The Unusual History of Every Thing
The Unusual History of Every Thing is a podcast for lovers of the weird history of common things in our world. Join cultural object preservationists Melanie Dellas and Karen Lacy as they uncover the unusual histories of every thing around us.
Episodes
Typically, people nowadays don’t go into Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods and ask...
Who doesn’t love to come home from a long day of work, heat up some <...
Happy World Toilet Day! In case you didn’t know, the World Toilet Organization (y...
One of the things people in Europe and in America used to do to thwart a witch’s spells was to bake a witch cake. It sounds sort of good
When we in the west think of Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, carving pumpkins is one of the first things that comes to mind. It’s a tradition parents share with kids, and even as adults we enjoy it. In fact, we...
They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so using food to find a husband doesn't seem like such a bad idea. From the late 1600s to the mid-1900s, unmarried women in North America and the United Kingdom practiced a baking ritual on Halloween that was said to reveal who they would marry. They called the products of this ritual “dumb cakes.” The cakes themselves were simple: water, flour, sugar, salt. It was HOW you m...
On this episode, we show you how ancient Chinese medicine became the inspiration for medicine shows and rattlesnake wranglers.
On this episode, we try to unravel the tale of the European phenomenon of rat kings. Read more
On this episode, we talk about how artists used dead people to make their paintings come alive.
On this episode, we uncover the secrets contained within demon
All over the world, the coming of the new year is ushered in with fireworks, champagne, a kiss, and, for the last 114 years, people have been celebrating New Year’s Eve by watching the ball drop in New York City’s Times Square. But it’s not the only thing th...
We all know the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but what is less commonly known is where that story comes from – and the fact that some reindeer DO have red noses. On this episode, we explain why Rudolph, the beloved Christmas reindeer, has a red nose – and it’s not because of alcohol.
Everyone knows Santa Claus is a man, but in 1941, during World War 2, the women needed to stand in. It wasn’t unusual. Because the war took most of the men in America from their homes and jobs, the women left behind stepped in to do the work. They became riv...
Every country has a traditional holiday drink served to friends and family at gatherings and celebrations, and Americans and Canadians love their eggnog. Eggnog is an acquired taste, and not one that you would think would cause riots. But in 1876, that’s exactly what it did.
On this ...
For many parents in the western world, saying nursery rhymes and singing lullabies to their children are normal. But do people ever really stop and think about the words they’re saying to their innocent babies? Probably not, and that’s why we’re here: To show you the dark history of normal, everyday things people rarely pay attention to. On this episode, we uncover the dark...
Being interested in where your ancestors come from is not a new thing. People all over the world have a long and varied history of trying to find their roots to understand who they are. On this episode, we dig up the roots of the oldest family tree discovered so far and get a glimpse into the family structure of neolithic people.
On this ...
Every culture around the world believes in some sort of ghost, spirit or soul that leaves the body at death to go to some sort of afterlife. On this episode, we get into the Halloween spirit by looking at the ghosts of various cultures, examine how we’re still judged even in the afterlife, and the important role dogs play even in death.
From the 9th century to the 13th century, witchcraft was looked down upon by the Christian churches as pagan superstition. But in the late 1400s, the heresy of witchcraft as a superstition turned into the heresy of consorting with the Devil. On this episode, to add to the Halloween spirit, we thought we’d ...
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