Stories From History's Dust Bin

There's a wonderful animated film about an elderly man who takes flight without ever leaving the comfort of his own home, thanks to thousands of helium balloons that magically spring up out of his house.While this story does not involve the flight of an entire single-family home, it does involve a man who soared to 16,000 feet in a lawn chair, carried by forty-five helium-filled weather balloons.

 

 

And also unlike the Pixar classic, this story is absolutely true.

 

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by the author and his son, William Winterton.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016

Okay, if you’re the kind of person who likes to skip to the end and read the final chapter of a book  - and if you happen to own the full series of Dust Bin stories – which of course if available on Amazon right now – then you would be familiar with the following story. 

 

It’s tucked into the back – the very last story of the third and final volume – and it’s one of my favorites because, well, because I love the love the idea of discovering talent in unusual places. 

 

And this discovery was, perhaps, one of the greatest finds of the twentieth century.   A discovery made by Margaret Winkler, a secretary who sought replacement for a cat, and found, oh, so much more!

 

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of over 450 short stories from either Winterton’s Award-Winning Stories from Dust Bin series* or the companion volume, From Ace to Zamboni: 101 More Dust Bin Stories, as narrated by either the author or his son, William, or daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016

Certain days evoke certain human emotions, such as the warmth of Mother’s Day, the joy of Christmas, the spookiness’ of Halloween, and of course, the spirit of the trickster on April Fools’ Day, a day celebrated around the world, but why?  

 

What follows is one of the more plausible theories regarding the “WHY” of April Fools’ Day – a day whose verifiable origins have been covered by the sands of time – and we’ll visit a few of the pranks foisted upon the gullible by those willing to take advantage of April's Fools.

 

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories.  These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual.  Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of over 450 short stories from either Winterton’s Award-Winning Stories from Dust Bin series* or the companion volume, From Ace to Zamboni: 101 More Dust Bin Stories, as narrated by either the author or his son, William, or daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes!  And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

Saint Urho’s Day is the 1956 brainchild of either Richard Mattson or Kenneth Brist, depending on whose brain you believed conceived the “child” that has become Saint Urho. 

 

Either Mattson, a Minnesota department store employee, or Brist, a teacher in Ontanogan, Michigan, decided that Finland’s lack of a patron saint required corrective action.

 

So, who was – or is – St. Urho?

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by either the author, his son, William Winterton, or his daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016

Homer and Langley Collyer grew up under the most favorable of conditions.  Their father was a successful gynecologist – their mother a former opera singer – and they lived together in a beautiful home.  Born in 1881 and 1885 respectively, Homer and Langley grew up typical of children from an affluent family.  Homer became a lawyer and Langley became a professional concert pianist.

 

 

Then, when both parents died in the 1920s, the brothers took control of the home, and their behavior became increasingly eccentric.  At the time of their death, they had hoarded 136 tons of everything from pottery to pianos, fourteen of the latter, and that’s just for openers.

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by either the author, his son, William Winterton, or his daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016

In the movies, a grifter might be portrayed as someone with beady little eyes and a toothy smile that could charm even the cleverest out of their fortunes. Someone who was able to wheel and deal their schemes across the land until they're eventually forced to pay for their crimes.

 

That's how it was with Jefferson "Soapy" Smith - who ended up living (and dying) as one of America's slipperiest con artists.

 

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories.  These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual.  Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of over 450 short stories from either Winterton’s Award-Winning Stories from Dust Bin series* or the companion volume, From Ace to Zamboni: 101 More Dust Bin Stories, as narrated by either the author or his son, William, or daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes!  And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

Rabbits?  Yes, rabbits!  Plural!  As in “Mary Toft gave birth to more than one rabbit.”  Believable?  Not these days.  But in 1726, it was plausible to many, and Mary Toft, 24, of the village of Godalming, England, was convincing to many in her claim that she had just given birth to rabbits. 

 

 

Oh, and just as astonishing, those births took place after she had already given birth to Mary, Anne, and James, all human children fathered by Joshua Toft, a clothier by trade and a non-rabbit by birth. 

 

 

Here, from Volume 3 of Stories from History’s Dust Bin, comes the “rabbit tale,” if we may use that phrase, of a woman who insisted she had given birth to a “fluffle” of bunnies – a claim that made its way – all the way to the court of King George II of England before the matter could be put to rest.   

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by either the author, his son, William Winterton, or his daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

The story is told that at the age of eleven, Jules Verne secretly hired on as a cabin boy for a trip to the West Indies.  Before sailing from France, the ship had to make one last stop to take on supplies and passengers at a place called Paimboeuf.

 

As the vessel slowed to a stop, there on the dock stood Pierre Verne, Jules’ father, who not only put an end to his son’s youthful escapade but made the boy promise hereafter “to travel only in his imagination.”  Whether true or not, young Jules did one better.  He became the author that illuminated the traveling imaginations of millions with his uncanny knack for futuristic thinking.

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by either the author, his son, William Winterton, or his daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016

With this podcast, we celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day – the origin of which – as you will learn – is genuinely heart-rending. 

 

There remains some confusion among theologians as to which of two Catholic clerics named Valentinus* lent their name to Valentine’s Day.  But these days, many believe that those two clerics – a priest and a bishop – were likely the same person because of location and time. 

 

You see – the locations are the neighboring cities of Rome and Terni, and it’s possible that one cleric worked in both locations but at different times.  And what about the time?  All activities took place during the third century. 

 

Thus, for storytelling purposes, we assume there was one Valentinus, who achieved sainthood, whom we will now refer to as Saint Valentine. 

 

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories.  These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual.  Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of over 450 short stories from either Winterton’s Award-Winning Stories from Dust Bin series* or the companion volume, From Ace to Zamboni: 101 More Dust Bin Stories, as narrated by either the author or his son, William, or daughter, Jana.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes!  And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the “dumb blonde” jokes?  Well, hold on to your bottle of peroxide as you are about to learn just that!  And I think we’ll kick off this week’s story with one of those tasteless jokes.

 

A brunette goes to the doctor complaining that her body hurts wherever she touches it.  “Hmmm,” says the doctor, “show me what you mean.”  The brunette presses her finger against her hip and screams.  Then she pushes her finger against her knee, and tears of pain run down her cheeks.  Finally, she pokes her finger deep into her tummy and crumples like a rag doll to the floor.  The doctor, having seen enough, tells her to sit, relax, and take a deep breath.  Then, in his best doctor-patient manner, he asks, “Are you a true brunette?”  “No,” the teary-eyed woman confesses.

 

“I’m a blonde, but I dyed my hair last week.”  The doctor nods and says, “Just as I thought, you have a broken finger.”

 

Stories from History’s Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories. These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual. Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.

 

Each podcast episode features one of the over 450 stories featured in Winterton’s Award-Winning* series, narrated by the author and his son, William Winterton.

 

If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes! And if you don’t want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol’ fashioned ink and paper).

 

The Entire History’s Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

 

 

* Winner of the Arizona Book of the Year Award for 2016