An Old Timey Podcast

Frances Perkins wasn’t just the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She was also America’s longest serving Secretary of Labor. The only thing that overshadows her status as a trailblazer is what she accomplished in office. She’s the reason we have Social Security. She led the fight to end child labor, to establish a minimum wage and to create the 40-hour work week. She tried to establish universal health care… but hey, she was only human.

Ready for the sad part? She did all of that while under constant personal attacks. Her political opponents tried to impeach her. They spread a rumor that she hadn’t been born in America. Hmm… does any of that sound familiar? Ya know what Paula Abdul says… two steps forward and two steps back…

The documentary, “Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare.”

The book, “The Woman Behind the New Deal,” by Kirstin Downey

The Frances Perkins Center website

“Frances Perkins” entry on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website

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Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She’s the reason we have Social Security. She led the fight to end child labor, to establish a minimum wage and to create the 40-hour work week. In this episode, we find out how this remarkable woman got her start. Did it help that her birth name was Fanny??? Possibly! Bad names build character!

The documentary, “Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare.”

The book, “The Woman Behind the New Deal,” by Kirstin Downey

The Frances Perkins Center website

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Walter Jackson Freeman wanted to do something *big.* As a neurologist for the nation’s largest psychiatric hospital, he saw patients who desperately needed help. But, absent any major medical breakthroughs, Walter was powerless to do much of anything.

So he spent years searching for *the thing* that separated people with mental illnesses from the normies. He studied brains. He measured them. He compared. In the end, he came up with nothing. He was devastated by his lack of progress. Then, in 1936, he came across the research of a Portuguese neurologist named Antonio Egas Moniz. Antonio had just developed a new procedure called a leucotomy. He’d performed it on 20 patients, and it had helped some of them.

Walter wasn’t the least bit skeptical. He took the leucotomy, gave it a little spin and a new name, and began performing it with reckless abandon. It would be years before people understood the risks of the lobotomy.

“The Lobotomist” episode of American Experience

“Rosemary: the Hidden Kennedy Daughter,” book review by Meryl Gordon for The New York Times

“D.C. Neurosurgeon Pioneered 'Operation Icepick' Technique,” by By Glenn Frankel for the Washington Post

“Walter Jackson Freeman, Father of the Lobotomy,” By Al Ridenour for Mental Floss

“My Lobotomy” episode of StoryCorp

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

America’s first Olympic games were bad. But just how bad were they???

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were part of a World’s Fair that featured human zoos, a display of premature babies, a racist athletic event called “Anthropology Days,” and more! The actual Olympic competitions were disorganized and featured mostly American athletes. And for the turd on this poo sundae - a marathon event that almost killed competitors.

But despite all this, some historians feel the 1904 St. Louis Olympics have been misjudged. Let’s find out!

AICO. “1904 OLYMPIC GAMES ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI : OFFICIAL MEDALS & BADGES,” n.d. https://aicolympic.org/collectors_library/1904-olympic-games-st-louis-missouri-official-medals-badges/.

Boykoff, Jules. Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. Verso, 2016.

DiMeo, Nate. “Olympic-Sized Racism.” Slate, August 21, 2008. https://slate.com/culture/2008/08/remembering-the-anthropology-days-at-the-1904-olympics.html.

Holroyd, Steve. “Lacrosse at the 1904 Summer Olympics: Correcting the Record.” Crossecheck (blog), March 16, 2019. https://crossecheck.com/2019/03/16/lacrosse-at-the-1904-summer-olympics-correcting-the-record/.

ISOH. “The Evolution of the Early Olympics,” n.d. https://isoh.org/cause-view/the-evolution-of-the-early-olympics/.

Johnson, Walter. “The Largest Human Zoo in World History.” Roundtable (blog), April 14, 2020. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/largest-human-zoo-world-history.

Kahler, Abbot, and Ellen Wexler. “How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time.” Smithsonian Magazine, August 7, 2012. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-1904-marathon-became-one-of-the-weirdest-olympic-events-of-all-time-14910747/.

Matthews, George R. America’s First Olympics: The St. Louis Games of 1904. University of Missouri Press, 2018.

Populous. “Populous Magazine | The Bizarre Tale of the 1904 St. Louis Marathon,” n.d. https://populous.com/article/the-bizarre-tale-of-the-1904-st-louis-marathon.

Runner’s World. “The Unbelievable True Story of the Craziest Olympic Marathon,” August 6, 2021. https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a37039437/1904-olympic-marathon/.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin was embarrassed. He had just revived the Ancient Olympic Games on a global scale. But the 1900 Games in his hometown of Paris, France were a disaster. They were a sideshow at the World’s Fair! Many competitors weren’t even aware they were participating in the Olympics!

Next time around, Coubertin vowed to find a host nation that would appreciate the Olympics.

And that’s when a colleague suggested the United States should play host.  But which city? Unfortunately, making that selection was easier said than done. 

Boykoff, Jules. Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. Verso, 2016.

Matthews, George R. America’s First Olympics: The St. Louis Games of 1904. University of Missouri Press, 2018.

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Wolfgang von Kempelen was unimpressed. Empress Maria Theresa had invited him to attend a magic show, hoping he’d tell her how the tricks worked. Instead, he told her – and everyone else in her court – that the tricks just plain sucked. He claimed he could do better. Stunned, Maria gave him six months off work to create something that would dazzle her court. So, six months later, Wolfgang von Kempelen showed up with what he claimed was an automaton chess playing machine. It would soon become known simply as “The Turk.” People were amazed. A machine that could play chess???

The Turk soon developed a life of its own.

The book, “The Turk: The life and Times of the Famous 19th Century Chess-Playing Machine,” by Tom Standage

“How a phony 18th-century chess robot fooled the world,” by Evan Andrews for History.com

“The mechanical chess player that unsettled the world,” by Ella Morton for Slate.com

“Debunking the Mechanical Turk helped set Edgar Allan Poe on the path to mystery writing,” by Kat Eschner for Smithsonian Magazine

“The Mechanical Turk: AI Marvel or Parlor Trick,” Britannica

“Turkish Gambit,” by Dick Teresi for The New York Times

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Picture it! 1932. Western Australia. Emus were taking over. They were gobbling up and trampling farmers’ wheat, and in turn, destroying their livelihoods. Something had to be done. So, the Australian government came up with a *novel* solution. They’d arm three members of the Royal Australian Artillery with machine guns. They figured those tall, flightless birds would be easy prey. They were wrong.

Brisbane Telegraph. “Emu Butchery - Machine Gun Offensive.” November 1, 1932.

Brisbane Telegraph. “Emu Offensive - Birds More Than Hold Their Own - Setback for Gunners.” November 4, 1932.

Brisbane Telegraph. “Emu Slaughter - Machine Guns and Drive.” October 17, 1932.

Chisholm, A.H. “This Cruel Slaughter | Other Ways To Deal With Emus | Better Fences.” The Daily Telegraph, November 9, 1932.

Cook, Richard, and Srdan Jovanovic. “The Emu Strikes Back: An Inquiry into Australia’s Peculiar Military Action of 1932.” Romanian Journal of Historical Studies II, no. 1 (2019).

Crew, Bec. “The Great Emu War: In Which Some Large, Flightless Birds Unwittingly Foiled the Australian Army.” Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/the-great-emu-war-in-which-some-large-flightless-birds-unwittingly-foiled-the-australian-army/.

Daily Commercial News. “Charge of the First Australian Emuliers!” November 16, 1932.

Daily News. “Emu Chasers Must Outstrip Peter Pan.” November 9, 1932.

Daily News. “Gunners on Wild Emu Chase.” November 4, 1932.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate. “Death to Emus | Campaign in West | Inspector To See Birds Do Not Suffer.” November 9, 1932.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate. “Destruction of Emus.” December 3, 1932.

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate. “Wary Emus | Evade Machine-Guns | 1000 Rounds Fired.” November 5, 1932.

Recorder. “‘Brass Hats’ Assailed | Campion Settlers Complain of Retreat.” November 11, 1932.

Robin, Libby, Robert Heinsohn, and Leo Joseph, eds. Boom & Bust: Bird Stories for a Dry Country. CSIRO Publishing, 2009.

Singleton Argus. “Shooting of Emus | Thousands of Pounds Saved.” November 18, 1932. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83438322.

Stockton, Richard. “Why The Australian Army Waged The Great Emu War Of 1932 — And Lost.” All That’s Interesting, October 3, 2021. https://allthatsinteresting.com/great-emu-war.

The Canberra Times. “Emu War Again | 300 Killed in First Duel | Machine Guns Re-Issued.” November 12, 1932. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2317086.

The Daily Telegraph. “Emu Armistice Resented | Withdrawal of Machine Guns.” November 10, 1932.

The Daily Telegraph. “Lewis Guns Against Emus.” October 14, 1932.

The Daily Telegraph. “Not Easy to Kill Emus | A Thousand Rounds Fired, 12 Dead.” November 5, 1932.

The Daily Telegraph. “The Emu Is a Wily Bird - Gunners Get Only Dozen Victims - Ambush Fails.” November 4, 1932.

“The Emu Wars - Only a Little Hilarious | Australia Explained,” December 6, 2021. https://www.australia-explained.com.au/history-shorts/the-emu-wars-only-a-little-hilarious/.

The Evening News. “Emu War Still On | Birds Becoming Wary of Lewis Gunners.” November 22, 1932.

The Examiner. “The Emu War.” November 8, 1932.

The Kyogle Examiner. “Use Aeroplane | Fighting Emu Pest.” November 18, 1932.

The News. “Emu War Opens - Gunners Replace Boys on Cycles - Had Long Poles.” November 3, 1932.

The News. “Emu War Still On.” November 9, 1932.

The News. “Farmers Want Machine Guns to Stamp Out Emus.” October 10, 1932.

The News. “More Emus On Way | Big Flocks in Wake of Dead | Killers Busy.” November 8, 1932.

The Northern Miner. “The Emu Pest | Queensland Control.” November 23, 1932.

The Sun. “First Shot Fired in War on Emu.” November 2, 1932.

The Sun. “Herded for the Slaughter - Machine-Gunners Await Emu Flock.” October 16, 1932.

The Sun. “Honors With The Emus | Novel ‘War’ In The West.” November 6, 1932.

The Sun. “Kaiser Emu II. Wins.” November 11, 1932.

The Sun. “On ‘Spot’ - Chicago Methods - War on Emus - Machine Gunners.” October 12, 1932.

The Sun. “The Emu War | Pest Being Driven Away.” November 5, 1932.

The Sun. “Two Days’ Vigil Brings Heavy Toll of Emus.” November 7, 1932.

The Sunday Herald. “New Strategy In a War On The Emu.” July 5, 1953. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18516559.

The Sydney Morning Herald. “Attack on Emus - Lewis-Gunners at Work - Fleeing Mob Struck.” November 3, 1932.

The Sydney Morning Herald. “Attack on Emus - With Lewis Guns - Relatively Few Killed.” November 5, 1932.

The Sydney Morning Herald. “Timely Rainfall Ends Emu Pest.” October 18, 1932.

The West Australian. “Another Phase of the Emu Pest.” November 8, 1932. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32565197.

Western Australia Makes War On Emus, 1933. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1wA0PKeJqc.

Western Mail. “Settlers Astonished.” November 17, 1932. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37767343.

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Lonnie Johnson was a smart guy — a very smart guy. As a NASA engineer, he spent his days coming up with solutions to complex problems. But when he went home, Lonnie’s brain kept whirring. So, he invented. He tinkered. He imagined. The vast majority of his creations had scientific, practical purposes. But his idea for a pressurized water gun? Well, that was just pure fun.

Adams, Susan. “The Inventor Of The Super Soaker Talks About Turning Inventions Into Products And His Next Big Idea.” Forbes, March 3, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/03/03/the-inventor-of-the-super-soaker-talks-about-turning-inventions-into-products-and-his-next-big-idea/.

BBC News. “Lonnie Johnson: The Father of the Super Soaker.” August 15, 2016, sec. Magazine. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37062579.

Biography. “How Lonnie Johnson Invented the Super Soaker,” January 26, 2021. https://www.biography.com/inventors/lonnie-johnson-invent-super-soaker.

Center, Smithsonian Lemelson. “Meet Lonnie Johnson, the Man Behind the Super Soaker.” Text. Smithsonian, January 26, 2017. https://invention.si.edu/meet-lonnie-johnson-man-behind-super-soaker.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson - Engineer & Inventor of the Super Soaker | Sweet Auburn Stories - YouTube, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1k7DhGDoqY.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson: Meet the Billion Dollar Super Soaker Inventor EP. 22 - YouTube. Vault Empowers, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyQf6x5awfM.

“History of the Super Soaker :: :: iSoaker.Com,” n.d. http://www.isoaker.com/Info/history_supersoaker.php.

Iinex. “I Am Dr. Lonnie Johnson. NASA Rocket Scientist. Holder of over 100 Patents. Inventor of the Super Soaker. I’m Now Working on Advanced Energy Technology Solutions to Save the World. This Is My 2nd Time Doing This, so Ask Me Anything.” Reddit Post. R/IAmA, November 5, 2018. www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9ugvd7/i_am_dr_lonnie_johnson_nasa_rocket_scientist/.

Innovative Lives: Lonnie Johnson - YouTube. Lemelson Center, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXMVACdKn3o.

IPO Education Foundation. “Lonnie Johnson, Johnson Research and Development,” October 13, 2017. https://www.ipoef.org/lonnie-johnson-johnson-research-and-development/.

Meet the Man Who Invented the Super Soaker - YouTube. Insider Tech, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1zAO1WkG58.

Popular Mechanics. “7 Questions for Super Soaker Inventor Lonnie Johnson,” October 1, 2009. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a4335/4322161/.

Revolutionary Designs for Energy Alternatives: Lonnie Johnson at TEDxAtlanta, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y39WNUdbkM.

Schrempp, Zach. “Lonnie Johnson (1949- ) •.” Black Past (blog), January 6, 2011. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/johnson-lonnie-1949/.

Speaker Series: Lonnie Johnson - YouTube. USPTO, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7yRcuhe2M8.

“The Case of the Super Soaker and the Chamber Therein | MIT Sloan,” August 7, 2024. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/case-super-soaker-and-chamber-therein.

The Strong National Museum of Play. “Super Soaker,” n.d. https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/super-soaker/.

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

In the finale of our Mount Rushmore series, Mount Rushmore National Memorial gets finished. But the final product isn’t quite what Gutzon Borglum envisioned. The presidents aren’t sculpted down to their waists. There is no entablature. There is no true hall of records. There isn’t a message, written in three languages, in the hope that it’ll one day become Rosetta Stone 2: Electric Boogaloo.

And yet? It’s there! Despite the odds, four 60-foot tall faces of iconic American presidents are carved into a stolen, sacred mountain. Every year, millions of tourists make the trek to take a look.

So… how do we feel about that? Welp, as Normie C likes to say, “two things can be true!” It’s awful and awesome, beautiful and hideous, exciting and saddening.

The book, “The Carving of Mount Rushmore,” by Rex Alan Smith

The documentary, “Mount Rushmore”

“The Sordid History of Mount Rushmore,” by Matthew Shaer for Smithsonian Magazine

“Biography: Gutzon Borglum,” PBS.org

“The heartbreaking, controversial history of Mount Rushmore,” by Amy McKeever for National Geographic

“Why Native Americans Have Protested Mount Rushmore,” by Jodi Rave for History.com

“Are treaties perpetual? United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians,” by Reid Benson for teachingamericanhistory.org

The video, “The dark history of Mount Rushmore,” for TedEd.com

“BIOGRAPHY: Native Americans and Mount Rushmore,” PBS.org

“United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians,” Encyclopedia of the Great Plains

“Who speaks for Crazy Horse,” by Brooke Jarvis for The New Yorker

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

There are so many reasons why Mount Rushmore National Monument *shouldn’t* exist. Right from the start, there was opposition. Environmentalists called the proposed monument a desecration. Native Americans rightly asserted that the Black Hills — and specifically the Six Grandfathers Mountain (aka Mount Rushmore) — was their property.

But that didn’t stop Gutzon Borglum, or his circle of high-powered supporters. Together, they pushed forward. They even manipulated a president! Thanks to a mix of hubris, luck, and money, Mount Rushmore National Monument began to take shape.

The book, “The Carving of Mount Rushmore,” by Rex Alan Smith

The documentary, “Mount Rushmore”

“The Sordid History of Mount Rushmore,” by Matthew Shaer for Smithsonian Magazine

“Biography: Gutzon Borglum,” PBS.org

“The heartbreaking, controversial history of Mount Rushmore,” by Amy McKeever for National Geographic

“Why Native Americans Have Protested Mount Rushmore,” by Jodi Rave for History.com

“Are treaties perpetual? United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians,” by Reid Benson for teachingamericanhistory.org

“The largest mass execution in US history,” Death Penalty Information Center

The video, “The dark history of Mount Rushmore,” for TedEd.com

“BIOGRAPHY: Native Americans and Mount Rushmore,” PBS.org

“United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians,” Encyclopedia of the Great Plains

Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.