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June 12, 2025 48 mins
It's time to watch To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar! and get ready for PRIDE!  Put on your most rainbow-y outfit and catch this, the first of two special PRIDE episodes this month!  Today's episode we introduce Alice B. Toklas.  Lover, confidant and essentially spouse to writer Gertrude Stein, she also was a writer in her own right and one of her books The Alice B. Toklas contained a recipe for Haschich Fudge that made her a counterculture icon.  (we will of course share the recipe here in the show notes, we are nothing if not full service.)  She also wrote, had her ups and downs and saw Gertrude through her final days, staying on alone afterwards.  So join us in this special PRIDE episode (the first of two this month) and enjoy!

Haschich Fudge (which anyone could whip up on a rainy day)This is the food of Paradise—of Baudelaire’s Artificial Paradises: it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies’ Bridge Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR. In Morocco it is thought to be good for warding off the common cold in damp winter weather and is, indeed, more effective if taken with large quantities of hot mint tea. Euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extension of one’s personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected. Almost anything Saint Theresa did, you can do better if you can bear to be ravished by “un évanouissement reveillé.”Take 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 whole nutmeg, 4 average sticks of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon coriander. These should all be pulverised in a mortar. About a handful each of stoned dates, dried figs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop these and mix them together. A bunch of cannabis sativa can be pulverised. This along with the spices should be dusted over the mixed fruit and nuts, kneaded together. About a cup of sugar dissolved in a big pat of butter. Rolled into a cake and cut into pieces or made into balls about the size of a walnut, it should be eaten with care. Two pieces are quite sufficient.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm Dean, I'm the dad.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
I am Laura, I'm the mom, and I'm Arthur, I'm
the son.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
And together we are family. Plot nice, very nice. Let's
get the housekeeping out of the way. We've got so
much to talk about this week. First and foremost, if
you want to help us out, there's a few ways
you can do that financially. One is through Tea Spring.
You can get our fabulous merch featuring T shirts, mugs,

(01:20):
and of course stickers, all with Arthur's original artwork.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Now, don't forget that, I'm working on more.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
We won't forget that now. If you cannot afford to
support us by buying merch, we understand absolutely. You can.
For a dollar or three dollars every month join our
Patreon and everybody who's a member of our Patreon gets
ad free episodes and special bonus content. Last week, if

(01:49):
you were a member, you got to hear Arthur come
all unglued.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Arthur was very unnglued. There was much beeping.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
There was a lot of beeping.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
You had to beep extra.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
I might have beep words that weren't even dirty. It
was that dirt. It was that there was that much beeping.
I might have gotten a bit carried away. But the
point is, if you wanted to know what was under
those beeps, be a Patreon member three dollars level for
that one man. If you cannot do a one or
three dollars monthly donation, which again we don't know that

(02:23):
against you. We have four kids living with us, currently
eating us out of house and home. I can't.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Oh, whoa, I'm not one of those kids you eat.
I do eat, but I don't eat you guys out
of house and home.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
It was just a saying, Arthur, I wasn't accusing you
of anything. The point I am trying to make is
that you can always serve us a dollar or two
through buy me a coffee. That's a one time donation.
And if you cannot do that, there is a very
easy thing you can do that will help us out.
That is, if you enjoy the show, please share it
on social media.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
Share it with friends, with family, with every one.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
And if you don't enjoy the show, please keep it
to yourself.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
If you can't say something nice.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Don't say anything at all.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
So before I get into what this week's episode's about,
a couple of things I want to get out of
the way one with the craziness going on with LA
and the Marines being called out illegally to confront American
citizens on American soil, I just want to say we
are at LA strong and we support those in California

(03:39):
doing the right thing.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Ye're fair enough.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yes, we try not to be political or overly political
in our show, but we absolutely are inclusive and we
support our fellow human and we are all human and
we consider all of our friends to be family and
we hate to see our family members being robbed at
their rights.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Okay, And then other than that, I was watching too long. Foo,
thanks for everything, Julie Newmar to get me in the
episode or get me in the spirit of the episode,
which this is the first of two Pride episodes we
will do this month. So on March thirtieth, eighteen seventy seven,
a young woman was born to the son of a

(04:25):
Jewish rabbi and his wife, who would grow up to
become the life partner of Gertrude Stein. She would also
become a writer of cookbooks, a bit of a counterculture
Iowa icon, and a heroine to many. We dig into
her life this week, and wow, did all this really happen. Hey,

(04:46):
Arthur's taken the lead on this episode of the family
Plot podcast Wood. That was a mouthful, So Arthur, you
want to start talking about Alice B. Toklas serve.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
In San Francisco on March thirtieth, eighteen seventy seven, five
fiveal although most called him Ferdinand Toeplus and his wife
Amelia Toplus nee Levinski on O. Farrell Street in San
Francisco's North Side neighborhood. Her younger brother, Clarence Ferdinand, would

(05:26):
be born ten years later. Her family was a middle
class Polish Jewish family, and her parents had moved to
San Francisco about ten years prior to her birth. Young
Alice loved cooking, and while the family had servants to
prepare their food, Alice was very interested in cooking. Alice

(05:51):
also loved music, and even as a young girl, would
do piano recitals for visiting guests and family friends. She
also loved to read, especially poetry. Young Alice also very
much adored her baby brother and even helped take care
of him when the family moved to Seattle in eighteen ninety,

(06:13):
where her dad was part of the dry goods company
known as Toclas Singerman and company. Toclus was educated at
local schools, including Mount Rainier Seminary Seminary, and later she

(06:35):
attended Washington University, where she studied piano. Her love of
music was still in full swing, even though swing wasn't
There wasn't a thing at the time. Dad joke when
Alice was around the age.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
Of nineteen, I don't think Arthur was amused.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
He it wasn't.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
He didn't sound abused.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
It was not her mom. Her mom, Amelia, began toy
from an unspecified illness. In some texts, the illness is
identified as cancers as cancer, but this is not true.
The family returned to San Francisco, where Amelia passed away
in eighteen ninety seven, when Alice was twenty years old.

(07:18):
Alice would live in sanfrit San Francisco for another nine years,
pursuing both her love of cooking and music, until the
devastating San Francisco earthquake in nineteen oh six. It should
also be noted that during that During that time, Alice
also served as a surrogate mother to Clarence and waited

(07:41):
on her father as well. Five months later, partially out
of desire to escape the devastation of her home in
San Francisco, and partially to escape the role she had
fallen into with her family, she had moved to Paris.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Well check that out, rolls right into your court, the
Arthur nice.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
See it worked out.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Well, works out real while okay.

Speaker 5 (08:06):
Hold on.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Here ye here ye, allow me to present Arthur's corner. Awesome. Okay,
I'm gonna say I ask it before somebody else says it.
How are we doing today?

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Pretty good? Pretty good? Like I said, I was watching
too long Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmark. What a
great movie. I mean, I remember it being a great movie,
but I never remember how great I it is till
I watch it again.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
And you know, I'm doing okay today too.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
So yeah, we're doing good. We got some snacks in
the house.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
We snacked some beef in our teeth and some chicken too.
Hey that's a cavity. Hey that's new.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Wait, that's not that's not right.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
It was a song from when I was a kid,
something about a yukmouth I don't remember, something.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
About somebody not brushing their teeth apparently.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, yeah, sounds like it. Let's see what have I done?

Speaker 4 (09:15):
Reading Japanese watermelon gummy candy I am.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
I am eating Japanese watermelton, gummy candy and the the
form of watermelon. I just read this, by the way,
is kussu gui. That's it's.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Okay. That's why it's got such a different flavor, Tae.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
It has a different very good, it's very nice.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
It's and now Arthur's trying to destroy my carpet.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
That's always and Tad was the one who kicked it down.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
I didn't see it.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
You didn't feel that on your foot.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
No, I'm a diabetic, very much feeling in his feet.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
But it's it's really not that bad. It was just a.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Little trickle your good son.

Speaker 6 (10:02):
I'm just cleaning up my mask.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well technically it's your dad's mess, but I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Well, it's my mess.

Speaker 4 (10:09):
Las plus the it's very likely that the microphone didn't
get you saying I'm just cleaning up my mess either,
even though it was cute.

Speaker 6 (10:18):
I'm just cleaning up the mess.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
Oh, mister mouse should come back, should not come back,
never ever again. Your losses is barred from the show.

Speaker 5 (10:31):
Low long.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
I don't get a vote on that.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
No, no, you don't.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
You you do, but your your vote's still outcounted because
there's two of us.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
In one of you.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
Well, no, we're not giving her vote. I would be
able to sway that when we're not going there.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
I'd let you have another watermelon? Can you if you
agree with you.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Want more chocolate?

Speaker 6 (11:02):
Hey, you want more chocolate?

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Take that Ey's side.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
If you know it goes for.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
A week, Arthur won't be grounded. Okay.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
So in addition to Japanese gummy candy, we are finding
out that you have not seen some of the required
movies for this family, and you will have to no that.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
Tuong Fu is a required movie for the family, as
I've never sat down through the home one, either through
it through the complete movie either.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well, it's available on Peacock and we get Peacock for free,
so Sunday movie Day.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
I'm just saying, all right, and anyway, do you have
anything else you want to talk about anything today?

Speaker 1 (11:49):
In your corner?

Speaker 2 (11:51):
This is a really sad corner.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
Well, it's kind of it's kind of a weird place
for it, kind of really sad.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Actually, Well, if it's been it was a two week.
This week it was kind of wind.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Cooping from like your birthday week, and well everyone was
just like okay, good night.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Well that that and like Max and Crystal, who they
were out of town this weekend.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
They went out of town this last weekend and UH
with them a lot.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, And he talked to Dana like one day, but
it sounded like Dana's boot party.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
I did. I went to my friend's day party. I
went to my friend's birthday party. Of your listening, Hi Dana,
happy late birthday, because I already said happy birthday to you.
But that was fun. I got to see horses and
pet goats. I got to pet goats. The goats. The
goats were fun to pet.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
You could have ridden the horses, but you didn't want to.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
I didn't want to because I said I was too fat,
and my mom disagrees.

Speaker 6 (12:55):
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
John Candy wrote, a horse you, there's no way you're
too fat.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
That's what I was scared of breaking the horses back.

Speaker 3 (13:03):
He didn't want to hurt the horse because he has
an ample rear end. Because he's my child.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
I was gonna say, I play into that somewhere too.
I don't know if you've seen my butt, but you might.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Actually be actually fairly slender in comparison.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
You might actually be able to show movies on my butt.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
No, your butt is not large. You carry the majority
of your weight in your belly.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Which she's not complaining about. No, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
But yes, you got to see Dana and you got
to see some some future glue glue factory rejects or
just do you.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Care for ecklines. Doesn't mean other people don't love horseats.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
I love horses. They were sweet.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
I was mostly just trying to get a reaction out
of the child.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
But you've got a reaction out of me instead.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
How'd you like got that reaction out of both the vomicles?

Speaker 1 (13:55):
But you know in our ad we talk about banter.
That's what that was. I created banter.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
That there was some banter.

Speaker 6 (14:09):
It was time to get back to the show.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
So did you have a favorite goat or a favorite horse?
Do you remember the name of the stable we could
promo them?

Speaker 5 (14:22):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (14:24):
Was it Benjamin Stables?

Speaker 3 (14:25):
No, it was a smaller stable, but it was very nice.

Speaker 7 (14:29):
It was like Sunset something, Sunset Ridge, Sunset Trails.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
I think it's Sunset Trails.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
So Sunset Trail Stables is what we'll say for now.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah, at least I'm at Missouri.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yes, and it was very nice.

Speaker 4 (14:45):
It was very nice, nice little, nice, little, nice little
place there.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
They had birthday party and there was cake and ice cream.

Speaker 7 (14:55):
You said Sunset trail stables, the Sunset trails. Yeah, so
sun Centurial stables in Lisa Summit.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yeah, I have trouble from that word. I walked through Lisaman.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
No, you walked the Blue Springs. Yeah, other other direction.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
You almost went to Aunt Mildred's.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, Miss Mildred, she's my own in my ass okay,
miss Mildred, Okay, I had an Aunt Mildred.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
That's why I'm confused.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
I'm always confused. So there you go. Well, there you go,
and wherever you go.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
There you are exactly.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Wow. Oh we had some really good food that dad
made after the birthday. God, that was good he did.

Speaker 4 (15:47):
He made us some He made us some taco chicken
meat and he made his home fries and he put
the taco chicken meat.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
On the home fries and he put ranch on it.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
It was really good.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
We need to have it again because it was.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
So freaking is that with the canned chicken.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
That's why we bought more canned chicken.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
Okay, really good if we if we ever need to
get something like that that again, I'll be happy to
eat it.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
Has to take that off your hands.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Well, we're gonna need more potatoes. But other than that, yeah,
my home frieser fire. Maybe we should put the recipe
up in our Facebook group.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Sometimes it's good stuff. It really is.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
It is it's really good.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
You're root for that one. I am digging it.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Is hot, and that not just because your mom is here.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
Ah sweet talking.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
I when I went to the store today with.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Mom.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yes, I I picked up a bottle and I was
just like, hey, Mom, are you in this?

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Are you when this? What was it?

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Group?

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Self Love? Yeah, the self Love Team or self Love group.
I was just like, if you were, If you're not,
you should be.

Speaker 7 (17:12):
And She's just like, oh al arthy.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
This sweet talker. Get it from him?

Speaker 4 (17:18):
Ah yeah you probably do.

Speaker 3 (17:22):
No, I can be a sweet talker sometimes.

Speaker 5 (17:24):
Too, So.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Anything else you want to throw in your corner.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
Dirty clothes, smelly socks, dirty laundry.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Hate him when they're up, hate him when they're down.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
I'm shocked that we've made it this far.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Why why?

Speaker 2 (17:43):
I don't know. We're awesome.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, we're pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
I'm roof shocked. We love you guys.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Thank you you're the fam.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Thank you guys for listening to us. Yes, yes, yes,
thank you. Okay, that's it alright.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Arthur just wanted to give a big shout out to
all our fans. I love it.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
I love you guys. We love you, all right. Mom
wouldn't watch the dog Man movie with me.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
I would not watch the dog Maam movie with Arthur.
I am a bad mother. I'm sorry, Arthur.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
I cried that night.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
I hurt Arthur's feelings by not.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
Watching the dog I wouldn't watch the dog Man movie
with him?

Speaker 6 (18:27):
Though?

Speaker 1 (18:28):
Are you talking.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
Wish with me?

Speaker 1 (18:31):
So?

Speaker 2 (18:32):
I just wasn't a chick with you? No, I watched Wish. Wow,
you guys were watching Wish?

Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yeah, but you fish? I was willing to start it over?

Speaker 5 (18:47):
Was it?

Speaker 1 (18:47):
Is this a movie the Beast of Bray Road? Oh
well that's a movie about it dog Man?

Speaker 2 (18:54):
No, this is dog Man like the like the children's
comic books.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Oh oh, okay, she wouldn't watch.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Dog Man with me. I'm trying to live on male
childhood and I'm not getting it.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
Fine, we'll watch dog Man. Yes, We'll watch dog Man?

Speaker 3 (19:14):
All right? Can I fun? Can we finish can we
do the podcast? U? Yeah, stop talking about dog Man,
all right?

Speaker 2 (19:24):
At least I didn't ask you to watch a SpongeBob
with me. A SpongeBob movie with me.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
That's not gonna happen, obviously, not okay. So Alice moved
to Paris.

Speaker 4 (19:36):
Alice round in Paris on September eighth, nineteen oh seven.
Dad says, that's a pretty good day, even though he
wasn't born yet, and he wouldn't be born for fifty
nine years, sixty one, sixty one. I just Math and
me don't get along. I tried to do that in
my head. Obviously I did a really bad job. She

(19:59):
wound up living. She wound up in the living room
of Michael.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
She made you younger.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
No, she made me older.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
I made him older.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Oh you did you know?

Speaker 4 (20:09):
He is the dad after Michael was the eldest brother
of famed American writer Gertrude Stein. And it was there
in this home, decked out with paintings and tapestries, as
well as art pieces and windows with beautiful views of Paris,
that Gertrude and Alice first met.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
They were instantly drawn to one another.

Speaker 4 (20:35):
The two moved in together at twenty seven rue de floor.
The street name has something to do with flowers, but
that us at the end of.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
Rufus deflor us.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
Okay, Rude deflores.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
So it does have something to do with flowers, but
the US at the end. Google Translate wasn't quite sure
how to translate that.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yes, flower and question mark.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
So Mark's okay.

Speaker 4 (21:08):
So once they moved in together, they were soon holding
salons in their home. Gertrude had originally lived in the
home with another of her brothers, Leo.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
However, when Alice moved in, Leo moved out.

Speaker 4 (21:26):
A salon was a fancy word for get together where
intelligent people would share ideas and ideals, often leading to
creation of some interesting work.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Some of the.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
Folks that would attend these salons were former family plot
subject Ernest Timingway. Here goes Hemingway again, sneaking into episodes.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
I hadn't seen him in a while.

Speaker 4 (21:56):
F Scott, Gerald, f Scott, Fitzgerald, Sherwood, Anderson, Picasso, Matisse,
and many other writers and artists. Gertrude would go on
to write many novels, including Tender Buttons, Three Lives, and
the World Is Round, among others. It Should be made

(22:20):
clear that both Alice and Gertrude were lesbians who found
no role models in the roles of wife and mother
that society expected them to fulfill their Alice claimed that
whenever she met someone who was a genius, she would
hear fell and when she left Gertrude there was a

(22:42):
distinctive tinkling. The two became lovers and life partners, and
their home became famous as a place where the coolest
of the pool gathered to study the latest in art
and ideas. So we've gotten a little bit more of
the history and the start of their relationship for Alison Gertrude.

(23:09):
Let's take a moment and hear from our friends over
at some of our fellow.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Podcasts, True Crime, South Africa and Entrepreneur. I'm discovered on Entrepreneur.

Speaker 8 (23:25):
Hello, listeners of family podcast. My name is Nicola Bardon
and I'm a big fan of the podcast. I also
host my own it's called Tizzy Yourself. Now. It's not
true crime, but if you feel like you need a
break after listen to a particularly gruesome episode, come over
have a little listen. We have lots of fun, lots
of hilarious stories with some of your favorite celebrities. I'm

(23:48):
talking people from Friends, people from the OC, Peaky Blinders, Scrubs,
Brooklyn nine nine, all the TV shows you love. I've
got some of the stars telling me some hilarious and
sometimes heartbreaking stories from their times in the show. So
when you're finished with this episode of Family Plots, come
and give me a little follow over on tis Yourself.
I look forward to seeing you there. Now back to

(24:08):
Family Plus.

Speaker 9 (24:16):
South Africa a country whose spectacular beauty and dynamic people
are known the world over. But there's another side to
our country, and one that is rarely discussed in the
detail it deserves. Join me Nicole Engelbracht on True Crime

(24:37):
South Africa, South Africa's first victim focus to true crime podcast,
As we Go Beyond the Headlines focus on the victims
and explore some of South Africa's most heinous violent crimes.
True Crime South Africa is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,

(24:58):
or wherever you get podcasts.

Speaker 10 (25:01):
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your business but feel one of the four hurdles of
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Speaker 1 (25:11):
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Speaker 10 (25:13):
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Speaker 10 (25:29):
This will be our first stop in your entrepreneur adventure.
Join your host Scoob as we take you through the
four hurdles of stop, find your zone of genius, and
get you across the start line. Start your entrepreneur adventure
right now on The Undiscovered Entrepreneur Get Across the start Line,
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(25:51):
store forward slash scoop, go to s t A N
dot s t O r E forward slash sko oh.
Be let's get across the start lying together.

Speaker 6 (26:03):
It was time to get back to the show. It
was ton to get back to the show.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
That was interesting. I'm impressed, but then again, I always
I am the true Crime South Africa. Let's see, so
I'll take this next little bit now. Alice and Gertrude
had some similarities in some differences, Like most couples. Both
were from Jewish families. However, Alice's family sat on the
boards of synagogues while Gertrude's family were no longer practicing

(26:31):
their Jewish faith. Both had lost their mothers at a
relatively young age. Gertrude's mom had passed of cancer, while
Alice's mom had passed from an unspecified illness. Both had
a love of the arts, but Gertrude was a confident
writer while Alice was still trying to find herself as
a writer. And as Arthur said, neither of them found

(26:55):
any similarity. Sorry, as Laura said, neither of them found
any larity to who they were and the role society
wanted them to inhabit. The two became lovers and life partners,
and Alice took on the roles of confidante, editor, critic,
news cook, secretary, general organizer, and a doorkeeper between Gertrude

(27:19):
and those who wanted to speak with her and those
who wanted to shout at her the fate of all
writers people love you.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
Basically, this.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
Was a lot for a woman who was described as
not sitting in chairs but hiding in them. She was
also described as looking like a poor relation someone who
was invited to the wedding, but not the wedding dinner.
But Alison Gertrude could always be found together. And now

(27:52):
for a moment from a word from our sponsors.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
What do you feel?

Speaker 4 (28:05):
Efis Bud said, ed, Now it's time to get back
to the show and.

Speaker 6 (28:15):
Thank you for.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Watching, thank you for listening.

Speaker 6 (28:23):
Yes, ma'am, thank you, thank you for joining.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
Alrighty, Alison Gertrude could almost always be found together. During
World War One, they learned to drive ambulances from Parisian
Parisian Parisian taxi drivers and use that skill to drive
ambulances on the battlefield field. When World War Two broke

(28:49):
out in Europe nineteen thirty nine, the two were at
their home called Biligan Belignan. Many believe that the only
way the pair survived the war without ending up in
concentration camp was thanks to their relative obscurity, the fact
that they were Americans, and the fact that their neighbors

(29:13):
would warn them of German patrols or would hide them
in their homes when German patrols came. Gertrude was still writing.
In fact, just seven years previously, she had written the
autobiography of Alice b. Toglus. This book was a huge

(29:33):
success in America, and Gertrude had written it over several
weeks in nineteen thirty two. It was the story of Alice,
her birth, as her life as a young woman, and
her arrival in Paris, and her meeting and developing a
relationship with Gertrude. The literary magazine Atlantic Monthly published sixty

(29:59):
percent of the novel in their pages, and Gertrude was
still lionized in America, where her previous works had often
been ignored. Still, it didn't please everyone. Ernest Hivingway called
it a damn pitiful book. You're a damn pitiful man.

(30:22):
Henry Matisse felt that Gertrude had insulted his wife in
her descriptions of the woman, and others felt it was
a crass and commercial with no artistry. Still, it was
the book that made her a household name in the
United States. On May eighth, nineteen forty five, World War

(30:45):
II came to an end, but around that time, Gertrude Stein,
who had stomach issues of and on throughout of nineteen forties,
was diagnosed with stomach slash colon cancer. She passed in
July of nineteen forty six, where Alice remained by her side.

Speaker 4 (31:07):
How sad, so let's take a moment for another word
from our sponsors. Remember, if you join our Patreon for
either the one dollar or the three dollars donation level
per month, you can do away with these sponsor breaks
and also support the podcast.

Speaker 6 (31:34):
It was time to get back to the show.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
All right.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
Following Gertrude's demise, she willed much of her state to Alice.
In Earth excuse me, she willed much of her estate
to Alice, including much of their shared art collection, including
several picassos. However, as the art began to appreciate in value,

(32:02):
Gertrude's family took action to prevent the art from remaining,
with Alice going into Alice's apartment once she formerly shared
with Gertrude and stealing the art. They put it in
a bank's vault. After this, alex Alice depended on contributions
from friends and her own writing to continue to survive.

(32:27):
She wrote for The New Yorker, The New Republic, and
The New York Times, among many others. She also wrote
her first book in nineteen fifty four, The Alice b
Toklist cookbook. This was a book that mixed both recipes
and reminiscence. One of the recipes was contributed by her

(32:50):
friend Byron Geyson, a British Canadian poet, author, and inventor.
The recipe was called Hashish Budge and contained fruits, nuts, spices,
and cannabis sativa. The recipe was intentionally left out of
the first American version, though it was printed in the

(33:14):
British version. It did appear in subsequent American versions. In
nineteen fifty four, she released another cookbook, Aromas and Flavors.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
Of Past and Present. She didn't like this book, however,
because it.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
Was heavily annotated by Poppy Cannon, who was an editor
for House Beautiful.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
Magazine at the time.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
In nineteen sixty three, she published her ritual autobiography, What
Is Remembered. It ends abruptly after Stein's death. She converted
to Catholicism in nineteen fifty seven, and her later life
was marred by both health and financial difficulties. Alice Btoklis

(33:56):
died March seventh, nineteen sixty seven, in Harris, where she
was laid to rest next to Gertrude Stein, and her
headstone was carved on the back of Gertrudes.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
And now, yep, you guessed it. The final word from
our sponsors.

Speaker 6 (34:18):
It was time to get back to the show.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Yeah, all Field sponsored excellent.

Speaker 6 (34:29):
Everybody has a good day, and if you see a crime,
call the police immediately.

Speaker 3 (34:34):
All right, he goes, ma'am, do not be a fedroll
o boy.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
Or person.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
That's very good advice, sweetheart.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
So let's talk a little bit about her legacy, because
she leaves a pretty big one, especially for someone who
history sort of looks at is like Gertrude Stein's sidekick,
but she really was her own person. And because she
spent most of her life living as an American expatriate
in Paris, and the fact that her cookbook contains a

(35:08):
recipe for fudge with marijuana, she became an icon for
the American counterculture in the nineteen sixties. In short, the
hippies loved her. In nineteen sixty eight, what a great year.
Peter Sellers starred in a movie called I Love You
Alice b. Toplas, where her special recipe fudge is integral

(35:30):
to the movie's plot. No spoilers here, I won't tell
you anything about the movie. Go find it watch it yourself.
She is also referenced in an episode of the TV
series Bewitched called Tabitha's Weekend, where Tabitha asked her grandma
if and Dora could have a cookie, and and Dora

(35:51):
asked if the cookie was from an Alice B topless
recipe It's funny. In nineteen the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ
Democratic Club was founded in San Francisco that would go
on to really be the king makers of democratic politics

(36:13):
in San Francisco for quite some time. Samuel Stewart, a
writer who met both Stein and Toklus in the nineteen thirties,
released a collection of letters the pair wrote to him
at different times. The book was titled Dear Sammy, Letters
from Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toeclass, which was released
in nineteen seventy seven, also a very good year.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
Also an excellent year.

Speaker 5 (36:36):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
He also made them recurrent reoccurring characters in two mystery
novels he wrote in the eighties called Murder His Murderers
Murder and the Caravaggio Shawl. Mountain biker Jacques Phelon, who
created the world's first female mountain biking club, raced once
under the pseudonym Alice B. Too Clips in reference to
Alice Let's See. She appeared in movies and TV shows,

(37:05):
played by Wilfred Bramble in the nineteen seventy eight Swedish
film The Adventures of Picasso, and by Linda Hunt in
the nineteen eighty seventh film Waiting for the Moon. She
was portrayed by Alice Vorakova in the TV series The
Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. She was placed by terse
Bu Rubinstein in the twenty eleven film Midnight in Paris.

(37:29):
In twenty twenty, Maria Coleman and her son Alex released
a short film adaptation of the autobiography of Alice by
Toklas called My Name Is Alice B. Toklas. She is
considered an icon in the LGBTQ plus community, especially among lesbians.
I also kind of want to point out that if

(37:50):
you go to this string of ice cream stores in
San Francisco and I can't off the top of the
name or head, remember there, Ellie, No, it's not your Delaware, Okay,
it's like Sally's ice Cream or something like that. It's
a name. But anyway, if you go to the store
and ask for Alice B to fudge brownie, you still

(38:11):
get there fudge brownie, ice cream. Mind you, there's nothing
in it more than ice cream and fudge. But they
named it after the movie. And even though they yeah,
even though they've stopped using I mean, because the movie
was god sixty years ago. Now you know they've stopped using.
But if you ask for Alice B tokelas fudge brownie,

(38:33):
you you still get fudge brownie and then something else.
I didn't put in here. But the reason the Hashies
fudge recipe wound up in her book is when it
came time to publish, she was worried she didn't have
quite enough recipes in it, so she reached out to

(38:54):
several close friends and asked if they had recipes she'd
like them to share. And that is how Byron Geyson
came to be involved with his Hashi spudge recipe. And
we may have to look into the Byron himself cool
because you know, poet, inventor, British and Canadian, and he

(39:18):
made Hashy shudge to.

Speaker 3 (39:21):
Do an episode on She said, somebody in the car
and I.

Speaker 4 (39:27):
Said, yeah, I'll have to that.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
We hadn't talked about them, but I don't remember.

Speaker 4 (39:31):
Now we don't either, which is why we miss a
lot of episodes.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
So that that's the legacy that she leaves. Although I
feel like it's sad that there's a lot of people
who don't know who she is anymore. Yeah, absolutely, Whereas
at one point she was a part of the cultural zeitgeists. Yeah, yeah,
the cultural land escape.

Speaker 4 (40:01):
So I mean, I think kind of just free form
our final thoughts here tonight, because that's kind of where
we're at.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Actually, technically I believe I should lead off this week
because Ripples Okay, so here's my summary and final thoughts.
I was kind of heading their way anyway. I feel
like it's it's a bit sad that she seems forgotten
by most of the mainstream culture, because she really is
a fascinating person. And you know, it also, to some extent,

(40:34):
shows what a gay couple had to go through just
to gain some form of acceptance. They were not members,
they were not part of They moved out of the country,
they moved to France.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
Well, they were able to live their lives.

Speaker 4 (40:52):
Her family came in and took stuff that was left
to Alice, just because they didn't want her to have
the money.

Speaker 3 (41:03):
I mean, it's kind of sick and twisted when you
think about it.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Well, yeah, and they really did it because I think
Picasso had died by that point, and if that's the case,
then his art was going up in value, and so
they took the art because it was going to be
worth even more, which sucks, Yes, yes it does. And

(41:35):
I just I don't get that. We have seen that
behavior in people we were close to when one of
our friends died. I didn't appreciate it then, and I
appreciate it less than her case.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
So my final thoughts is I'm glad we did this.
I hope that gets her name back out. And you know,
maybe some people out there that are over worried about
silly things will make a batch of hashish fudge and
chill the.

Speaker 4 (42:06):
Heck ouy, you know, if not about it, have Yeah,
chilling out is always a good idea.

Speaker 3 (42:15):
You live longer, That's what I hear.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
Had blood pressure is on the rise, you know, it's
what I hear.

Speaker 4 (42:24):
I want to say that I think that Alice and
Gertrude we're very brave.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
I think that you have to.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
Be brave to live as who you are. And I
think that's something that we as a people have started
being braver, especially people who have who are the minorities.
We don't feel as alone anymore because through the power
of the Internet and through the power of social media,

(42:56):
we feel like we have.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
People in our corner.

Speaker 4 (42:59):
They did had that bit, and the people who were
in their corner were definitely the minority.

Speaker 3 (43:06):
They were the artists and the dreamers and.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
The writers, and so they were very brave to go
out there and put themselves out there and say, not
only are we proud of who we are, proud of
the life that we live, but come and have a
meeting of the minds with us, and let's talk about
all of the amazing things that are in the world
that everyone else is missing. And I just think that

(43:32):
that made them really incredible for the time that they
were living in.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
Arthur.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
You want to throw in a final thought here after
you're finished chewing. Of course, the pizza is right, So.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
I really don't feel like there's much more to add
to that. I again, I just I want to echo
what they've already said. She's she should be a big
part of the community to people, even people that didn't
know her before. Hopefully when listening to us, they'll realize

(44:15):
that she was a big part of this and understand
that there's you're not alone in this world and that
you can do so much even with just being a
more minority or being somebody that isn't really mainstream.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Right, And Okay, I have to admit something here. Bible,
I thought that name was made up for. What was
the name of the cartoon?

Speaker 3 (44:52):
I can't an American tale?

Speaker 1 (44:54):
An American tale? I thought it was made up for.
And so when I saw it, I was like, wait,
how does Bible moscowitz way into this? But apparently Bible
is a real name. Who knew? Who knew?

Speaker 3 (45:07):
Well, apparently Alice b. Toklas is great grandparents name.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Okay, true pre dead dead. I liked that series. Don
Bluth should go back and do one like grown Up Bible.
I wonder what he would be like. I don't know,
because then didn't he do like three American Tale movies?

Speaker 3 (45:30):
These two for sure, but maybe three.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Because one, uh, one was in New York, one was
out West. Yeah, I was gonna say three because I
Jimmy Jimmy Stewart to mister was in the second one,
uh playing a a an old sheriff in the old Yep.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
He did a great job in that.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Anyway, you know Don Bluth and miss all of that,
Miss miss that brings up the little Heartbreaker and Judy,
Judith Parcy, Miss Herb. It's a great episode. Thank you
for bringing that up us anyway, So anything to add
to our final thoughts before we wrap the show up now.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
No, except for this pizza is really good.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
Thank you Papa John for the piga apparently.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
So that's our show. Thank you for listening and sharing
our love of learning. Thanks for keeping us in the
good pods top one hundred, and thanks for all you
do for us. That's why you are the fan. We
also want to thank Laura, Arthur Blue and Lexi as
well as longtime friends Bill Page and Aaron. I will

(46:48):
slow that down and cover all of that with you
real quick. Bill is Bill barn He does our theme music.
He's also a musician, so if you need music for
a project or someone to perform an event, you can
reach him at Bill Barrent, B h R. E N
D T at SBC Global dot net. Page is Paige
Elmore of the Reverie Crime podcast, who combined her Canva

(47:10):
addiction with our own Arthur's artwork for some logo art.
Thank you Paige, Thank you Page and Aaron Gunneric of
The Big Dumb Fun Show who continues to promote us locally.
Please join us next week as we look into Delphine
Lelorie along with her special guest, our favorite spooky friend
from Horrifory, Brenda from Horrifying History. We'll join us.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Bye.

Speaker 4 (48:20):
Couldn't help myself.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
I got really
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