January 8, 2025 • 25 mins
In 1939, Dr. Seuss published a book featuring seven naked sisters. It flopped.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
School of Humans. Oh what a life we're living. Everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's blizzard season.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Well not where I live, because I live in Atlanta,
but it is slightly cold down here. You know a
nice thing to do on these cold and dark winter months,
Well you could read a little story with your friends
and family around the fire. Yeah, in this modern age
of iPads and phones and.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Meth, that's what people want to do.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
They just want to get together and tell stories around
the fire or read a book. You know. But if
you are going to read a book, maybe you want
something that's fun for the whole family. And oh, I know,
perhaps you could read something by Doctor Seuss, the author
and illustrator whose work is ubiquitous across American childhoods. His
(01:00):
books like Green Eggs and Ham, the Cat and the Hat,
Horton Hears Who, the Lorax, they're all efflective of the
American spirit. They all include a passion for democracy, and
some of them could be a little bit racist, just
to touch. Like. In twenty twenty one, publishers decided to
stop printing some of doctor Seuss's books, the ones that
(01:21):
included racist images and ideas, And this might get be canceled.
And that's fine, I'm tired, but I'm actually here to
defend doctor Seuss because a lot of his books took
stands against anti Semitism dictatorships. They're really pro environment, very
pro democracy. And in the nineteen seventies, doctor susan his
(01:42):
wife Audrey, got pissed off at some pro life groups
because they had co opted a line from Horton here's
a who you know, the famous one. A person's a person,
no matter how small. Pro life people took that and
we're like, well, if that's the case, then you shouldn't
get an abortion, and doctor SEUs was like, shut up,
that's not the context.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So Docressus, that's a pretty cool guy. I like him.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
But all that controversy aside, because yeah, there are a
few of his books that are a little racist against
Asian people and black people. If you are gonna have
a little story time with your family by the sweltering fire,
let me suggest a doctor Seuss book.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You shouldn't read.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
First, let's hear some reviews from the library I go to.
That's in the Fulson County Library System. Yes, I am
bragging that I go to the library and sometimes I
even read the books.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I check out.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So with this Doctor Seuss book. One of the reviewers
on the library website gave it a half star out
of five. Yeah, just a half, and the review said
astoundingly awful, painfully unfunny, boring, tedious, ghastly illustrations. And it
doesn't even rhyme. That's right, doesn't even rhyme? Doesn't that suck.
(03:06):
Another review is not as bad. It gave it a
three out of five stars, but it said this is
not Doctor SEUs for children. The cover alone is enough
to make that statement. Ooh, isn't that spicy? And I
bet you're wondering.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What is the cover of the book.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Well, it's seven women riding a horse, and all of
these ladies are naked, naked Doctor Seuss what it definitely
is not for children. The rest of that review said,
although SEUs was clever in some spots, the nakedness of
these ladies while everyone else's clothes is silly, and the
(03:49):
story is simply strange. I think if the ladies had
their clothes on, the story would have been more interesting,
but then they couldn't be Lady Godiva's.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I suppose this.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Was written in nineteen thirty nine, which is rather surprising
for the time period, not even close to my favorite
Doctor SEUs materials, so yes. In nineteen thirty nine, Doctor
Seu's published a book featuring seven naked women called The
Seven Lady Godivas, and oh boy, did not sell well,
(04:20):
as the reviewer said, it didn't even rhyme cute.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
The theme song.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
This is American Filth and I'm Gaby Watts. Every week
I tell you a filthy story from American history. This
week's episode Naked Doctor Seuss.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The thing about.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Doctor Seuss is he is a man. And the thing
about men that I find is, at some point in
their artistic career they're probably gonna draw pictures of naked ladies.
And that's what he did in his book The Seven
Lady get So, what's this book about? While the Seven
(05:11):
Lady Godivas are sisters, they're all noble women, and they
are committed to living their lives bare, both physically without
clothes and metaphorically. They are dedicated to truth and honesty.
And one day their father, a lord, he decides to
go off to war. But unfortunately, when he mounts his horse,
(05:33):
whose name is Nathan, an obvious horse name Nathan rears
and the Lord Godiva flies off the horse and dies.
Now in this moment, you might think that the sisters
would have significant PTSD after witnessing their father's death, but no,
what they realize instead is that horses must be studied
(05:54):
and charted, made safe for posterity. So the seven sisters
swear that they will bring to light new horse truths,
you know, horse truths, lessons about the world revealed through horses.
So each sister embarks on a quest to discover one
(06:15):
horse truth and they have to do this before they
can marry one of the seven Peeping brothers. Yes, there's
a family of seven brothers, the Peepings, one of whom
is obviously Peeping Tom.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And they wear clothes by the way, And you.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Guys might be thinking, this is a pretty strange concept
for a book. Yes, I mean, I guess so is
a cat and a hat and one fish and two
fish and a bluefish and a redfish.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But this story is actually based.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
On an even older story, a famous English tale about
a noble woman known for her act of compassion and
defiance against oppressive taxation. This is a story from the
eleventh century and is based on a real historical figure
named Lady Godiva. She was the wife of the Earl
(07:05):
of who is a powerful nobleman in Anglo Saxon, England. So,
according to this legend, the Earl Lady Godiva's husband imposed
harsh taxes on the people of Coventry, which caused a
lot of suffering amongst the townsfolk, and then Lady Godiva
begged her husband. She was like, Hey, we need to
(07:26):
reduce these taxes so they don't suffer. Her husband was
frustrated and he was like, Hey, I'll reduce the taxes
if you do this one impossible thing that I know
that you're not going to do.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Haha, So I'm going to win.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
He was like, I'll lower the taxes if you ride
naked through the streets of Coventry on horseback. He was like,
she'll never agree to do that because of modesty and
societal expectations.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Ha ha. I got her. I tricked her.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
But to his surprise and to everybody else's, Lady Godiva
accepted the challenge. She rode unclothed through the town, her
long hair covering most of.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Her body to shield her.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Modestly, and out of respect for her, the townspeople supposedly
stayed indoors and did not look as she passed. Yes,
I'm sure not a single man looked at this naked
lady on a horse. And then her husband was like, damn,
I didn't know she was gonna do that, and I
am impressed by her bravery and her commitment, So I'm
(08:34):
actually going to reduce the taxes. And then all the
townspeople of Coventry were happy, thank you, lady Godiva for
being naked on a horse.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So that's kind of like the original story.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And then in later versions of it, there's a peeping
tom who actually does look at her as she passes by,
but he's punished. In some versions he ends up dying
and others he just goes blind. And so yeah, this
is a pretty well known story, though I feel like
a most Americans don't know about it today. I'm going
(09:08):
to say that, I mean, we're not the smartest people
at this point. We don't really get that much info,
or we get too much info that's wrong. Like if
I said Godiva, most of us are going to associate
it with the chocolate brand. You know, the chocolate brand
that I eat while crying bitterly about the failure of
my life.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
You guys too. But in doctor.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Seuss's early career as an illustrator, artist writer, A lot
of people were talking about this Lady Goadiva tale. Like
in nineteen thirty five, the actress and dancer named Thelma
White rode down Broadway in New York City atop a
horse wearing next to nothing. According to one newspaper, throngs
(09:50):
of peeping toms climbed over one another in their anxiety
to examine a plain white nag ambling up the famed thoroughfare.
One onlooker yelled, she's naked, said The reason she did
this little ride was to commemorate the anniversary of Lady
Godivas Canter. And the thing is Thelma wasn't actually completely naked.
(10:16):
She had a tricky net arrangement of ribbon that was
placed strategically over her body. Thelma was quickly arrested. Her
ride only lasted a block, but her state of undress
wasn't the main issue. The bigger issue at hand was
the traffic. Her ride caused a major traffic jam, so
(10:36):
she was arrested, taken to jail, and was hailed on
a fifty dollars bail for disorderly conduct. Thelma never again
did this stunt. But she did skyrocket to fame, and
by skyrocket I mean mostly just get a job in
a movie that you might be familiar with the next
(10:57):
year in nineteen thirty six called Reefer Madness, you guys know,
the over the top propaganda film that warned youths about
the terrors of smoking marijuana. According to that movie, if
you smoke dope, it might lead to a life of prostitution, insanity, manslaughter, suicide,
among a lot of other terrible side effects. Bellemawhite was
(11:23):
just one Lady Godiva out there. Like in nineteen twenty seven,
there's these two Chicago architects who are hosting a artist
ball where they promised there would be seven Lady Godivas there.
They're like, yeah, we're gonna have seven naked ladies on horseback.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Isn't that exciting?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
One of the architects and organizers of this event said, certainly,
we should have a Lady Godiva.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
The legend about her is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Her appearance on a horse, provided it isn't too cold,
will be an artistic achievement such as Chicago has seldom seen. Yes,
what an artistic achievement to be a naked woman on
horseback and The thing is, I do think it would
be too cold for a Lady Godiva, because this was
supposed to be in November, which I don't know if
you've been to Chicago in the winter, but it's pretty
(12:14):
frick and cold. But Thelma White, these seven Lady Godivas,
don't worry. There's even more Lady Godivas. In nineteen thirty
three in Hollywood, there was a call for a casting
of a Lady Godiva. The advertisement said, the lady who
is to ride a snow white horse in a fiesta
must have a beautiful face, a divine figure, and a
(12:36):
wealth of golden locks real that all but sweep to
the ground. Also that year, in Hollywood, seven lady Godivas
appeared in a parade, but instead of riding horses, they
rode elephants. Obviously, this all goes to say that in
(12:56):
the late nineteen twenties and thirties, people were excited about
Lady Godiva, specifically because that meant naked women riding horses
or elephants or whatever, and they seemed particularly excited if
you had seven of them. And then there was doctor Seuss.
Perhaps he had read about Thelma White, perhaps he had
seen all these calls for Lady Godiva's especially seven of them,
(13:20):
and he was like, huh, I got an idea for
a book. We'll be right back after these soothing advertisements.
Doctor Seus's full name is Theodore Seuss Geisel, and if
you can believe it, he's not actually a doctor. And
(13:44):
in nineteen thirty nine he was still trying to make it.
He had a lot of different jobs in different fields,
and it wasn't fully clicking yet.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
At first. When he was younger, he tried to be
a novelist.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
And right after college he wrote a book, and apparently
it sucked.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Later in life. This is what Geisel said about the book.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
It was a very long novel and nobody would publish it.
So I boiled it down to a short story, and
still nobody would publish that. So then I boiled it
down to a short short story, and still nobody would
publish it. Finally, I took one joke out of it
and sold it as a two line joke, which proved
that nothing is ever lost. Wow, what a positive spin
(14:27):
on spending years of your life writing a book. And
that's the thing about art, isn't it fulfilling all the time?
Sometimes you can just work really hard on something and
just get two sentences out of it. Anyway, after that
novel failed, Geisel had started working as an illustrator and
humorous for some magazines. He also did some political cartoons.
(14:51):
But even the magazine business wasn't lucrative enough, so he
started working at Standard Oil as an advertiser, and there
he made a bit of a splash because he created
a famous ad campaign for a pest to side. He
came up with this slogan, quick Henry the flit, the
flit being a pesticide against flies and mosquitoes. But if
(15:16):
you can believe it, for a creative mind like Geisel,
working in advertising and creating slogans for bug killing solutions
wasn't creatively satisfying. I know, isn't that crazy? And so
Geisel wanted to make something else. But unfortunately, Geisel couldn't
go back to writing novels or illustrating cartoons for newspapers
(15:38):
because he still needed his advertising job for the money,
and at Standard Oil he had a non compete clause
in his contract that was like, you can't write or
draw anything else outside of this company. The only exception
is children's books. And so that might have been part
of the reason why doctor Seuss became doctor Seuss because
(15:59):
of a non compete agreement. The first couple were moderately successful,
but the sales they're pretty sluggish in general, Like, they
were fine, but he wasn't popping off yet. He wasn't
a household name. But it seemed at this point he
was making enough money off of these books to have
a new career. Of course, you want more success than
(16:21):
sluggish sales. So Geisel doctor Seuss, was like, hmm, let
me try something else. These children books are fine, but
maybe I could be more successful doing, you know, something
for adults. So this was like the later nineteen thirties,
and at this time people were wanting unconventional and experimental literature,
(16:43):
you know, they wanted something spicy, something interesting. We were
coming out of the Depression, which was right after the
jazz Age, with the speakeasies and the flappers. There was
a general loosening of societal norms. Geisel was like, well,
if I make a risque in a reverent book for adults.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Maybe they'll like that.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Maybe that audience I want to read it, and I'll
make a lot of money and be very successful. Doctor
Seus's publisher was Random House, and before he got started
working on this adult book, Random House was like, hey,
doctor Seuss, in you're twelve years of working as an illustrator.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
We've kind of noticed that.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You've drawn men, children, insects, dragons, fish, and other animals,
but you have actually never drawn a woman whoopsies. So
when doctor SEUs started on his endeavor to create an
adult book, this was in the back of his mind
and he was like, Hey, I won't draw just one lady,
(17:46):
I will draw seven.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
How's that, Random House. That's a lot of ladies.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
So the book came out in nineteen thirty nine, featured
forty three illustrations, and if you can believe it, it
was a commercial flop. Yeah. They printed like ten thousand
copies and only twenty five hundred sold. People hated it,
(18:13):
which probably made guys a little upset. He was like, well,
I thought people wanted stuff like this. I thought adults
were freaky. They want some naked ladies. I delivered, and
they hate it. So why did it flop so hard? Well,
the book's humor didn't resonate with readers, and the illustrations
weren't seen as provocative or engaging. Instead, they just looked
(18:36):
silly and ridiculous. One review said, his little book is
only mildly amusing. That may be due to the fact
that he has never before written or drawn about women,
or it may be the result of too obvious humor
plus a lack of definition in the character of each
Lady Godiva. Better luck next time, doctor Seuss. Another of
(19:03):
you agreed, saying doctor Seuss has a with women in
caricature at least. And I really appreciate these reviews. They're
actually kind of feminists for the nineteen thirties. They're saying, hey,
doctor Seuss, you're not presenting these women as real people. Also,
they look stupid and worse than these negative reviews.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
It seems a lot of the reviews just didn't care
about the book.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Like one of the reviews just said, the seven Lady
Godivas is the title.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Of a book. Wow, that's it the whole review.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yes, this book exists, devastating and I'm sure you guys
all want my personal opinion on the book, of course,
Well I will say the ladies do look a little weird,
like for one of the sisters, her elbow.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Is at the same height as her knee, which is
a little messed up, you know.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So their arms are a bit too long, they got
short little legs, their torsos are really long, and they
all have like pretty huge asses, and they all have
like the perkiest tits I've ever seen. They're often like
angled upwards they like almost look like they're about to
hit them in.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
The neck kind of.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And all the sisters they have different haircuts or whatever.
And one of the sisters, she's larger, and the rest
of them are just very skinny.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Asexual looking ladies.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Like in the nineteen thirties, adults were like, I want
something provocative, and yes, these are just like silly little
drawings of ladies. Like if you found these ladies sexual,
there's something wrong with you, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
And as far as.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
The story goes, it's not particularly gripping. It's also kind
of weird, like it just tells the tale of the
seven sisters trying to find their horse truths or whatever,
so it's kind of stilted, and the horse truths that
they all discover are really dumb. It's all just like
horse idioms and horse puns, like don't put the cart
(21:16):
before the horse, or don't lock the barn door after
the horse has been stolen or never change horses in
the middle.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Of a stream. You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink. So yeah, I'm not gonna.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Give it a half star out of five, but I'm
not gonna give it a three either. I think it's
hovering somewhere in the two range for me.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
And guys.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Old Doctor Sus himself admitted later on that the book
was a huge misstep. He was like, I tried to
draw the sexiest babes I could, but they came out
looking absurd. I think maybe it all went to prove
that I don't know anything about adults beyond the fact
that they're obsolete to children.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
After The Seven Lady.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Godivas came out and sold some soh terribly, Geisel was like, nevermind,
fuck adults. I'm going back to writing children's books because
they are the ones who appreciate me. And obviously that
was a good choice. He went on to produce some
of the most beloved works in American children's literary history,
(22:26):
and for the most part, they all rhymed.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Thank God.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
But here's the thing about the Seven Lady Godivas. Throughout
the decades, as Doctor Seuss got more and more famous
for his books. The Seven Lady Godivas had a cult
like following, like it's a weird novelty, especially since most
of us were introduced to Doctor SEUs as a kid.
It's just funny that he has this book about naked ladies.
(22:54):
But it got so popular in later decades that Doctor
Seuss even thought about writing a musical based on The
Seven Lady Godivas. He never did, but he had the
idea in the nineteen eighties. At that point, copies of
the book were selling for five hundred dollars a pop,
and the book became so popular. I mean, I'm not
gonna say it was like that popular, but it was
(23:16):
popular enough that Random House printed some more copies in
nineteen eighty seven. On the cover, it says it's reissued
by multitudinous demand, And yeah, multitudiness.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
That's a bit of a reach.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But it is out there and you can find it
at your local library, even though in my experience it
is very embarrassing to check out. I was at the
library trying to be like really coy and subtle about it,
trying to make sure that nobody saw that I was
just getting these big lady asses. But you know what
life's an imare, and I did it for you, guys,
(23:53):
so you're fricking welcome. Every week on American Filth, we
learn a lesson. I think the lesson we learned this
week is that, hey, when you're an artist, when you're
doing creative stuff, you're gonna fail, and you're gonna fail hard,
and it's gonna be embarrassing. But maybe after all those failures,
(24:17):
maybe you'll eventually become a successful children's book writer. And
I'm just saying this is reassurance to myself as I
fail and fail again while I eat a dive of chocolate.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
And also, guys, I was lying, I don't really eat
a diva that often.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I'll just like eat a bunch of like chocolate chips
from the store, like Kroger brand. But yes, life is
a nightmare, so take that into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Cue the credits.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
American Filth is a production of School of Humans and
iHeart Podcast. This episode was produced, written, hosted by me
Gabby Watts. Our theme song is by Jesse Niswanger. Our
executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Else Crowley and Brandon Barr
and you guys can follow along with the pod on
Instagram at American filth Pod. I'm gonna post some pictures
of the the ladies butts. Hopefully I don't get censored
on Instagram. Mark Zuck is gonna come for me, and
(25:10):
of course send the pod to your friends, to your
enemies like subscribe, get the algorithm going. And even though
I was saying life is a nightmare, I do hope
you guys have a Grete twenty twenty five. I'll talk
to you guys next time.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Bye. School of Humans.
School of Humans. Oh what a life we're living. Everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It's blizzard season.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Well not where I live, because I live in Atlanta,
but it is slightly cold down here. You know a
nice thing to do on these cold and dark winter months,
Well you could read a little story with your friends
and family around the fire. Yeah, in this modern age
of iPads and phones and.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Meth, that's what people want to do.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
They just want to get together and tell stories around
the fire or read a book. You know. But if
you are going to read a book, maybe you want
something that's fun for the whole family. And oh, I know,
perhaps you could read something by Doctor Seuss, the author
and illustrator whose work is ubiquitous across American childhoods. His
(01:00):
books like Green Eggs and Ham, the Cat and the Hat,
Horton Hears Who, the Lorax, they're all efflective of the
American spirit. They all include a passion for democracy, and
some of them could be a little bit racist, just
to touch. Like. In twenty twenty one, publishers decided to
stop printing some of doctor Seuss's books, the ones that
(01:21):
included racist images and ideas, And this might get be canceled.
And that's fine, I'm tired, but I'm actually here to
defend doctor Seuss because a lot of his books took
stands against anti Semitism dictatorships. They're really pro environment, very
pro democracy. And in the nineteen seventies, doctor susan his
(01:42):
wife Audrey, got pissed off at some pro life groups
because they had co opted a line from Horton here's
a who you know, the famous one. A person's a person,
no matter how small. Pro life people took that and
we're like, well, if that's the case, then you shouldn't
get an abortion, and doctor SEUs was like, shut up,
that's not the context.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So Docressus, that's a pretty cool guy. I like him.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
But all that controversy aside, because yeah, there are a
few of his books that are a little racist against
Asian people and black people. If you are gonna have
a little story time with your family by the sweltering fire,
let me suggest a doctor Seuss book.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
You shouldn't read.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
First, let's hear some reviews from the library I go to.
That's in the Fulson County Library System. Yes, I am
bragging that I go to the library and sometimes I
even read the books.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I check out.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So with this Doctor Seuss book. One of the reviewers
on the library website gave it a half star out
of five. Yeah, just a half, and the review said
astoundingly awful, painfully unfunny, boring, tedious, ghastly illustrations. And it
doesn't even rhyme. That's right, doesn't even rhyme? Doesn't that suck.
(03:06):
Another review is not as bad. It gave it a
three out of five stars, but it said this is
not Doctor SEUs for children. The cover alone is enough
to make that statement. Ooh, isn't that spicy? And I
bet you're wondering.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What is the cover of the book.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Well, it's seven women riding a horse, and all of
these ladies are naked, naked Doctor Seuss what it definitely
is not for children. The rest of that review said,
although SEUs was clever in some spots, the nakedness of
these ladies while everyone else's clothes is silly, and the
(03:49):
story is simply strange. I think if the ladies had
their clothes on, the story would have been more interesting,
but then they couldn't be Lady Godiva's.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I suppose this.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Was written in nineteen thirty nine, which is rather surprising
for the time period, not even close to my favorite
Doctor SEUs materials, so yes. In nineteen thirty nine, Doctor
Seu's published a book featuring seven naked women called The
Seven Lady Godivas, and oh boy, did not sell well,
(04:20):
as the reviewer said, it didn't even rhyme cute.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
The theme song.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
This is American Filth and I'm Gaby Watts. Every week
I tell you a filthy story from American history. This
week's episode Naked Doctor Seuss.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The thing about.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Doctor Seuss is he is a man. And the thing
about men that I find is, at some point in
their artistic career they're probably gonna draw pictures of naked ladies.
And that's what he did in his book The Seven
Lady get So, what's this book about? While the Seven
(05:11):
Lady Godivas are sisters, they're all noble women, and they
are committed to living their lives bare, both physically without
clothes and metaphorically. They are dedicated to truth and honesty.
And one day their father, a lord, he decides to
go off to war. But unfortunately, when he mounts his horse,
(05:33):
whose name is Nathan, an obvious horse name Nathan rears
and the Lord Godiva flies off the horse and dies.
Now in this moment, you might think that the sisters
would have significant PTSD after witnessing their father's death, but no,
what they realize instead is that horses must be studied
(05:54):
and charted, made safe for posterity. So the seven sisters
swear that they will bring to light new horse truths,
you know, horse truths, lessons about the world revealed through horses.
So each sister embarks on a quest to discover one
(06:15):
horse truth and they have to do this before they
can marry one of the seven Peeping brothers. Yes, there's
a family of seven brothers, the Peepings, one of whom
is obviously Peeping Tom.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And they wear clothes by the way, And you.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Guys might be thinking, this is a pretty strange concept
for a book. Yes, I mean, I guess so is
a cat and a hat and one fish and two
fish and a bluefish and a redfish.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But this story is actually based.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
On an even older story, a famous English tale about
a noble woman known for her act of compassion and
defiance against oppressive taxation. This is a story from the
eleventh century and is based on a real historical figure
named Lady Godiva. She was the wife of the Earl
(07:05):
of who is a powerful nobleman in Anglo Saxon, England. So,
according to this legend, the Earl Lady Godiva's husband imposed
harsh taxes on the people of Coventry, which caused a
lot of suffering amongst the townsfolk, and then Lady Godiva
begged her husband. She was like, Hey, we need to
(07:26):
reduce these taxes so they don't suffer. Her husband was
frustrated and he was like, Hey, I'll reduce the taxes
if you do this one impossible thing that I know
that you're not going to do.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Haha, So I'm going to win.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
He was like, I'll lower the taxes if you ride
naked through the streets of Coventry on horseback. He was like,
she'll never agree to do that because of modesty and
societal expectations.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Ha ha. I got her. I tricked her.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
But to his surprise and to everybody else's, Lady Godiva
accepted the challenge. She rode unclothed through the town, her
long hair covering most of.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Her body to shield her.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Modestly, and out of respect for her, the townspeople supposedly
stayed indoors and did not look as she passed. Yes,
I'm sure not a single man looked at this naked
lady on a horse. And then her husband was like, damn,
I didn't know she was gonna do that, and I
am impressed by her bravery and her commitment, So I'm
(08:34):
actually going to reduce the taxes. And then all the
townspeople of Coventry were happy, thank you, lady Godiva for
being naked on a horse.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So that's kind of like the original story.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And then in later versions of it, there's a peeping
tom who actually does look at her as she passes by,
but he's punished. In some versions he ends up dying
and others he just goes blind. And so yeah, this
is a pretty well known story, though I feel like
a most Americans don't know about it today. I'm going
(09:08):
to say that, I mean, we're not the smartest people
at this point. We don't really get that much info,
or we get too much info that's wrong. Like if
I said Godiva, most of us are going to associate
it with the chocolate brand. You know, the chocolate brand
that I eat while crying bitterly about the failure of
my life.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
You guys too. But in doctor.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Seuss's early career as an illustrator, artist writer, A lot
of people were talking about this Lady Goadiva tale. Like
in nineteen thirty five, the actress and dancer named Thelma
White rode down Broadway in New York City atop a
horse wearing next to nothing. According to one newspaper, throngs
(09:50):
of peeping toms climbed over one another in their anxiety
to examine a plain white nag ambling up the famed thoroughfare.
One onlooker yelled, she's naked, said The reason she did
this little ride was to commemorate the anniversary of Lady
Godivas Canter. And the thing is Thelma wasn't actually completely naked.
(10:16):
She had a tricky net arrangement of ribbon that was
placed strategically over her body. Thelma was quickly arrested. Her
ride only lasted a block, but her state of undress
wasn't the main issue. The bigger issue at hand was
the traffic. Her ride caused a major traffic jam, so
(10:36):
she was arrested, taken to jail, and was hailed on
a fifty dollars bail for disorderly conduct. Thelma never again
did this stunt. But she did skyrocket to fame, and
by skyrocket I mean mostly just get a job in
a movie that you might be familiar with the next
(10:57):
year in nineteen thirty six called Reefer Madness, you guys know,
the over the top propaganda film that warned youths about
the terrors of smoking marijuana. According to that movie, if
you smoke dope, it might lead to a life of prostitution, insanity, manslaughter, suicide,
among a lot of other terrible side effects. Bellemawhite was
(11:23):
just one Lady Godiva out there. Like in nineteen twenty seven,
there's these two Chicago architects who are hosting a artist
ball where they promised there would be seven Lady Godivas there.
They're like, yeah, we're gonna have seven naked ladies on horseback.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Isn't that exciting?
Speaker 1 (11:44):
One of the architects and organizers of this event said, certainly,
we should have a Lady Godiva.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
The legend about her is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Her appearance on a horse, provided it isn't too cold,
will be an artistic achievement such as Chicago has seldom seen. Yes,
what an artistic achievement to be a naked woman on
horseback and The thing is, I do think it would
be too cold for a Lady Godiva, because this was
supposed to be in November, which I don't know if
you've been to Chicago in the winter, but it's pretty
(12:14):
frick and cold. But Thelma White, these seven Lady Godivas,
don't worry. There's even more Lady Godivas. In nineteen thirty
three in Hollywood, there was a call for a casting
of a Lady Godiva. The advertisement said, the lady who
is to ride a snow white horse in a fiesta
must have a beautiful face, a divine figure, and a
(12:36):
wealth of golden locks real that all but sweep to
the ground. Also that year, in Hollywood, seven lady Godivas
appeared in a parade, but instead of riding horses, they
rode elephants. Obviously, this all goes to say that in
(12:56):
the late nineteen twenties and thirties, people were excited about
Lady Godiva, specifically because that meant naked women riding horses
or elephants or whatever, and they seemed particularly excited if
you had seven of them. And then there was doctor Seuss.
Perhaps he had read about Thelma White, perhaps he had
seen all these calls for Lady Godiva's especially seven of them,
(13:20):
and he was like, huh, I got an idea for
a book. We'll be right back after these soothing advertisements.
Doctor Seus's full name is Theodore Seuss Geisel, and if
you can believe it, he's not actually a doctor. And
(13:44):
in nineteen thirty nine he was still trying to make it.
He had a lot of different jobs in different fields,
and it wasn't fully clicking yet.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
At first. When he was younger, he tried to be
a novelist.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
And right after college he wrote a book, and apparently
it sucked.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Later in life. This is what Geisel said about the book.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
It was a very long novel and nobody would publish it.
So I boiled it down to a short story, and
still nobody would publish that. So then I boiled it
down to a short short story, and still nobody would
publish it. Finally, I took one joke out of it
and sold it as a two line joke, which proved
that nothing is ever lost. Wow, what a positive spin
(14:27):
on spending years of your life writing a book. And
that's the thing about art, isn't it fulfilling all the time?
Sometimes you can just work really hard on something and
just get two sentences out of it. Anyway, after that
novel failed, Geisel had started working as an illustrator and
humorous for some magazines. He also did some political cartoons.
(14:51):
But even the magazine business wasn't lucrative enough, so he
started working at Standard Oil as an advertiser, and there
he made a bit of a splash because he created
a famous ad campaign for a pest to side. He
came up with this slogan, quick Henry the flit, the
flit being a pesticide against flies and mosquitoes. But if
(15:16):
you can believe it, for a creative mind like Geisel,
working in advertising and creating slogans for bug killing solutions
wasn't creatively satisfying. I know, isn't that crazy? And so
Geisel wanted to make something else. But unfortunately, Geisel couldn't
go back to writing novels or illustrating cartoons for newspapers
(15:38):
because he still needed his advertising job for the money,
and at Standard Oil he had a non compete clause
in his contract that was like, you can't write or
draw anything else outside of this company. The only exception
is children's books. And so that might have been part
of the reason why doctor Seuss became doctor Seuss because
(15:59):
of a non compete agreement. The first couple were moderately successful,
but the sales they're pretty sluggish in general, Like, they
were fine, but he wasn't popping off yet. He wasn't
a household name. But it seemed at this point he
was making enough money off of these books to have
a new career. Of course, you want more success than
(16:21):
sluggish sales. So Geisel doctor Seuss, was like, hmm, let
me try something else. These children books are fine, but
maybe I could be more successful doing, you know, something
for adults. So this was like the later nineteen thirties,
and at this time people were wanting unconventional and experimental literature,
(16:43):
you know, they wanted something spicy, something interesting. We were
coming out of the Depression, which was right after the
jazz Age, with the speakeasies and the flappers. There was
a general loosening of societal norms. Geisel was like, well,
if I make a risque in a reverent book for adults.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Maybe they'll like that.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Maybe that audience I want to read it, and I'll
make a lot of money and be very successful. Doctor
Seus's publisher was Random House, and before he got started
working on this adult book, Random House was like, hey,
doctor Seuss, in you're twelve years of working as an illustrator.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
We've kind of noticed that.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You've drawn men, children, insects, dragons, fish, and other animals,
but you have actually never drawn a woman whoopsies. So
when doctor SEUs started on his endeavor to create an
adult book, this was in the back of his mind
and he was like, Hey, I won't draw just one lady,
(17:46):
I will draw seven.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
How's that, Random House. That's a lot of ladies.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
So the book came out in nineteen thirty nine, featured
forty three illustrations, and if you can believe it, it
was a commercial flop. Yeah. They printed like ten thousand
copies and only twenty five hundred sold. People hated it,
(18:13):
which probably made guys a little upset. He was like, well,
I thought people wanted stuff like this. I thought adults
were freaky. They want some naked ladies. I delivered, and
they hate it. So why did it flop so hard? Well,
the book's humor didn't resonate with readers, and the illustrations
weren't seen as provocative or engaging. Instead, they just looked
(18:36):
silly and ridiculous. One review said, his little book is
only mildly amusing. That may be due to the fact
that he has never before written or drawn about women,
or it may be the result of too obvious humor
plus a lack of definition in the character of each
Lady Godiva. Better luck next time, doctor Seuss. Another of
(19:03):
you agreed, saying doctor Seuss has a with women in
caricature at least. And I really appreciate these reviews. They're
actually kind of feminists for the nineteen thirties. They're saying, hey,
doctor Seuss, you're not presenting these women as real people. Also,
they look stupid and worse than these negative reviews.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
It seems a lot of the reviews just didn't care
about the book.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Like one of the reviews just said, the seven Lady
Godivas is the title.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Of a book. Wow, that's it the whole review.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yes, this book exists, devastating and I'm sure you guys
all want my personal opinion on the book, of course,
Well I will say the ladies do look a little weird,
like for one of the sisters, her elbow.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Is at the same height as her knee, which is
a little messed up, you know.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So their arms are a bit too long, they got
short little legs, their torsos are really long, and they
all have like pretty huge asses, and they all have
like the perkiest tits I've ever seen. They're often like
angled upwards they like almost look like they're about to
hit them in.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
The neck kind of.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And all the sisters they have different haircuts or whatever.
And one of the sisters, she's larger, and the rest
of them are just very skinny.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Asexual looking ladies.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Like in the nineteen thirties, adults were like, I want
something provocative, and yes, these are just like silly little
drawings of ladies. Like if you found these ladies sexual,
there's something wrong with you, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
And as far as.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
The story goes, it's not particularly gripping. It's also kind
of weird, like it just tells the tale of the
seven sisters trying to find their horse truths or whatever,
so it's kind of stilted, and the horse truths that
they all discover are really dumb. It's all just like
horse idioms and horse puns, like don't put the cart
(21:16):
before the horse, or don't lock the barn door after
the horse has been stolen or never change horses in
the middle.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Of a stream. You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink. So yeah, I'm not gonna.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Give it a half star out of five, but I'm
not gonna give it a three either. I think it's
hovering somewhere in the two range for me.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
And guys.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Old Doctor Sus himself admitted later on that the book
was a huge misstep. He was like, I tried to
draw the sexiest babes I could, but they came out
looking absurd. I think maybe it all went to prove
that I don't know anything about adults beyond the fact
that they're obsolete to children.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
After The Seven Lady.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Godivas came out and sold some soh terribly, Geisel was like, nevermind,
fuck adults. I'm going back to writing children's books because
they are the ones who appreciate me. And obviously that
was a good choice. He went on to produce some
of the most beloved works in American children's literary history,
(22:26):
and for the most part, they all rhymed.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Thank God.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
But here's the thing about the Seven Lady Godivas. Throughout
the decades, as Doctor Seuss got more and more famous
for his books. The Seven Lady Godivas had a cult
like following, like it's a weird novelty, especially since most
of us were introduced to Doctor SEUs as a kid.
It's just funny that he has this book about naked ladies.
(22:54):
But it got so popular in later decades that Doctor
Seuss even thought about writing a musical based on The
Seven Lady Godivas. He never did, but he had the
idea in the nineteen eighties. At that point, copies of
the book were selling for five hundred dollars a pop,
and the book became so popular. I mean, I'm not
gonna say it was like that popular, but it was
(23:16):
popular enough that Random House printed some more copies in
nineteen eighty seven. On the cover, it says it's reissued
by multitudinous demand, And yeah, multitudiness.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
That's a bit of a reach.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
But it is out there and you can find it
at your local library, even though in my experience it
is very embarrassing to check out. I was at the
library trying to be like really coy and subtle about it,
trying to make sure that nobody saw that I was
just getting these big lady asses. But you know what
life's an imare, and I did it for you, guys,
(23:53):
so you're fricking welcome. Every week on American Filth, we
learn a lesson. I think the lesson we learned this
week is that, hey, when you're an artist, when you're
doing creative stuff, you're gonna fail, and you're gonna fail hard,
and it's gonna be embarrassing. But maybe after all those failures,
(24:17):
maybe you'll eventually become a successful children's book writer. And
I'm just saying this is reassurance to myself as I
fail and fail again while I eat a dive of chocolate.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
And also, guys, I was lying, I don't really eat
a diva that often.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I'll just like eat a bunch of like chocolate chips
from the store, like Kroger brand. But yes, life is
a nightmare, so take that into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Cue the credits.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
American Filth is a production of School of Humans and
iHeart Podcast. This episode was produced, written, hosted by me
Gabby Watts. Our theme song is by Jesse Niswanger. Our
executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Else Crowley and Brandon Barr
and you guys can follow along with the pod on
Instagram at American filth Pod. I'm gonna post some pictures
of the the ladies butts. Hopefully I don't get censored
on Instagram. Mark Zuck is gonna come for me, and
(25:10):
of course send the pod to your friends, to your
enemies like subscribe, get the algorithm going. And even though
I was saying life is a nightmare, I do hope
you guys have a Grete twenty twenty five. I'll talk
to you guys next time.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Bye. School of Humans.
Host
Gabbie Watts
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