Episodes

  • 55 - How Sausages Helped Win A Battle

    55 - How Sausages Helped Win A Battle
    Jun 7 2024
    It’s well into the northern european winter season at the end of 1939. Five hundred thousand Russian Soviet Soldiers are making a collective push northwards, swarming the countryside as they go. They are armed to the hilt with tanks, explosives, machine guns, grenades and a staggeringly overwhelming number of troops.

    But there is one thing that they didn’t count on, one thing that threatened to derail their entire military offensive altogether. And that one thing, was the humble sausage.

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    Thank you to my brand-new supporters:


    • Josh Lovetere
    • Zachary Hedden


    You too can support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:

    • https://www.history.com/news/the-bizarre-sausage-war-that-inspired-hitler
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Varolampi_Pond
    • https://www.finlandatwar.com/the-sausage-war-an-army-marches-on-its-stomach/
    • https://sofrep.com/news/sausage-war-when-hunger-got-the-best-of-the-soviets/
    • https://short-history.com/sausage-war-733d71767317
    • https://pennytyrrellmcqueen.wixsite.com/togetherapart/single-post/2016/10/26/sausage-war


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    16 mins
  • 54 - When Pineapples Were Status Symbols

    54 - When Pineapples Were Status Symbols
    May 24 2024
    For the majority of history they were considered the ultimate delicacy by European nobility who just couldn’t get enough of them. From snack to status symbol, the pineapple has graced many a King and Queens palace courts, while outside of them they took on a mythical quality akin to some sort of precious jewel.

    Today, we’ll track the pineapples voyage across the seas and into the history books as it became synonymous with the very peak of royal de rigeour.

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    Thank you to our brand-new supporter:


    • Sarah Thompson

    You too can support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:
    • https://www.thedailymeal.com/1233796/in-the-1700s-pineapples-were-wildly-expensive-symbols-of-prosperity/
    • https://www.britannica.com/plant/pineapple
    • https://www.bimstore.co/resources/10-facts-about-pineapples
    • https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/a-brief-history-of-foods-pineapple
    • https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/04/25/the-strange-history-of-the-king-pine/
    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-uKgiyE3Y
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple#:~:text=Precolonial%20cultivation,-The%20wild%20plant&text=By%20the%20late%201400s%2C%20cropped,it%20into%20India%20by%201550.


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    15 mins
  • 53 - Fat Men's Clubs

    53 - Fat Men's Clubs
    May 10 2024
    For as long as so-called civilised societies have existed, equally uncivilised clubs and groups have sprung up within them, allowing their members to revel in all sorts of weird and wonderful excesses.

    In previous episodes we have heard about secret food clubs with a goal of eating every type of animal on earth. Todays story may not be so different, although this clubs members were’nt so picky about reaching any particular goal other that just eating every type of food they could get their hands on.

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    Thank you to our 2 brand-new supporters:

    • Frank Morales

    • Philipp Surkov


    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:
    • https://www.insidehook.com/culture/revisiting-fat-mens-clubs
    • https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/07/469571114/the-forgotten-history-of-fat-men-s-clubs
    • https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/01/19/when-fat-mens-clubs-were-big/
    • https://www.antikeychop.com/fatmensclub
    • https://husheduphistory.com/post/141904668068/girth-and-mirth-the-rise-of-the-fat-mens-club
    • https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/unusual-clubs-in-history


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    15 mins
  • 52 - The Kentucky Meat Shower

    52 - The Kentucky Meat Shower
    Apr 25 2024
    Turn on the tv or radio, or scroll any news site online and you’ll no doubt be inundated with stories about crazy weather anomalies happening all around the globe.

    Volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, earthquakes, tornadoes and so much more.

    But none of us, thankfully, have ever lived through one of the strangest events in history when something a lot more dense than rain began falling from the skies onto some unsuspecting farmers in the small town of Olympia Springs, Kentucky.

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    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:
    • https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/What-Was-the-Kentucky-Meat-Shower
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower
    • https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzkmgw/the-mystery-of-the-kentucky-meat-shower
    • https://www.popsci.com/story/science/weirdest-thing-meat-shower-kodak-cow-sword-swallower/
    • https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-mystery-unwound-by-projectile-vulture-vomit/
    • https://www.wate.com/news/kentucky/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-147-years-passed-since-the-kentucky-shower-of-flesh/
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lluvia_de_peces
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_of_animals


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    15 mins
  • 51 - The London Beer Flood

    51 - The London Beer Flood
    Apr 15 2024
    In our modern age we have lived through natural disasters and floods in various parts of the world, and no matter what, they are always tragic. But tragic floods are not always a cause of nature.

    In episode 7, we discussed the great molasses flood that occurred in Boston and the ensuing devastation of that event. Well today, we’ll be taking a look at a similar, albeit less gloopy tidal wave of destruction that occurred 100 years before that.

    And, as much as any of us may love a beer every now and then and dream of swimming in a pool of the bubbly liquid, this tragic event was unfortunately no laughing matter.

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    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:

    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood
    • https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-London-Beer-Flood-of-1814/
    • https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/great-beer-flood-1814-what-happened/
    • https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-london-beer-flood/
    • https://www.history.com/news/london-beer-flood
    • https://explorethearchive.com/london-beer-flood
    • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1814-beer-flood-killed-eight-people-180964256/


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    13 mins
  • 50 - How Alcohol Prohibition Created NASCAR

    50 - How Alcohol Prohibition Created NASCAR
    Nov 8 2023
    This episode is a look at how in the early to mid 1900’s the abolitionist laws banning the production and consumption of alcohol played a majorly significant role in the creation of what, today, is a veritable institution of the American South, NASCAR.

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    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:


    • https://winstoncupmuseum.com/nascar-and-prohibition/#:~:text=Across%20the%20country%2C%20bootleggers%20had,cases%20of%20liquor%20as%20possible
    • https://www.history.com/news/how-prohibition-gave-birth-to-nascar
    • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-moonshine-bootlegging-gave-rise-nascar-180962014/
    • https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/history/nascar-bootleggers.htm
    • https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nascar-moonshine
    • https://www.ranker.com/list/ways-people-hid-alcohol-during-prohibition/kellen-perry?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=weirdhistory&utm_campaign=wh_active&utm_content=%7Bdate%28%27yyyyMMdd%27%29%7D
    • https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-early-american-booze-consumption/rachel-souerbry?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=weirdhistory&utm_campaign=wh_active&utm_content=%7Bdate%28%27yyyyMMdd%27%29%7D
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower


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    22 mins
  • 49 - Charles Domery Ate Cats, Grass & A Fellow Soldier's Leg

    49 - Charles Domery Ate Cats, Grass & A Fellow Soldier's Leg
    Oct 6 2023
    There are many stories throughout history of individuals with freakish appetites, who seem to be able to consume quantities of food well past what a human stomach should be capable of handling.

    Today, we’ll be diving into the story of Charles Domery, a Polish-born soldier who tried to eat the whole world.

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    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:

    • https://historianandrew.medium.com/the-man-who-couldnt-stop-eating-including-cats-rats-grass-and-his-friend-s-leg-c7ec7e1fce01
    • https://www.weirdhistorian.com/domery-the-man-who-ate-anything-and-a-whole-lot-of-it/
    • https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-domery
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Domery


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    13 mins
  • 48 - The Dutch Once Ate Their Prime Minister

    48 - The Dutch Once Ate Their Prime Minister
    Sep 15 2023
    For most of history, the Dutch have been an almost all-powerful force to be reckoned with. They were the forerunners for a lot of the world's exploration, and for a long time dominated the seas and trade routes through the stranglehold of the Dutch East India Company.

    In the preceding century, they were still under Spanish rule, with 2 of their kings, Charles the Fifth and his Son Phillip II, simultaneously ruling as the kings of Spain and the so-called Low Countries of The Netherlands.

    But the Dutch weren’t having any of this for long and at the first sign of mismanagement, made their feelings known.

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    Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod

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    Sources for this episode's research:


    • https://www.historydefined.net/when-the-dutch-murdered-and-ate-their-own-prime-minister/
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_de_Witt
    • https://dutchreview.com/culture/dutch-history-crowds-ate-prime-minister/
    • https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/is-it-true-that-an-angry-mob-of-dutchmen-killed-and-ate-their-own-prime-minister-in-1672/
    • https://allthatsinteresting.com/johan-de-witt


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-fantastic-history-of-food--3591729/support.
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    15 mins