Transcript
A (0:00)
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Please welcome aboard the Johnson family.
B (0:07)
The whole fam's here for the Disney Cruise. So you know we came to play. And listen. The adults are gonna have a ball. First we're chilling in the infinity pool, onto massages at Sense's Spa, then gliding into Star Wars Hyperspace Lounge for a toast. We're even gonna kick back with Mickey on Disney's private island. That's how we get down. Cause Disney cruise where we came to play.
C (0:38)
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. When you think about the American frontier, what images spring to mind? Odds are, if given that prompt, one of the things you might imagine is a wagon train, a line of covered carts meandering over the hills and valleys far off into the distance, carrying whole families to their new homes. It's obviously an image with some baggage, too. It's impossible to separate the pioneer trails from the historic suffering that paved their way. But just as crucial to the iconography of the American west is the cattle train. Waves and waves of livestock flanked by cowboys on horseback keeping their herd together. Even as railroads crisscross the countryside, cattle could not be easily transported along the rails, so cattlemen would have to drive their herds for countless miles from one ranch or fort to another. During one of these cattle drives out of Texas, a rancher named Charles Goodnight had an idea. It was 1866, one year after the end of the Civil War. Goodnight, a former Texas Ranger who had fought for the Confederacy, got hold of an old army wagon and began to refit it for the cattle drive. He added shelving cabinets, drawers, fire starters, and a Dutch oven, along with plenty of storage for pots, pans, and other supplies. And he added a water barrel to the back. The idea was that this wagon could be a mobile kitchen for his cowboys as they drove the cattle. And his idea was a hit. The newly assembled vehicle, nicknamed a chuck wagon, became an essential part of cattle drives throughout the American West. The food they served wasn't gourmet food, but it was an efficient way to keep cattlemen supplied in the wilderness. Rather than relying on each cook to carry his own supply of beans, salted meat, and biscuits, the chuck wagon became the de facto town square for cattle drivers. Cooks carried medical supplies, petty cash, and even Performed the services of a dentist or a barber. If needed, One of these cooks could be paid 45 bucks a month, more than twice what the cowboys were making due to their specialized skills required for this job. While the chuckwagon was a crucial part of cowboy life, its utility was specialized. And although you can see chuck wagon races today at rodeos, they're no longer a common part of the American west, Although their DNA does seem to have persisted. You see, the invention of the chuck wagon was followed by a similar but distinct arrival in city streets. Push carts. Although not nearly as self sufficient as the larger chuck wagon, these small carts would roam all over the streets of cities like Chicago and New York, selling cheap food to working people who couldn't afford to make themselves a lunch midday or go to a restaurant. The next evolution in mobile food service was the ice cream truck in the mid 20th century. But almost at the same time, independent entrepreneurs were already thinking of creating a chuck wagon for the cities, A way of serving hot food out of an ice cream truck. And this idea really took off in the mid-1960s. But the result was a controversial one. You see, mobile food service stations earned the derogatory name roach coaches Due to their lower health standards compared to restaurants. They were relegated, at least in the eyes of critics, to a place below fast food restaurants. And it might have stayed that way if not for the Great Recession of 2008. The mood in America was grim. Countless people were out of work. The economy was in utter freefall. People were desperate to feed their families, and so some turned to making roach coaches of their own. The result was a boom in street food, which persists to this day. And of course, nowadays nobody calls them roach coaches. They're submitted for proper health inspections, and in many cities, they're the source of the best food you can find for an affordable price, and a test ground for new cuisine that might not work well in a traditional sit down restaurant. Although there are now countless examples of these food carts worldwide, in the United States, the frontier roots run deep for this style of restaurant. The grandchild of the chuck wagon, the all American food truck.