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Send In the Clowns · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
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  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
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  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
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  Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's a
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  Speaker 1: phrase that we've all heard before, and we've also heard
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  Speaker 1: the stories of how far some people in history were
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  Speaker 1: willing to go for the sake of looking good. But
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  Speaker 1: what about how far their looks might take them. Well,
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  Speaker 1: For one young woman, beauty turned out to be a
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  Speaker 1: ticket to a brand new life, that is, if she
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  Speaker 1: could escape her dangerous reality. Rose was born in January
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  Speaker 1: of eighteen twenty five for in a small French village
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  Speaker 1: located in the picturesque region of Normandy, but her childhood
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  Speaker 1: was far from idyllic. Her father was abusive, and when
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  Speaker 1: she was still a young girl, her mother fled home
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  Speaker 1: to escape him. So Rose grew up looking out for herself.
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  Speaker 1: But as independent as she was, she was still at
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  Speaker 1: the mercy of her father's will. When she was just
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  Speaker 1: fourteen years old, he sold her to a seventy year
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  Speaker 1: old man who bought her to work in his shop.
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  Speaker 1: It must have been scary for a teenage girl, but
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  Speaker 1: there was one silver lining to all this. The old
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  Speaker 1: man's shop was located in Paris. Rose was going to
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  Speaker 1: leave her little village behind and head to the big city.
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  Speaker 1: Once there, she was immediately put to work, but she
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  Speaker 1: didn't want to be a shop girl forever. To her surprise,
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  Speaker 1: working her way up in the world didn't turn out
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  Speaker 1: to be hard. You see, people in Paris often complimented
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  Speaker 1: her appearance, which was new for her. They marveled at
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  Speaker 1: her wide, sparkling eyes, her rosy cheeks, pale skin, and
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  Speaker 1: thin frame. This was the height of the Victorian era,
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  Speaker 1: mind you, when aristocratic women and used heavy makeup and
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  Speaker 1: tight corsets to emulate a look that Rose just happened
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  Speaker 1: to possess naturally. Young men came in and out of
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  Speaker 1: the shop every day, most of whom were university students
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  Speaker 1: hoping to make their mark on the world. But in
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  Speaker 1: a city like Paris, it was hard to stand out,
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  Speaker 1: even for someone who had the rare opportunity to earn
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  Speaker 1: an education. But in a world of exclusive parties and
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  Speaker 1: elite societies. These young men knew that one thing would
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  Speaker 1: always help them stand out in a crowd, a beautiful
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  Speaker 1: woman at their side, and honestly, Rose knew this too.
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  Speaker 1: She quickly learned how to flash a smile to get
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  Speaker 1: their attention and then reel them in with a little flirting.
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  Speaker 1: She impressed them with her poison intellect, and within no
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  Speaker 1: time she had left the shop behind. Soon enough, Rose
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  Speaker 1: met a well known duke who, like everyone else, was
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  Speaker 1: stunned by her beauty and her intellect. He also knew
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  Speaker 1: about her past and wanted to help her, so he
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  Speaker 1: taught her how to dress like an aristocrat, and honestly,
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  Speaker 1: Rose's sense of style came naturally. Once she had mastered
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  Speaker 1: the details, like how to lay petticoats or pair a
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  Speaker 1: shawl with a parasol, she became a fashion icon, and
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  Speaker 1: in Paris that was saying something. But of course, Rose
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  Speaker 1: alfonsine Plessi was more than just a pretty face. As
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  Speaker 1: a final touch, she changed her name to Marie Duplessi,
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  Speaker 1: which sounded more refined than her birth name, and this
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  Speaker 1: is the change that she needed. By eighteen forty seven,
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  Speaker 1: at the age of just twenty three, she was viewed
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  Speaker 1: as one of the most fashionable women in Paris. However,
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't just her glamorous looks and lifestyle that earned
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  Speaker 1: her such admiration. You see, long before arriving in Paris,
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  Speaker 1: Marie had encountered something dangerous that had changed her and
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  Speaker 1: made her more attractive. She had encountered tuberculosis or TB
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  Speaker 1: for short. It was a serious lung infection that had
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  Speaker 1: been ravaging Europe, and it was the effects of the
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  Speaker 1: disease that had turned her into an icon. Why well,
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  Speaker 1: people who suffered from TV were seen by many as
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  Speaker 1: doomed and romantic. The fever gave victims a rosy complexion
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  Speaker 1: and red lips, as well as sparkling eyes. Add in
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  Speaker 1: the severe weight loss and the pale skin and TB
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  Speaker 1: created quite the look, and as victorians were wont to do,
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  Speaker 1: they idolized it and copied it. But Marie, even before
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  Speaker 1: setting foots in Paris, she had acquired the look the
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  Speaker 1: natural way. She gave off that ever so attractive sense
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  Speaker 1: of frailty and mystique, all thanks to the effects of tuberculosis.
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  Speaker 1: Not all stories get a happy ending, though Marie eventually
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  Speaker 1: died from her illness, but rather than move on and
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  Speaker 1: forget her, popular culture grieved her with novels and operas.
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  Speaker 1: In tribute of her, artists painted her portraits, their attraction
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  Speaker 1: to her beauty untouched even by death. So yes, beauty
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  Speaker 1: might very well be in the eye of the beholder,
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  Speaker 1: But as Marie's story shows us, beauty can also be
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  Speaker 1: a curse. Today, Toronto, Canada is a glistening metropolis, home
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  Speaker 1: to world class food and art, the Toronto International Film Festival,
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  Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup, and, perhaps most importantly, Keanu Reeves. Back
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  Speaker 1: in the eighteen fifties, though the city had not yet
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  Speaker 1: outgrown its frontier town roots, life was tougher, neighborhoods were rougher,
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  Speaker 1: and if a citizen of Toronto needed help, there was
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  Speaker 1: no guarantee that they would get it from the city. Say,
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  Speaker 1: for instance, that your business caught fire. Back then, Toronto
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  Speaker 1: didn't have a public fire brigade. Most cities didn't. In fact, Instead,
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  Speaker 1: the second that smoke started rising, rival firefighting companies would
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  Speaker 1: rush to the scene and try to claim that the
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  Speaker 1: blaze was theirs, sometimes with disastrous results, like how in
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  Speaker 1: June of eighteen fifty five, when a fire broke out
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  Speaker 1: on Church Streets in Toronto. The Hook and Latter Brigade
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  Speaker 1: arrived on the scene first, but didn't fight the fire. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: they fought the next fire company that arrived. Firefighters from
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  Speaker 1: both sides brawled in the streets and even looted the
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  Speaker 1: home that they were supposed to save. The police weren't
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  Speaker 1: any better either. Cops were appointed back then, not hired,
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  Speaker 1: and often had little to no training. There was almost
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  Speaker 1: no accountability, and many ignored orders from their superior officers
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  Speaker 1: to do what they wanted. So when the police arrived
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  Speaker 1: at the Hook and Ladder fights in eighteen fifty five,
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  Speaker 1: many constables joined in on the brawl. While the police
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  Speaker 1: and firefighters fought, the business owners were left to watch
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  Speaker 1: their lives work crumble to ashes. The incident was still
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  Speaker 1: smoldering in the public's mind when just a few weeks later,
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  Speaker 1: the Hook and Ladders got into trouble once again. On
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  Speaker 1: the night of July twelfth of eighteen fifty five, several
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  Speaker 1: firemen were patronizing a brothel when a new group of
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  Speaker 1: customers arrived. S. B. Howe's circus was in town and
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  Speaker 1: several clowns had come to enjoy the bordello's service. Now
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  Speaker 1: you might be picturing Bozo the clown walking into a bar,
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  Speaker 1: but these clowns were tough customers. When they weren't entertaining crowds,
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  Speaker 1: they were performing the difficult labor of putting up tents,
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  Speaker 1: building platforms, and keeping the circus safe. It's not entirely
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  Speaker 1: clear who set things off or how. Perhaps insults were
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  Speaker 1: traded or tempers flared. Most believe that at some point
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  Speaker 1: during the night, though, a drunk fireman knocked off a
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  Speaker 1: clown's hat when he refused to apologize, a fight broke out.
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  Speaker 1: The clowns emerged victorious injuring several firefighters and sending the
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  Speaker 1: hook and latter boys packing. And I know what you're thinking,
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  Speaker 1: a fight between clowns and firemen has to be a
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  Speaker 1: once in a lifetime thing, But you'd be wrong. Upset
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  Speaker 1: at being bested by these clowns, the very next day,
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  Speaker 1: the firemen launched their counter attack in Toronto. At this time,
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  Speaker 1: many public officials, firemen, and police belonged to a Protestant
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  Speaker 1: group called the Orange Order. Beyond their political aspirations, Orange Men,
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  Speaker 1: as they were called, were also known for their brawling,
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  Speaker 1: usually choosing to focus on fighting Catholics on Friday, the
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  Speaker 1: thirteenth of June. However, they went after this sir. The
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  Speaker 1: gathering crowd through stones, overturned wagons, beat up performers, and
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  Speaker 1: tore down the big top. When flames broke out and
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  Speaker 1: someone rang for the fire brigade, the Hook and Ladders
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  Speaker 1: answered the call. They rushed straight past the fires and
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  Speaker 1: jumped into the melee. Neither the police chief nor the
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  Speaker 1: mayor showing up, did anything to stop the violence. It
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  Speaker 1: wasn't until the militia arrived that the brawl finally ended.
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  Speaker 1: After the Toronto Circus riot, city officials tried to do
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  Speaker 1: their typical corrupt routine. The police claimed that it was
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  Speaker 1: too dark to identify any of the orangemen who participated
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  Speaker 1: in the violence. It was discovered that Police Chief Samuel Sherwood,
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  Speaker 1: another orangeman by the way, delayed sending constables to keep
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  Speaker 1: the peace as long as he could. This time, however,
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  Speaker 1: the city wanted justice. The riot was the final straw.
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  Speaker 1: In response to the public uproar, an inquest was launched
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  Speaker 1: into the city police force. For the next few years,
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  Speaker 1: city government officials made several attempts to clear out the
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  Speaker 1: corrupt police force. Four years later, in eighteen fifty nine,
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  Speaker 1: the entire police force was fired and a new training
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  Speaker 1: system was put in place. Many of the fired constables
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  Speaker 1: were later rehired, but it marked the beginning of Toronto's
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  Speaker 1: efforts to modernize their justice system. In eighteen seventy four,
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  Speaker 1: city run volunteer firefighting brigades were established in Toronto, leading
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  Speaker 1: to the public fire service that they have today. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we often fall into the trap of thinking that change
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  Speaker 1: must only come through official channels. To revamp a city system,
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  Speaker 1: for example, you might have to sign petitions, pass a
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  Speaker 1: new law, or even run for office. But it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: always have to be that challenging. Sometimes all it takes
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  Speaker 1: is a bit of clowning around. I hope you've enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for
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  Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show
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  Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created
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  Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
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  Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
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  Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
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  Speaker 1: learn all about it over at Theworldoflore dot com and
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  Speaker 1: until next time, stay curious,