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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.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. Hey, girl. Do you remember The Swan? It was peak reality TV. Each episode of The Swan would follow quote-unquote ugly ducklings over the course of three months as they went through extreme...
makeovers. They were like, "Hey, you're ugly. Come over here. We're gonna break your face and give you a new one." And we watched the whole, like, we watched the whole process. They would, like, revamp this person from head to toe. They would get them trainers, therapists, surgeons. I mean, they hooked it up. They always got new titties. Always. Titties and lipo were the two things that were consistent in that show. And, like, literally, when you think about it, that saying is, like, you know, "Beauty is pain."
Yeah, the show took that literally. If you want to be beautiful, bitch, it's going to hurt, you know? And this got me thinking, is that where that saying came from? The 2004 show, The Swan? Oh, nay nay. Today's episode, we are digging into the famous phrase, beauty is pain. Where'd it come from? Why is that a thing? And let me tell you once again, baby girl Lisa, we are...
You're gonna be blown away with what we came across. Joan, she's dressing like a hussy. I don't know. And we got Paul over. I don't know what's going on today with these ladies. They are acting up. I miss the memo to come in my little corset with my titties out. Well, I guess my titties are kind of out.
Hey, how are you doing today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian. This is Paul. This is Joan. And if you put the three of us together, it's PB&J. Just found that out. And I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here, we believe history does not have to be boring. No, a lot of the times it's tragic.
Sometimes it's happy, rarely, but either way, it's our dark history. So all I need you to do is sit back, relax, and let me just ramble and tell you about all that hot, juicy history goss. Because it's endless. It's the well that keeps on giving.
Okay, look, my Google history is questionable. I'm definitely on some kind of list somewhere, right? Someone's watching me because I Google the most ridiculous things. And many, many years ago, I got like really interested about foot binding.
Okay, so when I think about beauty being painful, my first thought was like foot binding. Okay. Personally, like I first had learned about this in high school, but we kind of like breezed past it. I saw a picture in my book and everything. And I remember thinking, wait, that's a foot? Huh? But we just kind of moved on. And I was like, didn't anyone just notice page 63? It looked like a straight up Dorito. What was that?
Okay, so foot binding. Let me tell you about it because I recently learned so much. Foot binding started way back in China with the women of the Tang Dynasty. So from the years 618 to 907 AD. Yeah, first of all, close your eyes and try and imagine those years. I don't even know, like what did that look like? Were camels even invented yet? I don't know.
But listen, China was ruled by the Tang Dynasty, which is considered by many historians to be one of the most important times in Chinese history. Their military was powerful and they were snatching up new territories like nothing. And people were getting rich off the economy and the culture was thriving. I mean, there were plenty of poets, painters, dancers, performance arts. But there was something afoot in China.
You get it, a foot. Okay, listen, it was foot binding. Hello, hi, have you heard of this? Have you Googled the images? If you don't know what it is and you're like, "I'm new," it's where the feet of Chinese women were painfully modified and mutilated to become smaller, which was said to be excruciating. I mean, when you think about it, have you ever like in the middle of the night hit your big toe on the edge of your bed?
And now you're like, "Oh, it's over!" Like, "Ugh, this is my new life." It's like that, but your whole foot is folded in half. But the exact origin of foot binding is unknown. Oh my God. We had to blur Paul's crotch because he was showing a little too much bush. Mm-hmm.
Anyway, the exact origin of foot binding is unknown, but historical records from the 900s AD first mention the male attraction to tiny feet. And it all started with one very demanding and horny emperor. As the Tang Dynasty was winding down, there was an emperor who sat on the throne. He's like, "Yay."
His name was Liu. Now like many like rich and powerful men at the time or just in general, Emperor Li loved the fancier things in life. The luxuries. To be wine-dined. Maybe even 69. Duh.
One day, he had his people create a six-foot-tall statue of the Golden Lotus, which represented to the people at this time enlightenment and purity. Now, on top of that, the statue was covered with all sorts of expensive stones, gems, and super beautiful pearls. But this wasn't just like a statue to look at and be like, wow. No. Emperor Li had...
what some would call a unique passion project going on. So he's like, "Okay, I want this six foot tall golden lotus, and it's gonna actually be like a really big stage." A stage like no one has seen before. This emperor, he had surrounded himself with, you know, many mistresses. And one of his favorite mistresses was a woman named Yao Ni Yang.
Now, he wanted Yao to dance on top of that six-foot golden lotus. He's like, dance, bitch. But not only that.
She also had to perform while her feet were bound with white silk. Like some real kinky shit. The emperor wanted her feet to appear smaller and to be in the shape of a crescent moon. I read somewhere, I don't know if this is true or not, but like what I had read was that the crescent moon represented fertility, purity, stuff like that. So maybe he wanted like his sexy girl to like dance for him.
Fertility, I don't know. I could be lying. I read it online. These days you just don't know nothing, huh? So the emperor's like, "Okay, look, you have to do this whole dance on the points of your toes while your feet are bound and on top of that golden lotus."
But Yao took this challenge and she's like, "Okay." You know, does her thing. And she performed, baby. She showed up. The historical record says that her dance was so graceful and well done that other dancers and women all across China, they wanted to imitate her look. They're like, "Oh my God, she's incredible. The emperor loves her." And it's like,
Again, I had this moment of like, oh my God, history is just the same shit over and over again. It's just people wanting to like, you know, imitate the wealthy. That should just be the whole show. You're welcome. I answered life. I answered everything.
So the women, they figured that if they could like copy Yao's foot binding technique, which was now known as the lotus foot, they too could catch the emperor's eye. So upper class women started binding their feet by wrapping them in silk and the practice ended up spreading really from there. Chinese women used the lotus foot as their standard for beauty and because of this, tiny feet became a sexual desire for Chinese men.
I know, I don't know. Just another thing to be insecure about. Here's the thing. At some point, it wasn't enough for like the feet to appear smaller. No. The cultural expectation in ancient China at the time was that the woman's foot should be physically smaller. Okay, so like how do we do that? Now in order to physically change your foot to make it appear smaller, the process, wha!
It's very unfortunate. Yes, it is. It literally involves breaking the bones in your foot. All of them. In ancient China, for it to work, they would start foot binding when a girl was young. So getting them when they're young is super important because the foot wasn't fully developed. Hello? So it's like this new little foot and they're just like, it's pretty wild. Any younger and the girls, I guess they couldn't handle the pain. Those lousy two-year-olds. And any older...
At this point, their bones would be like too strong and it was harder to like shift around to get this perfect size. So here's how it worked. Step one of foot binding, a young girl's foot is wrapped real tight in some sort of cloth bandage. Now this would help prevent the foot from growing as she got older, 'cause we don't want that. Step two, the foot would be wrapped again
And I guess this is when it would get like really gruesome. Keep listening because this is history. During the second phase, because you don't have to like wait, right? For the foot to like get soft or whatever the fuck. And then during the second phase, the foot, they were wrapped in a way so the girl's toes would bend under the foot and then begin to merge with the sole. I know that sounds confusing, but foot, here's my foot.
Oh my god, come on over to YouTube to watch this if you're in a feed. So they would take this and literally like fold it to here. Do you understand? Do you understand? A foot should not be doing that.
Shout out to Bebe. Love my Bebe socks from Ross. Okay so they would crunch the foot in half. Jesus I know. The whole point was like to bring the toes and the heel as close together as physically possible. Again all to make the foot appear smaller. I know. For what? Well let me tell you but not yet. So the big toe it was said that like those were not folded under
The big toe was like kept free because it's like nearly impossible to walk without your big toe. So they needed that one, but the other toes could piss off. The bandage would be so forcefully tightened that the girl's toes, again, they would just break one by one, all of them. And like, that was the point. That's what they wanted. That was the goal, to break them off. Dr. Steve Cummings, a doctor who researched foot binding extensively, sounds like a foot guy,
said that he came across a machine that was used to crush the girl's foot bones. It was kind of like a pasta machine. You know, like when you roll it and like dough goes through it? It's like that. But like for foot. Pasta foot. I guess when it would go through, it would just like break all of her bones. On the bright side, if we could find one, eventually the foot would go numb from the pain. So you couldn't even feel it, which is great. So it wasn't that bad.
So by doing all this, it would make it harder for the girl to stand, balance, and even walk. So this would force the girl to take like very small steps and kind of sway from side to side when walking. But this was considered like, like hot because it kind of added to the gracefulness and attractiveness of being a woman in ancient China. Little quiet steps, being submissive. We're just like, yeah. Ah.
Eventually, over time, the foot would end up looking like triangular stumps. Insert image here. Do you see that? What is that? That's a foot.
Look, a side effect that was often reported was an infection of the feet. That's because it's not like the broken toes just folded under like paper. No, the toes literally like curled downward and then inward. And then the toenails, because we have toenails, remember? They would grow directly into the flesh, like stab it.
and leading, it would lead to an infection, okay? Now this caused a couple of toes or two to fall off, which again, they were like, hell yeah. You know, they don't want those toes anyways. So some women would actually just be like, "Hey, remove all my toes. I don't need them." Because with zero toes, guess what? The foot looks even smaller. It was like a win-win. Well, lose-win.
depending on how you look at it, but sometimes even more was lost than just toe. 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
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.
Historians say that 1 in 10 girls in ancient China died because of foot binding. But still, foot binding continued to happen for a very long time. I'm talking like for centuries. And by the early 1800s, when Western doctors started practicing medicine in China, they reported some grisly stories. One doctor said that a young girl decided to have her bandages unwrapped and like her feet were hanging on only by the tendons.
Yeah, I don't like to imagine that, huh? I don't think anyone does. And in some cases, the foot bandages were so tight that it often cut off blood flow to the feet, which led to many young girls suffering from gangrene. And then in order to save their lives, I thought over here, oh, they would just cut off the foot. No, they would have to cut off like the entire leg.
I was like, "Damn." I guess gangrene goes up the whole leg. So it's just not a good time, right? Despite all of the horrors, having small feet became the hallmark of femininity in ancient China. The thinking was that the smaller the foot, the more fertile the woman was. How? I don't know, but it kind of makes sense, but not really. But because of this, small feet just like,
equaled a more desirable wife. But not only this, small feet also had value in social circles. So when it came to like foot binding, the upper class had a saying, quote, "If you care for a son, you don't go easy on his studies. If you care for a daughter, you don't go easy on her foot binding." End quote. Yeah, I wonder if that was like embroidered on pillows or something.
It's kind of lengthy, but they took this to heart. And to the elites, having a woman with bound feet meant that like the family had the ability to take care of a quote, crippled woman.
crippled woman. I guess to them, that was a sign that you were well off. Like if an upper class woman was going through the foot binding experience, she'd get the luxury of being carried around by her servants. In other words, like she doesn't have to do any manual labor herself. She has other people do it for her. She has people literally walk for her.
But women who weren't as well off, they were forced to, I guess, like use canes and just take very small steps around. But for the lower and the middle classes, a young girl with small feet could be used as currency, like a bargaining chip.
as a way to move up the social ladder. For example, if a middle-class family has a daughter with tiny feet, oh baby, they were like, "Yeah!" She could marry into like a rich family that would take care of her. Score. And as a result, like that middle-class family is now associated with the elite of society. So their parents, they had their fingers crossed like, "Give me a baby with small feet, please." But not all small feet are created equal.
Now listen to this. There was actually kind of a scale for ranking small feet. The hottest brides at the time had a foot that was just three inches long. Yeah, that was goals. That's like the length of a debit card. And ladies, that's the only thing we want to be three inches. Am I right? No? Okay. Jeez, this crowd always dead.
The size was known as the golden lotus. It's like winning the gold medal in the Olympics. It's just everything. Now, let's say a foot that was like four inches long was like...
It's okay, you know, it's still pretty good, but it wasn't the best. This was called the Silver Lotus and honestly that kind of sucked because it's like you're almost there, you know, you're like second place, almost at gold. But it wasn't jaw-dropping. But a foot that was five inches or more, oh my god, don't you show your face in public again you, you nasty. That is embarrassing. This would be very undesirable, okay? And this even had a very ugly name.
The Iron Lotus. Ugh! How embarrassing for you! Anyways, it meant that your chances of being a bride... Probably not gonna happen. Last place, baby. In other words,
Sucks to be you, you know? And it's not gonna like open any doors for you. But while these foot standards were crushed in all sorts of feet, women were able to find kind of like a silver lining. Foot binding was like a moment for daughters, mothers and grandmothers to come together and bond. It was a bonding moment. We're bonding.
And this was important because knowing your mom and your grandmother went through that same exact pain in a way was kind of like therapeutic, brought them closer together. So it's like, oh, my mom and my grandma did this. So if they did it, I can do it too. So it was like, wow, it's all about the women coming together and stuff. Cool. But really like...
Historians point out that the cultural practice of foot binding, it actually forced women to be dependent on men. It reinforced the idea that women should be submissive. I mean, a woman literally couldn't walk out of a bad relationship. And bound feet also meant a girl was easier to control.
Melissa Brown at Harvard's Center for Chinese Studies says that foot binding forced women to stay home and do work like spinning silk and earning money for the family. By the 1800s, it was estimated that 40 to 50% of all Chinese women may have had their feet bound at one point or another. And within upper class circles of some Chinese ethnicities, that number gets close to like 100%. 100%.
That's insane. Now, even though it was popular, not everyone in China was a fan of the practice. The government of the Qing dynasty condemned foot binding and tried to outlaw it. Some Chinese writers also denounced the customs.
And around the 1870s and 1880s, with the help of Western missionaries, anti-footbinding societies started to pop up. In 1887, a Buddhist reformer named Kang Yeh Wei founded the Foot Emancipation Society. He went on to write a formal memo to the emperors.
arguing that he should abolish foot binding because he said it made China look real bad. In 1912, foot binding was outlawed across the Republic of China. And by 1949, the cultural practice was almost totally abandoned. But here's the thing. Foot binding had been happening for over 1,000 years. That's
That's a long time, if you don't know. And laws can't like erase those customs and traditions overnight. The last factory that made Lotus shoes, which were platform shoes made specifically for women with bound feet, they closed shop in 1999.
Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, that's not that long ago, right? Like someone was buying those shoes up until then. Photographer Jo Farrell spent 13 years traveling China, tracking down the remaining women who survived foot binding. She eventually found 50 of them and photographed them for her book, Living History, Bound Feet Women of China. Now Farrell found older women who happily showed off their once bound feet.
And after meeting dozens of these women and learning more about the practice, Farrell had an interesting take. She said, quote, I feel so many people talk about how barbaric the tradition was, but it was also a tradition that empowered women. It gave them a better life. They were doing the best for themselves, end quote. And that side is like, okay, that makes sense too. You know, two things can be true at the same time.
But you can definitely check out Joe Farrell's photos. They are absolutely fascinating. And I'll post a link in the show notes down below. So check that out. But as I was doing my research on foot pointing, all that tying up, circulation, talk, sometimes breaking of bones, naturally made me think of corsets.
Right? Hello? I mean, when you think about it, the foot binding is kind of the same thing as a corset. You're tying and breaking and reshaping. Same shit. Different body part. So, naturally, I was like, mm, corsets. Mm, they bought some. Joan got some. Paul didn't. I don't know what happened with Paul.
And as I got to googling and goggling, I read an article from the Smithsonian Magazine. I know I'm fancy. This magazine said, quote, "A small foot in China, no different from a tiny waist in Victorian England, represented the height of female refinement." End quote. So during Victorian times, one of the main purposes of the corset was to support the breastises. If you're watching this on YouTube, it's a good day to be you.
Which means corsets were essentially one of the earliest versions of a bra. Yeah, but it wasn't originally created for like the chest area. In the 1800s, most Victorian women would not be caught dead without having their waist lugged and snatched at all times. 24 inches?
Yes, bitch. Mandatory. Look, this was the beauty standard at the time. Big bust, teeny waist, and nice round hips. So an hourglass shape. That's very hard to achieve. The best way to achieve this shape was with the use of the tight lace corset, which is exactly what it sounds like. A corset that is tightly laced against the body to really squeeze everything in, change a woman's shape over time.
Pretty fierce. First, women would slide on these corsets and then sucked in. Your stomach would get sucked in. Your titties would be like up to your freaking chin. It was just like, whoa, this is a lot, you know? Posture though, on point. Tits, praising Jesus. Hips, rounded. You were a disciple.
But these women, they wouldn't stop at corsets. Oh no, of course not. So they would put on something called a crinoline cage, which honestly kind of looks like a bird cage, but in the shape of a skirt. It was originally made out of horsehair fabric.
Ding dong, I just had a thought. Recently I came across a Swedish bed that was made out of horse hair. Now I was like, "What? This sounds very uncomfortable." Horse hair? Poor horse. What was his name? I wanted to know more. So I laid on said bed because I was curious. And sadly, I'm sad to report it was the most comfortable thing I've ever laid on.
Anyway, so I thought of the bustle because I would imagine it would be uncomfortable, but I guess the horsehair was like really comfortable. That's what I was getting at. Horsehair mattress. Not getting it, but still, that's the thing.
Anyway, they'd also put on a bustle, which is kind of like a butt pad, kind of. This was also those giant Victorian gowns could give them that iconic hourglass figure. First of all, being able to own all of that equipment in and of itself was a flex. Most women can't put on all of that stuff by themselves, which meant that
most likely they had a maid help them put it on. And if you had a maid, that means you're rich. And that's why, you know, everyone wants to act like the rich person. I mean, you couldn't lace themselves in. They needed help. Have you seen the movie Titanic? Do you remember when Rose was getting laced into her corset? Yeah, it was like that. You need help. Dressing like this was the difference between someone having status in society and someone being rejected. So, you know, everyone was lacing up.
And honestly, they looked great. You gotta give it to them, really. But it was like, at what cost? 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 love.
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.
Ladies would begin to use tight-laced corsets even before they hit puberty, so their bodies would start forming as close to that corset shape as possible. Damn, I wish I started earlier. Have you ever worn a corset? Do it once in your life. You'll be like, oh my God, who am I? You want to take yourself out on a date because you'll look so sexy. Anyways, they would get them when they're young, you know.
So their body would just mold into the corset, just like with foot binding. And these corset-wearing women started to experience painful health problems. According to the authors of Purposeful Pain, quote, internal organs, especially the lungs and bladder, as well as ribs, vertebrae, and pelvis were impacted. Victorian-era girls literally had the breath squeezed out of their bodies, end quote. What do you think about it? I mean, where are the organs going?
They're just moving somewhere new. Joan, where are your organs right now, bud? I mean, ma'am? Joan's titties are out. It's odd that they're white titties. But okay. Girl, you got new titties too? Who'd you get that? Did you go on The Swan? I think I remember your episode. You couldn't look up images of girls' bodies before and after wearing corsets regularly? And it's like, wow. Wow.
That's all I gotta say. Everything internal from like the middle of your body down, it just gets squeezed into a V shape. And between not being allowed to eat too much so you don't gain weight and wearing these corsets, girls and women were known to have fainting spells. I mean, no wonder there were all those fainting couches around that time.
These poor women were literally suffocating and passing out everywhere. All for what? Beauty. Ain't that some shit? For centuries, corsets were the main undergarment for women because it was like
A catch-all. Spanx and a bra in one. But support exclusively designed for the boobs didn't show up until the early 20th century when something called bust supporters hit the market. As the years go on, more and more women start shedding the layers of their clothing. They didn't have to deal with those crinolines or bustles. Now the dresses were a little bit more sleek.
you know, very fitting and flattering to the body. Like you could actually see a woman's real shape under her dress. And if you had, I don't know, like a big out of control titties or even a flat chested situation, then these were definitely for you. The bust supporters.
So they would sell them in a few different forms. There were the Shuruffle bust forms specifically marketed for women that were flat chested and their ads would feature a woman with a cartoonishly small waist
big old titties, you know? And the ad would say like, a perfect figure for one dollar. The flat chest woman was never at so great a disadvantage as in today's stylish, slender frocks. Yeah, whatever that means. I was like, what? A dollar? That's all I caught.
I guess it's just like stuffing your bra, you know, back in the day. Did you do that? Yeah, me neither. It looks like a full corset with a chest attachment, but instead of being laced up in the back, it like ties around the waist. It's kind of hard to explain, but it was another option instead of the corset. But still, like no bra on the market, you know, just something to hold up the titties. And then one day, a woman named Mary had suffered a wardrobe malfunction that truly changed titties forever.
In 1913, Mary was getting ready for a ball. She's like, yeah, I got a ball. She's feeling herself. She's getting her face on. She's doing her hair. She's pre-gaming shots, you know? So she slips on that classic hardcore set with like another tight core set above it, over it.
It's a corset on a corset. It was a lot of layers, okay? And my understanding is that like wearing a corset on top of a corset just really made things smooth. Have you ever doubled up your Spanx? I used to wear a pair of Spanx and then another pair of Spanx.
I felt like I was sculpted by the gods. It's kind of like that, you know? Obviously not the same. But Mary steps into her party dress and then she runs into a big issue. It was completely see-through. Like you could totally see everything going on underneath that dress. You could see her corset and that was not it. That was not the vibe. And it completely ruined her outfit. She's having a meltdown. She has nothing to wear. What am I going to do? I can't go to the party.
I just wasted my whole night. She referred to the corset under her see-through dress as quote, "a box-like armor of whalebone and pink cordage." Sounds super cute. Mary realized that she was like really screwed. She's like, "I can't get my money." So she asked her maid,
She has a maid. So she asked her maid to bring her two pocket handkerchiefs and some pink ribbon. I love a DIY project. So on the fly, Mary designed, let's be real, her maid probably kind of helped her design too, a little contraption that would keep her baloney nipples in check. Her maid sewed the pocket handkerchiefs together and created straps with like a pink ribbon. And just like that, guess what? The very first modern bra was invented.
When Mary got to the party, she was like, uh, uh, uh, like just dancing and shaking it like her ass was on fire. And then a woman at the ball was like, oh my God, she's dancing like her ass is on fire, but her boobs and everything is staying in place. I need to know more. So this woman goes up to Mary and she's like, how are you moving around with a corset on? Huh?
And Mary told them about her last little DIY invention. Now this woman at the ball was like, "You need to make me one." Okay, like demanded Mary make her whatever this was. It didn't have a name yet. And that's when Mary knew that she had a really good idea on her hands. In 1914, she patented her invention as a quote, "backless brassiere," end quote. She was able to like make a dollar off of each of these backless brassieres, which back then,
Very big deal, especially if you were a woman. But for whatever reason, Mary's bra just like didn't get off the ground. Maybe she wasn't like pushing them that hard or I don't know, but she wasn't selling as many as she had hoped to. Her husband,
Her husband insisted that she sell the idea so they could make at least some money, you know? So she's like fine babe, whatever. And she sells her invention to the Warner Brothers Corset Company for $1,500. And no.
No, not the Not those Warner Brothers. It would have been a fun little add to the story, but these were some other brothers who did some corset stuff. But it wasn't a household item just yet. The girls who knew about this thing, they knew. Okay, they knew it was up. But
But that was about it. Lots of women at this time were still clinging on to their corsets. So to them, it was like, hey, why fix something if it isn't broke, you know? I look good. I look snatched. My waist is tiny. But then World War I happened and suddenly everyone was ditching their corsets. I know it's random, right?
These stories are always random. During World War I, it was all hands on deck. Before this, war efforts were very centered on men. The women, they would stay at home and take care of the family, and the men were just like shipped off
to war. But with World War, women were stepping up to like take care of business. Many were working in the war industry with steel or ammunition. Some were nurses, some were driving medical vehicles. And all of these jobs required one thing. You had to be able to haul ass. So you couldn't be like walking around all cute in your ball gown and your corset because you can't bend over in that stuff. And so you needed to be able to move freely.
And the other reason was good ol' American patriotism. The majority of corsets at the time were made of metal, and just like with sugar and fabric, people were encouraged to make sacrifices so they could use all of those resources for the war. I guess the men, when they were fighting, they were wearing his corsets. Sorry, that was a funny visual. Not funny, 'cause everyone died and stuff, but they died looking sexy.
In 1917, the chairman of the US War Industries Board even made a public announcement asking ladies to stop purchasing corsets. Get out of my life. How come they aren't always coming for us and our stuff? What about the men? Don't they have like steel in their shoes? I don't know.
According to NPR, over 28,000 tons of steel were saved. That's a lot. This is enough metal to create two battleships. Yeah. So what did women do when they couldn't turn to their corsets anymore? Well, they reached for Mary's backless brassieres. First of all, they were way more comfortable because they were made of cotton and they were a lot easier to put on. No need for a second person to like...
you know, lace you up. After that, women never really went back to the old school corset and bras went through evolution after evolution. In the 1920s flapper era, flattening bandeau bras were in. They wanted to be flat chested. Everyone wanted that flat board shape underneath their iconic fringed flapper dress. But
But then in the 1930s, more money was being poured into the bra industry. So there was an invention of the elastic straps, the adjustable band, and the biggest game changer of them all, the cup size. Yeah. So this brought on inventions like the push-up bra, the sports bra, even those like little bralettes that a lot of us wear today. Unless you got big old titties and you can't wear that shit. Where my big old titty ladies at? Ayyyyy.
Sometimes they try and like kill you at night when you're laying down, the titties flop up and you're like, I can't breathe. Anyways. So today over 90% of women in Western countries wear bras, which is like pretty wild, huh? We all are doing it together. Why? I don't know. That's pretty much all of us. Who's the other 10%? Well, good for you. But
There's this theory out there that because of the #FreeTheNipple movement, bras may become a thing of the past. I don't know what they're so afraid of. I really don't think this is ever gonna happen. People need bras.
Sorry, I disagree. But like they believe that women in general are just totally over the beauty standards that have been forced on us, which is like, yes, good. Yeah. So like, what does that mean for the future of bras? Well, who's to say? You know? But here's the thing. It doesn't end there. Not even close.
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
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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.
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I mean, ladies, hello! We've literally shifted our bones and organs around to achieve different beauty standards. So you got the perfect small feet, you got that perfect hourglass shape, titties up. It's like, okay, well what else can we bug these women about, hmm? Ew, hairy legs. Oh yeah, that's a good one, you nasty hairy legs. You should be, you should do something about that. That's nasty. So we are doing some pretty weird shit when it comes to...
Drumroll please. Body hair. Body hair. The third one is body hair.
Look, something that I learned that I found fascinating is that in ancient cultures, body hair removal wasn't a gendered issue. Archaeologists believe that early humans shaved their heads and facial hair regardless of whether they were men or women. Now, this was mostly to avoid getting frostbite in the colder climates because water can get trapped in your body hair and freeze against the skin. Do, do, do, do.
the more you know. I know, I was like wait, I always thought a beard would protect you from the cold, but no opposite. Interesting. Hmm? So they would get rid of it all. Now back then they obviously weren't using Nair. Have you ever left, accidentally left Nair on a little too long on the hoo-ha ladies? Just me again? What the fu- So what the hell were they doing back then? Well I'll tell ya. Clamshells. Right here. Sounds like something they do in Spongebob.
But they would sharpen clam shells to be like extremely thin and very sharp at the end, at the tip, you know? And then they would drag it against the skin, which would then pull at the grain of the hair. Essentially dry shaving. Ooh, ow, burn, right? Now, if they didn't have clam shells available, they would use the next best thing, animal teeth. Yeah, they're the wildest. Step one, find an animal tooth.
All right, then you drag it over your legs and that's how you would shave. That sounds pretty badass actually. Could you imagine like walking in on someone shaving their legs or head with like a tooth, an animal tooth? I'd be like, what the fuck?
Look, the point is, it started off as like a practical thing. In ancient Egypt, women and men were big fans of getting rid of all of their body hair. They thought it was just more hygienic because fleas and lice were a big problem. And that's fair, I give that to them. Plus there was like a shit ton of venereal diseases and hair would trap all of that, making people sick.
So instead they were just like off with the hair. Gone. But don't worry, they weren't sawing their bushes off with those razor sharp clam shells. Some of the first legit razors ever created came from ancient Egypt around the year 3000 BC. Ancient Egypt is like the coolest place ever. They invented everything, right? Yeah, 3000 BC. That's like 3000 years before Jesus was around. People were landscaping their hoo-hahs.
These Egyptian razors were made out of copper, but they weren't like the only option. People also used like a version of the tweezer and also pumice stones, which were like used very aggressively to rub off the hair.
God, it just sounds like you would rip off all of your skin and like bleed, right? Oof. By the time Cleopatra was queen in the year 51 BC, a new method called sugaring was all the rage. Sugaring is kind of like waxing, except instead of wax, you take water, sugar, and sometimes lemons, and heat them up until they turn into a sticky gel-like paste. Then you take the sugar wax, spread it on the hair that you want to get rid of, you know?
put on a cloth, cloth strip, rip that shit off. And we basically do the same thing today.
Okay, ancient Egypt, wow. So influential. Hey, if you try this recipe at home, let me know how it goes. 'Cause at first I was like, I'm gonna try this, but then I got scared. And this is when Cleopatra had a little trendsetter moment. Apparently she would remove all of her body hair, including the hair on top of her head. Now this symbolized elegance and once again, high social status. And isn't that what this is really all about?
Anyways, everyone saw this and razors, they weren't cheap back then. So everyone and their mom, they find any way that they could possibly find to remove all of their, all of their hair at home. So they were going like full naked mole rat everywhere.
You know what I'm saying? It's like great. Glad you started that one. I like a bush. Hey, the hair removal trend goes from Egypt to Europe, just like perfumes, toothbrushes, spices, everything we've talked about here on Dark History. Basically everything starts in Egypt and then Europe, they steal it and they're like, "We invented it, yay!"
Allegedly. For whatever reason, it's not clear why or when exactly this started, but the Greeks believed that pubic hair was a masculine feature. It was believed Greek goddesses lacked any kind of pubic hair, so Greek women had to try and be like them. I mean, you wanted to be a Greek goddess, right? Then get rid of that fucking hair, you nasty shit.
Side note, if you go to a museum and you know when you see those like beautiful Greek sculptures of like women, they're usually naked. If you've noticed, they don't have pubic hair. Go take a look. The Greek goddesses, the women, they don't have pubic hairs, but the men, they got some pubes. Isn't that weird?
That's why. Fun fact. Go home. Tell everyone. Be free. Anyways, but there was also some pretty interesting rules associated with how bald you had to be down there, depending on the kind of woman you were. Essentially, again, the more powerful or threatening you were, either because you had money or you belonged to a good family or you were married to a powerful man, these women were all trying to have
Just bald Brazilian situations at all times, but Greek. So like a Greek salad. You know what I'm saying? And this kept them looking feminine, just like Athena. They're like, "Oh my God." But if you were more of like a middle-class Greek girl, it was like, okay, as long as you kept it clean, you didn't have to be, you know, completely,
Naked down there, nothing too crazy. And the enslaved women of ancient Greece weren't expected to do any sort of pubic upkeep whatsoever because, well, they weren't seen in society as a threat. Because of these class divides, Europeans began to see pubic hair as a sign of being dirty or uncivilized. So as time goes on, more and more people were willing to do whatever it took to keep their junk. Your hoo-ha, beaver bush freak.
Even if it meant that, you know, you had to bear the worst kind of pain. In Rome, upper-class women would de-pube themselves through a variety of painful ways. One way to do it was to literally tweeze their pubic hairs off one by one.
They had the time apparently, geez. They kept using pumice stones to grind off the hair. And another popular method was burning your pubes off with the flames from oil lamps. You know, could you imagine? You're just sitting there like, yeah bitch, fucking burn that shit, burning man, woo, burn the bush, burn the bush. What could go wrong? You know?
Live reenactment for you. You're welcome. I guess you got to pick one, right? I don't know. But honestly, I don't know which one I would pick. No, I do. I like the idea of burning off my bush. It's fun. It's in the Bible. John 3:16. I'm just kidding. It was a completely known fact that this kind of upkeep was literal torture as men saw it as just one of the sacrifices that the right kind of wife should make for her husband.
It's like, yeah, what are you doing? Huh? Huh? You can't even brush your teeth, you nasty. But I gotta burn my bush off? Okay, sure. God, being a woman must have sucked. Anyways, it always comes back to like what men want, you know? The Mel Gibson movie, geez. So tweezing and oil lamp burning were known to be very painful.
so much so that playwrights would actually use them as a form of torture in popular plays. Like it was some kind of running gag. A famous playwright named Eris Toffanis wrote the scene where a man trying to go undercover as a woman has his pubes plucked out individually and the entire time he's howling in pain and the whole crowd went wild. It was a hit. They're like, "Oh my God, this is so funny. I do that."
But at some point, like ripping off and burning off hair wasn't enough. Someone got the bright idea to start messing with our God-given genes and try to like change our hair color. And in those early days, how they did it was pretty toxic. Literally, it still freaking is. Now, have you ever bleached your hair, Joan? Oh, Paul. I know Paul has. He died, I think, from the hair bleach. And so, ooh, sometimes it burns and you're just sitting there like,
minutes, but it's like burning your scalp off and you're like, yeah, fun times. I was blonde for a long time. I loved it. I was like, give me the pain. I could take it. Anyways, ever wonder where that came from? Bleaching your hair, not the pain. Shocker. It was actually Queen Elizabeth the first.
Fun fact for you there. She brought it to the upper class masses. Now, Queen Elizabeth, super popular. Everyone loved her. Everyone wanted to be her. And I guess she had some strawberry blonde hair that everyone was like, I want that hair color. I want to be like her. So a lot of times they would mix together a little potion of rhubarb juice and oil of vitriol. Rumor has it, this shit was a painful mixture. So they would paint it onto their heads. I'm painting my head right now, if you don't know.
Great. And it was said that this was an excruciating process that was extremely corrosive to the hair and also the skin. Well, uh, that's because, turns out, rhubarb juice and oil of vitriol is better known today as sulfuric acid. You familiar? You know her? Yeah, so they were dumping sulfuric acid on their heads and I guess whatever hair didn't fall off when they were done
would be blonde. Gorge, love that for you. Okay, got the new haircut. It's all burned off. You got a couple blondes hanging over here. It's cute. Rock that, yeah. Between Cleopatra, those Greek goddesses, and the Queen Elizabeth, the expectations are pretty set for women to do whatever it takes to keep their hair off of their bodies and maybe even changing its color. Okay, just be pretty. We don't want you ugly.
Now, when we get to America in the early 1900s, there's another big surge in hair removal for women. 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 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.
Up until then, women had been covered up, locked, never showing skin, very modest, you know? It was like standard to wear tights, long skirts, dresses, covered bitch. But then again, during World War I, there was a huge shortage in nylon. I guess these men were just out there fighting, wearing corsets, nylon.
And that was wild. They were looking hot while doing it. But they were banned. Shortage, nylon. Nylon, if you don't know, was used to make tights or stockings. Unclear what they needed the nylon for in a war, but that's a question for another day. Either way, this left women shit out of luck because...
Now, tights were ridiculously priced or just like unaccessible, really. But hemlines at the same time were also starting to rise. People were showing a little bit of the knee, baby. You know, and this was all taking place during the Roaring Twenties. So that ankle was out and everyone was seeing it.
and no one wanted to see a hairy ankle. Ugh, gross. So the problem was that the term shaving was associated with men and the practice of shaving their faces. So instead, women were encouraged to smooth themselves with hair removal products like bleach, wax, and early versions of Nair. I guess it would just straight up fry off your hair.
Wild. Yeah, sure, it was more painful, but whatever. Who gives a shit? I don't want body hair. Aren't we nuts? We are psychotic, ladies. Anyways, in 1915, the first ever female-branded razor came out, and this was called Milady Decolet.
"Ooh, m'lady. How are you, m'lady?" And there was an ad for it in Harper's Bazaar, and it was essentially a warning to flappers that, quote, "summer dress and modern dancing could lead them to reveal armpit or ankle hair." So, oh man, this just struck fear into people. Oh, it would absolutely ruin your reputation. A hairy ankle? And then people would be talking shit on you, like, "Have you seen Jane?"
Her ankle? Bitch. Hairy. And you don't want that. Why? I don't know. Because we're women and that shit sucks. Basically being clean shaven or smooth, if you were a lady, was just considered basic hygiene at the time. And let's think about it.
Okay, I thought about it. It still kind of is, right? I mean, a lot of people just associate it with basic hygiene. And shit, we still do all these painful things. Shaving, waxing, sugaring, whatever the hell. And we do it because it feels smooth. And I guess we like that. But it's like, why do we really like that?
I don't know, 'cause we're sickos. Look, I didn't shave my legs from end of October all the way up until last week. And I loved it. I liked being hairy. It was warm. It was like I was wearing leg warmers at all time. I love that. And it was so nice. I could feel the leg hair blowing in the wind. I was like, "Ah, it's beautiful." I could braid it if I really wanted to. It was glorious. But then I had a date for a shave. Yeah, for the man. I shaved my legs.
Look at me, little hypocrite. Ugh! I would have kept my leg hair too, but I wanted to show my ankles. Shit. Society has always had us women doing some crazy shit to achieve whatever ideal of beauty is popular at the time, right? Who has lasered their ear off? Let me know down below.
or whatever it is, it's always in order to get a man. And whenever humans do something over and over for centuries, it truly changes the way we think. There's something in psychology called the halo effect.
And this halo effect essentially says that when a person has one good trait, we kind of automatically assume that they have a bunch of other good traits as well. This is why we think that beautiful people are nice and smart and talented and have everything because she's beautiful.
It's just the way our minds have been conditioned. We immediately think beautiful people equals beautiful, perfect person. When in reality, she's probably got some hairy ass ankles and she's a goddamn bitch, you know? And all of that leads to someone having what is called pretty privilege. People who are considered beautiful, I guess they have more advantages in life and they get more fun stuff like promotions at work, sex,
I'm not sure what else, but they just get a lot and they get away with it. Now don't get me wrong, all of this applies to men as well, but here's the big problem. Men who are attractive are looked at as smart, confident, and trustworthy, but women, I guess, are judged on a different scale and it seems that pretty privilege for women really means
Don't be too cute. Because like if a woman is too pretty, people tend to think, well, she must not be the brightest bulb and she's probably vain and shallow. I mean, society are just years and years and years of beauty standards truly has brainwashed us into thinking that our appearance is everything. I know I'm a victim of it, bitch. I'm always like, am I pretty? No, I'm not.
That's a lie. But it seems like it's kind of always working against us, you know? It's like, damn, what is the freaking point of all this pain? To get opposite sex attention? Or do we like it? I don't know if I like it or if I'm doing it for other people, you know? I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking it. But the dark part, I love a titty slap. Come on.
Okay, so here's the dark part for me is that I know, at least for me, I can only speak for myself here, is that this stuff is always in the back of our heads just noodling around. It's like, put on that corset, put on that makeup, be smaller, your feet fucking suck, you know? And I'm like, geez Louise, brain, like where are you coming up with this?
It's like we gotta retrain the brain. All of this stuff that we've been told to do to please everyone else, like paint your nails, do your hair, get the titties, smash your face, you want a new nose. Like, oh my God, are we okay? I guess the takeaway is that beauty standards
they keep on going, right? And they have a very shady past. And the question becomes, are you really doing this for you or are you doing this for them? And that's like the question you should really be thinking about, right? Am I doing this 'cause I wanna do this or because like of social pressures?
And I'm not coming for you if you've like done anything. Like please, do as you want in your life, with your body, with your temple. As long as it makes you happy and not because you're trying to like please someone else, right? And the answer to that question should tell you everything you need to know, you know? It sounds kind of Barney to be like, you know, do it for you, not anybody else.
But really, it's like, challenge yourself to think about, I don't know, if you're noodling on something. Like, sometimes I get really, never mind, I won't go into all my, like, what I nitpick myself about, but it's like, why am I thinking this way? Because we've been taught, bitch. That's why. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Ugh.
Anyways, speaking of beauty standards, I feel like it's a total crime how much I spend in nail salons. You know, I kind of live there sometimes. I always like to get my feet done. I'm a foot person. Anyways, but I always wondered, like, there's nail salons everywhere. It's like, no.
Nails, the ideas of nails, nail art, nail, where does that all come from, you know? It's for sure a luxury that we all tend to take for granted, but it's like an affordable luxury, really. But I wanted to know more. What's up with nail art?
What's up with nail polish? Nails in general. I want to know more. So I decided to find out. And this rabbit hole quickly became one of my favorites I've ever gone down. With each new thing I learned, my mind was completely blown. The history of nail salons is...
juicy and it's got everything. A horrible dictator, an A-lister from the golden age of Hollywood, and the inspiring story of some refugees who built a life for themselves in America out of nothing. So come back next week for the dark history of nail salons. Random but let me tell you it's a journey.
Hey, guess what? You can also join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. Yeah. And while you're there, you can also check out my murder, mystery, and makeup. I love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story. So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can see what you're saying. I want to know, what are your thoughts? Are you wearing a corset right now? Let me know.
Now, let's read a couple of comments that you guys left me. My favorite part. Nakia left a comment on our conjugal visits episode saying, quote, I was a conjugal visit baby, LOL, and my dad was in Parchman, end quote. Oh, wow. Small world? I honestly can't believe Parchman is still open, right? Shouldn't that place be blown up? Oh my God. With no one in it.
Well, I'm glad for conjugal visits because without them, you would not be here and I appreciate you. Thank you. Jalen Ingle wanted to share this little tidbit with me. Quote, Bailey, I thought you would like to know that my BF and I were in the mood.
Okay. But we were at his mom's house. Oh no. And it was quiet out there. So he's told me to blast one of your videos. So I did. And we got busy. End quote. I'm definitely going to add that to my resume. Sound muffler. I love that.
No, I was gonna say porn star, but that's not it. That was just background noise. Sound muffler, I love that. Added to my resume. Use protection. Don't be dumb. Anyways, Jackie Knight had an episode suggestion for us, saying, quote, Hey Bailey! Exclamation point. I hear ya. You should do a dark history about big box stores and their takeover of small town America, like Walmart.
Okay, okay, okay. I like this. I like where your head is at. I recently read somewhere that there is a Walmart museum. Also, have you seen the home of the owners of Walmart? They're like the Waltons or something. They own this incredible house in LA that's like $50 bajillion. They got so much money. It's so stupid. I would love... Dark history of Walmart. Yes, it's added to my list.
I need deodorant. 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 Filobos, and me, Bailey Sarian. Production lead, Brian Jaggers. Research provided by Xander Elmore. I want to say a special thank you to our expert, Antonia Malchik. And I'm your host, hi, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. Use protection. And I'll be talking to you next week.
Nice to meet you. Or maybe we've met before. I'm the COVID-19 virus. I use disguises to fool your immune system. My buddy the flu virus and I make thousands of people sick every year. But updated vaccines make it a lot harder.
America, we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. At
At Grand Canyon University, we believe in equal opportunity and the American dream starts with purpose. To serve others in ways that promote human flourishing and create a ripple effect of transformation for generations to come. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private, Christian, affordable. Visit gcu.edu.
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.