March 14, 2025 • 41 mins
Stubbornness has a funny way of changing history! Our world would look - and taste - a lot different without the sweet successes of March 3rd. Get ready for a triple dose of determination as today’s heroes turn 'no way' into 'my way' as they reveal how failure, family feuds, and frostbite became unexpected pathways to sweet success!
- The Iditarod dog sled race is a showcase of determined mushers and their four-legged athletes. Current musher Bailey Vitello shares why losing 45 pounds during his rookie run is just part of the adventure.
- Then we'll unwrap the deliciously bitter origin story of M&M's, where Forrest Mars turned family exile into sweet revenge.
- Finally, we’ll raise our copper mugs to the beautiful collision of three epic failures that created cocktail history.
If it's a special day for you or for someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging tales of the past. You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can tell while standing in the ever longer self-serve check-out lines at the grocery store. If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).
Important links from today’s stories (these links worked in early-2025 - not sure how long the links will be available):
- Link to Team Bailey’s dog sponsor page
- Link to the Ickey Shuffle video at the deli counter
The rest is under construction!
Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!
~~~ DayStrider Fun ~~~
Do you want to be mentioned here in the podcast? Or do you want me to do a shout-out for a loved one? All you need to do is send me an e-mail: daystriderstories@gmail.com
Better yet, you can record your own shout-out by leaving me a voice message using this SpeakPipe link
Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy
If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!
If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bailey (00:01):
Welcome, seeker.
Did you know that America'sfavorite sweet chocolate candy
was born from a bitter familyfeud?
And would you believe that dogsled mushers once saved an
entire town from extinction?
Yeah.
Today, we're striding throughtime to hear tales of sweet
(00:21):
revenge, frozen adventure, andhear how a copper mug gave the
cocktail industry a powerfulkick.
This isn't just any day inhistory.
It's March 3rd, and theseorigin stories are about to melt
your mind.
Our journey begins in thefrozen wilderness of Alaska,
(00:42):
where a thousand-mile race wasborn to preserve a dying
tradition.
Then we'll unwrap the colorfultale of how a family rivalry
created a candy that melts inyour mouth and not in your
hands.
Finally, we'll raise our coppermugs and say cheers to three
entrepreneurs who turned theirinventory nightmares into
(01:03):
cocktail gold.
The portal's humming, history'ssecrets are waiting, and our
day-striding adventure beginsnow.
Grab your curiosity and let'smush into the past.
Maroon 5 (01:17):
Music
Bailey (01:25):
Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark ona daily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays...
(01:45):
and extraordinary events toquirky national holidays, we've
got it all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
The road to gnome is paved withfrozen sweat, dog booties, and
(02:08):
occasionally musicalhallucinations from
sleep-deprived mushers.
Wait a second, did you saygnome?
With an N?
Yeah, Nome, Alaska, where goldrush fever once raged and now,
every March, exhausted humansand their four-legged athletes
collapse across the finish lineafter a thousand miles of frozen
(02:30):
insanity.
Yeah, Nome, Alaska, claims tobe the home of the Mardi Gras of
the North.
Yeah, and the party startsright there at the finish line
of the Iditarod dog sled race.
Have you ever heard of it?
You probably have and didn'tknow it was still a thing.
Yeah, it's still going on,folks.
(02:50):
It's a thousand-mile trekthrough snow, ice, and insanely
cold temperatures fromAnchorage, Alaska, all the way
to Nome.
And the shortest it's ever beenfinished is eight days, and the
average is about two weeks.
Crazy, right?
Believe it or not, on this dayin 1973, the Iditarod's very
first episode took 20 days tofinish.
(03:13):
And pretty much back then, itwas just an Alaskan thing.
Yeah, they cobbled together aprize purse that wouldn't even
cover one of today's dog foodbills.
And there were no sponsors, nolive tracking, just 34 mushers
vanishing into the wildernessfor those three weeks.
Compare that to today.
(03:34):
We have GPS track mushers whoare now mini celebrities with
fans obsessively refreshingtheir screens at 5 a.m.
to see if their favorite teamnavigated Eagle Summit without
disaster.
Well, that's what I do anyway.
But back in the 70s and 80s,this race wasn't very popular.
It finally went viral whenSusan Butcher had the first
(03:58):
Iditarod 3P.
That's pretty cool, right?
Susan Butcher.
Yes, she's a very famous winner.
She's just an unbelievablemusher.
And I mean, some of her dogsare so beautiful.
One of my first dogs ever whenI was a kid was from her.
America celebrated her and herlead dogs, Granite and Maddie,
(04:18):
as the entire sport of dogmushing finally became popular.
Now that soundbite you heard asecond ago was Bailey Vitello.
And he's actually one of themushers in this year's Iditarod.
Yeah, it's his third yearmushing in the competition.
And who better to describe suchan incredible but insane
(04:38):
journey?
I lost 45 pounds my first race.
And that was 11 days.
I shed 45 pounds and I washurting.
I also only slept, I believe,like eight hours.
For 11 days, so that was prettybad.
I didn't take care of myselfbecause I was so obsessed with
it.
That's crazy stuff, right?
(04:58):
By the way, if you want tocatch the full interview I had,
you can find it in the feeds.
Just look for bonus episode,Bailey Vitello and Iditarod
Dreams.
You'll hear some fun storiesand learn about several of the
dogs on his mushing team.
Okay, Truman, so what's thedeal?
Why would anyone create a dogsled race that takes weeks to
(05:21):
finish?
Two words.
Snowmobile invasion.
Yeah, when these mechanicalbeasts roared into Alaska in the
60s.
Centuries of mushing traditionfaced extinction.
Faster than you could sayheated handlebars.
Yeah, Gnome used to be theultimate dog-powered
(05:41):
destination.
But now, it's just a gas tankaway.
Seriously, for literallyhundreds of years, the only way
to get around most of Alaskabetween the months of Halloween
and Easter was the dog sled.
Think about it.
There was the gold rush in thelate 1800s, and those miners had
(06:02):
to mush their mining pans inand mush their gold nuggets out.
In the winter of 1925, therewas a major disease outbreak in
Nome, and without some serumthey needed, the whole town
would have perished.
Guess what?
Dog sleds to the rescue.
A relay of them from Anchorageall the way to Nome, where
mushers sped from one town tothe next and passed the serum on
(06:24):
to a fresh team who was waitingto sprint off to the next town.
And this Paul-powered rescueplan, it worked.
Thanks to those OG mushers, thepeople of Nome got their meds
and avoided becoming a page inthe history book.
Let's get back to thosesnowmobiles.
So in the early 70s, dogmushing was going out of style
(06:44):
because so many people wanted toguzzle gas.
Bailey said in a news interviewonce, So a lot of times we get
to see a lot more wildlife thansnowmobiles or machinery
because, well, we're out in thewoods with them quiet and just
being part of the environment.
Yeah, so the old timers weresitting around their campfire
dreaming up ways to get rid ofthese noisemakers and revive the
(07:09):
pastime that they loved somuch.
Yeah, it's probably the casethat someone heard, if you build
it, they will come.
And like, wait, wait, shh, shh,what was that?
I heard something.
If you build it, they willcome.
Okay, that quote actuallywasn't popularized until 1989.
(07:29):
But yeah, the hope was if theyset up an insanely long and
treacherous race, people wouldgravitate back to dog mushing.
Because they knew.
Well, don't ask me.
Ask Bailey.
Dogs, honestly, are just trulythe answer to everything.
You know, having a bad day, geton a dog sled.
It'll fix everything.
(07:50):
Yeah, there's something specialabout that connection between a
musher and their dog team.
a partnership that no machinecould replicate.
And our friend Bailey, he'sbeen building such a bond since
he was a toddler.
My mom and dad have a picture ofa 100-foot dash when I was two
years old standing behind mydog, Bridgie.
(08:10):
on a pair of runners and ahandlebar and this little basket
sled, their little chat Mac.
They had a hundred foot dash.
Me and Bridgie went down thereand then the other parent or
handler would catch us and turnus around and send us back.
Anyway, our old timers decidedto reenact that 1925 rescue of
the town of gnome by creating adog sled race through the
(08:31):
Alaskan wilderness along thatsame trail.
And like I said, back then theydidn't have trackers and race
stats like they do today.
It was just waiting to see whenor if your favorite mush team
showed up at the checkpoint.
Of course, nowadays you can logon to iditarod.com and with the
right subscription, of course,you can literally tell where
(08:54):
your favorite racer is alongtheir journey.
Bailey told me during hisinterview about some of the
beauty he sees out there aswell.
There's a lot of sections onthat trail that are just
absolutely breathtaking.
I mean, If you were out thereon a dog sled, you could be on
the snowmobile and you'd missit.
You'll actually miss it.
But with a dog team, you haveto take it easy and pace them
(09:15):
down the hills.
And you get these littlemoments.
I always save a spot right onthe Blueberry Hills.
When you're cusping the top.
And then my rookie year, wewent to the very peak of
Blueberry Hills.
Last year, we went on the shelfbelow it.
And it was still the samebeautiful view.
You look out over up the coast.
You can see the coastline.
You can see Shagtulik.
Shagtulik is the checkpoint outon the point.
(09:38):
And, but you look up, you cansee the beautiful coast.
You can see hundreds of milesup the coast and a hundred miles
down the coast.
And then you look back andinterior and you can see these
mountain ranges that are justbreathtaking.
And, you know, if you get itright, you can, if you're
depending on your race schedule,you're either hitting it at,
I've hit it at light and atnight.
So it is a unbelievable view,no matter where you are.
(10:00):
Pretty neat, right?
Well, I feel like the Adidarais more than just a dog sled
race.
To me, it's a timeless reminderthat sometimes in a world
that's filled with space rocketsfor celebrities and
self-driving cars, it's nice toget a dose of simplicity every
once in a while.
And following a mush team wheretrust, partnership, and an
(10:24):
unconditional bond betweensomeone and their dogs just
feels good, doesn't it?
That and you can livevicariously through them as they
face whiteout conditions,treacherous ice, and
temperatures that would freezetheir eyelashes shut, all while
wrapped in a blanket on yourcomfy sofa.
Listening to the Daystriderpodcast.
(10:51):
Roses are red and snow iswhite.
Writing a review would be justright.
At a loss for the words, Baileymight say, a great pod to warm
up a cold winter's day.
Would you believe thatAmerica's favorite candy was
born out of betrayal, war, and afather-son feud worthy of an
(11:13):
HBO series?
Yeah, you'd probably agree thatthere's nothing like the sweet
taste of revenge as a motivator,right?
Well, I'd like to introduce youto Forrest Mars.
He looks a lot like Ed Harris,the director guy from the movie
Truman Show.
And we're going to join him inthe late 1930s as he's wandering
(11:36):
around the war-torn regions ofSpain during their Civil War.
Now, he wasn't just hungry.
He was starving.
Starving for food maybe, butreally for payback.
A chance to prove his father sowrong that he'd choke on his
own chocolate bar.
(11:56):
You see, Forrest wasn't justany entrepreneur.
He was the estranged son ofcandy magnate Frank Mars.
And their relationship?
Let's just say it was lesssweet than the chocolate they
sold.
You see, Frank had kicked himout of the family business after
one too many heated argumentsabout the company's future.
(12:17):
So there's our man Forrest inSpain, essentially in exile from
his own family legacy, when hespots something fascinating.
The soldiers there were poppinglittle chocolates into their
mouth.
Chocolates that, unlike regularcandy bars, weren't melting
into gooey messes under thatblistering Spanish sun.
(12:39):
And he knew right away that hewas on to something brilliant.
These little colorful treatswere called Smarties, and they
were imported from England.
And they were basically milkchocolate discs coated with a
hard candy shell.
And of course, they gaveForrest a eureka moment.
Because there was nothing likethis in America.
(13:01):
So he raced back home toVirginia, ready to show dear old
dad what's what.
Unfortunately, our man Forresthad picked the absolute worst
time possible to create a newcandy treat.
You see, it's now 1940 and thislittle thing called World War
(13:22):
II is happening.
And of course, the U.S.
hadn't entered the war yet, butit was preparing to do so.
And so chocolate was beingrationed and effectively
commandeered by the military.
Wait a second, what?
Chocolate?
Yeah, so apparently theythought the sweet treat was a
great source of energy for thesoldiers.
(13:42):
Although, it wasn't all thatsweet.
Since chocolate melts soeasily, they had to make their
quote-unquote candy barswithstand higher temperatures,
which meant they had to addstuff in there that sacrificed
on the taste so they could stillget that energy.
Yeah, just eat it, kid.
The boost will help you stayalive.
(14:04):
Forrest wasn't going to give upso easily, though.
His grudge with his fatherurged him on.
And once he discovered that upin that little town of Hershey,
Pennsylvania, his father'sbitter rivals were making most
of those chocolate ration barsfor the military, he hit the
road.
Time to get sneaky.
(14:25):
So he tracked down BruceMurray, who happened to be the
son of Hershey's actingpresident at the time, and made
him an offer.
Yeah, can you imagine how thatmust have gone?
Psst, hey, hey Bruce, come overhere a second.
Hey, want to prove your geniusto your old man?
I do, and I've got the bestcandy idea ever.
(14:49):
Yeah, and so the Candy World'sversion of the Starks and
Lannisters teamed up, with Brucecontributing the milk chocolate
and Forrest making the hardcandy coating as the shell.
And what are they going to calltheir new gift to the world?
They took their initials, Marsand Murray, smushed them
(15:10):
together, and boom, you getM&Ms, a catchy little name for
their cute little candies.
And Mars and Murray quicklywent out and got a patent for
their little ellipsoidcandy-coated chocolate discs,
which happened on this day in1941.
Because, you know, they didn'twant anyone else copying their
(15:30):
invention, which was a copycatof those British candies.
Eh, but whatever.
Anyway, our hero Mars wentstraight to the military and
basically sold them a chocolatethat, well, melts in your mouth,
but not in your hands.
Or your pockets, or in the heatof battle.
Of course, the military lovedthem because they didn't melt.
(15:53):
And they tasted much betterthan those awful wannabe
chocolate bars.
And now our boys were inbusiness.
Take that, dads.
Now, as time passed, eventuallythe war ended and the chocolate
shortage ended with it.
And in this new peacetime, Marsdidn't really need Murray's
(16:15):
chocolate anymore.
And so, just like any Stark andLannister arrangement, this
joint venture wasn't going tolast.
So Mars bought Murray out andthen went out on his own.
And the rest, as they say, ishistory.
Eventually, Mars was able toget back into the family
business and then resume therole of clashing with the
(16:38):
family's bitter rivals over atHershey as the two companies
battled for chocolate and candysupremacy in America and
eventually the whole world.
They kept the name M&M's, butthey only stamped one M on the
candies.
That's pretty interesting,right?
M&M's soared in popularity, andthey added new colors and
(17:00):
introduced new flavors over theyears.
And today, obviously, you canget them with peanuts in the
middle, or crunchy cookie, orcaramel.
You can get mini M's and megaM's, and there are specialty
flavors like strawberries andcream.
And there's also peanut butterand jelly M&M's, which are, eh,
they're okay.
I've tried them.
And believe it or not, Marsproduces M&Ms 24-7.
(17:24):
I found a stat that they makeover 400 million of the candies
every day.
That's insane.
And if the interwebs are to bebelieved, we're talking 150
billion emmers a year.
Now before we wrap up, I'd liketo share one of my favorite M&M
(17:45):
stories.
And this goes back to the early80s.
when the rock band Van Halenwas rising up the charts.
Now, they were huge roadies,and they were on tour quite a
bit back in those days.
And they had an M&M clause intheir venue contracts.
What?
Yeah.
And it was actually the brownM&M's clause.
(18:07):
Yeah.
So every place they were goingto perform, they had to have a
large bowl filled with M&M's inthe dressing room.
And right there in thecontract, it also said that all
of the brown emmers were to beremoved from the bowl.
Hold on, Truman.
Are you making this up?
No, no.
If you're old enough, youprobably remember hearing about
(18:29):
this odd clause.
Or you probably rememberhearing that sometimes if those
brown M&Ms weren't removed, theband would trash the dressing
room after a show.
No way! What's the deal here,Truman?
Well, the theory was that theband's stage setup was very
complex and somewhat dangerous.
(18:51):
And so the specifications hadto be carefully followed or
people would get hurt.
So this clause was actually alittle test to see if the
stagehands were payingattention.
And when there were no brownM&Ms in the bowl, they felt safe
because someone was payingattention.
And of course, if the clausewas missed, well, way to go,
(19:13):
dummies.
Trash the place.
All right.
So after all this, have I madeyou hungry for some M&M's?
Well, I've got a special treatfor the first 20 people who
respond to this challenge.
In addition to the many colorsand flavors of M&M's, they also
make custom M&M's.
(19:35):
That's right.
And so I ordered 20 packets ofDaystrider M&Ms.
I got to choose the colors andI got them stamped with the
podcast name and my name.
And then there's the Daystridertime travel portal printed
right on them.
Yeah, it's pretty neat, right?
All you got to do is leave areview wherever you listened to
(19:57):
this podcast.
You can type something like,this show is like M&Ms for your
mind.
Colorful stories that'll boostyou up.
Or something like that.
Who knows?
Surprise me with yourcreativity.
Let's see what you got.
But yeah, when you do that,I'll send you a packet of these
limited edition M&M's that youcan enjoy or preserve them until
(20:21):
they become worth millions oneday.
I wish.
Anyway, the next time you reachinto that candy dish and munch
down on some tasty M&M's, youcan marvel at their origin
story.
A bitter family feud that ledto the sweetest kind of revenge.
Success that melts in yourmouth and not in your hands.
(20:44):
A time traveler's delight, weunwrap the past, discovering
treats that were made to last.
If these chocolatey tales madeyour taste buds grin, please
share with your friends so theirjoy can begin.
Three down-on-their-luckhustlers walk into a bar.
(21:06):
One is convinced that vodka isthe next big thing.
If only someone would try it.
Another is obsessed with hisnew artisanal ginger brew,
though the Hollywood scene justisn't on board.
And the third, well, she justwon't shut up about the health
benefits of her copper mugs.
(21:27):
And they argue for hours aboutwho's got the worst luck with
their wares.
Until the bartender walks upand says...
Now before we get to thatpunchline, because oh, it's a
good one, let's talk about howsome people can find treasure
sitting right there in a pile oftrash.
We've actually had this happenin our Daystrider journeys.
(21:50):
We talked about the guy whoinvented tater tots.
He saw a way to turn potatoshavings left over on the floor
from making french fries into awhole new tasty treat.
And then, of course, there'sHenry Ford.
He actually started an entirebusiness and backyard pastime
from the scrap heap when hefound a way to turn wood scraps
(22:12):
left over from making cars intocharcoal briquettes.
Ah, yeah.
If you're a griller, now youknow who to thank.
So, yeah.
Sometimes great things can comefrom a pile of scraps just
laying around.
You just have to be on thelookout for it.
Or sometimes you need to getlucky that someone else stumbles
(22:35):
into your life with the answerto all of your problems.
All right, pivot with me here,folks, and let's get our drink
on.
Nowadays, vodka is everywhere.
You've got Smirnoff and Tito'sand Grey Groose and Kettle One.
Pick your poison.
Well, guess what?
About a hundred years ago,almost no vodka was sold in
(22:59):
America.
Now, it was pretty popular inEastern Europe, but imagine
betting your entire future on aRussian spirit that most
Americans had never tasted.
Well, that's exactly what JohnMartin did when he gambled
$14,000, his life savings, tobuy Smirnoff vodka in 1939.
(23:20):
Now, when you fast forward to1982, you'll discover that he's
sitting on the world's numberone selling vodka.
But way back in those earlydays, he was just a guy with
warehouses full of bottles thatnobody wanted, wondering if he'd
made the biggest mistake of hislife.
(23:41):
Meanwhile, he wasn't the onlyone with an inventory problem.
Now, these days, copper hasbecome a precious metal.
There are stories about peoplesmashing in walls and ripping
out the copper plumbing to sellon the black market.
That's crazy.
But way back in 1941, youcouldn't give copper away.
(24:05):
That's right.
Just ask Sophie Berezinski.
While working for her father,the owner of the Moscow Copper
Company back in Russia, shedesigned a beautiful copper mug
and thought them so lovely thatshe decided to go ahead and make
2,000 of them.
But once she was out therepeddling them, nobody was
(24:26):
buying.
Where she was in Russia, timeswere tough, and no one had money
to burn on beautiful coppermugs.
So, off to the land ofopportunity.
The Berezinskis, they moved toAmerica and made their way to
L.A.
Yes, lugging their trunks fullof copper mugs the whole way.
(24:47):
But after getting settled, herhusband laid down the ultimatum.
Sophie, you need to figuresomething out with these mugs or
I'm trashing them.
So, off she went.
Hustling from door to door,every restaurant, every bar,
every retail establishment thatsold anything related to
(25:08):
beverages.
You there, please come.
Look at these copper mugs.
They come from Moscow.
Time for our stories tocollide.
To do that, we got to go backto our joke about the folks who
walked into a bar.
And that bar happens to be theCock and Bull.
A legendary watering holesituated on the Sunset Strip in
(25:32):
Hollywood.
And its founder, Jack Morgan,he was as creative as he was
savvy.
And sometimes his creativitygot him into trouble.
Yeah, in 1940, he dreamed upthe idea of making ginger beer.
And after some trials, helanded on a recipe that he
absolutely loves.
And then he got to making it.
(25:54):
Barrels and barrels of it.
But the stars had no interest.
Morgan thought that, hey, herein the heart of fashion and
fads, his beer would become thenext big thing.
But sadly, he just ended upcrying in his beer, his yummy
ginger beer.
All right, so let's try thisjoke again.
(26:15):
Three down-on-their-luckhustlers walk into a bar.
one with a warehouse full ofvodka, another whose basement
was filled with kegs ofartisanal ginger brew, and the
third lugging around trunks fullof lovely copper mugs.
They argue for hours aboutwho's got the worst luck with
their wares until the bartenderwalks up and slams three drinks
(26:37):
down on the table and says, ifyou're going to mix business
with pleasure, at least garnishit with lime.
Now shut up and drink this.
And just like that, the MoscowMule was born.
Three frustrated entrepreneurs,all dealing with bad business
decisions, combined theirfailures into something
(27:00):
unexpected.
Imagine their surprise whenthey took that first sip.
The cool copper mug frostedover.
The spicy ginger beer bubblingagainst the smooth vodka.
And just like that, theirbusiness disasters transformed
into into liquid gold.
Oh yeah, that is good.
(27:21):
You've tried the Moscow Mule,right?
It's pretty good.
And they immediately got theirhustle on and hit the streets to
make this blend of brilliancepopular.
Martin the Vodka Guy had abrilliant idea.
He took pictures of thebartenders at the Cock and Bull
making and selling the drink inthose unique mugs and then
(27:41):
shared them bar to bar.
Once he convinced someplace tobuy up his vodka, Morgan's
ginger beer, and Sophie's lovelymugs, he took more pictures of
them and hustled off to the nextplace.
Yeah, it wasn't long until itwas all the rage and everyone
was doing it.
So Truman, why did they pickthe name Moscow Mule?
(28:03):
Well, legend has it that theyloved alliteration.
And since the copper mugsalready had Moscow embossed on
them, and a mule delivers akick, why not go with it?
That's my story anyway, and I'msticking to it.
In truth, there's some lightdebate about this entire origin
(28:24):
story.
But you know what?
This version feels really good,right?
So we're going to go with it.
Either way, their brand newdrink was pretty popular until
the 60s or so, when for somereason, it fell out of favor.
But then, somehow, it revivedagain in the early 2000s, and by
2017, it was the most Googleddrink in America.
(28:48):
And that's why, on this day in2017, they created Moscow Mule
Day.
Yep, March 3rd.
Who knew?
So the next time you see thaticonic copper mug, remember,
behind every Moscow Mule is thebeautiful collision of three
epic failures.
And they weren't trying tocreate cocktail history.
(29:10):
They were just trying to solvetheir business problems.
Yeah, sometimes the bestinnovations happen when
desperation meets opportunity.
And gets served with a limewedge.
Yeah, so let's think aboutthis.
What seemingly uselessingredients in your life might
(29:32):
be turned into somethingextraordinary?
Think about that.
The next time you're sipping ona Moscow Mule.
What a ride through time today,folks.
We mushed our way through thefrozen Alaskan wilderness with
(29:52):
Bailey and his dogs, unwrappedthe surprisingly bitter origins
of those colorful M&Ms, anddiscovered how three business
failures collided to create theMoscow Mule.
Who knew that the Moscow Muleexists simply because three
people couldn't sell theirproducts separately?
It's easy to see that withoutMarch 3rd, our world would look
(30:17):
and taste a whole lot different.
Whether it's how we navigatethe wilderness, satisfy our
sweet tooth, or raise our mugsat happy hour.
Why not share these storieswith someone who loves being
surprised?
And don't forget to leave thatreview for a chance to win those
limited edition DaystriderM&Ms.
You know what else?
(30:39):
If today's stories made yougrin, there are dozens of other
stories waiting for you in ourback catalog.
That's right.
If hearing about lovableanimals gave you the warm and
fuzzies, then you won't want tomiss our most popular episode on
Llama Day, December 9th, orCatch I Love Horses Day on July
15th.
(30:59):
And if your sweet tooth isgetting the best of you, the
Tootsie Roll was actually alifesaver on February 23rd.
And if you're like E.T.
and prefer Reese's Piecesinstead, you gotta check out
June 11th.
And if you love raising yourglass or mug to fun drinks, try
(31:19):
out the Irish Whiskey on March17th.
Or just fun adventures like theGreatest Beer Run Ever on
January 19th.
Every day has a story, andthey're so much fun.
And we're going to stridethrough them all until we're
done.
Now, after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
(31:40):
mention the following famousfolks who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Camila Cabello adds a candle toher cake today.
She's a famous pop singer wholeft the group Fifth Harmony to
do her own thing, which includedhit songs like Havana and
Señorita with Shawn Mendes.
Recently, she released herfourth album, and although it's
(32:02):
received mixed reviews, I'm sureshe's going to continue making
Latin-based music.
Julie Bowen has March 3 circledon her calendar.
She's best known for playingClaire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom
Modern Family, which ran forover a decade.
It's hard to believe.
But some of you may rememberher role as Virginia Bennett
(32:23):
from Happy Gilmore, right?
Well, guess what?
I heard they're making a HappyGilmore 2.
And Julie's going to be playingVirginia again.
So get your Netflix streamingservice ready.
That comes out later this year.
A couple of famous athletesfrom back in the 80s and 90s
include Jackie Joyner-Kersee andHerschel Walker, both born
(32:45):
today.
Jackie was a track star who wasin the U.S.
Track Hall of Fame and at onetime was named the greatest
female athlete of the 20thcentury by Sports Illustrated.
And of course, Herschel was afamous football player who won
the Heisman Trophy, played inthe USFL and the NFL, and even
ran for the U.S.
Senate in 2022.
How about that?
(33:06):
And then we've got a couplefamous birthdays from all of
history.
Alexander Graham Bell is onehousehold name.
He invented the telephone backin 1876, which we're gonna
feature that invention on March10th, stay tuned.
And another name is one youonly know because of the scheme
that this guy Charles the conartist was famous for.
(33:29):
Yeah, he started this companyin 1920 and guaranteed high
returns trading in internationalpostage stamps.
And guess what?
He repaid his foundinginvestors with money he
collected from the newinvestors.
And then he repaid them withmoney he collected from even
newer suckers.
(33:49):
And on and on.
And eventually this scheme wasuncovered and they attached his
name to it.
The Ponzi scheme.
Maroon 5 (33:58):
Yeah,
Bailey (33:59):
we'll tell you more about that story on January 1st.
All right.
The 50th most famous personborn today, according to
famousbirthdays.com, is JoeyValance.
He's a hip-hop artist andproducer who works in a duo with
his friend Bray.
And I watched some of theirvideos, and clearly, they're
Beastie Boys fans.
(34:19):
I'm telling you, they soundalmost exactly like the Beastie
Boys.
And from what I could tell,they make most of their music
right from Joey's bedroomstudio.
And then in their videos, theyjust goof around.
But hey.
works.
They're the 50th most famousperson.
When I looked at Wikipedia'scentenarians list, I found two
people who are over 100 today,both of them turning 101.
(34:43):
Tamichi Murayama from Japan.
He was actually the primeminister of Japan back in the
90s.
And today he lives in Oita Cityand he tries to take walks
twice a day for exercise.
And his favorite hobby iswatching sumo wrestling.
And then there's RobertSchulman, who was a biophysicist
(35:04):
at Yale, and he earned aSterling Professor Emeritus
achievement.
Pretty cool.
But I was unable to find outmore about what he's doing these
days.
But, you know, probably being101 means you're taking it easy,
right?
All right, March 3rd is Soup ItForward Day.
Okay, so that sounds a littlestrange, but it's actually a
(35:26):
feel-good day.
The idea is to make a big oldbatch of your favorite soup and
bring it to someone who'slonely.
Or hungry.
I guess or both.
And you can fill their belliesand their hearts with your
homemade soup.
And your soul is company.
Today is also Cold Cuts Day.
Yeah, a day to celebrate ham,turkey, and salami.
(35:46):
And any other deli meats thatyou favor.
I favor bologna.
Does anyone else like bologna?
Yeah, the best is a friedbologna sandwich.
Mmm.
Anyway, speaking of coldcuts...
Have you seen the Icky Woodscommercial where his number is
called at the deli counter andhe does this, got some cold
cuts, got some cold cuts.
(36:07):
It's hilarious.
And guess what?
Since it's cold cut day, I'mgoing to leave a link in the
show notes.
And finally, today is NationalAnthem Day.
So the Star Spangled Bannerbecame the official national
anthem on this day in 1931.
But the song was actuallywritten way back in 1814.
(36:27):
So that's weird.
I guess during the entire1800s, some other song acted as
the national anthem.
I don't know.
I read about Hail Columbia.
Never heard of that one.
And My Country, Tis of Thee.
I have heard of that one.
So who knew?
Either way, we'll be coveringFrancis Scott Key's writing of
(36:48):
that song on September 14th.
So check it out.
You need a great gift idea foryour loved one?
Well, in addition to retellingthe stories that you just
learned about this day inhistory, you can have them open
up a gift that is customized totheir birthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you, which you can find the
links for in the show notes.
(37:09):
And most days I make the claimthat these gifts are so unique
that there's no way your lovedone will have one of those.
Today continues to live up tothat standard.
Take the dog mushing segment,for example.
You can get someIditarod-related or mini dog
mushing sleds for their desk ortheir bookshelf.
Or you can really do it uprightand sponsor a Team Bailey dog
(37:34):
on their behalf.
That's really cute and kind allat once.
You can celebrate M&M's bygifting a bag of M&M's, pretty
much any color available, or getthem M&M's decor.
There are dozens of M&M'sshirts and other clothing that
would brighten their day, andtheir closets.
And of course, the Moscow Mule,you could get them a beautiful
(37:56):
collection of copper mugs.
And there's also Moscow Mulemixes and great wall decor for
those who have a home bar andneeds to spruce it up a little.
And the famous folks that wereborn today, there's also some
great books or CDs and wallhangings that are nice.
Although the Camilla Cabellowall hangings, those are
(38:17):
probably meant for teenage boys.
But anyway...
And similarly, today's specialholidays all have unique gifts.
There are links in the shownotes for Chicken Soup of the
Soul books, cold cuts, andNational Anthem ideas.
So no more hemming and hawingabout the person who has
everything, because they do nothave some of the things that I
(38:38):
mentioned in this gift section.
And of course, if you don'tlike any of those customized
gifts for folks who wake upcelebrating March 3rd, well...
You can up your gift-givinggame and make their birthday
really special by dedicating apersonalized shout-out right
here on this podcast.
They'll be memorializedforever.
Man, I could do the shout-outfor you if you send me what you
(39:01):
want to say.
Or you can do your own by usingthe SpeakBike link that's
available in the show notes.
Now today's is short, but oh socute.
We're
Brian (39:12):
wishing a happy 12th birthday to Clementine.
Happy birthday, Clemmie.
We love you.
Bailey (39:19):
Now that's a great laugh there at the end, right?
Everyone needs a laugh likethat in their life to brighten
their day.
In fact, it brightened my dayso much.
Let's play it one more time.
Yep.
So as I mentioned, you can findthe link to do that in the show
(39:41):
notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, send me an email and let's
connect.
Now, before we wrap up for theday, do you want to hear what
makes this podcasting journey somuch fun?
I get to hear feedback from somany listeners telling me what I
(40:05):
forgot to include in myepisodes.
Why didn't you mentionso-and-so that day?
Definitely should have been inthere.
I love it.
You know why?
Because it means they'relistening and enjoying their own
memories of the past.
Every story I tell hassomething or another that
resonates with you.
But sometimes I missed thething that you remember the
(40:27):
most.
But that's okay, because guesswhat?
You can send me a note or callme or text me and let me know
where I missed the boat.
And I'm happy to consideradding that into the story.
Yeah, we could just edit itright in.
Or even better, you could comeon with me and share your memory
(40:48):
and we'll layer that into theshow.
It's easy to do.
All you got to do is reach outand get in touch.
I know my mom's going to besending me a Facebook message.
And my friends Tyler and Muddy,you guys always have the idea
train coming my way.
So keep it rolling.
Oh, and of course, if you'relistening to this episode during
(41:09):
the first week of March in anyyear, that first week of March,
be sure to get online and trackBailey Vitello's progress in the
Iditarod or go to his website,teambaileyusa.com.
Yeah, go Bailey, go.
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy reminding you that
(41:32):
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
Welcome, seeker.
Did you know that America'sfavorite sweet chocolate candy
was born from a bitter familyfeud?
And would you believe that dogsled mushers once saved an
entire town from extinction?
Yeah.
Today, we're striding throughtime to hear tales of sweet
(00:21):
revenge, frozen adventure, andhear how a copper mug gave the
cocktail industry a powerfulkick.
This isn't just any day inhistory.
It's March 3rd, and theseorigin stories are about to melt
your mind.
Our journey begins in thefrozen wilderness of Alaska,
(00:42):
where a thousand-mile race wasborn to preserve a dying
tradition.
Then we'll unwrap the colorfultale of how a family rivalry
created a candy that melts inyour mouth and not in your
hands.
Finally, we'll raise our coppermugs and say cheers to three
entrepreneurs who turned theirinventory nightmares into
(01:03):
cocktail gold.
The portal's humming, history'ssecrets are waiting, and our
day-striding adventure beginsnow.
Grab your curiosity and let'smush into the past.
Maroon 5 (01:17):
Music
Bailey (01:25):
Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark ona daily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays...
(01:45):
and extraordinary events toquirky national holidays, we've
got it all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
The road to gnome is paved withfrozen sweat, dog booties, and
(02:08):
occasionally musicalhallucinations from
sleep-deprived mushers.
Wait a second, did you saygnome?
With an N?
Yeah, Nome, Alaska, where goldrush fever once raged and now,
every March, exhausted humansand their four-legged athletes
collapse across the finish lineafter a thousand miles of frozen
(02:30):
insanity.
Yeah, Nome, Alaska, claims tobe the home of the Mardi Gras of
the North.
Yeah, and the party startsright there at the finish line
of the Iditarod dog sled race.
Have you ever heard of it?
You probably have and didn'tknow it was still a thing.
Yeah, it's still going on,folks.
(02:50):
It's a thousand-mile trekthrough snow, ice, and insanely
cold temperatures fromAnchorage, Alaska, all the way
to Nome.
And the shortest it's ever beenfinished is eight days, and the
average is about two weeks.
Crazy, right?
Believe it or not, on this dayin 1973, the Iditarod's very
first episode took 20 days tofinish.
(03:13):
And pretty much back then, itwas just an Alaskan thing.
Yeah, they cobbled together aprize purse that wouldn't even
cover one of today's dog foodbills.
And there were no sponsors, nolive tracking, just 34 mushers
vanishing into the wildernessfor those three weeks.
Compare that to today.
(03:34):
We have GPS track mushers whoare now mini celebrities with
fans obsessively refreshingtheir screens at 5 a.m.
to see if their favorite teamnavigated Eagle Summit without
disaster.
Well, that's what I do anyway.
But back in the 70s and 80s,this race wasn't very popular.
It finally went viral whenSusan Butcher had the first
(03:58):
Iditarod 3P.
That's pretty cool, right?
Susan Butcher.
Yes, she's a very famous winner.
She's just an unbelievablemusher.
And I mean, some of her dogsare so beautiful.
One of my first dogs ever whenI was a kid was from her.
America celebrated her and herlead dogs, Granite and Maddie,
(04:18):
as the entire sport of dogmushing finally became popular.
Now that soundbite you heard asecond ago was Bailey Vitello.
And he's actually one of themushers in this year's Iditarod.
Yeah, it's his third yearmushing in the competition.
And who better to describe suchan incredible but insane
(04:38):
journey?
I lost 45 pounds my first race.
And that was 11 days.
I shed 45 pounds and I washurting.
I also only slept, I believe,like eight hours.
For 11 days, so that was prettybad.
I didn't take care of myselfbecause I was so obsessed with
it.
That's crazy stuff, right?
(04:58):
By the way, if you want tocatch the full interview I had,
you can find it in the feeds.
Just look for bonus episode,Bailey Vitello and Iditarod
Dreams.
You'll hear some fun storiesand learn about several of the
dogs on his mushing team.
Okay, Truman, so what's thedeal?
Why would anyone create a dogsled race that takes weeks to
(05:21):
finish?
Two words.
Snowmobile invasion.
Yeah, when these mechanicalbeasts roared into Alaska in the
60s.
Centuries of mushing traditionfaced extinction.
Faster than you could sayheated handlebars.
Yeah, Gnome used to be theultimate dog-powered
(05:41):
destination.
But now, it's just a gas tankaway.
Seriously, for literallyhundreds of years, the only way
to get around most of Alaskabetween the months of Halloween
and Easter was the dog sled.
Think about it.
There was the gold rush in thelate 1800s, and those miners had
(06:02):
to mush their mining pans inand mush their gold nuggets out.
In the winter of 1925, therewas a major disease outbreak in
Nome, and without some serumthey needed, the whole town
would have perished.
Guess what?
Dog sleds to the rescue.
A relay of them from Anchorageall the way to Nome, where
mushers sped from one town tothe next and passed the serum on
(06:24):
to a fresh team who was waitingto sprint off to the next town.
And this Paul-powered rescueplan, it worked.
Thanks to those OG mushers, thepeople of Nome got their meds
and avoided becoming a page inthe history book.
Let's get back to thosesnowmobiles.
So in the early 70s, dogmushing was going out of style
(06:44):
because so many people wanted toguzzle gas.
Bailey said in a news interviewonce, So a lot of times we get
to see a lot more wildlife thansnowmobiles or machinery
because, well, we're out in thewoods with them quiet and just
being part of the environment.
Yeah, so the old timers weresitting around their campfire
dreaming up ways to get rid ofthese noisemakers and revive the
(07:09):
pastime that they loved somuch.
Yeah, it's probably the casethat someone heard, if you build
it, they will come.
And like, wait, wait, shh, shh,what was that?
I heard something.
If you build it, they willcome.
Okay, that quote actuallywasn't popularized until 1989.
(07:29):
But yeah, the hope was if theyset up an insanely long and
treacherous race, people wouldgravitate back to dog mushing.
Because they knew.
Well, don't ask me.
Ask Bailey.
Dogs, honestly, are just trulythe answer to everything.
You know, having a bad day, geton a dog sled.
It'll fix everything.
(07:50):
Yeah, there's something specialabout that connection between a
musher and their dog team.
a partnership that no machinecould replicate.
And our friend Bailey, he'sbeen building such a bond since
he was a toddler.
My mom and dad have a picture ofa 100-foot dash when I was two
years old standing behind mydog, Bridgie.
(08:10):
on a pair of runners and ahandlebar and this little basket
sled, their little chat Mac.
They had a hundred foot dash.
Me and Bridgie went down thereand then the other parent or
handler would catch us and turnus around and send us back.
Anyway, our old timers decidedto reenact that 1925 rescue of
the town of gnome by creating adog sled race through the
(08:31):
Alaskan wilderness along thatsame trail.
And like I said, back then theydidn't have trackers and race
stats like they do today.
It was just waiting to see whenor if your favorite mush team
showed up at the checkpoint.
Of course, nowadays you can logon to iditarod.com and with the
right subscription, of course,you can literally tell where
(08:54):
your favorite racer is alongtheir journey.
Bailey told me during hisinterview about some of the
beauty he sees out there aswell.
There's a lot of sections onthat trail that are just
absolutely breathtaking.
I mean, If you were out thereon a dog sled, you could be on
the snowmobile and you'd missit.
You'll actually miss it.
But with a dog team, you haveto take it easy and pace them
(09:15):
down the hills.
And you get these littlemoments.
I always save a spot right onthe Blueberry Hills.
When you're cusping the top.
And then my rookie year, wewent to the very peak of
Blueberry Hills.
Last year, we went on the shelfbelow it.
And it was still the samebeautiful view.
You look out over up the coast.
You can see the coastline.
You can see Shagtulik.
Shagtulik is the checkpoint outon the point.
(09:38):
And, but you look up, you cansee the beautiful coast.
You can see hundreds of milesup the coast and a hundred miles
down the coast.
And then you look back andinterior and you can see these
mountain ranges that are justbreathtaking.
And, you know, if you get itright, you can, if you're
depending on your race schedule,you're either hitting it at,
I've hit it at light and atnight.
So it is a unbelievable view,no matter where you are.
(10:00):
Pretty neat, right?
Well, I feel like the Adidarais more than just a dog sled
race.
To me, it's a timeless reminderthat sometimes in a world
that's filled with space rocketsfor celebrities and
self-driving cars, it's nice toget a dose of simplicity every
once in a while.
And following a mush team wheretrust, partnership, and an
(10:24):
unconditional bond betweensomeone and their dogs just
feels good, doesn't it?
That and you can livevicariously through them as they
face whiteout conditions,treacherous ice, and
temperatures that would freezetheir eyelashes shut, all while
wrapped in a blanket on yourcomfy sofa.
Listening to the Daystriderpodcast.
(10:51):
Roses are red and snow iswhite.
Writing a review would be justright.
At a loss for the words, Baileymight say, a great pod to warm
up a cold winter's day.
Would you believe thatAmerica's favorite candy was
born out of betrayal, war, and afather-son feud worthy of an
(11:13):
HBO series?
Yeah, you'd probably agree thatthere's nothing like the sweet
taste of revenge as a motivator,right?
Well, I'd like to introduce youto Forrest Mars.
He looks a lot like Ed Harris,the director guy from the movie
Truman Show.
And we're going to join him inthe late 1930s as he's wandering
(11:36):
around the war-torn regions ofSpain during their Civil War.
Now, he wasn't just hungry.
He was starving.
Starving for food maybe, butreally for payback.
A chance to prove his father sowrong that he'd choke on his
own chocolate bar.
(11:56):
You see, Forrest wasn't justany entrepreneur.
He was the estranged son ofcandy magnate Frank Mars.
And their relationship?
Let's just say it was lesssweet than the chocolate they
sold.
You see, Frank had kicked himout of the family business after
one too many heated argumentsabout the company's future.
(12:17):
So there's our man Forrest inSpain, essentially in exile from
his own family legacy, when hespots something fascinating.
The soldiers there were poppinglittle chocolates into their
mouth.
Chocolates that, unlike regularcandy bars, weren't melting
into gooey messes under thatblistering Spanish sun.
(12:39):
And he knew right away that hewas on to something brilliant.
These little colorful treatswere called Smarties, and they
were imported from England.
And they were basically milkchocolate discs coated with a
hard candy shell.
And of course, they gaveForrest a eureka moment.
Because there was nothing likethis in America.
(13:01):
So he raced back home toVirginia, ready to show dear old
dad what's what.
Unfortunately, our man Forresthad picked the absolute worst
time possible to create a newcandy treat.
You see, it's now 1940 and thislittle thing called World War
(13:22):
II is happening.
And of course, the U.S.
hadn't entered the war yet, butit was preparing to do so.
And so chocolate was beingrationed and effectively
commandeered by the military.
Wait a second, what?
Chocolate?
Yeah, so apparently theythought the sweet treat was a
great source of energy for thesoldiers.
(13:42):
Although, it wasn't all thatsweet.
Since chocolate melts soeasily, they had to make their
quote-unquote candy barswithstand higher temperatures,
which meant they had to addstuff in there that sacrificed
on the taste so they could stillget that energy.
Yeah, just eat it, kid.
The boost will help you stayalive.
(14:04):
Forrest wasn't going to give upso easily, though.
His grudge with his fatherurged him on.
And once he discovered that upin that little town of Hershey,
Pennsylvania, his father'sbitter rivals were making most
of those chocolate ration barsfor the military, he hit the
road.
Time to get sneaky.
(14:25):
So he tracked down BruceMurray, who happened to be the
son of Hershey's actingpresident at the time, and made
him an offer.
Yeah, can you imagine how thatmust have gone?
Psst, hey, hey Bruce, come overhere a second.
Hey, want to prove your geniusto your old man?
I do, and I've got the bestcandy idea ever.
(14:49):
Yeah, and so the Candy World'sversion of the Starks and
Lannisters teamed up, with Brucecontributing the milk chocolate
and Forrest making the hardcandy coating as the shell.
And what are they going to calltheir new gift to the world?
They took their initials, Marsand Murray, smushed them
(15:10):
together, and boom, you getM&Ms, a catchy little name for
their cute little candies.
And Mars and Murray quicklywent out and got a patent for
their little ellipsoidcandy-coated chocolate discs,
which happened on this day in1941.
Because, you know, they didn'twant anyone else copying their
(15:30):
invention, which was a copycatof those British candies.
Eh, but whatever.
Anyway, our hero Mars wentstraight to the military and
basically sold them a chocolatethat, well, melts in your mouth,
but not in your hands.
Or your pockets, or in the heatof battle.
Of course, the military lovedthem because they didn't melt.
(15:53):
And they tasted much betterthan those awful wannabe
chocolate bars.
And now our boys were inbusiness.
Take that, dads.
Now, as time passed, eventuallythe war ended and the chocolate
shortage ended with it.
And in this new peacetime, Marsdidn't really need Murray's
(16:15):
chocolate anymore.
And so, just like any Stark andLannister arrangement, this
joint venture wasn't going tolast.
So Mars bought Murray out andthen went out on his own.
And the rest, as they say, ishistory.
Eventually, Mars was able toget back into the family
business and then resume therole of clashing with the
(16:38):
family's bitter rivals over atHershey as the two companies
battled for chocolate and candysupremacy in America and
eventually the whole world.
They kept the name M&M's, butthey only stamped one M on the
candies.
That's pretty interesting,right?
M&M's soared in popularity, andthey added new colors and
(17:00):
introduced new flavors over theyears.
And today, obviously, you canget them with peanuts in the
middle, or crunchy cookie, orcaramel.
You can get mini M's and megaM's, and there are specialty
flavors like strawberries andcream.
And there's also peanut butterand jelly M&M's, which are, eh,
they're okay.
I've tried them.
And believe it or not, Marsproduces M&Ms 24-7.
(17:24):
I found a stat that they makeover 400 million of the candies
every day.
That's insane.
And if the interwebs are to bebelieved, we're talking 150
billion emmers a year.
Now before we wrap up, I'd liketo share one of my favorite M&M
(17:45):
stories.
And this goes back to the early80s.
when the rock band Van Halenwas rising up the charts.
Now, they were huge roadies,and they were on tour quite a
bit back in those days.
And they had an M&M clause intheir venue contracts.
What?
Yeah.
And it was actually the brownM&M's clause.
(18:07):
Yeah.
So every place they were goingto perform, they had to have a
large bowl filled with M&M's inthe dressing room.
And right there in thecontract, it also said that all
of the brown emmers were to beremoved from the bowl.
Hold on, Truman.
Are you making this up?
No, no.
If you're old enough, youprobably remember hearing about
(18:29):
this odd clause.
Or you probably rememberhearing that sometimes if those
brown M&Ms weren't removed, theband would trash the dressing
room after a show.
No way! What's the deal here,Truman?
Well, the theory was that theband's stage setup was very
complex and somewhat dangerous.
(18:51):
And so the specifications hadto be carefully followed or
people would get hurt.
So this clause was actually alittle test to see if the
stagehands were payingattention.
And when there were no brownM&Ms in the bowl, they felt safe
because someone was payingattention.
And of course, if the clausewas missed, well, way to go,
(19:13):
dummies.
Trash the place.
All right.
So after all this, have I madeyou hungry for some M&M's?
Well, I've got a special treatfor the first 20 people who
respond to this challenge.
In addition to the many colorsand flavors of M&M's, they also
make custom M&M's.
(19:35):
That's right.
And so I ordered 20 packets ofDaystrider M&Ms.
I got to choose the colors andI got them stamped with the
podcast name and my name.
And then there's the Daystridertime travel portal printed
right on them.
Yeah, it's pretty neat, right?
All you got to do is leave areview wherever you listened to
(19:57):
this podcast.
You can type something like,this show is like M&Ms for your
mind.
Colorful stories that'll boostyou up.
Or something like that.
Who knows?
Surprise me with yourcreativity.
Let's see what you got.
But yeah, when you do that,I'll send you a packet of these
limited edition M&M's that youcan enjoy or preserve them until
(20:21):
they become worth millions oneday.
I wish.
Anyway, the next time you reachinto that candy dish and munch
down on some tasty M&M's, youcan marvel at their origin
story.
A bitter family feud that ledto the sweetest kind of revenge.
Success that melts in yourmouth and not in your hands.
(20:44):
A time traveler's delight, weunwrap the past, discovering
treats that were made to last.
If these chocolatey tales madeyour taste buds grin, please
share with your friends so theirjoy can begin.
Three down-on-their-luckhustlers walk into a bar.
(21:06):
One is convinced that vodka isthe next big thing.
If only someone would try it.
Another is obsessed with hisnew artisanal ginger brew,
though the Hollywood scene justisn't on board.
And the third, well, she justwon't shut up about the health
benefits of her copper mugs.
(21:27):
And they argue for hours aboutwho's got the worst luck with
their wares.
Until the bartender walks upand says...
Now before we get to thatpunchline, because oh, it's a
good one, let's talk about howsome people can find treasure
sitting right there in a pile oftrash.
We've actually had this happenin our Daystrider journeys.
(21:50):
We talked about the guy whoinvented tater tots.
He saw a way to turn potatoshavings left over on the floor
from making french fries into awhole new tasty treat.
And then, of course, there'sHenry Ford.
He actually started an entirebusiness and backyard pastime
from the scrap heap when hefound a way to turn wood scraps
(22:12):
left over from making cars intocharcoal briquettes.
Ah, yeah.
If you're a griller, now youknow who to thank.
So, yeah.
Sometimes great things can comefrom a pile of scraps just
laying around.
You just have to be on thelookout for it.
Or sometimes you need to getlucky that someone else stumbles
(22:35):
into your life with the answerto all of your problems.
All right, pivot with me here,folks, and let's get our drink
on.
Nowadays, vodka is everywhere.
You've got Smirnoff and Tito'sand Grey Groose and Kettle One.
Pick your poison.
Well, guess what?
About a hundred years ago,almost no vodka was sold in
(22:59):
America.
Now, it was pretty popular inEastern Europe, but imagine
betting your entire future on aRussian spirit that most
Americans had never tasted.
Well, that's exactly what JohnMartin did when he gambled
$14,000, his life savings, tobuy Smirnoff vodka in 1939.
(23:20):
Now, when you fast forward to1982, you'll discover that he's
sitting on the world's numberone selling vodka.
But way back in those earlydays, he was just a guy with
warehouses full of bottles thatnobody wanted, wondering if he'd
made the biggest mistake of hislife.
(23:41):
Meanwhile, he wasn't the onlyone with an inventory problem.
Now, these days, copper hasbecome a precious metal.
There are stories about peoplesmashing in walls and ripping
out the copper plumbing to sellon the black market.
That's crazy.
But way back in 1941, youcouldn't give copper away.
(24:05):
That's right.
Just ask Sophie Berezinski.
While working for her father,the owner of the Moscow Copper
Company back in Russia, shedesigned a beautiful copper mug
and thought them so lovely thatshe decided to go ahead and make
2,000 of them.
But once she was out therepeddling them, nobody was
(24:26):
buying.
Where she was in Russia, timeswere tough, and no one had money
to burn on beautiful coppermugs.
So, off to the land ofopportunity.
The Berezinskis, they moved toAmerica and made their way to
L.A.
Yes, lugging their trunks fullof copper mugs the whole way.
(24:47):
But after getting settled, herhusband laid down the ultimatum.
Sophie, you need to figuresomething out with these mugs or
I'm trashing them.
So, off she went.
Hustling from door to door,every restaurant, every bar,
every retail establishment thatsold anything related to
(25:08):
beverages.
You there, please come.
Look at these copper mugs.
They come from Moscow.
Time for our stories tocollide.
To do that, we got to go backto our joke about the folks who
walked into a bar.
And that bar happens to be theCock and Bull.
A legendary watering holesituated on the Sunset Strip in
(25:32):
Hollywood.
And its founder, Jack Morgan,he was as creative as he was
savvy.
And sometimes his creativitygot him into trouble.
Yeah, in 1940, he dreamed upthe idea of making ginger beer.
And after some trials, helanded on a recipe that he
absolutely loves.
And then he got to making it.
(25:54):
Barrels and barrels of it.
But the stars had no interest.
Morgan thought that, hey, herein the heart of fashion and
fads, his beer would become thenext big thing.
But sadly, he just ended upcrying in his beer, his yummy
ginger beer.
All right, so let's try thisjoke again.
(26:15):
Three down-on-their-luckhustlers walk into a bar.
one with a warehouse full ofvodka, another whose basement
was filled with kegs ofartisanal ginger brew, and the
third lugging around trunks fullof lovely copper mugs.
They argue for hours aboutwho's got the worst luck with
their wares until the bartenderwalks up and slams three drinks
(26:37):
down on the table and says, ifyou're going to mix business
with pleasure, at least garnishit with lime.
Now shut up and drink this.
And just like that, the MoscowMule was born.
Three frustrated entrepreneurs,all dealing with bad business
decisions, combined theirfailures into something
(27:00):
unexpected.
Imagine their surprise whenthey took that first sip.
The cool copper mug frostedover.
The spicy ginger beer bubblingagainst the smooth vodka.
And just like that, theirbusiness disasters transformed
into into liquid gold.
Oh yeah, that is good.
(27:21):
You've tried the Moscow Mule,right?
It's pretty good.
And they immediately got theirhustle on and hit the streets to
make this blend of brilliancepopular.
Martin the Vodka Guy had abrilliant idea.
He took pictures of thebartenders at the Cock and Bull
making and selling the drink inthose unique mugs and then
(27:41):
shared them bar to bar.
Once he convinced someplace tobuy up his vodka, Morgan's
ginger beer, and Sophie's lovelymugs, he took more pictures of
them and hustled off to the nextplace.
Yeah, it wasn't long until itwas all the rage and everyone
was doing it.
So Truman, why did they pickthe name Moscow Mule?
(28:03):
Well, legend has it that theyloved alliteration.
And since the copper mugsalready had Moscow embossed on
them, and a mule delivers akick, why not go with it?
That's my story anyway, and I'msticking to it.
In truth, there's some lightdebate about this entire origin
(28:24):
story.
But you know what?
This version feels really good,right?
So we're going to go with it.
Either way, their brand newdrink was pretty popular until
the 60s or so, when for somereason, it fell out of favor.
But then, somehow, it revivedagain in the early 2000s, and by
2017, it was the most Googleddrink in America.
(28:48):
And that's why, on this day in2017, they created Moscow Mule
Day.
Yep, March 3rd.
Who knew?
So the next time you see thaticonic copper mug, remember,
behind every Moscow Mule is thebeautiful collision of three
epic failures.
And they weren't trying tocreate cocktail history.
(29:10):
They were just trying to solvetheir business problems.
Yeah, sometimes the bestinnovations happen when
desperation meets opportunity.
And gets served with a limewedge.
Yeah, so let's think aboutthis.
What seemingly uselessingredients in your life might
(29:32):
be turned into somethingextraordinary?
Think about that.
The next time you're sipping ona Moscow Mule.
What a ride through time today,folks.
We mushed our way through thefrozen Alaskan wilderness with
(29:52):
Bailey and his dogs, unwrappedthe surprisingly bitter origins
of those colorful M&Ms, anddiscovered how three business
failures collided to create theMoscow Mule.
Who knew that the Moscow Muleexists simply because three
people couldn't sell theirproducts separately?
It's easy to see that withoutMarch 3rd, our world would look
(30:17):
and taste a whole lot different.
Whether it's how we navigatethe wilderness, satisfy our
sweet tooth, or raise our mugsat happy hour.
Why not share these storieswith someone who loves being
surprised?
And don't forget to leave thatreview for a chance to win those
limited edition DaystriderM&Ms.
You know what else?
(30:39):
If today's stories made yougrin, there are dozens of other
stories waiting for you in ourback catalog.
That's right.
If hearing about lovableanimals gave you the warm and
fuzzies, then you won't want tomiss our most popular episode on
Llama Day, December 9th, orCatch I Love Horses Day on July
15th.
(30:59):
And if your sweet tooth isgetting the best of you, the
Tootsie Roll was actually alifesaver on February 23rd.
And if you're like E.T.
and prefer Reese's Piecesinstead, you gotta check out
June 11th.
And if you love raising yourglass or mug to fun drinks, try
(31:19):
out the Irish Whiskey on March17th.
Or just fun adventures like theGreatest Beer Run Ever on
January 19th.
Every day has a story, andthey're so much fun.
And we're going to stridethrough them all until we're
done.
Now, after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
(31:40):
mention the following famousfolks who celebrate their
birthdays today.
Camila Cabello adds a candle toher cake today.
She's a famous pop singer wholeft the group Fifth Harmony to
do her own thing, which includedhit songs like Havana and
Señorita with Shawn Mendes.
Recently, she released herfourth album, and although it's
(32:02):
received mixed reviews, I'm sureshe's going to continue making
Latin-based music.
Julie Bowen has March 3 circledon her calendar.
She's best known for playingClaire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom
Modern Family, which ran forover a decade.
It's hard to believe.
But some of you may rememberher role as Virginia Bennett
(32:23):
from Happy Gilmore, right?
Well, guess what?
I heard they're making a HappyGilmore 2.
And Julie's going to be playingVirginia again.
So get your Netflix streamingservice ready.
That comes out later this year.
A couple of famous athletesfrom back in the 80s and 90s
include Jackie Joyner-Kersee andHerschel Walker, both born
(32:45):
today.
Jackie was a track star who wasin the U.S.
Track Hall of Fame and at onetime was named the greatest
female athlete of the 20thcentury by Sports Illustrated.
And of course, Herschel was afamous football player who won
the Heisman Trophy, played inthe USFL and the NFL, and even
ran for the U.S.
Senate in 2022.
How about that?
(33:06):
And then we've got a couplefamous birthdays from all of
history.
Alexander Graham Bell is onehousehold name.
He invented the telephone backin 1876, which we're gonna
feature that invention on March10th, stay tuned.
And another name is one youonly know because of the scheme
that this guy Charles the conartist was famous for.
(33:29):
Yeah, he started this companyin 1920 and guaranteed high
returns trading in internationalpostage stamps.
And guess what?
He repaid his foundinginvestors with money he
collected from the newinvestors.
And then he repaid them withmoney he collected from even
newer suckers.
(33:49):
And on and on.
And eventually this scheme wasuncovered and they attached his
name to it.
The Ponzi scheme.
Maroon 5 (33:58):
Yeah,
Bailey (33:59):
we'll tell you more about that story on January 1st.
All right.
The 50th most famous personborn today, according to
famousbirthdays.com, is JoeyValance.
He's a hip-hop artist andproducer who works in a duo with
his friend Bray.
And I watched some of theirvideos, and clearly, they're
Beastie Boys fans.
(34:19):
I'm telling you, they soundalmost exactly like the Beastie
Boys.
And from what I could tell,they make most of their music
right from Joey's bedroomstudio.
And then in their videos, theyjust goof around.
But hey.
works.
They're the 50th most famousperson.
When I looked at Wikipedia'scentenarians list, I found two
people who are over 100 today,both of them turning 101.
(34:43):
Tamichi Murayama from Japan.
He was actually the primeminister of Japan back in the
90s.
And today he lives in Oita Cityand he tries to take walks
twice a day for exercise.
And his favorite hobby iswatching sumo wrestling.
And then there's RobertSchulman, who was a biophysicist
(35:04):
at Yale, and he earned aSterling Professor Emeritus
achievement.
Pretty cool.
But I was unable to find outmore about what he's doing these
days.
But, you know, probably being101 means you're taking it easy,
right?
All right, March 3rd is Soup ItForward Day.
Okay, so that sounds a littlestrange, but it's actually a
(35:26):
feel-good day.
The idea is to make a big oldbatch of your favorite soup and
bring it to someone who'slonely.
Or hungry.
I guess or both.
And you can fill their belliesand their hearts with your
homemade soup.
And your soul is company.
Today is also Cold Cuts Day.
Yeah, a day to celebrate ham,turkey, and salami.
(35:46):
And any other deli meats thatyou favor.
I favor bologna.
Does anyone else like bologna?
Yeah, the best is a friedbologna sandwich.
Mmm.
Anyway, speaking of coldcuts...
Have you seen the Icky Woodscommercial where his number is
called at the deli counter andhe does this, got some cold
cuts, got some cold cuts.
(36:07):
It's hilarious.
And guess what?
Since it's cold cut day, I'mgoing to leave a link in the
show notes.
And finally, today is NationalAnthem Day.
So the Star Spangled Bannerbecame the official national
anthem on this day in 1931.
But the song was actuallywritten way back in 1814.
(36:27):
So that's weird.
I guess during the entire1800s, some other song acted as
the national anthem.
I don't know.
I read about Hail Columbia.
Never heard of that one.
And My Country, Tis of Thee.
I have heard of that one.
So who knew?
Either way, we'll be coveringFrancis Scott Key's writing of
(36:48):
that song on September 14th.
So check it out.
You need a great gift idea foryour loved one?
Well, in addition to retellingthe stories that you just
learned about this day inhistory, you can have them open
up a gift that is customized totheir birthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you, which you can find the
links for in the show notes.
(37:09):
And most days I make the claimthat these gifts are so unique
that there's no way your lovedone will have one of those.
Today continues to live up tothat standard.
Take the dog mushing segment,for example.
You can get someIditarod-related or mini dog
mushing sleds for their desk ortheir bookshelf.
Or you can really do it uprightand sponsor a Team Bailey dog
(37:34):
on their behalf.
That's really cute and kind allat once.
You can celebrate M&M's bygifting a bag of M&M's, pretty
much any color available, or getthem M&M's decor.
There are dozens of M&M'sshirts and other clothing that
would brighten their day, andtheir closets.
And of course, the Moscow Mule,you could get them a beautiful
(37:56):
collection of copper mugs.
And there's also Moscow Mulemixes and great wall decor for
those who have a home bar andneeds to spruce it up a little.
And the famous folks that wereborn today, there's also some
great books or CDs and wallhangings that are nice.
Although the Camilla Cabellowall hangings, those are
(38:17):
probably meant for teenage boys.
But anyway...
And similarly, today's specialholidays all have unique gifts.
There are links in the shownotes for Chicken Soup of the
Soul books, cold cuts, andNational Anthem ideas.
So no more hemming and hawingabout the person who has
everything, because they do nothave some of the things that I
(38:38):
mentioned in this gift section.
And of course, if you don'tlike any of those customized
gifts for folks who wake upcelebrating March 3rd, well...
You can up your gift-givinggame and make their birthday
really special by dedicating apersonalized shout-out right
here on this podcast.
They'll be memorializedforever.
Man, I could do the shout-outfor you if you send me what you
(39:01):
want to say.
Or you can do your own by usingthe SpeakBike link that's
available in the show notes.
Now today's is short, but oh socute.
We're
Brian (39:12):
wishing a happy 12th birthday to Clementine.
Happy birthday, Clemmie.
We love you.
Bailey (39:19):
Now that's a great laugh there at the end, right?
Everyone needs a laugh likethat in their life to brighten
their day.
In fact, it brightened my dayso much.
Let's play it one more time.
Yep.
So as I mentioned, you can findthe link to do that in the show
(39:41):
notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, send me an email and let's
connect.
Now, before we wrap up for theday, do you want to hear what
makes this podcasting journey somuch fun?
I get to hear feedback from somany listeners telling me what I
(40:05):
forgot to include in myepisodes.
Why didn't you mentionso-and-so that day?
Definitely should have been inthere.
I love it.
You know why?
Because it means they'relistening and enjoying their own
memories of the past.
Every story I tell hassomething or another that
resonates with you.
But sometimes I missed thething that you remember the
(40:27):
most.
But that's okay, because guesswhat?
You can send me a note or callme or text me and let me know
where I missed the boat.
And I'm happy to consideradding that into the story.
Yeah, we could just edit itright in.
Or even better, you could comeon with me and share your memory
(40:48):
and we'll layer that into theshow.
It's easy to do.
All you got to do is reach outand get in touch.
I know my mom's going to besending me a Facebook message.
And my friends Tyler and Muddy,you guys always have the idea
train coming my way.
So keep it rolling.
Oh, and of course, if you'relistening to this episode during
(41:09):
the first week of March in anyyear, that first week of March,
be sure to get online and trackBailey Vitello's progress in the
Iditarod or go to his website,teambaileyusa.com.
Yeah, go Bailey, go.
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy reminding you that
(41:32):
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
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