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This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human. Welcome to Erin 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. On Christmas Eve of 2009, Gurgly Barky was looking desperately for a way to keep his three year old daughter entertained. There was lots of work to do to ensure a magical Christmas morning, and Barky was eager to get his daughter to settle down. Like many families, Barky's household had run through all the usual Christmas movies. Barky flipped across dozens of television channels, all playing the same three holiday films, until he finally came across one playing something different. One channel had just begun playing the 1999 movie Stuart Little. Not very festive, but at least it was something Barky's daughter hadn't seen. And just as he was about to return to his Christmas morning preparations, his daughter asked him to sit and watch it with her. Barky fought off a groan. Fine. He would watch this 10 year old movie featuring a talking mouse instead of attending to his growing to do list. It was Christmas, after all. When Barky agreed to spend this time with his daughter, he had no way of knowing that he would be rewarded with the best Christmas gift he could have ever asked for. Not quality family time, though we can assume he was grateful for that as well. No, Barky's reward came in the form of Stuart Little's living room, specifically one painting on the living room's far wall. Barky leapt from his seat. He dove for the remote before remembering that the movie was playing on cable and he had no way to pause or rewind it. For a moment he was crushed. And then the painting appeared again on screen. And again. And again. You see, Gergaly Barki wasn't just an exhausted dad trying to make Christmas magical for his family. He was also a researcher for the Hungarian National Gallery and an expert in the paintings of Robert Barony, a Hungarian Expressionist painter From the early 20th century who is famous for several works, but most notably for Sleeping lady with Black Vase. And that particular work, Sleeping lady with Black Vase, depicted Berenice's second wife in repose. He'd completed the painting around 1925, and records show that it was sold in 1928. Since then, the painting had been lost to time. Researchers, including Barki, suspected that this was due to the political upheaval in Hungary during the period, the buyer and their family may have purchased the painting and then left Europe shortly afterwards. The question then became, how did a painting last seen in 1928 wind up on the set of Stuart Little? Before the movie had ended, Barky got right to work. He bombarded the production staff of the movie with emails and voicemails, asking how and where they had found the painting. It was the best Christmas present for an art historian, barky said. And then nothing. For two long years. His requests for information went unanswered. Doubt crept in. Could the painting that he saw in Stuart Little beautiful had been just a replica? Barky watched the film over and over to be sure, and came to the conclusion that it must be the real thing. After all, Barony was no worldwide phenomenon, and the painting was not well known outside of Hungary. Finally, he received an email from the assistant set director of the movie. She had purchased the painting at an antique shop in Pasadena. She told him the set team felt that it fit the elegant aesthetic of Stuart Little's house, and when the movie wrapped, she had asked to take it home, and the painting had hung in her Washington, D.C. bedroom ever since. She invited Barky to come in person and confirm the identity of the painting. Within a few months, he flew from Hungary to Washington and met up with this assistant set director near the National Mall. As soon as he laid eyes on the painting, he was sure it was the real thing. There's only one thing left to check, he told the woman. Barky strode to a nearby hot dog vendor and and asked to borrow a screwdriver. The vendor was happy to oblige. Barky then unscrewed the protective backing from the antique frame and ran his eyes over the underside of the canvas. And there it was. In the lower corner was the stamped date 1928. The last time it was exhibited. Before the painting was purchased, the lost painting had been found. The assistant set director sold the painting about a year later to a private collector who for $285,000. For his part, Barkey gained fame and notoriety in the art historian community and even published a book about Barony's works, including the story of his discovery. Barky says getting to help solve the mystery is reward enough for him. But he added with a twinkle in his eye, I do watch movies very differently.
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We've all been there. You hold on to a coupon, but forget about it and suddenly it's expired.
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Expired in 2012.
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In the early morning hours of May 21st of 1924, just outside the small town of Lone Pine, California, a sudden explosion lit up the desert night. When police arrived, they found that the blast had blown a massive hole in the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which carried water from the farmland of Owens Valley all the way to the city of Los Angeles, 200 miles away. Southern California was in the middle of a long drought, and thanks to this act of vandalism, millions of gallons of precious water had already spilled out onto the sand. The police reckoned that it would have taken at least 500 pounds of dynamite to cut through the iron and concrete of the aqueduct, which meant that they had a major criminal plot on their hands. Immediately, the LA mayor put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspects in the bombing, and detectives were sent into nearby towns to investigate. But even though it seemed like everyone in Owens Valley knew exactly who was responsible for the blast, nobody would say a peep to them. The bombers were heroes. The residents of Owens Valley had been unhappy about the aqueduct from the beginning. It had been built more than a decade prior to help the booming city of Los Angeles keep up with its growing water demand. By so much of their local water supply being siphoned off and sent to the city, the farmers and ranchers in Owens Valley were struggling. Land dried up, crops wilted, farmers lost their profits, and the local economy began to fail. Finally, the people of Owens Valley had decided that enough was enough and it was time to fight back. And amazingly, that bombing outside Lone Pine was just the beginning of what became known as the California Water Wars. A few months later, dozens of Owens Valley residents drove out to that same area and commandeered the aqueduct by force. They opened the spillway gates and let the water flow out, threatening to let it keep spilling until the city of Los Angeles came out to settle their grievances. And they stayed there for days, resisting the sheriff's orders to leave until the city of LA agreed to negotiate with them. Over the next few years there were more and more bombings and acts of sabotage. The Los Angeles water department had to hire armed guards with machine guns to protect the aqueduct. 24 7. The battles continued until 1927 when the main bank in Owens Valley suddenly went belly up. The bank's co owners, Wilfred and Mark Watterson, and I know the last name's irony is not lost on me, had been helping to organize and fund the rebellion. And without them, the resistance collapsed. The Waterson brothers were charged with 36 counts of embezzlement and grand theft. And during their trial they admitted that they had stolen money from the bank to fund the water wars against Los Angeles. The brothers were Both sentenced to 10 years in prison, making them the only people who ever faced criminal charges for the water wars. It was a hard fought battle, but in the end, Owens Valley was no match for the bustling city of Los Angeles. The city kept buying up land and water and by the next year, the once green landscape of Owens Valley had completely turned to sand. The farmers and ranchers who lived in the area were forced to sell their land and move away. And meanwhile Los Angeles kept growing and city officials kept doing whatever it took to survive and thrive in the barren deserts of Southern California. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting curiositiespodcast.com this show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast but book series and television show and you can learn all about it over@theworldoflore.com and until next time, stay curious.
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I'm here on a job site with Tim, who owns his own electrical contracting business.
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Three employees and two work trucks.
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Tim traded up to Geico Commercial Auto Insurance. We're positively here where he needs us most.
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They sure are.
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With step by step help on all his inside insurance needs. All for shockingly low rates.
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Shockingly low, huh?
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Just a little bit of electrician humor. Do you get it?
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I got it.
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You know, it feels like we have a real connection. All right, I'll stop.
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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.