Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

770 replies

ElizabethBest · 06/03/2023 14:24

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - The Willard Suitcases. Over 400 suitcases of possessions were found in an attic at the Willard Insane Asylum belong to patients who had died whilst inpatients so never left. The New York State Museum started a project to document the cases and their contents, and you can learn all about it and see the cases on their website.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
15
Emotionalsupportviper · 07/03/2023 17:44

ElizabethBest · 07/03/2023 12:47

@Emotionalsupportviper The residents were allowed access to their possessions - any they didn’t need were packed in their cases but they could have them whenever they wanted, and after their deaths their possessions were packed away in case their families wanted to claim them. Those that were unclaimed were forgotten about until the attics were rennovated in 1995, when the cases were given to the New York State Museum.

the residents were also allowed to make visits to friends and family etc.

The photographer’s blog contains conversations with staff, family members etc. Suitcase #2, which belonged to Anna, is a good example - Anna’s niece got in touch with the photographer to talk about her, and she would make frequent visits to her family.

Oh - thank you!

I was really upset on their behalf, and I know that asylums didn't have the best of reputations. Appreciate you letting us (well, me) know.

Tricyrtis2022 · 07/03/2023 17:53

DPotter · 07/03/2023 16:33

Someone mentioned about where ideas come from to invent something.

So I'm a potter and I get how someone would have been dabbled with a bit of mud, realised it's mouldable, that it hardened off and became stronger if it was left near a fire. I can see how over time that could happen. However there's a technique called Obvara that simply blows my mine. It involves removing your pot from a red hot kiln (think raku for those of you who watch the Great Pottery Throwdown) and rather than just leaving it to cool, you plunge the pot into a bucket of what is basically batter mix - that's water, flour, sugar and yeast. The results are amazing as the flour is burnt on to the pot so it looks like a glaze. Who came up with that idea and probably more importantly why and how did they ?

Loving this thread - have taken lots of suggestions for podcasts and books. Thanks to everyone whose contributed !

better go and do some work now........

The first idea that springs to mind for that technique is that someone in the distant past dropped a red hot piece of pottery into the batter by accident and then thought 'Sod it' and did whatever stage in the process comes next. Maybe they thought it would just burn off and not result in the raku effect. It may well be that many things were invented by accident.

DumpedinKilburn · 07/03/2023 17:58

ElizabethBest · 07/03/2023 12:02

@DumpedinKilburn I went through a phase of being obsessed with Oxford Theory, the incomparable brethren etc - it’s so interesting!! My theory is he’s a bit like James Patterson, or Carolyn M Keene who write the Nancy drew books - it’s a convenient pen name for a collection of writers. (Although I don’t think there ever was a real Carolyn Keene? I think the entire person was made up? It’s been a while!)

Oh, I hope not!
I really hope he was just that lad from Stratford.

WigsNGowns · 07/03/2023 17:59

JaffaCake70 · 07/03/2023 17:29

I'm obsessed with early, silent era, Hollywood.

One of the most fascinating stories of the time is the scandal attached to Fatty Arbuckle, he was accused of murder!

For anyone interested I wrote a blogpost about it: taintedhollywood.blogspot.com/ It's the only one I ever wrote, I have never found the time since 😂

@JaffaCake70

If you are into silent films you may know this already but the death of Thelma Todd has always fascinated me.

She was a beautiful Hollywood actress who was found dead aged 29 in 1935 wearing a mauve and silver gown, mink wrap and expensive jewelry in her chocolate-colored 1934 Lincoln Phaeton convertible inside the garage the ex-wife of her lover. The ex-wife was called Jewel Carmen which is quite the name.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Todd

Tricyrtis2022 · 07/03/2023 18:06

JaffaCake70 · 07/03/2023 17:29

I'm obsessed with early, silent era, Hollywood.

One of the most fascinating stories of the time is the scandal attached to Fatty Arbuckle, he was accused of murder!

For anyone interested I wrote a blogpost about it: taintedhollywood.blogspot.com/ It's the only one I ever wrote, I have never found the time since 😂

Not obsessed, but love to watch the stunts that Buster Keaton did. The storm scene in 'Steamboat Bill Jr' is incredible, especially when you think it was filmed in 1928 when technology was so basic. The part where the front of the building falls down, but lands around him because he ends up in the window is amazing.

Halsall · 07/03/2023 18:10

The podcasts made by Karina Longworth about early Hollywood are fascinating - You Must Remember This. She’s moved on to much more recent movie history but you can still find the ones about things like the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.

DumpedinKilburn · 07/03/2023 18:10

Squamata · 07/03/2023 14:52

Early plastic surgery in the wake of WWI.

Lots of disfigured soldiers who basically agreed to be human guinea pigs. The early ones had awful procedures like having a skin flap from their arm grafted onto their heads so the arm had to be strapped to the head while it took.

It also makes you think of the mental and emotional toll of war, beyond shell shock etc - going through the war was bad enough, but to be left with half a face and problems eating etc must have been unthinkably bad.

www.nam.ac.uk/explore/birth-plastic-surgery

Have you read The Facemaker by Lindsey Fitzharris.

It was published last year and is a wonderful book-the cover alone is worth the money! It is all about Harold Gillies who was the man who led this pioneering surgery for soldiers in WW1-what a man!

She gave an online talk at The National Archives last year and it was interesting about this topic-full of humanity and history.

lurchermummy · 07/03/2023 18:11

@ComeTheFckOnBridget to play pop with someone means to give someone a good telling off - Northerner here

Original poster
ElizabethBest · 07/03/2023 18:15

@Squamata Have a look at Anna Coleman Ladd - she used to hand paint prosthetics for WWI soldiers. Amazing woman!

OP posts:
louise5754 · 07/03/2023 18:20

Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, 25, a supermarket employee from Council Bluffs, Iowa, is believed to have fallen into an 18-inch (460 mm) gap between a cooler and a wall and became trapped. His body was discovered ten years later when the cooler was moved.

louise5754 · 07/03/2023 18:20

I've just been looking at the strange death list.

I guess the manager assumed he had walked out? I no wonder whether he was reported missing?

DPotter · 07/03/2023 18:26

Tricyrtis2022
The first idea that springs to mind for that technique is that someone in the distant past dropped a red hot piece of pottery into the batter by accident and then thought 'Sod it'

Yes I'd thought that too - but why would you have a bucket of batter mix near a 1000 degree heat source - too hot for cooking !

I'm sure many things are invented by accident - I'd like to know the events leading up to the accident and how the good outcome was recognised.

Tricyrtis2022 · 07/03/2023 18:32

but why would you have a bucket of batter mix near a 1000 degree heat source

Maybe that was an accident too?

I agree, though, and would also love to know the sequence of events that resulted in so many things being invented.

SinnerBoy · 07/03/2023 18:40

uncertainalice · Today 16:57

I was just getting excited about going to the Corning Museum of Glass...only to discover it's in the States...

You could try the National Glass Centre, in Sunderland.

JaffaCake70 · 07/03/2023 18:40

Tricyrtis2022 · 07/03/2023 18:06

Not obsessed, but love to watch the stunts that Buster Keaton did. The storm scene in 'Steamboat Bill Jr' is incredible, especially when you think it was filmed in 1928 when technology was so basic. The part where the front of the building falls down, but lands around him because he ends up in the window is amazing.

Show quote history

Buster, or 'The Great Stone Face', was a real trailblazer when it came to stunts. And apparently he was one of only a small number of friends to stick by Arbuckle when he was going through his trial for murder.

extramaturecheddarcheese · 07/03/2023 18:42

Please could I nominate this for classics so it doesn't disappear until I've had time to follow all these up?!

AnOldCynic · 07/03/2023 18:52

The Collyer Brothers, NYC. Massive hoaders.

JaffaCake70 · 07/03/2023 18:55

WigsNGowns · 07/03/2023 17:59

@JaffaCake70

If you are into silent films you may know this already but the death of Thelma Todd has always fascinated me.

She was a beautiful Hollywood actress who was found dead aged 29 in 1935 wearing a mauve and silver gown, mink wrap and expensive jewelry in her chocolate-colored 1934 Lincoln Phaeton convertible inside the garage the ex-wife of her lover. The ex-wife was called Jewel Carmen which is quite the name.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Todd

Show quote history

Yes I know about Thelma. I have the book Hot Toddy and have read umpteen articles about her and her untimely death (which is still a bit of a mystery).

Bjarnum · 07/03/2023 19:03

Wasn't it subsequently shown that the remains found were male?

Bjarnum · 07/03/2023 19:04

Re Crippen trial!

LzMc · 07/03/2023 19:09

I've become fascinated with cold cases solved when cars have been found in lakes or rivers etc that have been sitting there for decades unnoticed. I've linked two below, but check out adventures with purpose on YouTube who are scuba divers who specialise in searching different bodies of water for missing people. They've solved loads of cold cases in America.

abcnews.go.com/amp/US/case-missing-south-dakota-girls-finally-solved-40/story?id=23347176

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-foss-lake-mystery-six-skeletons-found-inside-two-vintage-cars-pulled-from-lake-could-solve-separate-disappearances-of-a-group-of-teenagers-in-1970-and-three-adults-in-late-1950s-8823930.html?amp

Weallhaveavoice · 07/03/2023 19:20

Chelsea are on tv tonight
So I’ll be googling the Bartlett and The old Bailey. Thanks MNs

Have just spent an hour searching methods that were used to kill accused
“witches” across the world,
I had no idea Scotland killed more than anywhere else.

At least Nicola Sturgeon made an apology, don’t think England has…yet.

MorrisZapp · 07/03/2023 19:23

I'm a professional genealogist so every day throws up fresh rabbit holes for me to lose myself in. A very sad one is the Irish Industrial School system which I came across through work then spent months reading about. It's truly traumatic and part of me wishes I knew nothing about it, but I think I've become a better person for understanding what lies behind so much of today's social inequality.

I'm also a lifelong fan of westerns, and all things relating to the pioneers crossing the USA. Any book, Netflix series or film with a wagon in it gets instantly devoured. I even like the word 'wagon'.

Speaking of westerns, I'm fascinated by the fact that Kevin Costner is called.... Kevin. I think about it regularly.

Daftasabroom · 07/03/2023 19:46

I find etymology and dialects fascinating. Apparently when radio was first broadcast in that clipped RP, half the North couldn't understand. It saddens me we've lost some of that regional diversity.

JaffaCake70 · 07/03/2023 19:47

Grey Gardens is a docu/drama that follows two aging relatives of Jackie Kennedy (Big Edie and Little Edie Beale) who are living in squalor in their dilapidated East Hampton mansion.

In my opinion it's a must watch. The ladies are as eccentric as you're ever going to find and the conditions they were living in have to be seen to be believed.

Truly fascinating characters!