CLASSIC: The Statue of Liberty Almost Lived in Egypt

Summary

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Ridiculous History – CLASSIC: The Statue of Liberty Almost Lived in Egypt

Podcast: Ridiculous History
Hosts: Ben Bowlin, Noel Brown
Episode Date: February 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this "classic" episode, Ben and Noel unravel the surprising and little-known origin story of the Statue of Liberty. While the statue is an enduring symbol of American freedom and welcome, its iconic torch almost illuminated a canal in Egypt instead. The hosts trace the journey of sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's ambitious vision, the twists of history that redirected his colossal creation, and the fascinating, sometimes ridiculous details about Lady Liberty's inception, construction, purpose, and legacy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Statue of Liberty’s Global Beginnings

• The episode opens by pondering how universally recognizable the Statue of Liberty is—on par with the Eiffel Tower for iconic status ([07:28]).
• Origin Story:
  • Originally, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s grand idea was to build a massive statue for Egypt, not the United States ([08:29]).
  • Bartholdi pitched "Egypt Bringing Light to Asia"—a 90-ft robed woman holding a torch that would function as a lighthouse at the Suez Canal ([09:03]).
  • Inspired by the Colossus of Rhodes; the aim was to create something awe-inspiring and welcoming, not intimidating ([09:21]).
• Negotiations faltered over cost; Egypt opted for a standard lighthouse instead ([10:43]). The Franco-Prussian War further delayed any prospects.

2. Pivotal Shift to America

• After Egypt, Bartholdi traveled to the U.S. in 1871, reworking the concept to appeal to American ideals of liberty post-Civil War ([12:25]).
• He adjusted the statue’s theme from an Egyptian peasant woman (symbol of emancipation) to “Libertas,” the Roman goddess ([13:07]).
• This shift aligned with the American context of recent emancipation and a growing population of immigrants.

3. Strategic Site Selection

• Bartholdi selected Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) for its prominent location—all ships arriving to New York would pass by, making it a fitting site ([17:39]).
• It's also federal land, simplifying logistics and symbolically rendering it "common to all the states".

4. Designing an International Monument

• Bartholdi, aided by Gustave Eiffel (yes, of Eiffel Tower fame) ([07:57]), developed innovative construction strategies:
  • Eiffel engineered the internal iron framework, pioneering curtain wall construction ([22:20]).
  • The statue was built in France, disassembled, shipped, and reassembled in New York ([23:42]).
• Quote: "This is complicated. This is way beyond Ikea, for sure." – Ben ([24:31]).

5. Who Built the Statue?

• In France: artisans and craftsmen under Bartholdi ([24:54]).
• In New York: Construction and assembly relied on recently arrived immigrants, making the monument a literal product of the immigrant experience it came to represent ([25:23]).

6. The Face Behind Liberty

• The statue’s model? Bartholdi’s own mother, Charlotte—called "one of the best Mother's Day gifts ever" ([26:04]).
• Memorable Anecdote: A senator saw Charlotte in the opera box and mistook her for a living Statue of Liberty ([26:39]).

7. Replicas and Names

• Bartholdi patented the statue’s image for 14 years; after the patent lapsed, replicas proliferated worldwide (Tokyo, Brazil, Las Vegas, etc.) ([27:38]).
• Its real name: “Liberty Enlightening the World.” Other nicknames: Lady Liberty, Mother of Exiles, America’s Great Lady, Everybody’s Gal ([29:08]).
• Quote: "We have copycat Statues of Liberty all around the world... Vegas, baby." – Noel ([28:19]).

8. The Dedication and Inaugural Event

• The dedication took place October 28, 1886, with President Grover Cleveland presiding ([30:14]).
• The ceremony saw the first-ever ticker-tape parade: traders at the NY Stock Exchange threw ticker tape from their windows, inadvertently starting a New York tradition ([31:11]).
• Bartholdi dropped the curtain revealing the statue prematurely during a speech, and the crowd went wild ([31:44]).
• Quote: “My work speaks for itself.” – Bartholdi, declining to give a speech ([32:50]).
• President Cleveland: “The statue’s stream of light shall pierce the darkness of ignorance and man’s oppression, until liberty enlightens the world.” ([32:57])

9. Listener Mail: Further Ridiculousness

• A listener writes in about "trial by ordeal"—testing innocence with painful feats ([34:00]).
• Another listener connects a bizarre historical cannibalism ritual to a contemporary song, showing the weird persistence of historical oddities in pop culture ([36:36]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• On Original Concept for Egypt

  • “He says, 'I want a 90 foot tall statue of a woman clothed in Egyptian peasant robes, and she'll be holding a torch. This torch will also serve as a lighthouse to help guide ships into the canal.'” – Ben ([10:25])

• On Bartholdi’s Pivot to America:

  • “He decided to pivot from this depiction of an Egyptian woman that he described as a freed Egyptian slave. And he changed the concept to Libertas, a robed woman, the goddess of free slaves in ancient Rome…” – Ben ([13:07])

• On the Construction Process:

  • “They opted not to use a completely rigid structure… He created one of the earliest examples of what's called curtain wall construction… supported by this internal framework, a skeleton, essentially...” – Ben ([22:20])
  • “This is complicated. This is way beyond Ikea, for sure.” – Ben ([24:31])

• On the Model for Liberty:

  • “Frederick Bartholdi uses his Mother Charlotte as the model for the statue.” – Ben ([26:04])
  • “What a good son.” – Noel ([26:15])

• On the Proliferation of Replicas:

  • “Now we have copycat statues of liberty all around the world. We have them in Tokyo... Vegas, baby.” – Noel ([28:19])

• On the Dedication Ceremony:

  • “As the parade was passing, particularly the New York Stock Exchange traders leaned out of the windows and started throwing ticker tape, beginning the tradition of the ticker tape parade. Seriously, this is the first one.” – Ben ([31:11])
  • Bartholdi lets the curtain drop early: “Bartholdi has bad timing because Everts has a pause in his speech, and Bartholdi's like, 'oh, it's go time.'” – Ben ([31:44])

• On Liberty’s Names:

  • "The real name was at least Bartholdi's name, for it was Liberty Enlightening the World. But according to the Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia, this statue has a ton of nicknames. We can go through a couple. One is Everybody's Gal, which I had not heard." – Ben ([29:08])

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Timeline of Major Events (Timestamps)

• [08:29] – Bartholdi pitches statue to Egypt for Suez Canal (“Egypt Bringing Light to Asia”).
• [10:43] – Egyptian plan falls through; lighthouse is built instead.
• [12:25] – Bartholdi sails to the U.S. and pitches statue tailored to American ideals.
• [17:39] – Selection of Bedloe's Island (Liberty Island) as the statue’s site.
• [22:20 to 23:42] – Details on innovative construction and Eiffel’s involvement.
• [26:04] – Revelation that Bartholdi’s mother is the model for Liberty.
• [27:38] – Bartholdi’s patent, subsequent global replicas.
• [30:14] – The 1886 dedication, the first ticker-tape parade, and the statue’s unveiling.

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Closing Thoughts

The episode brings out the sheer oddity and international journey of a statue now synonymous with American values, highlighting how close it came to symbolizing something very different in a very different place. With their trademark humor ("This is way beyond Ikea, for sure."), Ben and Noel make history both accessible and captivating, showing that even the most familiar monuments are loaded with surprising and ridiculous twists.

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For those who haven’t listened, this episode is a deep dive into the accidental and incidentally ridiculous path that made Lady Liberty an American icon—one that could just as easily have welcomed ships to Egypt.

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Transcript

[Ben Bolan]

Fellow ridiculous historians, we are returning to you with one of our favorite classic episodes. We all know the Statue of Liberty. Have you guys ever gone inside? Have you visited.

[Noel]

When I was younger, I did visit it, and I distinctly remember getting one of those little model kits where you glue the pieces together of the statue.

[Ben Bolan]

That's awesome. What about you, Max?

[Noel]

I have not. I've only been to New York one time, and it was a pretty short trip, so I didn't get a chance to make it over there, but I will.

[Ben Bolan]

Well, maybe if we. Because you're going with us for some field trips in the near future, so maybe if we get there a little bit early, we can all go to the Statue of Liberty together.

[Noel]

Absolutely. Thanks, the French.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes, thank you, the French. The Statue of. This is a particular big thank you because as we'll see in today's classic episode, the Statue of Liberty almost didn't go to Ellis Island. If history went just a little bit of a different way, the Statue of Liberty may well have ended up in Egypt. Let's roll the tape.

[Wells Adams]

Hey, this is Wells Adams with By Order of the Faithfuls podcast alongside my fellow faithfuls and co hosts Tamara Judge and Dolores Catania. The three of us have been watching this season of the Traitors, and we've been inside that castle, so we have insight. Unlike many others, this season of the Traders may be the best we've ever seen. Listen to By Order the Faithfuls on America's number one podcast network, iHeart, followed by order the Faithfuls and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today.

[Dolores Catania]

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[Ben Bolan]

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[Noel]

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[Dolores Catania]

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[Noel]

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[Ben Bolan]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartradio. Casey, could we get a little. A little inspiring music here? The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land here at our sea washed sunset gate shall stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name, mother of exiles. From her beacon hand glows worldwide welcome. Her mild eyes command the air bridged harbor that twin cities frame. Keep ancient lands your storied pomp, cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these the homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

[Noel]

Ben, that was beautiful. Did you write that?

[Ben Bolan]

No. No. I wish. Emma Lazarus is not my pen name.

[Noel]

Okay.

[Ben Bolan]

But that is the. That is the poem that adorns the Statue of Liberty.

[Noel]

I thought it sounded familiar. Ben.

[Ben Bolan]

Noel, have you visited the Statue of Liberty?

[Noel]

You know, the last time that I really saw the Statue of Liberty relatively close, I was with you. We were in New York and we were doing a thing for like, Liberty

[Ben Bolan]

Mutual, where we had to.

[Noel]

Casey. Super producer Casey Pegram was there as well. We had to get the shot so that it matched as close to those legit Liberty Mutual ads that you'd see on tv. That was deeply absurd. It was the whole deal. Yeah.

[Ben Bolan]

Was that the same. Was that the same trip where we hunted down fake buildings?

[Noel]

Yes, indeed. It was the same. The very same. That's right. That was a whole. The whole thing.

[Ben Bolan]

What an adventure.

[Noel]

No, but I actually did go up. You know, you can go up inside and even go up to the torch. Don't remember if I made it that far. When I was quite young and I ended up with a little model that you put together. You glued together of Lady Liberty herself.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah, yeah, I feel you, man. I loved going into the Statue of Liberty. I'm a. I'm a sucker for touristy kind of stuff. We live in Atlanta and I still do touristy stuff. Here you go to the world of coke.

[Noel]

Just on a weekend.

[Ben Bolan]

It's been a while. It's been a while. I wonder if it still has that magic propagandistic appeal.

[Noel]

I'm pretty sure it does. And I'm pretty sure it still has the tasting room where you can taste bad soda drinks across the world.

[Ben Bolan]

The Italian app de justif.

[Noel]

Yeah. Beverly, it's funny that you mentioned that. I was just in Chicago visiting, and I was treated to a quite disgusting liqueur that is very much a Chicago thing. A rite of passage is called malor, and it is a bitter, bitter grapefruit liqueur. So I love the idea of, you know, gross things associated with a place.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't wait to go somewhere in Scandinavia and try Sermstrong. You know, the reason that we're mentioning New York is because today's episode concerns the origin story of the Statue of Liberty. And while we were looking into this off air, I was thinking about you guys. I wanted to ask you, Noel, and you, Casey, and. And you listeners, do you have an Ellis island story in your family's past? Like in my family's admittedly murky history? The best guess I can make is that we were here before Ellis island, before the Statue of Liberty became a thing. But what about you guys?

[Noel]

Yeah, I think it's the same with my family. It all comes back to England. And so I think they probably made the trip over a little bit before Ellis island got going. I don't really know anything about any kind of immigration stories about my family, but I know when I did my ancestry.com report, I was like 90% Scandinavian.

[Ben Bolan]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You told me that. That's surprising. This thing, the Statue of Liberty, it's one of the most famous monuments in the United States. People from across the world may not know very much about this country of ours, but they will likely recognize the Statue of Liberty. It's on the level of the Eiffel. Eiffel Tower. You know what I mean? In terms of its iconicism. Yeah.

[Noel]

And also in terms of its creation, in fact.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes, yes.

[Noel]

Alexander. Oh, gosh. We're gonna need some Casey on the case. Help with this one. Let me give it a shot, though. Alexandre Gustav Eiffel. Gustave Eiffel.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah, Eiffel.

[Noel]

Okay.

[Ben Bolan]

Casey on the case.

[Noel]

Yeah. He designed the interior, like the part that you. The things that hold up the outside, the sculpture part and the steps and all that stuff that you can go up into in the Statue of Liberty, the sculptor design the actual exterior, the sculpture part is Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes, that's correct. So let's travel back in time to the completion of the Suez Canal as it was getting closer and closer to being finished in 1869. This French sculptor Bartholdi tries to convince the Egyptian government to let him build a sculpture. And he says, he walks into the room, you know, it's a pitch meeting. Right. Change. And he says, you guys, I've got this idea for a statue. It's going to be huge. Literally and metaphorically. We're going to call it Egypt Bringing Light to Asia.

[Noel]

Yeah, huge. Because it's inspired by another huge statue. Huge even in the name itself. The Colossus of Rhodes, a colossal statue which was also the inspiration for a quite famous television sculpture. Similarly, the Titan of Braavos in Game of Thrones.

[Ben Bolan]

That's true. That's absolutely right.

[Noel]

It's this massive stone creation that stands astride the waterways entering the city of Rhodes, greeting visitors or scaring them away, depending on how you look at it. But the French version of this was meant to be much more of a welcoming experience.

[Ben Bolan]

Right, right. And when we say the Statue of Liberty as we know it today was inspired by the Colossus of Rhodes, we mean that the sculptor was also follow some of the specifications of the Colossus. The Colossus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was the tallest statue of that time. It was about 108ft high, and that's around the height of the modern Statue of Liberty today, from feet to crown. But you see, what you may not know about the Statue of Liberty was that it was never originally meant to be in the US he pitched it to Egypt first.

[Noel]

Wait a minute. Did you say, we just got the scraps? Egypt scraps, Sculpture scraps.

[Ben Bolan]

We got the tweak, we got the reboot.

[Noel]

Okay.

[Ben Bolan]

So he says, I want a 90 foot tall statue of a woman clothed in Egyptian peasant robes, and she'll be holding a torch. This torch will also serve as a lighthouse to help guide ships into the canal.

[Noel]

Nice. So a little function in there with the form. I'm on board.

[Ben Bolan]

Unfortunately, although everybody agrees this is a good idea, negotiations break down over the price and the leadership involved. They say, this is way too expensive. We can't do this. So instead, they just build a lighthouse, the Port Said lighthouse. And then any other large project gets delayed by the Franco Prussian War. Cause Barthol, in addition to being a sculptor, serves as a major of the militia.

[Noel]

So was this lighthouse bespoke in any Way, Ben. Or was it just a real run of the mill? Lighthouse?

[Ben Bolan]

Bespoke. Yeah. It's one of the most important landmarks in the city of Port Said.

[Noel]

But is it cool looking?

[Ben Bolan]

I mean, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Noel]

That's fair. But it's certainly not a beautiful robed woman extending a torch to the heavens.

[Ben Bolan]

Right.

[Noel]

With a crown representing all that is good and pure in the world.

[Ben Bolan]

Absolutely. They built that in 1869, that lighthouse. And as the war, the Franco Prussian war, continues, Napoleon 3 is captured and deposed. Bartoli's home province of Alsace is lost to the Prussian forces, and a liberal republic, or a more liberal republic, is installed in France. And for a while, Bartholdi has been planning a trip to the United States. And he and his partner decide that now the time is right. So they go across the pond and. And In June of 1871, Bartholdi crosses the Atlantic with some letters of bona fides, some letters of introduction, and he starts looking for a place to stick this statue.

[Noel]

Yeah, and here's the thing. You know, immigration has been a hot button issue ever since the founding of our country. It's like, do we take whoever wants to come and breathe free and all that, or do we draw some lines and be a little more choosy? And obviously, that's something that's very much alive today, maybe even more so than it has been in quite some time. But the argument for having some sort of symbol of, you know, receiving immigrants with open arms was certainly one being made at the time. And so it was kind of good timing that this particular statue was proposed.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah. And he also, for the record, tweaked his pitch a little bit. He wasn't building exactly the same statue. He was making these different sketches. He was figuring out how he would pitch this to the Americans. And he decided to. What would the corporate term be? He decided to pivot. He decided to pivot from this depiction of an Egyptian woman that he described as a freed Egyptian slave. And he changed the concept to Libertas, a robed woman, the goddess of free slaves in ancient Rome, a more universally understood symbol of freedom, at least according to National Park Service Ranger Danielle Simonelli. And this happens right after the Civil War. It could have torn the country apart, but it came out of this traumatic event with more liberty than they had had previously.

[Wells Adams]

Hey, this is Wells Adams with By Order of the Faithfuls podcast alongside my fellow faithfuls and co hosts Tamara Judge and Dolores Catania. The three of us have been watching this season of the Traitors. And we've been inside that castle, so we have insight. Unlike many others. This season of the Traitors may be the best we've ever seen. Listen to by Order the Faithfuls on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Followed by order the Faithfuls and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today.

[Noel]

Segregation in the day, integration at night.

[Dolores Catania]

When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own rules. We didn't worry about what went on outside.

[Ben Bolan]

It was like stepping in another world.

[Dolores Catania]

Inside Charlie's Place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it.

[Noel]

You saw the kkk.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah. They was dressed up in their uniform.

[Noel]

The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power.

[Ben Bolan]

They had to crush him.

[Dolores Catania]

From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's Place, a story that was nearly lost to time until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Noel]

Segregation in the day, integration at night.

[Dolores Catania]

When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own rules. We didn't worry about what was going on outside.

[Ben Bolan]

It was like stepping in another world.

[Dolores Catania]

Inside Charlie's Place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it.

[Ben Bolan]

You saw the kkk. Yeah. They were dressed up in their uniform.

[Noel]

The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power.

[Ben Bolan]

They had to crush him.

[Dolores Catania]

From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's Place, a story that was nearly lost to time until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing. It's an all out manhunt for John Awjay.

[Ben Bolan]

Every search and rescue team in LA

[Dolores Catania]

county has been called in to help. Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department.

[Ben Bolan]

They ruler around the drug scene. Was that a deputy was taken care of.

[Dolores Catania]

Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?

[Ben Bolan]

A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent. Who does that?

[Dolores Catania]

Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert. Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?

[Noel]

I wouldn't do it alone.

[Dolores Catania]

Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Bolan]

So at this point, everybody seems on the same page, and he starts wondering where they would construct this statue. He zeroes in on a place called Bedloe's island now, spoiler alert, named Liberty Island. And he does this because he is gobsmacked by the fact that ships arriving in New York all have to sail past this island. So any ship that's arriving is going to see this statue. It seems like the best place to put it. Who knows, maybe he was thinking Brooklyn instead and changed his mind. There was another fantastic side benefit to locating the statue on this island. It was owned by Uncle Sam. It had been ceded by the New York state legislature in 1800 for harbor defense. This makes it land, in his opinion, common to all the states. So he begins meeting a lot of New York VIPs, you know, and he even meets the president, Ulysses S. Grant. And Ulysses S. Grant says, hey, man, good idea. It's not going to be tough for us to get that site for the statue. And he begins a tour pitching this idea and getting popular support from people of note and people with the financial wherewithal to donate to the cause. He actually crosses the US Twice on rail. And the entire time he's on this tour, essentially this promo circuit, he is searching for people that he thinks will be down with the project. Now, at this point in the story, some of us listening are saying, hey, guys. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hang on. The Statue of Liberty, wasn't that a gift? Didn't France just give it to the United States? What's all this about fundraising? Well, it gets interesting because the statue itself did become a gift from France to celebrate the Franco American Union. And that was in large part due to the efforts of Laboullier. Right.

[Noel]

Edouard de la. He was a French political thinker and a fan and an expert of the US Constitution and also himself an abolitionist. And he ultimately proposed that the monument be gifted to the United States from France to commemorate the preservation of freedom and democracy and to memorialize the work of Abraham Lincoln and his freeing of the slaves, which goes in line with some of the original intent of the statue in it having been an Arab slave woman.

[Ben Bolan]

Right. Which is amazing. But they still had to raise money because the statue itself is the gift. Right, but the statue doesn't come with the pedestal. They have to build something to base the statue upon. It's sort of like, have you guys seen those talk shows? This Used to happen a lot in the 1990s. Talk shows where everybody in the audience wins a big prize or someone wins. Oprah is probably the most famous example. On one episode of the Oprah show, if I recall correctly, she gives everyone in the audience a car, of course, but the problem is when you get the car, you also have to pay taxes on the car.

[Noel]

My favorite film, where she gives everyone in the audience killer bees.

[Ben Bolan]

I was thinking of that same gif.

[Noel]

Yeah, good one. And here's the thing. Laboulet was, who was a huge fan of the Constitution and the United States and the efforts of Abraham Lincoln in freeing the slaves. Because, you know, the French are all about revolution, as we know, and liberty, this notion of individual freedom and, you know, self determination. So this guy who was a political thinker was already known to Bertholdi, or vice versa, rather. He knew Bertholdi because he had commissioned him to do a sculpture or like a bust of him, or he had been commissioned. So they kind of joined forces and were able to get the ball rolling on this statue as a joint venture between French and the United States. Like you said, Ben, they already had the site picked out. They had to raise some money to build that platform. Right. And then they were off to the races.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes, yes. Let's talk a little bit about the construction and the erection of the statue. So Bartholdi goes back to France in 1877, and he's concentrating on completing the head of the statue. He makes enough progress to exhibit it at the 1878 Paris World's Fair. Models of the statue were put on sale to help with fundraising in France. And they even sold tickets to view the construction activity at the workshop where this was being built. The French government even greenlit a lottery. Some of the prizes were things like a silver plate or a terracotta model of the statue. And by the end of 1879, they have raised about 250,000 francs. So, Noel, you had mentioned earlier that the same guy who built the Eiffel Tower helped create Gustave Eiffel. Right. Helped create this statue. He decided to do some pretty innovative things. He opted not to use a completely rigid structure because it would force stresses to accumulate in the skin of the statue and eventually lead to it cracking. He created one of the earliest examples of what's called curtain wall construction. That's where the exterior of a structure, not load bearing, and instead it's supported by this internal framework, a skeleton, essentially,

[Noel]

which is also why it matters. You need an architect and a sculptor. This thing is literally an Inhabitable structure. I mean, you wouldn't live there, but you can certainly. It's massive, and it has to have the same care taken that you would in building a skyscraper, for example.

[Ben Bolan]

Right, yeah. And they also change their minds about the structural material. They were originally just going to rely on masonry, but when they changed the construction materials to iron, this allowed the sculptor to change his plans for the assembly of the statue. Originally, he thought they would assemble this skin on site on the island, but once the materials changed, he decided to build the statue in France and then have it disassembled and transported to the US to be reassembled on the island. So we're building a thing, we're taking it apart, we're literally putting it in crates on ships, and then we're sailing back across the Atlantic, we're unpacking everything, and we're going to start putting it back together.

[Noel]

Yikes.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah. This is complicated. This is way beyond Ikea, for sure.

[Noel]

And also, I mean, there's gotta be something of a language barrier. There would have to be some interpreters involved. This really is a joint effort. I'm wondering who. Who were the builders? Like the actual folks doing the work? It had to have been local people from New York, right? They weren't bringing people over from France to actually do the work.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah. Excellent. Excellent question. So in France, they're using artisans and craftsmen under Bartholdi's direction, and they're building it piecemeal. You know, the head, the shoulders, the arm holding the torch. They don't just start at the feet and work their way up. To your question, Noel, about the people who were in New York helping construct and reassemble this statue, we find a little bit of. What would you call it? Synchronicity?

[Noel]

Big time. Yeah. They were already newly arrived immigrants, because again, New York was known for that. It was this port city, and it was this kind of gateway to the United States for people that were trying to come and start new lives. And they already had this opportunity to get some gainful employment by building this massive thing that was a symbol of what they represented in the first place, which I think is really interesting.

[Ben Bolan]

And there's another employee that maybe doesn't get mentioned as often as they should in the story of the Statue of Liberty's construction. It's the model for the statue.

[Noel]

That's right. It was a real person.

[Ben Bolan]

It's a real person. Not only is it a real person, but it is one of the best Mother's Day gifts ever. Frederick Bartholdi uses his Mother Charlotte as the model for the statue.

[Noel]

What a good son.

[Ben Bolan]

What a sweet boy. You know?

[Noel]

I mean, that is an enduring image, you know, that is gonna be around for a long, long time. Man, his mother must have really loved him. Or who knows, maybe they had a really horrible, cantankerous relationship and he was just trying to make nice.

[Ben Bolan]

Oh, wow. Well, either way, she is now the inspiration for the most recognized statue in the world.

[Noel]

Immortalized.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah, immortalized. Perfect word. And this was first discovered in 1876. Bartholdi invited a French senator named Jules Bozerian to watch the opera with him. He had a box at the opera house. And when the senator pulls back the curtain to step into the box, he's freaking out because it looks like the Statue of Liberty is a real live person sitting in that box. It's Charlotte.

[Noel]

Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right. That is wild, Ben. But here's the thing. This is interesting. I didn't know this at all until we started looking into this. Bertoldi held onto, like, the rights to the image of the Statue of Liberty for quite some time, and then eventually that copyright that he held ran out, like they tend to do, and they open the doors to duplicate statues of Liberty.

[Ben Bolan]

Here we go.

[Noel]

Yeah.

[Ben Bolan]

So, yes, yes. This is a very important point. He obtained a patent on the Statue of Liberty, and it didn't run out for, what, 14 years. The patent itself, the description verges on the poetic. When we're describing the statue, it's. It's quote, a statue representing liberty, enlightening the world. The same, consisting essentially of the draped female figure with one arm upraised bearing a torch, while the other holds an inscribed tablet and having upon the head a diadem, which. I love the word diadem. We don't use that very often.

[Noel]

No. What is it? It's almost like a tiara, right? Yeah.

[Ben Bolan]

It's like a crown, right?

[Noel]

Yeah. So that's right. It did run out. And now we have copycat statues of liberty all around the world. We have them in Tokyo. Nor Brazil. Vegas, baby.

[Ben Bolan]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Noel]

And of course, replicas of them that you can get and little models that you can glue together. I have a cutout cardboard one that's sort of like a. You can assemble and punch little holes and connect the pieces together. So it's, you know, it's everywhere.

[Ben Bolan]

Do you have a secret treasure trove of Statue of Liberty memorabilia?

[Noel]

No, I just have the two. That'd be cool, though.

[Ben Bolan]

I know. Maybe that could be a new hobby. Oh, you know what we should mention? The Statue of Liberty is not the official name. That's just a nickname.

[Noel]

That's right.

[Ben Bolan]

The real name was at least Bartholdi's name, for it was Liberty Enlightening the World. But according to the Statue of Liberty Encyclopedia, this statue has a ton of nicknames. We can go through a couple. One is Everybody's Gal, which I had not heard. Are you serious? Everybody's Gal. GML America's Freedom. America's Great Lady, Aunt Liberty.

[Noel]

Lady Liberty.

[Ben Bolan]

Lady Liberty, yeah. Grand Dame Green Goddess, not to be confused with the dressing Giant Goddess. The Lady Higher up, lady on a Pedestal, lady with a Torch, Mother of Exiles, which is again very Game of Thrones.

[Noel]

That's right.

[Ben Bolan]

And the list of names goes on. Saint Liberty, Giant Goddess, which I think is a little bit heavy handed, but you know, it is an enormous statue, so I guess they've earned that. So let's fast forward to the afternoon of October 28, 1886. President Grover Cleveland, who was also the former Governor of New York, presided over the dedication ceremony.

[Noel]

The good old fashioned New York Ticker Tape Parade.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes, yes, the very same. It's a huge parade. Estimates tell us that anywhere from several hundred thousand people to a million people showed up to be a part of history on that day. And President Cleveland headed the procession and they stood in the reviewing stand to watch bands and marchers from all across the country. The route begins at Madison Square, where they once housed just the army, and then it proceeds to the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan via 5th Avenue and Broadway with a slight detour so the parade can pass in front of the World Building on Park Row. And as people, as the parade was passing, particularly the New York Stock Exchange traders leaned out of the windows and started throwing ticker tape, beginning the tradition of the ticker tape parade. Seriously, this is the first one.

[Dolores Catania]

What?

[Noel]

That's fantastic. Yeah, it's true. And around seven years. This is around seven years after he had originally patented his invention as an invention. I love that idea. It's not a work of art. It's considered an invention because I guess it's functional because it has the lighthouse qualities to it. That is when Bertholdi stood aloft himself up on the statue's face and released this giant French flag into the cheering crowd of like a million New Yorkers who were looking on.

[Ben Bolan]

And here's one of the weird parts about this. So there are a bunch of speeches, right? The first speech is on behalf of the French committee. The second speech is going to. Is Supposed to be by the chairman of the New York Committee, a guy named Senator William M. Everts. And at this point, he's supposed to do the speech, right? And then at the end of the speech, they're supposed to let the flag drop. But Bartholdi, we can only imagine how nervous he is. This has been years in the making, right? Bartholdi has bad timing because Everts has a pause in his speech, and Bartholdi's like, oh, it's go time. And so he lets the flag drop in the middle of this guy's speech, and the crowd goes wild. And the senator, we can only imagine, has to, like, you know, throw up his hands and exit the scene, because you can't keep talking when people are seeing this statue unveiled for the first time. So eventually, President Cleveland comes up and he says, quote, the statue stream of light shall pierce the darkness of ignorance, a man's oppression, until liberty enlightens the world. They ask Bartholdi to speak. They're like, hey, speech, speech, speech. And he says, no, my work speaks for itself. There we go. That's a move, by the way. Yes.

[Noel]

How come people don't name their kids Grover anymore?

[Ben Bolan]

There's someone out there. There may be a Grover listening with us today.

[Noel]

Oh, well, hey, let us know. Is your name Grover? Right in.

[Ben Bolan]

Do you know a Grover?

[Noel]

Do you know a Grover? Have you hugged a Grover today?

[Ben Bolan]

And let us know if you have Ellis island in your family's past and what their experience was like. There are so many different things that we could explore in the story of the Statue of Liberty. But for our purposes today, I think the thing that surprised both of us was that. But this came pretty close to not being an American thing at all.

[Noel]

That's true. That was the hook of today's episode,

[Ben Bolan]

which we sort of got rid of in the front.

[Noel]

Yeah, that's how we do. We gotta have a ridiculous hook, and then it's just an excuse to talk about some cool history stuff.

[Ben Bolan]

There we go. There we go. A reason, maybe.

[Noel]

Exactly. Always. Always a reason. But I enjoyed this very much. Do you wanna. Should we do a little listener mail? We haven't done that in a minute.

[Ben Bolan]

Yeah, it's been a while. Let's give it a go. Go. Yes. The return of listener mail. Our first email today comes from Kimberly M. Kimberly M. Says, hi, guys. I'm a big fan and came across a topic recently that I'm dying to hear you discuss. Get this, Noel. Trial by ordeal. You've heard of this, right?

[Noel]

Yeah. It's like Feats of strength during Festivus.

[Ben Bolan]

So Kimberly says this is the practice of proving one's innocence of an accused crime by participating in a dangerous or painful task and either avoiding injury altogether via the intercession of a deity or to heal well from the injuries incurred. These trials occurred across the world, ranging from burning to boiling to drowning to poisoning. The list goes on. It really boggles the mind that one would have to submit to torture to keep one's good name. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Here's hoping. Kimberly M. That's a cool idea.

[Noel]

I think it's possible that we should just do one as an episode where

[Ben Bolan]

just do a trial by ordeal.

[Noel]

Yeah, we just expose ourselves to some sort of horrific task individually and see who comes out on top.

[Ben Bolan]

Like put our fist in boiling oil or volunteer Casey to do that on our behalf.

[Noel]

Yeah, he could be our champion.

[Ben Bolan]

Casey, are you cool with that?

[Noel]

Absolutely not.

[Ben Bolan]

No. Okay. That sounded like a yes.

[Noel]

Well, whatever. We have to rewind the tape on that. Well, whatever it was, it was definitely Casey on the case. He's a problem solver.

[Ben Bolan]

He's solution oriented. Thanks so much for writing in with that fantastic idea, Kimberly. I think we put it on the queue. We'll see about actually doing a trial.

[Noel]

That's fair. I have one here from Sawyer G. She says, hey, guys, I love your show. And I was listening to one from a little bit ago about the casual cannibalism during the 16th and 17th century. During the episode I was Shook when you started to describe the way old Arabian men would allow themselves to be mummified alive, basically by honey. And then after a century, that mixture was used as a cure all type of medicine. The reason I was shook wasn't because of the nature of that validly weird ritual, but because of. Of a song on one of my favorite albums. The song is called Sweet Bod by Lemon Demon. And the song is about taking a corpse, leaving it in a tomb of honey, and then a hundred years later, using it as a product to sell to housewives with headaches. I always loved the song because it was such a strange and unique concept. I often thought to myself, huh, how did he make this up? Then as I was sitting down listening to your episode and the same process came up, my jaw hit the floor. It's more of a coincidence for me, but I thought you guys might want to check out the song because it's incredible and up your collective alley. The whole album is a concept album where ancient aliens and any conspiracy of the like, ends up being true. And then she gives a Spotify link and it turns out the guy responsible for the Lemon Demon is Neil Seriga. Cece Rega is what I say in my head. I have no idea. Okay, got it.

[Ben Bolan]

Casey on the case.

[Noel]

He has an amazing series of albums that Casey turned us onto called Mouth Sounds. It's sort of like a ridiculous, hilarious kind of girl talk mashup thing. A lot of it uses Allstar by Shrek and mashes up different kind of like 90s songs like Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band with like, you know, all kinds of different stuff. It's hilarious and a lot of fun to listen to. Lemon Demon is much more of like a weird 80s tinged, like lounge kind of record with a little bit of horror theme. And it's very true. He does have a song about this concept that you found, Ben, that we talked about in the casual cannibalism episode, the Mellified Man.

[Ben Bolan]

That's the one. Yes, yes. No proven case of one has been found yet. Is there somewhere in the world in a dusty sepulcher a person who has been mellified? I don't know if it would be a world changing event to find one, but it would be so very, very cool. And you have to ask yourself, without getting too far into the ethics involved, you have to ask yourself, would you take a nip of, you know, corpse honey?

[Noel]

Yeah. Sort of like tapping the Admiral, right?

[Ben Bolan]

Exactly, exactly. If so, let us know. Or if you've actually run into this in real life, if you've seen a Mellified Man, I will get on the plane tomorrow. I really want to see one in real life.

[Noel]

You can write to [e-mail] or you can check out our Facebook group, Ridiculous Historians, where all kinds of memory is afoot pretty much around the clock.

[Ben Bolan]

Yes. And you can also see our personal adventures and misadventures on our own Instagram account. I'm Ben Bolan.

[Noel]

I am Brionic Insider. As always, massive thanks to our super producer Casey Pegram, our research associate Gabe and Alex Williams, who composed our theme.

[Ben Bolan]

And hey Noel, thanks to you for coming by today. Because a lot of people, I don't want to put you on spot. A lot of people don't know it, but this guy Woke up at 4:30 in the morning and flew in from a different state to do this show.

[Noel]

Boy, are my arms tired.

[Ben Bolan]

But it's, but it's great exercise. It's really good for your core.

[Noel]

It's true. And there's nowhere I'd rather be than right here with all of you folks who we will see next time.

[Ben Bolan]

Talk to you soon.

[Noel]

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Dolores Catania]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.