ENCORE: Our Top 10 Most Streamed GTN Episodes
Grating the Nutmeg
ENCORE: Our Top 10 Most Streamed GTN Episodes! Have you explored all these amazing Connecticut stories? #1. #2. #3 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
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200. Erector Sets, Trains and New Haven’s Toymaker A.C. Gilbert
Grating the Nutmeg
We did it!! This is our 200th episode of Grating the Nutmeg! Thanks to our listeners, we have travelled across the state during every time period to bring you vivid, fascinating stories from our state’s history. Become a podcast subscriber to get notified every time there’s a new episode! During this holiday season, it seemed like the perfect time to bring you the story of Connecticut’s biggest toymaker! Of all the toys that are enshrined in the National Toy of Fame, two stand out as having solid Connecticut connections, the Cabbage Patch doll and the Erector...
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TOP 5 of 2024!
Grating the Nutmeg
TOP 5 DOWNLOADED EPISODES FOR 2024 Don’t miss these episodes! #1. #2. #3. #4. #5.
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199. G. Fox and Company Department Store and the Holidays
Grating the Nutmeg
In the mid-20th century, Hartford's G. Fox and Co. was one of the most successful family-owned department stores in the United States. Today, many Connecticans have fond memories of visiting G. Fox at the holiday season -- marvelling at the Christmas Village atop the marquee and meeting Santa in Toyland. In this episode, Natalie Belanger and Jen Busa of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History talk about the history of the store, owner Beatrice Fox Auerbach's commitment to customer service, and the holiday traditions that so many customers still remember. You'll hear...
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198. Entwined: Black and Indigenous Maritime History
Grating the Nutmeg
We all know a little about New England and Connecticut’s European maritime history. Dutch traders came to North America to trade for beaver pelts and English colonists came to start new communities such as Hartford. But a new exhibition at the Mystic Seaport Museum doesn’t rehash this history - it looks to reveal African and Indigenous perspectives on water and the sea. Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea is an exhibition that surveys the interplay of maritime histories through Indigenous, African, and African American worldviews. On view until Spring...
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197. Mark Twain and the American Presidents
Grating the Nutmeg
Early voting has already started in the 2024 presidential election and I just couldn’t resist the suggestion by my guests to explore what Samuel Clemens alias Mark Twain, Hartford’s greatest Gilded Age humorist, had to say about the United States presidents. Was Twain the John Stewart or John Oliver of his day? Known for his sharp wit and scathing satire, what presidents met with his approval? Corruption, national identity, the power of big business, and America’s global role were just as contested then as they are now. His funny, insightful observations about the presidents...
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196. Connecticut Body Snatchers: Merchandising the Dead in the 19th Century
Grating the Nutmeg
Have you got your Halloween costume ready? Been on any graveyard tours this month? Well, this story for you! I’d never thought of body snatching as having anything to do with Connecticut but as this episode proves, the disappearance of a young women’s body lead to a New Haven riot. I’ll get the details from Richard Ross author of the new book American Body Snatchers, Merchandising the Dead in 19th Century New England and Washington, DC. Dick Ross is a retired college librarian and professor emeritius from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Order his new book...
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195. George Griffin: Revealing the Life and Likeness of Mark Twain’s Butler
Grating the Nutmeg
Most people know something about Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens. After all, he wrote his most famous books while living in Hartford, Connecticut. His 25-room house on Farmington Avenue cost over $40,000 in 1874 dollars. Raised as a child in Missouri, he became world famous for his wit and humor both in print and on stage. But what if the man who served as Twain’s butler for 17 years had a story that was just as powerful and gripping as Twain’s? In today’s episode we are going to meet that man, George Griffin. Twain scholar and collector Kevin MacDonnell's...
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194. Revolutionary War Hero Lafayette Makes a Triumphal Return Tour
Grating the Nutmeg
In this episode, you'll hear about the remarkable life and legacy of the man that Lin-Manuel Miranda called "America's favorite fighting Frenchman," the Marquis de Lafayette. This month marks the 200th anniversary of Lafayette's visit to Connecticut, part of his so-called "Farewell Tour" of America in 1824. Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History spoke with Julien Icher of the Lafayette Trail about the Marquis' role in the American Revolution, and how his farewell tour 50 years later helped Americans to reflect on how far they'd come. Check out The...
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193. Radical Connecticut: Labor Strikes!
Grating the Nutmeg
Author Steve Thornton asks “Who really makes history”? In his new book, Radical Connecticut: People’s History in the Constitution State, co-authored by Andy Piascik, guest Steve Thornton tells the stories of everyday people and well-known figures whose work has often been obscured, denigrated, or dismissed. There are narratives of movements, strikes, popular organizations and people in Connecticut who changed the state and the country for the better. Unlike a traditional history that focuses on the actions of politicians, generals, business moguls and other elites, Radical...
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This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire. In this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History tells the story of the deadliest man-made disaster in Connecticut history.
On July 6, 1944, the Big Top of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus caught fire during a matinee performance. Within ten minutes the tent was burned away, taking the lives of 168 people with it. Hundreds of people were injured, and thousands of survivors would remember that day for the rest of their lives. For generations, people have been drawn to the story of the fire, and to the mystery surrounding the identify of the unclaimed child victim who came to be known as "Little Miss 1565."
Please note that this story includes graphic content and may not be suitable for all listeners.
If you'd like to learn more about the disaster, there are many sources available. Here's a partial list. You can also visit the site of the disaster, which is marked with a memorial, on Barbour Street in Hartford, behind the site of the former Fred D. Wish School. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33804-d3324207-Reviews-Hartford_Circus_Fire_Memorial-Hartford_Connecticut.html
Stewart O'Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy, 2000
Don Massey and Rick Davey, A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565, 2001
Don Massey, ed., Circus Fire Memories: Survivor Recollections of July 6, 1944, 2006
Michael Skidgell, The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top, 2014
You can read some survivor accounts in this Fall 2006 CT Explored article.
A wide collection of primary sources are collected by Michael Skidgell on the website https://www.circusfire1944.com/
You can also read more here:
https://connecticuthistory.org/the-hartford-circus-fire/
Image credit: Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
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Grating the Nutmeg brings you top-flight historians, compelling first-person stories, and new voices in Connecticut history. Your donation will ensure that Executive Producers Mary Donohue and Natalie Belanger can bring you a fresh episode at no cost every two weeks! GTN works with museums around the state to spotlight places that you’ll want to visit, books published by Connecticut authors, new exhibit openings, and more.
Can you spare $10 a month to help support the new voices, research, and books on Grating the Nutmeg? It’s easy to set up a monthly donation on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org Click the donate button at the top and then look for the Grating the Nutmeg link. Thank you!
Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org. You won’t want to miss our Summer issue with new places to go and lots of day trip ideas!
This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Natalie Belanger and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at www.highwattagemedia.com/ Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages to get behind the scenes photos and links to the latest episodes.