114: The Dark History of Josephine Baker pt. 1: the first influencer was also a spy
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You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean it fits you just right so you wear it all the time but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I

I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman

and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.

RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

What if I told you your favorite celebrity was also a secret agent for the government?

I mean, not only that, they single-handedly saved thousands of people from certain death. I know, I know, sounds like something out of a movie, but it really didn't happen. This person went from being impoverished, abused, and neglected to an international superstar, a respected government spy, and a civil rights icon. Today, we'll be talking about the one and only Josephine Baker. ♪

Yeah. I mean, her story has so many twists and turns. We literally could not keep this to one episode. I mean, it's out of control. Hi, friends. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian, and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History.

I'm handsy today. If you're new here, hi. Here, we believe history does not have to be boring. I mean, yeah, it might be tragic. It might be sometimes happy. But either way, it's our dark history. So all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy history. Goss.

Shall we? Well first if you're watching this over on YouTube, I need to acknowledge Joan. Joan and Paul are both dressed up like Miss Josephine Baker, but I got a phone call from Joan's people because she wants more air time. I know, I know, like whatever. So she's moved and then Paul just happened to be here. I mean he was in the ground, so it's better than that. Okay, I have a confession.

I have an obsession with female spies. I think it stems from, you know, being, I was a lover of like Carmen Sandiego growing up or like Harriet the spy. I think maybe that's where it comes from or even maybe my favorite horizontal collaborator, you know, Coco Chanel. But I feel like all of these female spy stories are just like, they're so juicy, right? Especially because no one suspected women of being spies. I mean, they're so underestimated. So they could get away with like all kinds of stuff.

Plus, we're pretty sneaky. I think we'd be great spies. Anywho, so while I'm down this, like, spy rabbit hole, I kept noticing this name that kept coming up over and over again. And if you're familiar with, like,

makeup and beauty. You've heard this name a million times. She was a famous cabaret dancer who basically became like an overnight celebrity sensation for her trailblazing onstage personality. And she was so well connected that she was eventually tapped to become a secret agent.

Yeah, her name was Josephine Baker. Again, this woman had lived so many different lives that I kept forgetting that I was reading about the same person. She was a comedian, a dancer, an it girl, a spy, an activist, and an all-around icon.

So let me stop rambling and just tell you about Miss Baker. Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3rd, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a washerwoman, which means like she washed clothes for a living. And Carrie raised Josephine along with her brother as a single mother. She struggled to find work. I mean, to just be a mom running the household and earning enough money to live and take care of everyone.

So when Josephine was like just a baby, her mother ended up remarrying and had two more kids. But sadly, it didn't work out like with her second husband either. Even at a young age, I mean, Josephine, she knew that her mom was heartbroken over the marriage knot.

working out. At this point, her mother had four kids to take care of on her own and she never could depend on anyone to help her pay rent, feed the kids, I mean anything. And because of this, Josephine's family had to move around a lot to wherever her mom could find work. I think it's safe to say that Josephine had a bit of a rocky relationship with her mother. I guess it was said that Josephine looked just like her father, which was like really triggering for her mom, Carrie. So,

she would see Josephine and like think of her ex and she would take out her frustrations out on like Josephine, just saying really horrible things to her. Like she hated her or that she wished she was dead. I know, her mom, just a very nasty woman. Things weren't much better for Josephine at school. I mean, I guess she only had one outfit to wear every day, but like literally though, she only had one outfit. So...

Poor thing. She had to wear this one outfit. And like, you think kids are nice?

LOL, you know, no, they're gonna remind her that she has one outfit. Like a lot of the little girls, Josephine had dreams of being a princess one day. She used to have like this fantasy where she transformed into Cinderella and like that same dress that she would wear every day would turn into like this gorgeous ball gown. She had a very active imagination when she was a kid and she was a natural performer. Josephine, she loved to sing and dance. I guess like she would put on little shows for the neighborhood kids where she would sing and like act.

And this was her happy place. But at school, things were different. I mean, the kids were mean, of course. I mean, they would pick on Josephine and she would have to endure this bullying for years. I guess one day she had this light bulb moment and this moment would like shape her entire life. As the kids were making fun of her, she decided to just get in on the joke.

So Josephine, she would start making goofy faces or like sticking out her tongue, crossing her eyes, just doing anything to get the kids to crack up, to laugh. And it worked because now the bullies who were laughing at Josephine were now laughing with Josephine.

You see, this is what she like, she reclaimed her presence in the room. Now she became like the class clown from that moment on. I mean, at least they weren't laughing at her, you know? But Josephine's childhood would come to a halt pretty quickly on one Sunday afternoon. I guess on this day, she was walking home from church and she accidentally stepped on a rusty nail that had been on the road.

Now, she had been barefoot when she was walking, so when she stepped on that nail, it just like went right into her heel. And pretty soon after, her foot became super infected and her leg like swelled up to an alarming size. So naturally, Josephine had to be taken to the hospital.

And then when she got there, I guess this bozo doctor like looked at her leg and told her, look, Josephine, we have to amputate your leg in order to save your life. And I call him a bozo because, well, hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. So if the doctor says they have to amputate your leg, you're going to be like, oh my God, no, right? So Josephine, understandably, flips out. She's like, no. If they took her leg, she thought she'd never be able to dance again. So-

This is why I call him a bozo doctor because the doctor decides to like drain the wound first and hold off on the amputation. And I guess just like draining the wound made Josephine feel a lot better. But to everyone's surprise, it ended up working and she didn't need an amputation. So it's like maybe that should have been option one versus like you need an amputation. But we're not here about that, I guess. It was just something I got hung up on for a hot second.

So her leg is saved, thank God. And after a few days, she was able to return home to her family. But little did Josephine know that this injury, it would become like the abrupt ending to her childhood. You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear it all the time.

time, but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, and my favorite part,

All Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices

and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen and you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.

R.I.P. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

As soon as her leg had fully healed, Josephine's mom told her that she needed to pitch in to help bring in some money for the household. So at seven years old, Josephine started going door to door in different neighborhoods, taking any kind of job that she could get. She mostly swept steps or cleaned snow from sidewalks.

And then Josephine met a widow and her name was Miss Kaiser. So I guess Miss Kaiser, she couldn't pay Josephine like a big salary or anything. So she ended up just hiring her to do like household cleaning work in exchange for clothes and food. And to Josephine, this was like a great trade-off. Clothes and food for a little bit of cleaning.

Hell yeah, I'll do it. Now at first, Miss Kaiser was really, she was super nice to Josephine and kind. Like she bought her some new dresses and some new shoes. She fed her. She was just nice.

And for Josephine, it was just great. But then Miss Kaiser started showing her true colors. I guess after some time, she started to treat Josephine like she was her slave. She would verbally and physically abuse her and give Josephine way more work than she was able to handle. And at the time, there was a law in Missouri that said, even if kids work, they still had to go to school. So Josephine would get up at 5 a.m., eat her breakfast of cold potatoes,

do some manual labor for a few hours before school, and then she would have to walk a couple of miles to go to school. Then after school, she'd walk her ass back to Miss Kaiser's and go right back to work. She would, like, prepare dinner, wash dishes, you know, clean, do everything. Then Miss Kaiser would give Josephine her dinner, which was, like, cold ass.

cornbread and molasses. It was a pretty miserable situation, but one of the only things I guess that made it a little bit more bearable for Josephine were the animals. Josephine loved animals. And Miss Kaiser, she had dogs, chickens, and I guess some other animals like roaming around on the property. But Josephine's favorite was this rooster who she named Tiny Tim.

So Josephine at times would even share her dinner with this rooster, Tiny Tim. And you know, as time goes by, Tiny Tim was starting to get a little plump, you know? Because Josephine was feeding Tiny Tim all this cornbread and stuff. So when Miss Kaiser sees, you know, those juicy chicken thighs...

She's like, "What's that? Chicken?" Because she's an awful bitch, she ordered Josephine to kill Tiny Tim so she could eat him for dinner. It's not funny. It's just like really awkward, right? That would suck. Yeah, poor Josephine. I mean, she didn't have a choice. So she grabbed a pair of scissors, got the, you know, and then prepared him for dinner. I mean, pretty traumatizing. And at this point,

I mean, Josephine just wanted to get away from Miss Kaiser, but she had nowhere to go. Joan, how do you feel if I ate you for dinner? Would you be mad? That's why you stay so thin. She doesn't want to be a target.

As the months went on, Josephine was not doing well. I mean, she had been working and worked to the bone. She was malnourished, she was exhausted, and she was just terrified all of the time. One day Josephine was boiling water and she forgot to watch the kettle, right? So like accidents happen. Water boiled over the top gets everywhere. Well, Miss Kaiser, when she saw that this had happened, she was pissed.

And she ends up grabbing Josephine's hand and she plunged it into the boiling water. What? Yeah, she did. She burned her skin almost all the way off like to the bone. And that might be dramatic, but like really, really bad though is what I'm saying. I would say it's giving Gypsy Rose's mom, but I think that's worse than Gypsy Rose's mom. Well, you know.

but it's giving. Anyway, so this happens for Josephine. She ends up waking up like at a hospital, just traumatized. So her mom, Josephine's mom, she's like, I guess you could stay at home for a little while. I'm laughing because it's her mom, so you would hope, but her mom's kind of a bitch. So her mom...

Let's her, Josephine stay at home. But she's like, you need to, you need to like go back to work and start paying for shit around here. You know, you can't just like sit here and be a freeloader. So not long after Josephine, she ends up getting a job with another family called the Masons. The Masons end up giving Josephine like room and board for her cleaning services.

And by all accounts, the Masons treated Josephine really kindly. Allegedly, I don't know. I wasn't there, you know? But it was said that they gave her like a real bed and they gave her good food. They let her play with neighborhood kids and they just treated her like a human. Who would have thought, you know? They even bought her clothes. Josephine said that she was feeling a little bit more comfortable there.

And she had fun. Like there in the basement, she set up like a little theater where she would have performances with the neighborhood children. And it was fun. It was a lot of fun as a kid. Did you ever do performances? I remember I used to listen to the Goof. What is it? Goofy movie? Anyways, that soundtrack was a bop. So I used to love a Goofy movie soundtrack and I would put on like little performances alone.

I didn't want to perform in front of anybody in my room and it was just the best. Kids, huh? Being fun. Anyways, now I'm doing it now here, which is kind of interesting without the goofy movie soundtrack. I'm getting off track here, Bailey. Okay, but she would perform performances. They would dress up in like Ms. Mason's old clothes or as costumes and just, this is when she was like really having fun and being, you know, creative, theater, fun. But then something weird started happening.

So every night, Josephine was getting like this really odd feeling. She would say that she felt like there was a ghost who was haunting her because at night she would hear like scary heavy breathing, but she would never see anybody. But then one night she heard the breathing again and she felt something like climbing into her bed. And this night specifically, she screamed for Miss Mason, you know? So when Miss Mason comes into Josephine's room,

Turns on the light. I don't know if they have a light, but she, you know, reveals, she discovers that Josephine hadn't been lying. I mean, there was something visiting her every single night in her room. And no, it wasn't a ghost. It was Mr. Mason. And, uh, Ms. Mason was obviously horrified. And naturally you're like, oh God, good. I hope she like turned in her husband and took care of the kids, whatever. Wishful thinking.

None of that happened. The next morning, she instead fired Josephine. So safe to say Josephine was upset. I mean, she's over here thinking that she had done something wrong. You know, she's the one that got fired. So while she was collecting some of the clothes Miss Mason gave her, she even said to herself, quote, somewhere deep inside me, I vowed that somehow I would grow up to be a famous star with beautiful flowing gowns, end quote.

Well, by the time Josephine left the Masons, she wasn't even eight years old. Which bro, I was like, what? What? What? She's only eight. She's only eight and she's already seen some shit, okay? Well, at this point, Josephine decided that she would rather do like way more difficult jobs than deal with another person being abusive towards her in their home, you know? So she, once again,

found jobs, she polished floors, she babysat, she ran errands, she shoveled snow, anything she could to help her family and still be able to save like a little bit for herself. Again, at eight years old.

Yeah, I was like picking my nose and not smiling in Sears family portraits, you know? Good for her. I mean, every time Josephine seemed to get a little ahead, it kind of seemed like something bad in her life would happen. In 1917, there was a horrific attack on the boxcar town Josephine and her family lived in. Boxcar towns are exactly what they sound like. People would set up whole communities and live inside railroad boxcars, kind of like tiny homes.

before tiny homes, I guess. The boxcar town that Josephine lived in got attacked. These towns were mostly made up of black residents and racial tensions were high due to a union strike in the area. So it was almost like overnight families in this community were now without homes.

Josephine and her family were forced to move into crowded tenement buildings. And by this point, all of Josephine's siblings were working to help pay rent and get food on the table. And they would spend just years scraping by. But time goes on and Josephine, she was freaking done.

She was like, I've been working my ass off since I was literally seven, okay? She was tired of being trapped in this sick cycle that she felt like she could not get out of. So she decided to look for a job that would take her out of these circumstances. You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear all the

time, but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops, and my favorite part,

All Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices

and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen and you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.

R.I.P. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

- Number one meal kit. Josephine ended up at a place called the Old Chauffeurs Club in St. Louis, which was like a cool hangout club for musicians in the city, you know? It was so different from any other job she had and she absolutely loved it. And even though it was hard work, she was happy to do it. She met a lot of interesting people while she was working there, including a steel worker named Willie.

I know, I was like, "Steamboat Willie?" Not the same thing. And like, "Tiny Tim," I mean, whoa, the story is it all. But Josephine was smitten right from the jump. And like not long after these two met, they decided to get married. Aw, I know. The only problem was that Willie was 25 and Josephine was 13. So.

It was against the law for them to get married, okay? But Josephine and Willie, they still exchanged bows on December 11th, 1919. There's that year again.

But look, nothing was official, like there was no paperwork or anything. I think it was more of like a spiritual ceremony, you know? They do that here in LA and you're like, "All right, whatever." But married life, it didn't last long for Josephine. She and Willie had financial troubles and there was even physical violence that happened between the two of them. After one violent fight, Willie walked out on Josephine and like she never saw him again.

And that night she bowed. You know what? I'm gonna get the hell out of St. Louis. Like there is nothing here for me. She knew exactly how she was gonna do it. So Josephine and her friends sometimes would go and see this musical variety group in town and they were called the Dixie Steppers. And she was like, was obsessed with them and like this show. She learned every word of dialogue and like every step of the dance and that the chorus girls did.

So she would joke around with her friends saying like, what if I asked the director for a job? Like, wouldn't that be crazy? Oh my God. And like, no one took her seriously because they thought she was joking, but you know what? She wasn't joking. And she was like, I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna ask. So after one of the shows, Josephine, she waited by the stage door and she lied to security. She's like, oh my God, I have a job interview. It's crazy. It's over there with that guy. And I guess he just let her in. And that's how Josephine found herself in front of the director.

director of the Dixie Steppers and she goes to them and she just begs him for an audition. I guess at first he was just trying to ignore her but Josephine was persistent. She showed him some of of the moves, some of her own moves and it turned out he was like ah she's kind of freaking talented. She had this hypnotizing presence and this guy decided to give her a chance. So Josephine

Like, talk about luck right here. She was hired to join the Dixie Stepper Chorus girls the very next day. But it turns out getting the job would be the least of Josephine's problems. Josephine, she hadn't had any formal dance training. I mean, she'd been like dancing for her friends and stuff, you know? But it was clear, it was pretty obvious that like she had potential. Her style, different.

You know, her movements were almost uncontrolled and experimental. And right away, you know, the other girls noticed this. And because she's different and doing things her own way, they start, you know, bullying her and making her feel unwelcome.

I mean, to them, she was weird because she was untrained and she was just doing her own thing. And a lot of them were just questioning, like, why the hell did the director even hire her? Like, what is this mess? Just being bitches. Well, Josephine, it was getting to her. She was kind of expecting to be fired. But instead, the director promoted her to one of the starring roles in their new show, Romeo and Juliette.

So Josephine was going to play Cupid. And this would involve her being strung up from the ceiling with like a bow and arrow. And I mean, Josephine's like, all right, I'll do it. But just like when she was dancing with the chorus girls, she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was flailing her way through the performance and not at all performing the part like she was supposed to. And at first the director was pretty pissed off, but that's when he realized

the audience they were losing their shit they were just cracking up at josephine's performance they found her to be goofy but it was like a breath of fresh air it was just different again once josephine got off that stage she's like i'm fucking fired but instead she was told to keep doing what she was doing he was like it's working babe keep doing it show after show she was making the audience a

laugh their asses off. And this job led her to meeting other famous singers in the area like Clara Smith.

I know Clara. Who is she? I don't know. She was like one of the biggest American blues singers on the scene, okay? And she had this amazing vocal range. She actually had the nickname Queen of the Moaners. I know. Good for you, Clara. I'd like to challenge you on that one, but I'll let you have it. One time, Josephine went to go see Clara's show. And like while she was on stage, Clara had some kind of weirdness.

wardrobe malfunction. I guess she had gotten some food stains on her costume. Well, Josephine was there and she was able to just rush right in and she was able to get the stains out. I mean, she had a lot of experience cleaning, so...

So she just was able to help. Well, Clara, she was like, oh my God, I'm impressed. So she ends up offering Josephine a job on the spot as her professional dresser while she performed across America. Josephine's like, oh my God, hell yes. Like this is finally my ticket out of St. Louis. And she agreed, off she went. Now, mind you, Josephine was only 13 at this point, okay?

She's killing it. Kids, obviously, they were not allowed to up and leave school. And they definitely were not allowed to work on the road if they were underage. But Josephine was tall. She was a little lanky. And she had a very mature, bubbly personality. So she easily passed for someone of an older age, you know? So I would say, I don't think she lied. It was more like, you know, she didn't tell anyone how old she was.

She boarded a train out of St. Louis and said, quote, I'm leaving here a nobody, but someday I'm going to be a somebody. End quote. Good for her. You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear it all the time. But maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I

I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman

and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.

RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

So on the tour, Josephine would occasionally fill in for any of like the chorus girls who got sick. I mean, she knew the dances already. So they're like, "Here you go." And every time she got on stage, she would completely steal the show. It was said, "Josephine enjoyed making people laugh and began a clown-like performance. She acted clumsy, stuck out her tongue, and crossed her eyes while a stupid grin spread across her face." It was kind of like when she was getting bullied at school and she would flip the narrative. You know, so she was the one in control.

Or it's like if you kind of were raised as like the middle child or something, you kind of always had to be the loud one, the performer to get attention. You know, I'm a middle child. Ha ha, outing myself. Okay, they audience, they loved it. They had never seen anyone like Josephine perform before. She's different, she's cool. What is she doing? I don't know, but I wanna watch. So eventually she stopped filling in for chorus girls and started getting leading roles herself.

and Josephine always did one of her goofy routines and the shows were always a hit. Josephine finally felt like she was appreciated for who she was. And on the road, Clara became somewhat of a mentor to Josephine. It was on the road that Josephine was also said to be openly bisexual, but to be fair, Josephine was only 15 years old and Clara was a full grown adult. So I mean, yeah. So it didn't last between the two of them, but you know,

They were doing things. Not long after her relationship with Clara, Josephine met a man named William Baker. Now the two of them, they fell in love and they got married so quick.

It's like, girl, calm down a little bit, you know? But she loves love. Unlike her other husband, Willie 1.0, this William 2.0 had a steady job and was like very supportive of her career and just, you know, a good guy, I guess. But sadly, again, the marriage, it didn't last. But she did get her iconic last name from him. And she also left that marriage with a very clear mindset.

She did not want to end up as a housewife. She was like, this is so boring. I want to be a famous performer. And I don't know, like, that's it point blank period. Josephine spent the next few years singing and performing at different clubs in different shows where she would do again, her signature goofy act. But

You know, after some time, she felt like she was kind of like a broken record, doing the same thing every night, you know? Plus, at the time, if you were a performer of color in America, your career couldn't really be brought to this next level, you know? Then, Josephine got the opportunity of a lifetime. In 1925, Josephine is now 19 years old. Okay, she's already been through a lot of shit, right? She gets offered her dream job.

in Paris as a dancer. In Paris? I know, what? Me? Small town? Like the dream. Now naturally Josephine is terrified. She doesn't want to leave America, but she couldn't say no and she took a risk and she tap danced her way right over to Paris. That's me tap dancing.

Once she got there, Josephine said she knew she made the right decision. In Paris, everything was different. I mean, people were like way more fashionable. They were a lot more open, accepting. They were more sexual and just...

Cool, you know? Plus they were a lot more open-minded about race. It was everything Josephine wanted and she instantly knew she belonged. And this was like a very glamorous time in Paris. I mean, Josephine was performing at a famous club right down the street from Moulin Rouge.

She went from performing cutesy little flapper dances to nearly nude, completely experimental dances. And this is where she was able to really own her sexuality. Unlike any of her other jobs, she was given complete creative control by the producers. So Josephine would take the stage in her famous costume. Big earrings, long pearl necklace. She had something to cover her chest, but it looks like it was made out of diamonds or shiny stuff.

And then she had a short skirt that was made out of rubber bananas. If you're over on YouTube watching, you can see that we have Joan here. She's wearing the nice Josephine inspired outfit. How do you feel, Joan? Like a banana, Chiquita banana girl? I think Paul did it better. Sorry. Don't come at me, okay? But look at that hair, girl. Look at those titties. I just wish she could dance, Paul.

Her performance was called "Dance Sauvage" and it was an experimental take on African dance themes and styles. She said, quote, "I came on stage and a frenzy took possession of me." Anyways, the way like she was performing was like breaking down stereotypes in a really important way. At the time, there were hardly any performers of color from America and Paris, so people were absolutely fascinated by her.

Josephine had a great, like a positive reception and she really got like great reviews. But of course, like there's always gonna be those critics

Lots of them would show up to her show, just reviewing them. And they would use a lot of like racially charged descriptions of her. They tried to stereotype her and her shows and just write off all of her success. But joke was on them because Josephine, she didn't give up. She was like, I'm going to do my thing. And she still drew in large audiences. I mean, celebrities and parents started flocking to her show.

and one of the most famous writers at the time, Ernest Hemingway came and saw her show and he even described Josephine as quote "the most sensational woman anybody ever saw" end quote. If I were her I'd put that on a t-shirt. I'd be like um Ernest Hemingway told me get out of my way the most sensational woman

Thank you. So within just a few months, she was the hottest celebrity on stage. And within a year, Josephine was a goddess in Paris society. Her name was everywhere. She had cocktails named after her, perfumes, hair products, etc., etc.,

Now her hair product actually, she had this pomade. It was called Baker Fix and it helped women get Josephine's signature hairstyle down. And Josephine, she had a very signature hairstyle. It was like sleek, shiny. It had this gorgeous shine to it, slicked back. It was called the Eton Crop. I've never heard of that, but it was called the Eton Crop. She had a few curls on her forehead and her cheek.

And they almost looked to paint it on. It was really beautiful. And so she came out with this product called Baker Fix, which was so smart, way ahead of its time, right? Like she knew to profit off of this. It was a bestseller for like 30 years.

And Josephine, she made more money than anything else with this one product, which is really crazy to think about, right? But she had this look that people wanted and nobody had seen before. And still to this day, like her hair alone is just everything. And it wasn't just beauty products. She had a bunch of shit, like...

stores had sold dolls that were dressed in little banana skirts. She also literally changed fashion in Paris. Like, women would start wearing skirts just as short as she wore them on stage. Everyone wanted to be her and everyone wanted to get with her, get next to her, be around her. She was everything. Josephine was a lover, you could say. I mean, she had lots of different lovers. You could barely keep track.

They all would shower her with elaborate presents including a pair of like gold shoes, fur coats, jewels on jewels on jewels, and a pair of 150 year old earrings that once belonged to a duchess.

And the press was just like obsessed with her. One theater critic, she seems Henry Jean's son wrote quote, as beautiful as the night, Josephine Baker is the dream, the clown, the great sensation of the evening. I would get all this embroidered on stuff just around my house. Cause everyone is just loving her. She's like, Oh my God. You know, could you imagine going from like her upbringing to this? It's such a,

180. She was still working her butt off. I mean she was working like 18 hour days. She also had a side job where she would perform like smaller gigs and then on top of that I guess on the weekends she would party hard. And you know so Josephine is really feeling herself. She's on top of the world and she's just she's here. She's arrived. She's made it right. And you know when things are like going really great for yourself and you're like oh my god I'm amazing. I don't need anybody. I

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This is when Josephine meets Giuseppe Abadino. I know, Giuseppe. I was like, Pinocchio's dad? I know him. It's not. So naturally at first, you know, Josephine loves love and she's like, oh my God. What's his name? Giuseppe.

Hi. It's like love at first sight. This guy seemed perfect. He was Italian stallion. He was a count. In other words, he was Italian royalty. He was 37 years old and on top of that, he wore a monocle. So you know he was fancy because only fancy people wear monocles. Mr. Peanut, need I say more?

Thank you. So Josephine, smitten, she decides, you know, this is her partner now, right? And he's starting to give her advice. He's a count. He's like, he's smart. He's older. She decides to like, you know, listen and maybe let him be her manager. So they decided to work together, right? And now he's in charge of her money and all her stage deals. And again, why wouldn't she? I mean, he's a count. Think of the Sesame Street guy because that's who I'm thinking of.

So I guess this guy, he like showered Josephine with love notes during the day. And then at night he would take her out to like bougie clubs, cabarets in Paris. But Josephine's girlfriends, they all hated this guy. I don't know. You know, as a friend, you know when something is not right with their, you're like, mm.

And they knew there was something suspicious about this guy. He was hiding something. But Josephine is stubborn. She's gonna date him anyway, so who cares? She was just digmatized. She didn't give a care in the world. Nobody liked this guy. Giuseppe had this way of like getting Josephine to trust him because he knew how to get to her.

He would like feed into her greatest fears, you know, like, hey, telling her like your career is going to end one day and then you're going to be completely forgotten. Just classic toxic boyfriend behavior. And he ends up using this to convince her to open up her own nightclub. What?

which I really don't think this is a bad idea at all. I kind of think this is great advice he gave her. He told Josephine that she was letting other people profit off her success by dancing at their clubs. If she really wanted to capitalize on the moment she was having, she should only be dancing at her own establishment.

Smart. Hello, I thought that was smart. I was like, okay, that's not bad. So on December 14th, 1926, Josephine and her man, her mansie, they open up Chez Josephine. Josephine was also making headlines at this point, performing on stage with her very special guest. And this is my favorite part because again, remember she loved animals. So she eventually got her own pet who she named Chiquita. Yeah, so this pet,

It was a pet cheetah. Yeah, it was a cheetah, a literal cheetah. How she got the cheetah, we don't know. I'm gonna assume in my personal opinion, it was drugged and like dragged around, right? But anyways, Chiquita would sit on stage in her diamond-encrusted collar while Josephine performed. Now, you wanna talk about glamour. You're over here with this little fake plastic stuff. Get, okay, be better. Be like Chiquita, okay?

Anyways, she loved Chiquita so much, she even released a song named after her. And I read this article that was saying like Josephine would take Chiquita on walks

Again, it's a cheetah. So I don't know how that worked, but people love cheetah. This cheetah, Chiquita. And then I heard, this is another rumor, 'cause I can't find the article where I read this, but I heard that the Chiquita Banana girl, Chiquita Banana was inspired by Josephine and her cat. Banana for her skirt, Chiquita for the cat.

You're welcome. I don't know if that's true, though, but I think it is because it's the same time. Anyways. Okay, so things are going well at Josephine's, her club thing. Then, out of nowhere, Josephine makes a surprise announcement. She's like, everybody listen up. I just want to let you all know that me and the count are married. Oh.

And baby, it was a talk of the town. Josephine goes to the press and she tells them that, you know, they were married and they did it on her 21st birthday over at the American embassy. And everyone was just reporting on it. Like, oh my God, Josephine. I mean, even in America, they reported on it. It's like the front page of the Milwaukee Journal. So, okay. But they said like, Josephine Baker, black dancer, weds a real count.

They really didn't have an appreciation for her like they did in Paris because that headline sucks ass but whatever. Well get this because this is when people start coming for Josephine's lover. They want to know a little bit more about this guy. Something was not what it was supposed to be. This man was a little different, a little strange but nobody knew what it was you know.

Poor Josephine. She got gooped, she got gagged, she got snatched, she got bamboozled. Because slowly the truth started to reveal itself. This guy, Giuseppe, he wasn't Pinocchio's dad. He wasn't even a count. And on top of that, he wasn't actually even rich. Nah, it turns out this guy, he was just a bricklayer from Italy who was just really good at lying and he was tan.

Josephine didn't know. I know. And I was like, oh my God, is this like the very first catfish? He made up like this whole elaborate family history. Like he had so much time. He just thought of everything, fake name, fake job, fake life. I mean, it was 1927 and people weren't gonna Google. That was not a thing, right? Everyone just believed him. And I guess he carried himself like royalty and he pretended he had money. And that was good enough for everybody.

God, it must have been so much easier to be slimy back then, huh? You said why? French reporters, they smelled something catfishy. Turns out the wedding was as fake as the count. Which is kind of a good thing, though, because like reporters, they couldn't find a marriage record at all between Josephine and the count. And I guess the whole marriage actually had turned out to be just a publicity stunt. And then they exposed the count's real identity in the press. But

I think they did it to bring attention to her club, which again, it kind of fucking smart, but not smart that he bamboozled everyone, you know?

It didn't matter, okay? Because Josephine used the press to her advantage. I mean, with or without the count, Josephine's new club was a huge success. Customers, they were willing to pay for overpriced foods and drinks just to get a chance to be in the same room as her and maybe even Chiquita, you know? Maybe even talk to her, shit. So Josephine decided it's time to like start writing her memoirs.

She's literally 21 years old and you're like, okay girl, calm down. But between you and I, I think it's safe to say she's lived more life than a lot of people. So you write that memoir, girl.

Now rumor has it, it was quite a spicy read. In the book, which is called The Memoirs of Josephine Baker, Josephine gets pretty deep and says, quote, "I am tired of this artificial life, weary of being spurred on by the footlights. The work of a star disgusts me now."

End quote. So Josephine essentially has burnout. I mean, she didn't work as much as she was seven years old. Geez. I know, it's like how much PTO does she have wrapped up she hasn't even used yet, okay? She's overworked, she's tired, and being at the top of her game, I mean, it's awesome,

But she's ready for that new chapter, that new challenge. She's just ready. But then the world descends into chaos. During World War II, Josephine goes through a bit of a rebrand. She discovers that like all the skills she's acquired over her long career, perfectly suited to help her save the country from the Nazis.

And friends, this is just the tip of the iceberg for what was in store for the rest of Josephine's life. Tune in next week for our part two on Miss Josephine Baker when Josephine takes on the Nazi party. It's random, but damn this woman, she sure was something. Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder, mystery, and makeup.

I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to use the hashtag darkhistory over on social media so I can follow along and see what you're saying. Now, let's read a couple of comments you guys left me. Tammy Burnett left me a comment saying, quote, Bailey, I'm allergic to silver. Me. Of course, Bailey is a vampire. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge that, yes, I am indeed a vampire. Please respect my privacy at this time. Thank you so much.

211cake left us a comment saying quote, "My dad always says, if something is free, you're the product." End quote. Tell your dad what's up. He knows what's up, okay? And also it's very classic dad. They say nothing for like six months and then they say something like that and it hits so deep and you're like, wow, dad, yeah.

See you in six months. Kim Procarion left us an episode suggestion. Quote,

like to use yes no maybe hopefully pretty please end quote okay it's so funny that you bring this up because I literally like I know I have knowledge on this I have built up knowledge on like government butter and government cheese and I really want an episode to talk about it and I think this might be it

We should talk about it. That's a great idea and I love you for it. Thank you guys so much for leaving comments. I love you for watching and I love you for engaging with me. I love reading them every week. So just keep them coming, okay? And maybe you'll get featured here or maybe you won't. I don't know.

Anyhow, Dark History is an Audioboom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junya McNeely from 3Arts, Kevin Grush, and Matt Enloe from Maiden Network.

Writers, Joey Scavuzzo, Katie Burris, Allison Palobos, and me, Bailey Sarian. Production lead, Brian Jaggers. Research provided by Xander Elmore. A special thank you to our expert, Sloane Crosley. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. Thank you so much. I hope you have a good rest of your week. Don't forget to make good choices and shake it out, baby. See you next week. I said that already. Okay, bye.

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I'm Stanzi Potenza. And I'm Brad Padre. Launching June 13th is our new podcast, Late to the Party. In this post-ironic chat show, we'll show you a window into our world of crazy post-ironic thoughts. An unlikely friendship founded on a shared love for riffs, ranting, and getting absolutely wrecked.

Consider this an invitation to our inside jokes. You're late to the party, but no one cool ever shows up on time. Follow Late to the Party on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to this kind of stuff.