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Make Insurance Double Sure [the Blue-Eyed Six]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Release Date: 03/13/2023

#119: There's Gold in Them Thar Waves [the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company of Lubec, ME]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In 1897 "the Reverend Electrolycist" Prescott Ford Jernegan claimed he could extract gold from seawater for pennies on the dollar. It was a classic something for nothing scam... So why did so many people fall for it? Key sources for this episode include Carl Sifakis's Hoaxes and Scams: A Compendium of Deceptions, Ruses, and Swindles; contemporary newspaper reports; and Carrie C. Bang's The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine. We're presenting at Intelligent Speech 2026: Companions & Rivals! Join us on Febuary 28! Speakers will explore friendships that changed the course of...

#118: They Came from Inner Space [the weird life of Dr. Walter Siegmeister]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Dr. Walter Siegmeister believed we could create a psychic master race by taking off our clothes, moving to the jungle, and consuming only fruit and megadoses of lecithin. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing about him. Key sources for this episode include Walter Siegmeister's The Hollow Earth: The Greatest Geographical Discovery in History; Walter Kafton-Minkel's Subterranean Worlds: 10,000 Years of Dragons, Dwars, the Dead, Lost Races & UFOs from Inside the Earth; and Professor Solomon's Visitors to the Inner Earth. Jenn Thorson: The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is...

#117: Kulopus [Elwood Towner, aka "Chief Red Cloud"]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Come for the strange, sad, and hate-filled story of the Q Shaman of 1940: Elwood Towner, a.k.a. "Chief Red Cloud," who spoke at Nazi rallies in full Native American ceremonial regalia. Stay to hear #13 gets angry and go off the rails. Key sources for this episode include Arnie Bernstein's Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund; Kenneth William Townsend's World War II and the American Indian; Knute berger's "The strange case of the Northwest's Native American Nazi"; and contemporary newspaper reports. The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is...

#116: The Marshal is Missing! [the heist of Marshal Pétain's remains] presented by #42 (Alex Baumans)

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In February 1973, French right wingers broke into the grave of of fascist dictator Philippe Pétain and made off with his mortal remains. This is the tragicomic story of what led them to that moment... and what happened afterwards. Key sources for this episode include Jean-Yves La Naour’s On a volé le Maréchal; Michel Dumas’ La permission du Maréchal; Hugo Coniez’s La mort de la IIIe Republique; and Julian Jackson’s France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Petain. Presented by #42 (Alex Baumans). Alex is pathologically interested in anything unusual and obscure. He’s a closet...

#115: Fluffy Raffles Comes To Town [who?]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

She was the meandering metropolitan mystery, the famous will-o'-the-wisp of the continent, who fooled police and the public from Abilene to Akron. Who was this mysterious and alluring woman, and why did she love bread so much? Thanks to the initiates who contributed their voices to this episode, including Dorothy Sibole (#7), Eric Leslie, and Jenn Thorson! Jenn Thorson: Little Lake Theater Company: Key sources for this episode include contemporary newspaper report and that's about it. (You may find this hard to believe, not a lot of people are out there writing about this.) So let me...

#114: Unhuman Animals [Pennsylvania's anti-cartoon bills of 1903]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In 1903 Pennsylvania found the recipe for disaster: two of the greatest political cartoonists of the day, and an easily caricatured governor with no sense of humor. Their battle went to some...u unexpected places. Key sources for this episode include... Stephen Piott's "The Right of the Cartoonist: Samuel Pennypacker and the Freedom of the Press," contemporary newspaper reports... and that's it. Almost every other source I found either did not go into any detail about the act, or got the specifics so very wrong (like confusing the Pusey and Salus-Grady bills) to the point where I had to doubt...

#113: Such Was Railroading [the Castle Shannon Railway War]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Milton D. Hays had two things: a dream of a railroad linking Pittsburgh to the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania, and a lack of ethics that would allow him to realize that dream. This is the story of the Castle Shannon Railway War. Key sources for this episode include contemporary newspaper reports; the Bridgeville Area Historical Society, Brookline Connection, and Carrick-Overbrook Historical Society web sites; and N.A. Critchett's fantastic (and highly inaccurate) "Double Gauge." The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which...

#112: There Must Come a Change [Octavius Valentine Catto]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Octavius Valentine Catto was truly a man for all seasons: scholar, activist, politician, baseball star. He could have been the inspiring black leader Reconstruction-era Philadelphia needed... if he hadn't been murdered. Key sources for this episode include Daniel Biddle and Murray Dubin's Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America; Joe William Trotter Jr and Eric Ledell Smith's African Americans in Pennsylvania: Shifting Historical Perspectives; Michael E. Lomax's Black Baseball Entrepreneurs: 1860-1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary; Ryan A. Swanson's...

#111: Samozvantsy [false Dmitrys in the Time of Troubles]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

The Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich died from an accidental self-inflicted knife wound in 1591... but that didn't stop him from popping up to try and reclaim his throne in 1604. And 1607. And 1611. And 1612. And... Key sources for this episode include Chester S.L. Dunning's Russia's First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Romanov Dynasty; Maureen Perrie's Pretenders and Popular Monarchism in Early Modern Russia: The False Tsars of the Time of Troubles; Paul Avrich's Russian Rebels, 1600-1800; and Peter Julicher's Renegades, Rebels and Rogues Under the Tsars. Special thanks to Kristen...

#110: The Choice of the Next Generation [the Cola Wars in space]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

War! The balance of power in the Cola Wars has been shifting for years. In a stunning move, Coke has swept into NASA and is about to send its signature beverage into orbit... but not if the underdogs at Pepsi have anything to say about it... Key sources for this episode include Charles T. Bourland and Gregory L. Vogt's The Astronaut's Cookbook; David H. Harland's The Story of the Space Shuttle; Tony Reichart's Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years; numerous patent applications; and contemporary newspaper reports. I'll be presenting at the Intelligent Speech conference on February 8, 2025!...

More Episodes

Joseph Raber was "too lazy to live and too lazy to work" -- the perfect victim for conspirators who insured him to the gills and murdered him. Join us this week for 1879's Crime of the Century, the incredible tale of "the Blue-Eyed Six!"

https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/make-insurance-double-sure/

Key sources for this episode include Gary Ludwig's The Blue-Eyed Six: A Historical Narrative; G. Thomas Gates's A History of Hangings for Homicide in Lebanon County; and contemporary newspaper reports. Thanks also to #2 and #23, who helped me understand some of the more confusing legal issues surrounding the case.

Part of the That's Not Canon Productions podcast network. https://thatsnotcanon.com/

This week we're co-promoting with fellow TNC podcast Pop DNA!. Join hosts Erin and Rhonda as they dissect the building blocks of our favorite pop culture works, sometimes with bad jokes. https://linktr.ee/Popdnapodcast

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Email: jackalope@order-of-the-jackalope.com

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