Podcast Summary: "Balloon Riots"

Stuff You Missed in History Class
Hosts: Tracy V. Wilson & Holly Fry
Date: November 17, 2025

Overview

This lively episode dives into the surprising and chaotic history of "balloon riots"—public disturbances that arose around hot air and gas balloon launches from the late 18th to 19th centuries. Spurred by failed expectations, crowd impatience, and the spectacle’s popularity, riots erupted in France, Britain, the US, and Australia (not just at a single event in 1819). Hosts Holly and Tracy combine humor, direct quotes, and thorough research to illuminate a forgotten side of the ballooning craze.

Episode Structure

1. Introduction to Balloonmania and Cultural Context
2. Early Ballooning History & Public Fascination
3. First Notable Balloon Riot Incidents
4. Breakdown of Major Balloon Riot Events
   • Paris (1784)
   • Philadelphia (1819)
   • London (1838)
   • Sydney (1856)
   • Melbourne (1858)
   • Leicester (1864)
5. Aftermath and Decline of Balloon Riots
6. Listener Mail & Closing Thoughts

1. Introduction to Balloonmania and Cultural Context

[02:16–04:00]

• Tracy introduces the suggestion for the episode, noting that previous episodes focused on the excitement of balloon launches, not riots.
• Clarifies: The 1819 Philadelphia riot is one of many worldwide, but not all are well documented.
• Holly explains balloons used were large and filled with hot air, hydrogen, or coal gas; earliest precursors include Chinese sky lanterns from the 3rd century BCE.

2. Early Ballooning History & Public Fascination

[04:41–11:24]

• The Montgolfier Brothers (France, 1783):

  • Created large cloth-and-paper hot air balloons, achieving the first untethered human flight.
  • Early flights included sending up animals (duck, rooster, sheep).
  • Quip from Tracy: “Hooray!” [05:00]

• Hydrogen Balloons (Jacques Charles & the Robert Brothers):

  • Silk balloon, filled with hydrogen created by pouring sulfuric acid onto iron filings.
  • After one unmanned flight, locals attacked it with “sticks and pitchforks” [06:31]—the first hint of public suspicion or backlash.

• Balloonmania:

  • Massive crowds attended launches—130,000 at one Montgolfier launch.
  • Fashion and print culture embraced balloons (hats, fans, broadsides).
  • Holly shares a satirical song from a Boston broadside, lampooning "balloon madness." [07:28]
  • Samuel Johnson quote:
    “I have three letters in this day all about the balloon. I could have been content with one. Do not write about the balloon, whatever else you may think proper to say.” – Samuel Johnson, 1783 [09:16]

• Balloonomania:

  • First recorded mention:
    “‘The balloon Omania is, I think, a little chilled, not extinguished by Rosier's catastrophe.’” – Horace Walpole [10:04]
  • Post-accident, some feared military uses for balloons and societal distraction.

3. The Spectacle, Disappointment, and Seeds of Rioting

[11:24–12:20]

• Balloon launches merged spectacle and science, with France focusing on scientific prestige and England on adventure and entertainment.
• Tracy: In England, “adventurers… could be focused a lot more on excitement and spectacle and showmanship than on research…” [11:24]
• Public disappointment could quickly morph into anger and destruction if launches failed—Benjamin Franklin warned about this:
  • “A disappointment makes them angry. At Bordeaux lately, a person who pretended to send up a balloon…not being able to make it rise. The populace were so exasperated that they pulled down his house and had liked to have killed him.” – Benjamin Franklin [12:20]

4. Major Balloon Riot Events

A. Paris, 1784 – Failed Three-Balloon Experiment

[16:18–18:11]

• Jean François Janinet & Abbé Miolan:
  • Promised a spectacular triple-balloon launch, funded via ticket sales.
  • The main balloon failed to inflate or caught fire (possibly due to angry onlookers).
  • Crowd tore apart the balloon and viewing stands, throwing debris on the fire.
  • Benjamin Franklin Bache observed pieces “big enough to make a mattress.”
  • Miolan and Janinet ridiculed in the press and in satirical songs.

B. Philadelphia, 1819 – Vauxhall Gardens Riot (the namesake incident)

[18:11–21:33]

• Monsieur Michel, French aeronaut:
  • Promised a flight and parachute jump. Crowd included 30,000+ people, many outside the paid enclosure.
  • Technical trouble: A rock-throwing spectator punctured the balloon, slowing inflation.
  • Rumors of a boy being killed after an altercation at the fence spiraled (unclear if true).
  • Riot: Onlookers storm the grounds, destroy the balloon, rob vendors, and set fire to the grounds—“Vauxhall Gardens was basically destroyed.” – Holly [21:33]
  • The site was later sold and rebuilt.

C. London, Cremorne Gardens Riot, 1838

[21:49–23:36]

• Failed Hot Air Balloon Ascent (incl. book excerpt):
  • Balloon repeatedly set on fire during inflation—crowd becomes rowdy.
  • Spectators pelt balloon with stones, try to tear it apart.
  • Staff tried to distract the crowd by launching the nightly fireworks display:
    “They basically started the fireworks display to try to get everybody to focus on something else.” – Holly [23:36]

D. Sydney, Australia, 1856 – Pierre Magre's Balloon Fiasco

[23:36–25:06]

• Pierre Magre's Attempt:
  • Thousands waited; inflation delayed, crowd grew impatient and skeptical.
  • Balloon's cord snagged, then a loss of hot air foiled launch.
  • Chants of “burn the balloon, burn the balloon”; fire engulfed balloon and supplies.
  • Chaos resulted in a falling pole killing a child; Magre was blamed and censured as the “perpetrator of the sham balloon incident.”

E. Melbourne, Australia, 1858 – Outrage After a Successful Flight

[25:38–26:32]

• Joseph Dean & Charles Henry Brown:
  • Both eventually completed coal gas ascents at Cremorne Gardens.
  • After Brown's successful landing, the crowd attacked him:
    • “On my descent I was treated in a most brutal manner… they tore the hair from my head, bruised, crushed, and almost suffocated me…” – Charles Henry Brown [26:32]

F. Leicester, England, 1864 – The Most Thoroughly Documented Riot

[29:54–39:26]

• Key Figures:
  • Henry Tracy Coxwell (balloonist, famed for high-altitude scientific flights)
  • Dr. James Glaisher (meteorologist)

Backstory: The Coxwell-Glaisher Flight (1862)

[30:34–34:40]

• Attempted to break altitude records for science—both almost died from altitude sickness.
• Glaisher’s harrowing account: “I laid my arm upon the table possessed of its full vigor, but on being desirous of using it, I found it powerless…” [31:58].
• Coxwell, near unconsciousness, managed to open the gas valve with his teeth, saving them both.

The Riot Event (Foresters’ Fete, Leicester 1864)

[35:10–38:59]

• No barriers or enough police for 50,000-strong crowd.

• Rumors spread by a rival aeronaut that Coxwell was using an inferior balloon, angling the crowd against him.

• Coxwell: “Thousands of persons broke in and harassed my operations excessively.” [36:27]

• When Coxwell could not safely launch, he began to deflate the balloon, further enraging spectators.

• Threats on his life: “The cry was raised, rip him up, knock him in the head, finish him. Etc. All of which would have inevitably been executed had I not followed the inspector's advice.” – Coxwell [37:54]

• Balloon and car destroyed and set on fire; pieces sold as souvenirs.

• Public funds raised to compensate Coxwell; caused setbacks to meteorological science.

  Fun Fact: The 2019 film The Aeronauts is based on these stories but omits Coxwell.

5. Aftermath & Decline of Balloon Riots

[39:36–39:53]

• These events dwindled in number as ballooning faded from public spectacle; “not because of some kind of change in the psychology and dynamics of sometimes drunken crowds, but because ballooning stopped being such a huge fad…” – Holly [39:36]

6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Balloon Fashion and Fads:
  “Balloon hats and frying pans, balloon ribbons, balloon fans, balloon gauzes, balloon caps, balloon hoops or balloon traps.” – Holly, reading a contemporary song [07:28]

• On Public Disappointment:
  “It is a serious thing to draw out from their affairs all the inhabitants of a great city… a disappointment makes them angry…they pulled down his house and had liked to have killed him.” – Benjamin Franklin [12:20]

• First Balloon Attack:
  "People who didn't know what it was reportedly attacked it with things like sticks and pitchforks." – Holly [06:31]

• On the Leicester Riot's Chaos:
  “Thousands of persons broke in and harassed my operations excessively.” – Coxwell [36:27]
  “The deficiency of strong barriers… all subsequent attempts to stop the tide of human pressure proved unavailing.” – Coxwell [36:27]

• Aftermath of a Riot:
  “The crowd set fire to the balloon car and tore the balloon to pieces. Many of these pieces were then sold as souvenirs.” – Holly [38:14]

7. Timeline of Important Riot Segments (Selected Timestamps)

• [02:16] Introduction of balloon riot topic.
• [04:41] Montgolfier Brothers' hot air balloons.
• [06:31] Public attacks hydrogen balloon in France.
• [11:24] Rivalry and differences between British and French ballooning cultures.
• [12:20] Franklin’s warning about crowd disappointment and Bordeaux incident.
• [16:18] Three-balloon Paris launch riot.
• [18:11] 1819 Philadelphia balloon riot.
• [21:49] 1838 Cremorne Gardens, London.
• [23:36] 1856 Sydney riot.
• [25:38] 1858 Melbourne incident.
• [29:54] 1864 Leicester balloon riot and Coxwell’s letter.
• [36:27] Escalation and descriptions of crowd chaos at Leicester.
• [38:14] Destruction of the balloon; pieces sold as souvenirs.
• [39:36] Decline of balloon riots with the end of the balloon craze.

8. Language & Tone

The hosts use a mix of wry humor, direct quotations from historical figures and newspapers, and clear, accessible language. There’s a respect for the tragic elements (deaths, injuries) balanced by a clear-eyed view of crowd behavior and period absurdities.

Summary Takeaway:
Balloon launches in the 18th and 19th centuries were so anticipated—and so fraught with technical challenges and public expectation—that failure often led to chaos, destruction, and violence. These balloon riots, recurring across continents, highlight a fascinating intersection of science, spectacle, and mob psychology.