January 13, 2016 • 31 mins
The second part of our episode on the Australian diva focuses on her career in the early 1900s, her charity work and her belief that singers had to work -- and work hard -- to be constantly perfecting their technique.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode is brought to you by square Space. Start
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squar Space. Build it Beautiful. Welcome to Stuff you missed
in History Class from house works dot com. Hello, and
(00:24):
welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frying Tray C V
Wilson uh And. In the first part of this two
part episode, we covered the early years of Nellie Melbyn's
singing career, in her rise to fame and a couple
of foods named after her, and a disastrous romance with
a royal. And we're going to pick up after her
affair with the Duke of Orleon and we'll talk about
(00:45):
the many travels that her singing career took her on
from that point. During her career, both before and after
her balance with the Duke of Orleans, Nellie remained a
featured performer at Covent Garden, but she did not, of course,
ownly appear in London. During that time, she was lauded
repeatedly for spectacular performances in New York and a staging
(01:09):
of the Barber of Seville in San Francisco. She went
off lobretto and saying the star spangled banner and a
music lesson scene and one over an audience that up
to that point had not really seemed interested in the production.
I love that bit of what apparently was improvisation, uh
and kind of wonderfully odd and probably out of place,
but I love it. And while her star continued to rise,
(01:30):
both because of her singing and because of her flamboyant personality,
there was still a degree of divide about her. We'll
talk a lot about how famous she was, but in
terms of critics, not everybody universally adored her, and even
after she went over London, there were always dissenting critics
who were just put off by her. They just could
not get into what she had to offer. Uh. And
(01:52):
while she had many successes, there were also a few
disasters in the mix. And I point this out just
because I think we talked about historical figures that had
certain level of fame, and it paints an unrealistic picture
that everything they touched turned to gold. But in fact,
she was in a staging of Wagner's Siegfried at the
met in eighteen six where she started as Brunhilda, and
(02:12):
that was considered awful by pretty much everyone that saw it.
Uh Similarly, a turn in Aida in One was also
a flop. Charles Armstrong did finally get his divorce from Nellie,
but it wasn't until nineteen hundred. He had taken their son, George,
he was a teenager at that point, away to the
United States. They had settled in Texas and it was
there that he was finally granted divorce papers. And while
(02:35):
she had been living in England for some time at
this point, Nellie really always considered Australia her home, and
in nineteen o two she returned there for a lengthy tour,
setting a world record for concert proceeds at one of
her Sydney shows. She was Australia's Darling into her hometown
of Melbourne. She was practically royalty. Everywhere she went, she
was greeted with cheering crowds, and she was seen as
(02:57):
the utmost in glamorous success, a perfect ambassador from Melbourne
to the world. The tour ran for months, Nellie didn't
go back to Europe until the following year n o three.
Almost as soon as the tour was over, however, newspaperman
John Ezra Norton started publishing accusations in his paper Truth
(03:18):
that Nellie was not all that she seemed to be.
He accused her of being difficult and a drunk and
a miserly parasite. This wasn't exactly a new style of
journalism for Norton, although he may have been the first
um kind of gross tabloid situation that liked to attack celebrities.
(03:39):
Since he had acquired Truth in the tone of his
paper had focused to a great degree on creating smear
campaigns against anyone in a position of power, and the
sensationalist approach to covering events and people of the day
had gotten Norton in some pretty hot water, and it
had actually brought many libel suits, and he expected the
same from Nellie Melba, And he actually threw that he
(04:00):
would continue his attacks and that she was welcome to
take legal action. But as is often the case with trolls,
what he was really after was attention, and Nelly gave
him none of that. While eventually he did move on
to other targets, his writing planted seeds of gossip that
followed her for quite a number of years, particularly the
allegations that she was an alcoholic the early nineteen hundreds.
(04:25):
Despite this weird stumbling block and these weird rumors that
were started about her, were extremely successful for Nelly Melba.
She continued to be in high demand around the world,
singing for heads of state as well as theater audiences
pretty much everywhere around the globe, and she had become
so well known for playing certain roles and singing certain
pieces of music that she allegedly learned no new parts
(04:47):
from nineteen o four on because people demanded those same
things over and over. She also began recording her songs
in nineteen o four, and her hundreds of recordings were
so popular that she is credited with helping to pop
arized the gramophone. During a tour in the United States
in nineteen o six and nineteen o seven, she up
ended the New York opera scene when she opted to
(05:08):
appear at the new Manhattan Opera House rather than at
the Met, and she gave the fledgling theater a huge
financial boost in doing so. Yeah, she just wasn't happy
with how the Met was handling some things, and she
just thought, fine, I'll go to your competitor then, And
the Manhattan Opera House was really happy about that decision.
(05:28):
After that North American tour and her season at Covent
Garden concluded in nineteen o seven, Nelly went to Australia.
She was under the weather and needed to recover because
she had pneumonia, and while she was away from London,
another soprano, Luisa Tetrazini, made her London debut at Covent
Garden as Violetta in La Traviata, and Tetrasini was a
(05:49):
sensation and some suspected that she might unseat Melba as
the Prima Donna of London. This, however, was something Nelly
once again was not having any of and it was
not the case. When she returned from Australia to the
English stage, recovered from her illness, she continued to dazzle crowds,
although she and Tetrasini did on occasion still compete for
(06:10):
really prized roles. But eventually Louisa moved to the US
because she experienced great success when she appeared there, and
Nellie Melba was once again the unopposed Queen of Covent Garden.
As a side note on how Nelly Melba sometimes dealt
with her rivals when a performer she didn't care for
had a part in a show. Nellie, with her very
(06:30):
recognizable and very skilled voice, would stand in the wings
and then loudly stay sing over her on stage competitors. Yeah,
that's a serious diva move right there. I'm like, that's
not very nice. It's not, but you know, it's very
cutthroat at that point, I guess if you want to
(06:50):
stay the number one lady singer, you gotta make yourself
known and not let anybody think for a moment that
someone else might be better. You have to give them
the comparison right then and there so they hear that
your voice is that much better. Nellie then decided to
go on another tour of Australia. But before we get
to that, let's have a word from one of our
(07:12):
awesome sponsors. So to get back to Nellie Melba. At
this point she was in her late forties, but she
showed no sign of slowing down and she's still really
drew crowds with her singing. She struck out on another
Australian tour in nineteen o nine, despite the bad press
that Norton had tried to smear her with in previous years.
She wound up being as adored as ever, and by
(07:33):
some accounts even more so. She handed out gifts of
Thai pins to people and issues of certificates to shops
that they could display showing her approval of their establishments.
I sort of love that, like she's giving her blessing
to the crowds as she goes. And unlike the previous tour, though,
this time it really appeared that Nellie wanted to set
down roots in Australia rather than just returned back to Europe.
(07:56):
She had a new home built in Victoria, which was
christened Combe Cottage, and she ended up splitting her time
in the years after comb Cottage was completed about fifty
fifty between Australia and England, and she was also continuing
to tour the world during that time. In addition to
building a home in Australia, and Nellie also began building
a reputation as a teacher. She used the Marquesi method
(08:18):
as the basis of her own, making slight changes to
the technique. In nineteen eleven, Nellie became the head of
the Melbi Williamson opera company in Melbourne, and her leadership
in the company was primarily focused on recognizing and booking talent.
For the anniversary of her first performance at Covent Garden,
her the Theater mount at a gala with Nellie singing
(08:39):
Mimi in Labo m This is this triumphant events that
in really sharp contrast to her early visits to London
when she was told she would need to get a
lot of practice to get an even minor role at
the Opera House. And you may notice as we're sort
of marching through her accomplishments in her life, they were
getting pretty close in the timeline to World War One
(09:01):
was going to be a global concern, and Nellie had
just arrived in Australia for a stay there when the
war began. But her career wasn't really slowed down very
much by the difficulties that this conflict brought to the globe.
Despite some tricky logistics and some danger while traveling, she
toured Europe three times during the war, in America once.
She also used her fame to rally excitement and allegiance
(09:24):
to the Allies. She worked on war charities, included auctions,
including auctioning off flags at the curtain of her shows.
It's estimated that she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars
for war charities by using her popularity for the cause.
During her wartime American tour. There's a little bit of
a weird blip that happens because Nellie became convinced that
(09:44):
German agents were trying to kill her because of her
work to support the Allies. Every time something went wrong
along the way, whether it was some like a travel
plan that went awry, or a delay in their travel,
or a theater setup that wasn't quite right, basically anything
no matter how big or small, she attributed these issues
to German sympathizers, but no real evidence of such a
(10:06):
plot was ever found. During the war, Nellie also became
more engaged with the Albert Street Conservatorium and her classes
became extremely popular. She became known as a task master
of a teacher, and her goal was to firmly establish
a legacy of bel Kantos singers. She used once again
the tradition of her teacher mar Casey, and her drive
(10:27):
to do so sometimes pushed her students to their breaking
points emotionally. Nellie once wrote of singing quote, there is
no royal road to success in singing. I rate correct
breathing before even the possession of a beautiful voice, for
this can be marred by faulty breath control, phrasing, tone,
residents and expression. All these depend upon respiration. Here we
(10:51):
have one of the old Italian secrets which so many
singers of our day have never found. Madame Melba, never
shy of the spotlight, had special uniforms designed for students
at the Conservatory with the blue letter M embroidered on
them so everyone would recognize her students. Eventually, the Albert
Street Conservatorium published a book on her technique titled Melbourne Method,
(11:12):
and that was in nine Eventually the school was renamed
the Melbourne Memorial Conservatorium. Once World War One ended, Nellie
Melba did indeed return to London. She was actually made
a Dame of the British Empire in nineteen eighteen, and
she also was there for the reopening of Covent Garden
because they were relaunching the opera house. It had been
(11:33):
closed and used for other purposes during the conflict. But
this was not the same place that it had been
in the wake of war. It was not the opera
house she remembered. There was certainly a more somber tone
to the entire city and that really did not agree
with the soprano diva. She was so depressed by her
return to London that she actually didn't sing at Covent
(11:53):
Garden again until nineteen. In the meantime, she sang almost
constantly in performances and Australia, including discounted performances aimed at
making the arts affordable and accessible. She also toured with
the Melbolle Williamson Company. Although there was some competition from uh,
you know, young singers who were new on the scene,
(12:14):
Melba held her own, but the constant touring and performing
and teaching started to take its hole. In addition to
her other appearances, Melba also welcomed in a new era
in entertainment in nineteen That year, she became the first
international artist to embrace direct radio by participating in various broadcasts,
and this really helped her to maintain her status as
(12:37):
a well known modern performer, you know, reaching out to
as many people as possible, More people than ever could
hear her voice without her having to tour and travel
to them. In October four, Nellie Melba announced that she
would be saying farewell to her life as a performer
but she didn't turn around to give a final performance
right away, and stead she made a series of final
(12:59):
perform it says, but those didn't even start and saw
almost four years after this announcement. Yeah. It kind of
reminds me of when actors go, I'm retiring and then
they make like six more movies. Uh So, while preparing
for her farewell series and possibly part of why they
were postponed for so long, Nellie's memoirs were published in
(13:20):
under the title Melodies and Memories, and in this book,
uh she wrote, the first rule in opera is the
first rule of life. That is, to see to everything yourself.
You must not only sing, you must not only act,
You must also be stage manager, press agent, artistic advisor.
She attributed her success very plainly to a drive that
(13:41):
she had to simply be the best. She was sometimes
described as being snobby or having a superiority complex, but
from her point of view, she simply demanded that all
of the people around her recognized both her gifts and
talents as well as her professional dedication. When asked inn
by reporters about the nature of her farewell concert, Dame
(14:02):
Nelly replied, there will be a personal touch about my
farewell like this, For on the operatic stage, one is
aloof from the audience and another atmosphere. On the concert platform, however,
it is different. It is the woman herself who is singing,
not a character from a play. And at the same time,
it seemed that now that she was preparing to leave
(14:23):
the spotlight, she also began helping to promote younger singers.
She no longer really considered them rivals, and so there
was one event where she was waving off press photographers
that had kind of approached her at a railway station,
and she used this younger performer that was traveling with
her to sort of distract them, but also to promote
this up and coming singer. She said, quote, take her
(14:47):
photograph instead. My professional career is ending. Hers is just beginning.
She must go abroad, and that will mean a lot
of work and the raising of a lot of money,
but it will be worth it, for she has a
career ahead of her. I predict at it when I
heard her singing at Government House here when she was
only fourteen. I like that she went from singing over people.
(15:10):
I did have that moment though, where I'm like, is
she just pushing this poor girl out in front of
other people, so they'll leave her alone because she wants
a moment of peace. Like, was this really a magnanimous gesture?
I have no idea. Well, regardless, we will talk about
her farewell performances next, but before we do, we will
have a brief word from a sponsor. On August seven
of night, Nellie Melbay gave her first farewell performance in Sydney, Australia,
(15:34):
and this program consisted of songs from a variety of
roles that had been famed that she had been famous
for playing. And she's sang the same program at her
Melbourne farewell on September seven of that year. But even
that wasn't her final performance. She took the Australian stage
one last time in November in Geelong, but those were
(15:55):
just her Australian farewell performances. Then she went to England
and the end gave performances in Paris and Egypt. All
in all, she spent about two years touring after her
Australian farewell concert series. Also during there was a little
bit of diva drama because English contralto Dame Clara Butt's
biography was published and in it she claimed that Dame
(16:18):
Nellie Melbah gave her advice right before the English singer
began her Australian tour. So allegedly Nellie had told her
quote sing a muck. It's all they understand. So Nellie Melba,
who was always extremely patriotic about her home country, was furious.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dame Clara claimed
(16:40):
she had never seen a manuscript and would never have
approved of such a thing to go to print in
the end, but biography biographer Winnifred Ponder was the person
who wound up being thrown under the bus for this gaff.
Nellie accepted the excuse and was quoted by the Press
is saying it is merely a stupid mistake. I would
never dream of saying such a thing. I am delighted
(17:02):
to see that Dame Clara Butt has issued a denial.
And as Nellie's time singing abroad reached the two year mark,
her health really took a turn. There was a fever
that plagued her, though she sang once again at a
charity event in the Hyde Park Hotel before she headed
home to Melbourne via steamer. Nellie's condition deteriorated over the
(17:22):
course of her journey home from Europe. Once she was
back in Australia, things did not get better. Eventually, she
went to Sydney to be admitted to St Vincent's Hospital
at Darlinghurst, but unfortunately she never left. It turned out
that the fever was the result of an infection from
a facial surgery she had had while she was in Europe.
She died of sept semia on February one. Nellie was
(17:46):
buried three days later on February she was interred at
lily Dale, the small town where her home, comb Cottage
was built. Friends, family and members of the public visited
Scott's Church, where her coffin was displayed draped in the
Australian flag, in the morning before her memorial service, and
that church was the same one she had visited as
a child. Her father had actually built it, and as
(18:07):
you recall, he sang in the choir there, and the
Reverend Dr W. Borland's memorial speech he said, as we
pay our last tribute to the memory of our great countrywoman,
let us keep in mind with the Lord gave when
he raised up in our nation Dame Nellie Melba. No
one in these two generations which most of us here
have known, has been so wonderfully gifted as she whose
(18:30):
voice thrilled the hearts of millions, whose understanding directing that
voice made possible that matchless sympathy for all things human
and for many things divine, which enabled her to interpret
the very soul of true music, just as was the
case with any of her tours as a performer. As
Nellie's funeral procession moved from Scott's Church, through town and
(18:53):
out to the cemetery, the streets were filled with admirers,
though at this point they were somber instead of cheering.
Took three hours to get to make the way through,
just because there were so many people crowded around, and
there were also simultaneous memorial services held in Sydney and Melbourne,
Impact chapels so filled with mourners that people had to stand,
(19:13):
and a memorial service was also held later in London
on March six. Some of our listeners may have recognized
Nellie Melba's name right out of the gate because she
appeared as a character on Downton Nattie. She was played
by opera star Dame Carrie to Knawa, and there's some
criticism that the very idea that the star, a star
of Dame Nellie Melba's stature, would sing at Lady Grantham's
(19:37):
home was utterly preposterous. Uh, and have to have been
treated as a tradesperson as she was in that episode
rather than as the creme de la creme is just unimaginable. Yeah,
there were some rather scathing reviews, both of the way
that she was integrated into the show and of Dame
Takanawa's the portrayal of her uh performance too. Yeah, I
(20:03):
read one of those before I came in here, and like,
the review was just scathing, both of the portrayal of
the character and the actual singing that happened at the
episode and then abound. At the very bottom was this
link that was like read our exclusive interview with her
about this, and I was like, really, yeah, it was
a little really happy that you raked her over the
coals after you gave her, after she gave you the
(20:25):
courtesy of having an interview with you about it. Yeah,
it wasn't super kind. Some people took offense at how
it was stage. Like people that are are really big
opera fans and particularly fans of Dame Nelly Melba because
you can't still hear her work online because she didn't
make so many recordings that they were very upset that
she was. You know, she's so rarely given the spotlight,
(20:47):
even though she was so huge in her day, but
that when she was it was juxtaposed against It's a
little bit of a spoiler, but it's been long ago
now that I hope nobody minds. It was juxtaposed against
a rape scene and it cut back and forth between
the two, and people were like, that is not the
way we want to see Nellie Melba brought back into
the spotlight. So there were a lot of issues. Yeah,
the top of that, it was portrayed as a as
(21:08):
a performance that the people watching were not really enjoying
because it wasn't very good, right, uh, Yeah, there were
a lot of problems with that portrayal apparently. Um I
remember watching that episode and I knew nothing about her
at the time, so it didn't strike me as particularly odd.
But it had I known all of this about her,
I think I would have been like, huh, really they
made her stay in her room, but that doesn't I
(21:31):
also have seen that episode when it originally was on
in the US, and did not remember the name at all. Uh, Like,
I definitely remembered the episode in the performance and how
it was portrayed, but it wasn't until you gave me
this outline that I was like, oh right, that okay. Yeah.
So one of the things that I really noticed shines
(21:52):
through when you read Nellie Melby's writings and you read
quotes from her, is it. Uh. She believed as a performer,
you have to work hard always, and this certainly played
out in her work schedule. She was constantly touring right
up to the end of her life, and though she
was a diva, she really felt as though success came
from always putting in effort. She wanted to be treated
(22:15):
as opera royalty, but she also did everything she could
to earn that status. She was not a person that
showed up unprepared or just assuming that things would go well.
She just didn't think talent was enough. So to wrap up,
I thought, because he was shown a little bit of her,
her less delightful qualities as well as her good ones.
But I thought this was a really good snippet that
(22:36):
she wrote as part of a larger essay intended to
encourage younger singers She wrote this in nine She wrote,
consider my own case. I quote it with no vanity
at all, but only to illustrate my meaning. The gift
of song was certainly mine. I was born with a
natural trill and absolute breath control. Consequently, as a child
of seven, I was as far advanced as more mature
(22:58):
students are after years of study and actue. Yet for
all that, I had everything to learn. And I kind
of love that quote because she she did, she wasn't
arrest on her laurels kind of at all. Uh So
it's kind of there's a lot of work ethic behind
all of the diva behavior, which I have to respect.
Whether do you like that she did some of the
things she did? Uh? Like I said, I have to
(23:20):
respect her work ethic. So that was Dame Nellie Melba.
Do you also have some listener mails? Of course I do.
These are actually about our Carampus and Friends episodes, which
were so fun to record and research, and I've been
really delighted because we have gotten a raft of listener
mail from people that really really enjoyed them and had
their own stories related to them well. And then we've
(23:41):
also gotten a lot of suggestions for other Winter holiday,
Christmas time holiday figures. So maybe this will become a
tradition question. That's fine with me, because there's plenty more
to talk about. Uh. And I've just loved it. And
people have sent us pictures of their little Bafana witches
that they have oven. I think that's everybody's favorite heard
(24:02):
because she is so charming. Uh. And they sent us
pictures of their crampus stuff and talked about their personal experiences.
So I have a few uh listener mails covering that
since I want to give them all a little bit
of play. Like I said, we were away for a
long time and getting lots of mail, and I hate
knowing that those people aren't getting a little bit of
a light shown on them. So first we're going to
(24:24):
hear from Cynthia, who says, uh, thank you for your
delightful podcast. Many and Onerous Drive has passed more lights
with you two along. I just listened to your podcasts
in which you mentioned Father Whipper's origin story as salting
and curating murdered children. I had to send you mail
because it reminded me of something I had read about St. Nicholas.
I teach at a Catholic school and I have to
confess that I love to read about the lives of
(24:46):
the saints, especially if I can get my hands on
an older compendium of the stories, which are usually way
creepier and bloodier than the modern, more sanitized versions allah
original Grimm Brothers versus modern day versions of fairy tales,
and one of these was the Life of Aunt Nicholas,
and I was horribly thrilled to read there in the
tale of him stopping for dinner at an end during
a famine, and in which somehow always had meat to
(25:08):
offer travelers even during the general lack of food. After
eating dinner, st Nick discovered that he had been served
cured child, and then he resurrected the Tykes. My takeaway,
of course, Santa eats children. I just love that so much. Cynthia,
that was really delightful and funny. I love it's. The
(25:29):
next one we have is from our listener Neil, and
he says, greeting's Tracy and Holly, longtime listener, big time fan.
I just finished listening to your podcast, The Crampus and
Friends Holiday Special Part one, and I knew I had
to write in to share my American experience with Crampus
and St. Nicholas. Most listeners to the podcast could safely
assume that the episode was all about holiday traditions in
European countries, and for the most part, that is true. However,
(25:51):
in small parts of Wisconsin, St. Nicholas and Crampus are
still observed every December six. Green Bay and the surrounding
communities have a strong German hair titch. Growing up there,
it was not uncommon to hear names like Hans Eric
Regretchen eat space will in verse sidebar of me yum
I love Spaceland verse, or have a last name that
ended in sc h. There were many German holiday traditions
(26:13):
that we all enjoyed, and one of those was St.
Nicholas and Crampus. Every first week of December, we were
reminded by our parents, grandparents, and teachers to be on
our best behavior because St. Nick was coming. Depending on
what town you were in, children would either hang stockings
on the fireplace or leave their shoes by the front
door on the eve of St. Nicholas December five. Crampus
knocked actually is something I had never heard of until recently,
(26:36):
probably having something to do with the release of this
year's Crampas movie. Although It's possible that part of the
folklore simply never made it across the pond. When you
woke up on December six, St Nick would have left
you candy and small gifts in your stockings or shoes
if you were good, and if you were bad, he
left you cold. If you were really bad, that's when
Crampus would come to you while you were asleep and
drag you off to his lair. Pretty terrifying to a child,
(26:58):
but that's a German holiday, right. I never realized this
was a local holiday until I moved to Milwaukee for college.
To my shock and dismay, nobody celebrated Nicolaus fests. They
didn't even know what I was talking about. Feeling homesick
and craving an excuse to eat chocolate, I decided to
share my tradition with my friends and peers. I would
buy miniature stockings in bulk and then leave them in
(27:19):
people's lockers or desks, filled with candies. I would proudly
exclaim from nicolas Fess down the halls to officially bring
in the Christmas season. I now live in Chicago and
continue to give little candy stuff stockings to my friends
and co workers. Every December six. I found it's a
great way to share something about myself as well as
get everyone else to share their own holiday memories and traditions.
(27:39):
I can't wait to have children on my own to
pass this tradition onto them. Thank you for making me
audibly squeal with glee during my evening commute on a
public train at the mention of Crampas, and for making
every podcast you'd do so fun and enjoyable. I love that.
I love the idea that, in the absence of the
Crampas and st nick lore, he just brought it in himself.
That's a bias for action I can get behind, so
(28:02):
long as he's not stealing bad children. That would be uh.
And then I have one more. It's a short one
from our listener, Robin Uh, and it is about bell Snickel.
She says, Hello, my name is Robin and I'm writing
to you from Oklahoma. I was so excited to hear
you talk about the Bells Nickel on your recent podcast
about different holiday characters. I was excited to hear him
mentioned because none of my friends are classmates ever knew
(28:24):
what I was talking about when I mentioned him. This
was pre the office days. My family has a strong
German heritage, and his kids we were always told the
bell Snickel watched you, and if you were bad between
Christmas and New Year's he would come and steal the
toy Santa brought you and drag you up and down
the stairs by your toes. I strongly suspect the stair
portion was in there because my grandparents had stairs in
(28:44):
their home and had told the tales of my dad
and his brothers and sisters. The story was always told,
though with a smile, so we knew not to take
it very seriously. Thank you for adding the bell Nickel
into your list of characters. It was nice to know
there are others out here who have stories for the
same one. I love it, Robin, thank you. Thank you
to all of our people that wrote us about all
of their holiday traditions and suggested, as Tracy mentioned, new
(29:06):
characters that we could cover next year. I'm super excited
about it. I thought that was a really fun episode. Yes,
it was like a good way to get in the
holiday spirit without getting just sort of retreading the usual stuff.
So it was fun for me. Yeah, Well, often when
we do when we do episodes like that, that that are
kind of like a collection of things. I worry that
people are gonna think that that it was not as
(29:29):
robust as as what we typically do, but so many
people love those I was so happy about it. Me too,
I always worry as well, so I'm always grateful when
it turns out. Okay, If you would like to share
any of your holiday memories suggestions for next year's Holiday
Characters podcast, because I'm planning to do it next year,
I'm compiling a list. You can do so at History
Podcast at housetu works dot com. You can also connect
(29:51):
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on Twitter at mist in History, at pinterest dot com,
slash mist in History, and mist in History dot tumbled
dot com. We're also on Instagram at mist in History.
You would like to learn a little bit about what
we talked about today, you can, once again, as we
suggested in our first episode on Dame Nelly Melba, go
to our parents site house to works type in the
(30:12):
word opera. This time, the article that you are looking
for is one just about the Sydney Opera House, since
that is closer to home for Dame Nelly's life story.
Uh and if you would like to visit us at
misston history dot com. You will find show notes for
this and every other episode that Tracy and I have
worked on together, as well as every episode of the
(30:32):
podcast that has ever happened, including all previous hosts. So
there's plenty to enjoy and go through if you are
into history, which I presume you are if you have
gotten this far in this episode, so we welcome you
to visit us at mist in history dot com and
our parents site, how stup works dot com for lare
(30:53):
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squar Space. Build it Beautiful. Welcome to Stuff you missed
in History Class from house works dot com. Hello, and
(00:24):
welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frying Tray C V
Wilson uh And. In the first part of this two
part episode, we covered the early years of Nellie Melbyn's
singing career, in her rise to fame and a couple
of foods named after her, and a disastrous romance with
a royal. And we're going to pick up after her
affair with the Duke of Orleon and we'll talk about
(00:45):
the many travels that her singing career took her on
from that point. During her career, both before and after
her balance with the Duke of Orleans, Nellie remained a
featured performer at Covent Garden, but she did not, of course,
ownly appear in London. During that time, she was lauded
repeatedly for spectacular performances in New York and a staging
(01:09):
of the Barber of Seville in San Francisco. She went
off lobretto and saying the star spangled banner and a
music lesson scene and one over an audience that up
to that point had not really seemed interested in the production.
I love that bit of what apparently was improvisation, uh
and kind of wonderfully odd and probably out of place,
but I love it. And while her star continued to rise,
(01:30):
both because of her singing and because of her flamboyant personality,
there was still a degree of divide about her. We'll
talk a lot about how famous she was, but in
terms of critics, not everybody universally adored her, and even
after she went over London, there were always dissenting critics
who were just put off by her. They just could
not get into what she had to offer. Uh. And
(01:52):
while she had many successes, there were also a few
disasters in the mix. And I point this out just
because I think we talked about historical figures that had
certain level of fame, and it paints an unrealistic picture
that everything they touched turned to gold. But in fact,
she was in a staging of Wagner's Siegfried at the
met in eighteen six where she started as Brunhilda, and
(02:12):
that was considered awful by pretty much everyone that saw it.
Uh Similarly, a turn in Aida in One was also
a flop. Charles Armstrong did finally get his divorce from Nellie,
but it wasn't until nineteen hundred. He had taken their son, George,
he was a teenager at that point, away to the
United States. They had settled in Texas and it was
there that he was finally granted divorce papers. And while
(02:35):
she had been living in England for some time at
this point, Nellie really always considered Australia her home, and
in nineteen o two she returned there for a lengthy tour,
setting a world record for concert proceeds at one of
her Sydney shows. She was Australia's Darling into her hometown
of Melbourne. She was practically royalty. Everywhere she went, she
was greeted with cheering crowds, and she was seen as
(02:57):
the utmost in glamorous success, a perfect ambassador from Melbourne
to the world. The tour ran for months, Nellie didn't
go back to Europe until the following year n o three.
Almost as soon as the tour was over, however, newspaperman
John Ezra Norton started publishing accusations in his paper Truth
(03:18):
that Nellie was not all that she seemed to be.
He accused her of being difficult and a drunk and
a miserly parasite. This wasn't exactly a new style of
journalism for Norton, although he may have been the first
um kind of gross tabloid situation that liked to attack celebrities.
(03:39):
Since he had acquired Truth in the tone of his
paper had focused to a great degree on creating smear
campaigns against anyone in a position of power, and the
sensationalist approach to covering events and people of the day
had gotten Norton in some pretty hot water, and it
had actually brought many libel suits, and he expected the
same from Nellie Melba, And he actually threw that he
(04:00):
would continue his attacks and that she was welcome to
take legal action. But as is often the case with trolls,
what he was really after was attention, and Nelly gave
him none of that. While eventually he did move on
to other targets, his writing planted seeds of gossip that
followed her for quite a number of years, particularly the
allegations that she was an alcoholic the early nineteen hundreds.
(04:25):
Despite this weird stumbling block and these weird rumors that
were started about her, were extremely successful for Nelly Melba.
She continued to be in high demand around the world,
singing for heads of state as well as theater audiences
pretty much everywhere around the globe, and she had become
so well known for playing certain roles and singing certain
pieces of music that she allegedly learned no new parts
(04:47):
from nineteen o four on because people demanded those same
things over and over. She also began recording her songs
in nineteen o four, and her hundreds of recordings were
so popular that she is credited with helping to pop
arized the gramophone. During a tour in the United States
in nineteen o six and nineteen o seven, she up
ended the New York opera scene when she opted to
(05:08):
appear at the new Manhattan Opera House rather than at
the Met, and she gave the fledgling theater a huge
financial boost in doing so. Yeah, she just wasn't happy
with how the Met was handling some things, and she
just thought, fine, I'll go to your competitor then, And
the Manhattan Opera House was really happy about that decision.
(05:28):
After that North American tour and her season at Covent
Garden concluded in nineteen o seven, Nelly went to Australia.
She was under the weather and needed to recover because
she had pneumonia, and while she was away from London,
another soprano, Luisa Tetrazini, made her London debut at Covent
Garden as Violetta in La Traviata, and Tetrasini was a
(05:49):
sensation and some suspected that she might unseat Melba as
the Prima Donna of London. This, however, was something Nelly
once again was not having any of and it was
not the case. When she returned from Australia to the
English stage, recovered from her illness, she continued to dazzle crowds,
although she and Tetrasini did on occasion still compete for
(06:10):
really prized roles. But eventually Louisa moved to the US
because she experienced great success when she appeared there, and
Nellie Melba was once again the unopposed Queen of Covent Garden.
As a side note on how Nelly Melba sometimes dealt
with her rivals when a performer she didn't care for
had a part in a show. Nellie, with her very
(06:30):
recognizable and very skilled voice, would stand in the wings
and then loudly stay sing over her on stage competitors. Yeah,
that's a serious diva move right there. I'm like, that's
not very nice. It's not, but you know, it's very
cutthroat at that point, I guess if you want to
(06:50):
stay the number one lady singer, you gotta make yourself
known and not let anybody think for a moment that
someone else might be better. You have to give them
the comparison right then and there so they hear that
your voice is that much better. Nellie then decided to
go on another tour of Australia. But before we get
to that, let's have a word from one of our
(07:12):
awesome sponsors. So to get back to Nellie Melba. At
this point she was in her late forties, but she
showed no sign of slowing down and she's still really
drew crowds with her singing. She struck out on another
Australian tour in nineteen o nine, despite the bad press
that Norton had tried to smear her with in previous years.
She wound up being as adored as ever, and by
(07:33):
some accounts even more so. She handed out gifts of
Thai pins to people and issues of certificates to shops
that they could display showing her approval of their establishments.
I sort of love that, like she's giving her blessing
to the crowds as she goes. And unlike the previous tour, though,
this time it really appeared that Nellie wanted to set
down roots in Australia rather than just returned back to Europe.
(07:56):
She had a new home built in Victoria, which was
christened Combe Cottage, and she ended up splitting her time
in the years after comb Cottage was completed about fifty
fifty between Australia and England, and she was also continuing
to tour the world during that time. In addition to
building a home in Australia, and Nellie also began building
a reputation as a teacher. She used the Marquesi method
(08:18):
as the basis of her own, making slight changes to
the technique. In nineteen eleven, Nellie became the head of
the Melbi Williamson opera company in Melbourne, and her leadership
in the company was primarily focused on recognizing and booking talent.
For the anniversary of her first performance at Covent Garden,
her the Theater mount at a gala with Nellie singing
(08:39):
Mimi in Labo m This is this triumphant events that
in really sharp contrast to her early visits to London
when she was told she would need to get a
lot of practice to get an even minor role at
the Opera House. And you may notice as we're sort
of marching through her accomplishments in her life, they were
getting pretty close in the timeline to World War One
(09:01):
was going to be a global concern, and Nellie had
just arrived in Australia for a stay there when the
war began. But her career wasn't really slowed down very
much by the difficulties that this conflict brought to the globe.
Despite some tricky logistics and some danger while traveling, she
toured Europe three times during the war, in America once.
She also used her fame to rally excitement and allegiance
(09:24):
to the Allies. She worked on war charities, included auctions,
including auctioning off flags at the curtain of her shows.
It's estimated that she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars
for war charities by using her popularity for the cause.
During her wartime American tour. There's a little bit of
a weird blip that happens because Nellie became convinced that
(09:44):
German agents were trying to kill her because of her
work to support the Allies. Every time something went wrong
along the way, whether it was some like a travel
plan that went awry, or a delay in their travel,
or a theater setup that wasn't quite right, basically anything
no matter how big or small, she attributed these issues
to German sympathizers, but no real evidence of such a
(10:06):
plot was ever found. During the war, Nellie also became
more engaged with the Albert Street Conservatorium and her classes
became extremely popular. She became known as a task master
of a teacher, and her goal was to firmly establish
a legacy of bel Kantos singers. She used once again
the tradition of her teacher mar Casey, and her drive
(10:27):
to do so sometimes pushed her students to their breaking
points emotionally. Nellie once wrote of singing quote, there is
no royal road to success in singing. I rate correct
breathing before even the possession of a beautiful voice, for
this can be marred by faulty breath control, phrasing, tone,
residents and expression. All these depend upon respiration. Here we
(10:51):
have one of the old Italian secrets which so many
singers of our day have never found. Madame Melba, never
shy of the spotlight, had special uniforms designed for students
at the Conservatory with the blue letter M embroidered on
them so everyone would recognize her students. Eventually, the Albert
Street Conservatorium published a book on her technique titled Melbourne Method,
(11:12):
and that was in nine Eventually the school was renamed
the Melbourne Memorial Conservatorium. Once World War One ended, Nellie
Melba did indeed return to London. She was actually made
a Dame of the British Empire in nineteen eighteen, and
she also was there for the reopening of Covent Garden
because they were relaunching the opera house. It had been
(11:33):
closed and used for other purposes during the conflict. But
this was not the same place that it had been
in the wake of war. It was not the opera
house she remembered. There was certainly a more somber tone
to the entire city and that really did not agree
with the soprano diva. She was so depressed by her
return to London that she actually didn't sing at Covent
(11:53):
Garden again until nineteen. In the meantime, she sang almost
constantly in performances and Australia, including discounted performances aimed at
making the arts affordable and accessible. She also toured with
the Melbolle Williamson Company. Although there was some competition from uh,
you know, young singers who were new on the scene,
(12:14):
Melba held her own, but the constant touring and performing
and teaching started to take its hole. In addition to
her other appearances, Melba also welcomed in a new era
in entertainment in nineteen That year, she became the first
international artist to embrace direct radio by participating in various broadcasts,
and this really helped her to maintain her status as
(12:37):
a well known modern performer, you know, reaching out to
as many people as possible, More people than ever could
hear her voice without her having to tour and travel
to them. In October four, Nellie Melba announced that she
would be saying farewell to her life as a performer
but she didn't turn around to give a final performance
right away, and stead she made a series of final
(12:59):
perform it says, but those didn't even start and saw
almost four years after this announcement. Yeah. It kind of
reminds me of when actors go, I'm retiring and then
they make like six more movies. Uh So, while preparing
for her farewell series and possibly part of why they
were postponed for so long, Nellie's memoirs were published in
(13:20):
under the title Melodies and Memories, and in this book,
uh she wrote, the first rule in opera is the
first rule of life. That is, to see to everything yourself.
You must not only sing, you must not only act,
You must also be stage manager, press agent, artistic advisor.
She attributed her success very plainly to a drive that
(13:41):
she had to simply be the best. She was sometimes
described as being snobby or having a superiority complex, but
from her point of view, she simply demanded that all
of the people around her recognized both her gifts and
talents as well as her professional dedication. When asked inn
by reporters about the nature of her farewell concert, Dame
(14:02):
Nelly replied, there will be a personal touch about my
farewell like this, For on the operatic stage, one is
aloof from the audience and another atmosphere. On the concert platform, however,
it is different. It is the woman herself who is singing,
not a character from a play. And at the same time,
it seemed that now that she was preparing to leave
(14:23):
the spotlight, she also began helping to promote younger singers.
She no longer really considered them rivals, and so there
was one event where she was waving off press photographers
that had kind of approached her at a railway station,
and she used this younger performer that was traveling with
her to sort of distract them, but also to promote
this up and coming singer. She said, quote, take her
(14:47):
photograph instead. My professional career is ending. Hers is just beginning.
She must go abroad, and that will mean a lot
of work and the raising of a lot of money,
but it will be worth it, for she has a
career ahead of her. I predict at it when I
heard her singing at Government House here when she was
only fourteen. I like that she went from singing over people.
(15:10):
I did have that moment though, where I'm like, is
she just pushing this poor girl out in front of
other people, so they'll leave her alone because she wants
a moment of peace. Like, was this really a magnanimous gesture?
I have no idea. Well, regardless, we will talk about
her farewell performances next, but before we do, we will
have a brief word from a sponsor. On August seven
of night, Nellie Melbay gave her first farewell performance in Sydney, Australia,
(15:34):
and this program consisted of songs from a variety of
roles that had been famed that she had been famous
for playing. And she's sang the same program at her
Melbourne farewell on September seven of that year. But even
that wasn't her final performance. She took the Australian stage
one last time in November in Geelong, but those were
(15:55):
just her Australian farewell performances. Then she went to England
and the end gave performances in Paris and Egypt. All
in all, she spent about two years touring after her
Australian farewell concert series. Also during there was a little
bit of diva drama because English contralto Dame Clara Butt's
biography was published and in it she claimed that Dame
(16:18):
Nellie Melbah gave her advice right before the English singer
began her Australian tour. So allegedly Nellie had told her
quote sing a muck. It's all they understand. So Nellie Melba,
who was always extremely patriotic about her home country, was furious.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dame Clara claimed
(16:40):
she had never seen a manuscript and would never have
approved of such a thing to go to print in
the end, but biography biographer Winnifred Ponder was the person
who wound up being thrown under the bus for this gaff.
Nellie accepted the excuse and was quoted by the Press
is saying it is merely a stupid mistake. I would
never dream of saying such a thing. I am delighted
(17:02):
to see that Dame Clara Butt has issued a denial.
And as Nellie's time singing abroad reached the two year mark,
her health really took a turn. There was a fever
that plagued her, though she sang once again at a
charity event in the Hyde Park Hotel before she headed
home to Melbourne via steamer. Nellie's condition deteriorated over the
(17:22):
course of her journey home from Europe. Once she was
back in Australia, things did not get better. Eventually, she
went to Sydney to be admitted to St Vincent's Hospital
at Darlinghurst, but unfortunately she never left. It turned out
that the fever was the result of an infection from
a facial surgery she had had while she was in Europe.
She died of sept semia on February one. Nellie was
(17:46):
buried three days later on February she was interred at
lily Dale, the small town where her home, comb Cottage
was built. Friends, family and members of the public visited
Scott's Church, where her coffin was displayed draped in the
Australian flag, in the morning before her memorial service, and
that church was the same one she had visited as
a child. Her father had actually built it, and as
(18:07):
you recall, he sang in the choir there, and the
Reverend Dr W. Borland's memorial speech he said, as we
pay our last tribute to the memory of our great countrywoman,
let us keep in mind with the Lord gave when
he raised up in our nation Dame Nellie Melba. No
one in these two generations which most of us here
have known, has been so wonderfully gifted as she whose
(18:30):
voice thrilled the hearts of millions, whose understanding directing that
voice made possible that matchless sympathy for all things human
and for many things divine, which enabled her to interpret
the very soul of true music, just as was the
case with any of her tours as a performer. As
Nellie's funeral procession moved from Scott's Church, through town and
(18:53):
out to the cemetery, the streets were filled with admirers,
though at this point they were somber instead of cheering.
Took three hours to get to make the way through,
just because there were so many people crowded around, and
there were also simultaneous memorial services held in Sydney and Melbourne,
Impact chapels so filled with mourners that people had to stand,
(19:13):
and a memorial service was also held later in London
on March six. Some of our listeners may have recognized
Nellie Melba's name right out of the gate because she
appeared as a character on Downton Nattie. She was played
by opera star Dame Carrie to Knawa, and there's some
criticism that the very idea that the star, a star
of Dame Nellie Melba's stature, would sing at Lady Grantham's
(19:37):
home was utterly preposterous. Uh, and have to have been
treated as a tradesperson as she was in that episode
rather than as the creme de la creme is just unimaginable. Yeah,
there were some rather scathing reviews, both of the way
that she was integrated into the show and of Dame
Takanawa's the portrayal of her uh performance too. Yeah, I
(20:03):
read one of those before I came in here, and like,
the review was just scathing, both of the portrayal of
the character and the actual singing that happened at the
episode and then abound. At the very bottom was this
link that was like read our exclusive interview with her
about this, and I was like, really, yeah, it was
a little really happy that you raked her over the
coals after you gave her, after she gave you the
(20:25):
courtesy of having an interview with you about it. Yeah,
it wasn't super kind. Some people took offense at how
it was stage. Like people that are are really big
opera fans and particularly fans of Dame Nelly Melba because
you can't still hear her work online because she didn't
make so many recordings that they were very upset that
she was. You know, she's so rarely given the spotlight,
(20:47):
even though she was so huge in her day, but
that when she was it was juxtaposed against It's a
little bit of a spoiler, but it's been long ago
now that I hope nobody minds. It was juxtaposed against
a rape scene and it cut back and forth between
the two, and people were like, that is not the
way we want to see Nellie Melba brought back into
the spotlight. So there were a lot of issues. Yeah,
the top of that, it was portrayed as a as
(21:08):
a performance that the people watching were not really enjoying
because it wasn't very good, right, uh, Yeah, there were
a lot of problems with that portrayal apparently. Um I
remember watching that episode and I knew nothing about her
at the time, so it didn't strike me as particularly odd.
But it had I known all of this about her,
I think I would have been like, huh, really they
made her stay in her room, but that doesn't I
(21:31):
also have seen that episode when it originally was on
in the US, and did not remember the name at all. Uh, Like,
I definitely remembered the episode in the performance and how
it was portrayed, but it wasn't until you gave me
this outline that I was like, oh right, that okay. Yeah.
So one of the things that I really noticed shines
(21:52):
through when you read Nellie Melby's writings and you read
quotes from her, is it. Uh. She believed as a performer,
you have to work hard always, and this certainly played
out in her work schedule. She was constantly touring right
up to the end of her life, and though she
was a diva, she really felt as though success came
from always putting in effort. She wanted to be treated
(22:15):
as opera royalty, but she also did everything she could
to earn that status. She was not a person that
showed up unprepared or just assuming that things would go well.
She just didn't think talent was enough. So to wrap up,
I thought, because he was shown a little bit of her,
her less delightful qualities as well as her good ones.
But I thought this was a really good snippet that
(22:36):
she wrote as part of a larger essay intended to
encourage younger singers She wrote this in nine She wrote,
consider my own case. I quote it with no vanity
at all, but only to illustrate my meaning. The gift
of song was certainly mine. I was born with a
natural trill and absolute breath control. Consequently, as a child
of seven, I was as far advanced as more mature
(22:58):
students are after years of study and actue. Yet for
all that, I had everything to learn. And I kind
of love that quote because she she did, she wasn't
arrest on her laurels kind of at all. Uh So
it's kind of there's a lot of work ethic behind
all of the diva behavior, which I have to respect.
Whether do you like that she did some of the
things she did? Uh? Like I said, I have to
(23:20):
respect her work ethic. So that was Dame Nellie Melba.
Do you also have some listener mails? Of course I do.
These are actually about our Carampus and Friends episodes, which
were so fun to record and research, and I've been
really delighted because we have gotten a raft of listener
mail from people that really really enjoyed them and had
their own stories related to them well. And then we've
(23:41):
also gotten a lot of suggestions for other Winter holiday,
Christmas time holiday figures. So maybe this will become a
tradition question. That's fine with me, because there's plenty more
to talk about. Uh. And I've just loved it. And
people have sent us pictures of their little Bafana witches
that they have oven. I think that's everybody's favorite heard
(24:02):
because she is so charming. Uh. And they sent us
pictures of their crampus stuff and talked about their personal experiences.
So I have a few uh listener mails covering that
since I want to give them all a little bit
of play. Like I said, we were away for a
long time and getting lots of mail, and I hate
knowing that those people aren't getting a little bit of
a light shown on them. So first we're going to
(24:24):
hear from Cynthia, who says, uh, thank you for your
delightful podcast. Many and Onerous Drive has passed more lights
with you two along. I just listened to your podcasts
in which you mentioned Father Whipper's origin story as salting
and curating murdered children. I had to send you mail
because it reminded me of something I had read about St. Nicholas.
I teach at a Catholic school and I have to
confess that I love to read about the lives of
(24:46):
the saints, especially if I can get my hands on
an older compendium of the stories, which are usually way
creepier and bloodier than the modern, more sanitized versions allah
original Grimm Brothers versus modern day versions of fairy tales,
and one of these was the Life of Aunt Nicholas,
and I was horribly thrilled to read there in the
tale of him stopping for dinner at an end during
a famine, and in which somehow always had meat to
(25:08):
offer travelers even during the general lack of food. After
eating dinner, st Nick discovered that he had been served
cured child, and then he resurrected the Tykes. My takeaway,
of course, Santa eats children. I just love that so much. Cynthia,
that was really delightful and funny. I love it's. The
(25:29):
next one we have is from our listener Neil, and
he says, greeting's Tracy and Holly, longtime listener, big time fan.
I just finished listening to your podcast, The Crampus and
Friends Holiday Special Part one, and I knew I had
to write in to share my American experience with Crampus
and St. Nicholas. Most listeners to the podcast could safely
assume that the episode was all about holiday traditions in
European countries, and for the most part, that is true. However,
(25:51):
in small parts of Wisconsin, St. Nicholas and Crampus are
still observed every December six. Green Bay and the surrounding
communities have a strong German hair titch. Growing up there,
it was not uncommon to hear names like Hans Eric
Regretchen eat space will in verse sidebar of me yum
I love Spaceland verse, or have a last name that
ended in sc h. There were many German holiday traditions
(26:13):
that we all enjoyed, and one of those was St.
Nicholas and Crampus. Every first week of December, we were
reminded by our parents, grandparents, and teachers to be on
our best behavior because St. Nick was coming. Depending on
what town you were in, children would either hang stockings
on the fireplace or leave their shoes by the front
door on the eve of St. Nicholas December five. Crampus
knocked actually is something I had never heard of until recently,
(26:36):
probably having something to do with the release of this
year's Crampas movie. Although It's possible that part of the
folklore simply never made it across the pond. When you
woke up on December six, St Nick would have left
you candy and small gifts in your stockings or shoes
if you were good, and if you were bad, he
left you cold. If you were really bad, that's when
Crampus would come to you while you were asleep and
drag you off to his lair. Pretty terrifying to a child,
(26:58):
but that's a German holiday, right. I never realized this
was a local holiday until I moved to Milwaukee for college.
To my shock and dismay, nobody celebrated Nicolaus fests. They
didn't even know what I was talking about. Feeling homesick
and craving an excuse to eat chocolate, I decided to
share my tradition with my friends and peers. I would
buy miniature stockings in bulk and then leave them in
(27:19):
people's lockers or desks, filled with candies. I would proudly
exclaim from nicolas Fess down the halls to officially bring
in the Christmas season. I now live in Chicago and
continue to give little candy stuff stockings to my friends
and co workers. Every December six. I found it's a
great way to share something about myself as well as
get everyone else to share their own holiday memories and traditions.
(27:39):
I can't wait to have children on my own to
pass this tradition onto them. Thank you for making me
audibly squeal with glee during my evening commute on a
public train at the mention of Crampas, and for making
every podcast you'd do so fun and enjoyable. I love that.
I love the idea that, in the absence of the
Crampas and st nick lore, he just brought it in himself.
That's a bias for action I can get behind, so
(28:02):
long as he's not stealing bad children. That would be uh.
And then I have one more. It's a short one
from our listener, Robin Uh, and it is about bell Snickel.
She says, Hello, my name is Robin and I'm writing
to you from Oklahoma. I was so excited to hear
you talk about the Bells Nickel on your recent podcast
about different holiday characters. I was excited to hear him
mentioned because none of my friends are classmates ever knew
(28:24):
what I was talking about when I mentioned him. This
was pre the office days. My family has a strong
German heritage, and his kids we were always told the
bell Snickel watched you, and if you were bad between
Christmas and New Year's he would come and steal the
toy Santa brought you and drag you up and down
the stairs by your toes. I strongly suspect the stair
portion was in there because my grandparents had stairs in
(28:44):
their home and had told the tales of my dad
and his brothers and sisters. The story was always told,
though with a smile, so we knew not to take
it very seriously. Thank you for adding the bell Nickel
into your list of characters. It was nice to know
there are others out here who have stories for the
same one. I love it, Robin, thank you. Thank you
to all of our people that wrote us about all
of their holiday traditions and suggested, as Tracy mentioned, new
(29:06):
characters that we could cover next year. I'm super excited
about it. I thought that was a really fun episode. Yes,
it was like a good way to get in the
holiday spirit without getting just sort of retreading the usual stuff.
So it was fun for me. Yeah, Well, often when
we do when we do episodes like that, that that are
kind of like a collection of things. I worry that
people are gonna think that that it was not as
(29:29):
robust as as what we typically do, but so many
people love those I was so happy about it. Me too,
I always worry as well, so I'm always grateful when
it turns out. Okay, If you would like to share
any of your holiday memories suggestions for next year's Holiday
Characters podcast, because I'm planning to do it next year,
I'm compiling a list. You can do so at History
Podcast at housetu works dot com. You can also connect
(29:51):
with us at Facebook dot com, slash mist in History,
on Twitter at mist in History, at pinterest dot com,
slash mist in History, and mist in History dot tumbled
dot com. We're also on Instagram at mist in History.
You would like to learn a little bit about what
we talked about today, you can, once again, as we
suggested in our first episode on Dame Nelly Melba, go
to our parents site house to works type in the
(30:12):
word opera. This time, the article that you are looking
for is one just about the Sydney Opera House, since
that is closer to home for Dame Nelly's life story.
Uh and if you would like to visit us at
misston history dot com. You will find show notes for
this and every other episode that Tracy and I have
worked on together, as well as every episode of the
(30:32):
podcast that has ever happened, including all previous hosts. So
there's plenty to enjoy and go through if you are
into history, which I presume you are if you have
gotten this far in this episode, so we welcome you
to visit us at mist in history dot com and
our parents site, how stup works dot com for lare
(30:53):
on this and thousands of other topics because it how
to works dot Com in
Stuff You Missed in History Class News
Hosts And Creators
Holly Frey
Tracy Wilson
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