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Killer Chic · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.
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  Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
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  Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
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  Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Throughout history, the pursuit
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  Speaker 2: of beauty has often come at a steep price. Modern
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  Speaker 2: day fad diets and cosmetic surgeries can very literally make
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  Speaker 2: people sick, and they pale in comparison to what previous
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  Speaker 2: generations went through in the name of esthetic perfection. The
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  Speaker 2: nineteenth century was particularly terrible for killer fashion. A number
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  Speaker 2: of trends actively poisoned, suffocated, or burned their wearers. Lead
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  Speaker 2: and radium laced face creams attempted to smooth the skin
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  Speaker 2: while sickening the user. Tapeworms and belladonna were used for
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  Speaker 2: weight loss or brighter eyes. Clothing was no different, too,
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  Speaker 2: from toxic dyes to structural designs that restricted breathing. Killer
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  Speaker 2: fashions of the Victorian era reveal a period where beauty
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  Speaker 2: standards frequently overrode basic human safety, and the most pervasive
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  Speaker 2: killer in the Victorian wardrobe was arsenic. During the mid
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  Speaker 2: eighteen hundreds, the desire for vibrant emerald green fabric for
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  Speaker 2: dresses led to widespread use of Paris green and arsenic
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  Speaker 2: based pigment. Bodices dyed with this chemical were not merely
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  Speaker 2: dangerous to the wear, but became mobile sources of toxicity.
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  Speaker 2: The dye would leach onto the skin and release toxic
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  Speaker 2: vapors as the wearer danced and sweated in the heat
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  Speaker 2: of crowded ballrooms, gently poisoning anyone standing nearby. There are
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  Speaker 2: accounts suggest testing that a woman wearing such a gown
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  Speaker 2: could accidentally poison patrons across half a dozen different ballrooms
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  Speaker 2: simply by moving through them. But it wasn't just the
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  Speaker 2: poison that could prove fatal. The construction of some clothing
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  Speaker 2: posed fatal risks through restriction. One of the most notorious
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  Speaker 2: examples was the father Killer collar, a high, stiff neck
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  Speaker 2: piece that encircled the throat so tightly it could cause strangulation,
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  Speaker 2: and as you might imagine, the name came from a
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  Speaker 2: grim reality. If a person wearing one turned their head
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  Speaker 2: quickly or leaned back, the collar could compress the trachea,
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  Speaker 2: choking them more insidiously. Though tight lacing of corsets could
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  Speaker 2: reduce a woman's waistline by more than six inches if
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  Speaker 2: laced properly. It also compressed internal organs, shifting the stomach
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  Speaker 2: and liver downward in the body, and restricted lung capacity,
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  Speaker 2: leading to fainting spells and in extreme cases, asphyxiation. But
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  Speaker 2: another killer among the garments was fire. Massive skur and
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  Speaker 2: flammable fabrics like tool and cotton were immensely popular in
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  Speaker 2: the nineteenth century, making well dressed women into tinder boxes
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  Speaker 2: just waiting for a spark. The wide hoop skirts that
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  Speaker 2: were in fashion were particularly susceptible to ignition when brushed
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  Speaker 2: against fireplaces or candles. Unlike tighter fitting clothes worn by men,
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  Speaker 2: these flowing dresses could catch fire instantly, leading to horrific
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  Speaker 2: burns that were often fatal before medical help could arrive.
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  Speaker 2: The flammability was exacerbated by chemicals that were used to
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  Speaker 2: treat the fabrics for sheen and stiffness, turning a simple
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  Speaker 2: walk past a fireplace into a potential death sentence. And
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  Speaker 2: the use of mercury and hat making was also widespread,
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  Speaker 2: and its effects became so notorious that it inspired the
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  Speaker 2: Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. The real life mad
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  Speaker 2: Hatter condition, illustrated whimsically by Lewis Carroll's story, was in
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  Speaker 2: reality a debilitating neurotoxic disease which caused tremors, delirium, and hallucination,
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  Speaker 2: as well as a host of other physical and psychological
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  Speaker 2: side effects. All of this highlights a period where dress
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  Speaker 2: value is measured in its ability to confer status, definitely
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  Speaker 2: not safety. Modern regulations have largely eliminated the most egregious
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  Speaker 2: dangers of arsenic dyes and lead cosmetics, but dangerous fashion
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  Speaker 2: trends still persist, echoing across social media and the modern
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  Speaker 2: beauty industry. The ghosts of all those arsenic dyed ballrooms
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  Speaker 2: and burning crinoline may be a product of yesteryear, but
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  Speaker 2: they still haunt us in all of our impossible and
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  Speaker 2: occasionally dangerous beauty standards. So here's to hoping that in
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  Speaker 2: the future we choose our health over clean lines and
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  Speaker 2: skin without a blemish. After all, beauty means nothing if
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  Speaker 2: you're not around to appreciate it. Streaming television and films
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  Speaker 2: has severely impacted theater audiences and film executives are looking
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  Speaker 2: for any way to get audiences back, so when a
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  Speaker 2: small independent film makes more money than a big budget
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  Speaker 2: Hollywood one, executives sit up and pay attention. Recently, horror
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  Speaker 2: films made by YouTubers are outgrossing major studio films, leading
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  Speaker 2: executives to hire more YouTubers to direct them. But this
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  Speaker 2: isn't the first time that this pattern has played out
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  Speaker 2: in Hollywood history. In the nineteen fifties, the arrival of
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  Speaker 2: television hurt theater attendance, just as streaming has today. So
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  Speaker 2: in nineteen fifty two, when the independent film Bwana Devil
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  Speaker 2: was a huge success, the studios all wanted to know why,
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  Speaker 2: and it turns out it was using a new fangled
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  Speaker 2: technology known as three D. All of the studios scrambled
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  Speaker 2: to adopt this new technology, and just like the YouTuber
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  Speaker 2: hiring craze of today, three D became all the rage.
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  Speaker 2: Warner Brothers became the first major studio to get a
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  Speaker 2: three D film into production, entitled House of Wax. It
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  Speaker 2: was actually a remake of a horror movie about a
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  Speaker 2: killer who encases his victims in wax, and to make
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  Speaker 2: it they hired Hungarian born director Andrea de Taff, based
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  Speaker 2: on his reputation from a series of successful westerns he
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  Speaker 2: had made. What they didn't stop to consider was that
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  Speaker 2: he only had one eye, and a person needs two
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  Speaker 2: eyes to see in three D. The movie was far
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  Speaker 2: too long into production before anyone realized this, though. Jack Warner,
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  Speaker 2: the head of the studio, didn't want to replace Andrea,
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  Speaker 2: so instead he told him not to wear his distinctive
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  Speaker 2: black eye patch on set. At the very least, he
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  Speaker 2: didn't want anyone from the press to see it and
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  Speaker 2: publish a hit piece about how Warner Brothers had hired
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  Speaker 2: a one eyed man to direct a three D movie.
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  Speaker 2: Little did Jack know, though, he had actually hired the
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  Speaker 2: perfect person.
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  Speaker 1: You see. As I mentioned, andre to Tof was born
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  Speaker 1: in Hungary and he lived there for many years. During
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  Speaker 1: the Nazi occupation, he was forced to use his skills
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  Speaker 1: in cinematography to film Nazi marches. A lot of his
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  Speaker 1: skills were therefore developed in the moment and on the job,
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  Speaker 1: filming elaborate complex set pieces, or to put it another way,
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  Speaker 1: filming real life Nazis was pretty good practice for filming
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  Speaker 1: a horror movie. Andre knew how to show the audience
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  Speaker 1: where to look and when, and how to make them
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  Speaker 1: care about what was happening on screen. Ironically, these were
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  Speaker 1: more important qualities in directing the three D movie than
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  Speaker 1: actually being able to see one. If a three D
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  Speaker 1: shot isn't lit or framed correctly, objects in the foreground
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  Speaker 1: that aren't meant to pop out will distracting the viewer
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  Speaker 1: from whatever the director intended them to look at. And
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  Speaker 1: if the audience simply doesn't care what's happening in the movie,
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  Speaker 1: then they won't be excited by something popping out at them.
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  Speaker 1: But Andre made sure that House of Wax was as
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  Speaker 1: spooky as possible. He hired a great classic horror leading
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  Speaker 1: man named Vincent Price, and you've heard his voice on
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  Speaker 1: Thriller by Michael Jackson, and he put him in some
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  Speaker 1: truly disturbing makeup. The story of House of Wax follows
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  Speaker 1: a wax sculptor whose studio burns down, disfiguring him and
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  Speaker 1: destroying his life's work. Price's disfiguring makeup was so good
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  Speaker 1: that he was forbidden from eating at the studio commissary
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  Speaker 1: because he was grossing everyone out. Price's performance meant that
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  Speaker 1: the audience cared about the story and Andre's cinematography, with
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  Speaker 1: heavy shadows and jump scares, kept them immersed and afraid.
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  Speaker 1: All of the heads and arms and fists that were
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  Speaker 1: jumping out of the screen were therefore very effective. Most infamously,
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  Speaker 1: Andre actually created a real massive fire to depict the
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  Speaker 1: Wax Museum burning down. He had his team light one
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  Speaker 1: figure on fire at a time so they could get
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  Speaker 1: a close up of each one burning, but they kept
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  Speaker 1: the fires going and then pulled the camera back to
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  Speaker 1: show the whole museum was on fire. Effect specialists awaited
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  Speaker 1: off camera, dousing any fire that spread beyond the stage.
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  Speaker 1: The only problem they encountered was that the fire rose
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  Speaker 1: so high and burned a hole in the sound stage ceiling.
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  Speaker 1: A shaft of blue light trickled down onto the scene,
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  Speaker 1: and it's visible in some of the shots in the movie.
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  Speaker 1: That wasn't too much of a problem, though, but Vincent
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  Speaker 1: Price's eyebrows being singed off was a little more realism
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  Speaker 1: than Andre planned for. Luckily, those could always be drawn
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  Speaker 1: back on. The film was a huge hit with audiences
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  Speaker 1: and is still considered one of the best three D
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  Speaker 1: movies ever made, and all it took was a one
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  Speaker 1: eyed filmmaker who was more curious about craft than gimmicks
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  Speaker 1: to make it jump off the screen. I hope you
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This
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  Speaker 1: show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership with
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  Speaker 1: iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and Mild team,
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  Speaker 1: and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show
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  Speaker 1: and the people who make it over at Grimandmild dot
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  Speaker 1: com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link to the
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  Speaker 1: official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in bookstores and online,
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  Speaker 1: as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking
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  Speaker 1: for an ad free option, consider joining our Patreon. It's
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  Speaker 1: all the same stories, but without the interruption for a
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  Speaker 1: small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over at
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  Speaker 1: patreon dot com slash Grimandmild, and until next time, stay curious.