This episode is a look at how in the early to mid 1900’s the abolitionist laws banning the production and consumption of alcohol played a majorly significant role in the creation of what, today, is a veritable institution of the American South, NASCAR. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://winstoncupmuseum.com/nascar-and-prohibition/#:~:text=Across%20the%20country%2C%20bootleggers%20had,cases%20of%20liquor%20as%20possible https://www.history.com/news/how-prohibitio ..read more

There are many stories throughout history of individuals with freakish appetites, who seem to be able to consume quantities of food well past what a human stomach should be capable of handling. Today, we’ll be diving into the story of Charles Domery, a Polish-born soldier who tried to eat the whole world. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month: patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://historianandrew.medium.com/the-man-who-couldnt-stop-eating-including-cats-rats-grass-and-his-friend-s-leg-c7ec7e1fce01 https ..read more

For most of history, the Dutch have been an almost all-powerful force to be reckoned with. They were the forerunners for a lot of the world's exploration, and for a long time dominated the seas and trade routes through the stranglehold of the Dutch East India Company. In the preceding century, they were still under Spanish rule, with 2 of their kings, Charles the Fifth and his Son Phillip II, simultaneously ruling as the kings of Spain and the so-called Low Countries of The Netherlands. But the Dutch weren’t having any of this for long and at the first sign of mismanagement, made their feeli ..read more

For today's story we will be diving into the life of a truly extraordinary man named William V McKenna, and while he fits the category of “people who eat random things”, those things that he ate can’t really be classified as food. So let's see just how this man, William McKenna first discovered his talented digestive system. ------------------- Please support me on Patreon for just $2 a month : patreon.com/foodhistorypod ------------------- Sources for this episode's research: https://www.picuki.com/tag/humanostrich https://www.weirdhistorian.com/appetite-for-intestinal-destruction-the ..read more

WW2 was raging onwards, with men fighting and dying each and every day. It was so delicately poised that there seemed to be no end to the fighting in sight. Weeks and months dragged on into years, and with them came more and more plots of how to win the war. Some were impractical, some were impossible, and some were downright insane. But every now and again, one of these plots would be just insane enough to work. And so, out of this think tank came possibly one of military history’s greatest-ever schemes. What if we turned Adolf Hitler into a woman? ------------------- Please support me ..read more

There is a spice we use so commonly today that it's hard to believe that at one time, wars were fought, people were killed and entire civilizations almost wiped out, simply so that the strongest force could get their hands on this prized spice. ------------------- Thank you to Four Sigmatic for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Four Sigmatic is offering you 30% off anything in their range when you use promo code: FOODHISTORY at checkout. Check out their range here: https://us.foursigmatic.com/ ------------------- Thank you also to Chemists In The Kitchen by LabX and the ..read more

If ever you’ve doubted food's integral place in history, today’s stories are sure to remind us all, that no matter what life and history in general, wouldn’t and in fact, couldn’t be the same without the daily rituals that food brings. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit www.athleticgreens.com/EMERGING to take ownership of your health and pick up the ultimate daily n ..read more

Many old food-based fortunes were light-hearted party games mainly played around Halloween time, but some of there were deadly serious, and their results were taken as gospel truth. And at the time, all you needed to tell the future, was a full pantry and a little imagination. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit www.athleticgreens.com/EMERGING to take ownership of y ..read more

Today's stories aren’t just about the small-time pilfering of food here and there from your local grocery stores. No, today we’ll be talking about people stealing truckloads of the stuff at a time, not it seems to quell their stomach's callings, as much as to refill those empty wallets. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit www.athleticgreens.com/EMERGING to take owner ..read more

There are few things more universally loved than a good sandwich. We as humans love the simplicity and deliciousness of having something to hold all of our favourite fillings together. But there was a time in our history when the venerable sandwich was used not for sustenance, or delight in a tasty meal, but rather as a loophole with which to get around some rather limiting laws. ------------------- Thank you to Athletic Greens for being a sponsor for this episode. To make it easy, Athletic Greens will give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs wi ..read more