability that he
gave him a large home in the village of Hemmingstone
in Suffolk, as well as thirty acres of land so
what had Roland done to earn such a grand wage.
He was required to perform for the King's court every
Christmas in an act that was described as one jump,
one whistle, and one fart. Roland, you see, was best
(01:31):
known as Roland the Farter, and he was a professional
flatte list. And he wasn't the only one. Hundreds of
years earlier, stories had been written about people who could
break wind at the drop of a hat. In Japan,
between the twelfth and fourteen centuries, there were stories of
a man named Fukutomi no Oribe who performed elaborate fart
dances for a Japanese aristocracy, and the tradition continued well
(01:55):
into the eighteen hundreds. Joseph Peugeot from France certainly made
a good living too in his own horn. Joseph's father
had been a sculptor, but probably didn't expect his son
to go into such an explosive line of work. But
Joseph did well for himself. He first discovered his unique
talent at a young age while visiting the beach. He
had gone for a swim and had taken a deep
(02:15):
breath before ducking under the water. As he floated beneath
the sea, he felt something cold entering him from behind.
He immediately ran out of the water, only to find
some of the sea leaking out of him the way
it had come in. When he got older, he figured
out that he could suck in air the same way.
Joseph eventually found work as a baker, but he didn't
let his day job get in the way of his passion.
(02:38):
He often pretended to play musical instruments for the customers
from behind the counter. Little did they know that he
actually had turned his rear end into a special kind
of trumpet. His daily performances led him to believe that
he could parlay his skills from the bakery to the stage. Today,
such an act would be seen as crass or low brow. Well,
(02:58):
people thought the same thing back, and he teen seven too,
and they loved it. His act grew so popular that
he took it to Paris and began performing at the
renowned Mulan Rouge. Dressed in a red coat and white gloves,
lou Pete Dumano, as he called himself, warmed things up
with some light flatulence. He would call out each break
of wind with a whimsical name or description. For example,
(03:20):
He introduced the sound of bride might make at her wedding,
and then let out a tiny squeak. He also imitated
a dressmaker ripping a long piece of fabric by ripping
a fart that was ten seconds long. He extinguished candles
from several feet away. He played popular songs from his rear, and,
just as his forefathers had done hundreds of years earlier,
(03:42):
performed for royalty from all over Europe. Joseph's piece to resistance,
by the way, was his impression of a cannon blast,
which he fired out of his behind with all his might.
The good news was that none of his tooths smelled,
but that didn't stop women from fainting at the sound
of them. It got so bad nerves were hired to
stand by and carry female guests into the hall after
(04:04):
they had passed out. Despite the dramatic response, though Joseph
packed them in at the Moulin Rouge. At his peak,
he brought in twenty tho francs per show. Eventually, his
act got so big he started touring on his own,
performing for audiences until the start of World War One.
The war efforts forced him into early retirement and back
(04:24):
to his first love baking. He even opened a biscuit
factory in Toulon before his death in nine But don't worry,
they were real, not air biscuits. Value, like beauty, is
(04:49):
in the eye of the beholder. Even though a certain
object may not be worth a lot of money, it
may have immeasurable sentimental value. A family photo album, baby's blankets,
and a high school football trophy won't earn anything from Southby's,
but not having them would devastate their owners. But what
does a person do when the thing they are given
isn't only worth a lot of money but priceless. Sal
(05:13):
Dominic knew exactly what they would do. They'd hold onto it.
Dominic was born in nineteen o four in Figures, Catalonia,
in Spain, just along the French border. He took an
interest to the arts, much to the chagrin of his father,
who was a strict disciplinarian. His mother, however, supported her
son's passions wholeheartedly. Dominic had also had an older brother
(05:35):
who had died almost a year before he was born,
though he never met him. The weight of that child's
death hung heavily among the family, including and especially on
the young Dominic, as he got older, he was given
the opportunity to truly explore his artistic side when he
enrolled at the municipal drawing school at Figueires in nineteen sixteen. Surprisingly,
it was his father who turned the family home into
(05:57):
a gallery the following year to support his son endeavors.
He put up his charcoal drawings for visitors to admire.
Not long after, Dominic had a more traditional exhibition at
a local theater. He started to discover himself in college.
In the early nineteen twenties, he moved to Madrid and
developed a new look for himself, one that was not
(06:18):
met kindly by his classmates. He was an odd fellow
who grew his hair out and wore a long coat
with stockings. In other words, he dressed like a dandy.
But he was talented, and he surrounded himself with others
like himself. One of his deepest friendships was with Spanish
poet and playwright Frederico Garcia Lorca, which they maintained until
(06:39):
Lorca's untimely death during the Spanish Civil War in nineteen
thirty six. In nineteen twenty two, Dominic earned an art
education like no other. He began spending his sundays at
the famed Prado Museum in Madrid, studying the paintings of
the old masters. He'd sit and sketch, learning how they
formed their shapes and used their colors. But the museum
(07:01):
wasn't the only thing that had an influence on him.
His own work was being shaped by the ever changing
art movements around him. Cubism had been popular in places
like Paris, but hadn't yet made its way to Madrid.
Dominic changed that while also experimenting with more avant garde
movements like futurism and data. As time went on, the
young artists continued to hone his skills, meeting many of
(07:24):
his contemporaries throughout his journey. These were painters who would
go on to become legends in their own right, like
Pablo Picasso and John Miro, and word of his talent
soon began to expand beyond his circle of friends. Dominic's
reputation often preceded him wherever he went. As he moved
away from Cubism and realism and deeper into surrealist imagery,
(07:45):
the eccentric artists started creating his own personal style. He
even moved beyond paintings into other mediums, such as film.
Despite Dominic's success, his father resented his behavior. For one,
the artist had entered into a relationship with a woman
ten years younger than himself. He had also exhibited a
drawing that depicted an outline of Jesus Christ titled sometimes
(08:07):
I Spit with Pleasure on the portrait of my mother.
The title had been a part of the persona he'd
made for himself to fit in with his art scene friends.
His father didn't care who he was trying to impress.
His son had brought shame on the family. Dominic refused
to apologize for the sketch, and turn, his father kicked
him out of the home and removed him from his will.
(08:29):
His father may have disapproved of them, but Dominic's paintings
and drawings continued to gather a claim, turning him into
quite the celebrity. He often dined in upscale restaurants, surrounded
by friends and peers as other diners gaucked. Of course,
those meals added up, and when the waiter would bring
the check, Dominic had no compunctions about paying for the
whole table. Now being a celebrity, it wasn't unheard of
(08:52):
for him to get a free meal every now and then,
but for the instances when he would in fact have
to pay the full amount, he came up with a
fool proof way to avoid spending any money. He would
take out his checkbook, right out the amount for the bill,
and then sketch a little doodle on the back in
a way he was making a bet that the restaurant
wouldn't cash a check with a piece of original art
(09:14):
by sal Dominic otherwise known as Salvador Dolli, And more
often than not it was a bet he won. 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
(09:37):
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 the World
of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Ye
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Aaron Mahnke
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