PARADE of DOOM: Macy's insane History | TMT 157

Summary

Too Many Tabs with Pearlmania500

Episode 157: PARADE of DOOM – Macy’s Insane History

Release Date: December 7, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the dynamic husband-and-wife duo behind "Too Many Tabs" take listeners on an energetic, strange, and deeply researched journey through the wild and winding history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade—and the even weirder saga of Macy’s as a company. Mrs. Pearlmania (Mrs. P) unrolls her tabs: from the parade’s zany 1920s origins, ragamuffin beggars, and dangerous balloons, to the surprising role of Macy’s owners in public health and even the creation of the State of Israel. Along the ride, the conversation is peppered with outrageous anecdotes, dark humor, and a penchant for highlighting history’s stranger corners.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 2024 Macy's Parade & Its "Peak Capitalism"

[01:00-06:00]

• Opening riffs about this year’s viral parade moments—Busta Rhymes with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Host Alex (Pearlmania500) and Mrs. P marvel at the cultural spectacle and how it signifies “an epic bacchanal of capitalism.”
• Mrs. P shares a personal story: they tuned in specifically for their toddler’s love of a K-pop Demon Hunters song in the parade.

  “Our toddler loves ‘Golden’ by the K-Pop Demon Hunters...he literally goes up, up, up and golden. And so, it was like, okay. And I knew they were going to be in the parade.” — Mrs. P [03:27]

2. Parade Origins: A Department Store’s March to Work and "Ragamuffin Day"

[07:01–16:00]

• The parade began in 1924, essentially as a store employee march to Macy’s—not a strike, just “marching to work.”
• Children’s previous Thanksgiving activity was “Ragamuffin Day”—kids dressed as beggars, going door-to-door for coins/candy, annoying adults for decades.
• The parade intentionally disrupted Ragamuffin Day, redirecting public attention.

  “So you mean to tell me there was a second Halloween that happened on Thanksgiving? Where kids dressed up like homeless people and then demanded candy or money?” — Alex [13:13]

3. Parade Evolution: Zoo Animals, Balloons, and Bizarre Hijinks

[16:14–24:00]

• Early parades featured live zoo animals borrowed from Central Park Zoo.
• Balloons replaced animals in 1927 due to safety/insurance issues, but, hilariously, the balloons quickly proved even more dangerous.
• In 1928, Macy’s filled giant balloons with helium (previously air) and would release them into the sky at the parade’s end, offering $100 reward for return.
• “A pilot flying his plane in New York City… uses the wingtip of his plane to decapitate the balloon and pop the sucker and then follows it down, takes it, takes it to Macy’s and claims his reward.” — Mrs. P [23:16]
• They stopped the practice after a near-fatal balloon-popping attempt by a novice woman pilot in 1932.

4. Balloon Mayhem and Safety Reforms

[27:54–36:00]

• The size and danger of balloons escalated. Several high-profile accidents occurred:
  • 1993: Sonic the Hedgehog balloon crashes into a lamppost, injuring a child and off-duty cop [28:20]
  • 1997: Cat in the Hat balloon collision fractures a woman’s skull, leaves her in a coma [29:13]
  • Cop stabbed the Pink Panther balloon to stop it moving out of control.

  “The only way they got it to stop moving is it got stabbed by a cop.” — Mrs. P [33:27]

• After multiple chaos years, Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s “balloon task force” imposes safety restrictions: max balloon sizes, removal of lamppost arms, and mandatory physics training for handlers.

5. The Parade as "Soft Power" and National Resilience

[36:01–39:00]

• The parade’s role post-9/11: weighed cancelation, ultimately served as a symbol of NYC/national resilience.

  “...the parade went on as scheduled. And it served as a symbol of resilience and a major step in the city's recovery after the attacks.” — Mrs. P [36:21]

6. Macy’s Corporate History and the Strauss Brothers

[43:07–77:01]

• Roland Macy founded the store; he was an innovative marketer (in-store Santa, themed window displays, money-back guarantee).
• Ownership passed after Macy's death to the Strauss Brothers, Jewish-German immigrants. They expanded the company and became pivotal in several social causes.
• Nathan Strauss: Shockingly progressive for the era—massive philanthropist, pioneered public milk pasteurization (huge reduction in infant mortality), set up coal stations, milk stations, meals for the poor, and even subsidized company cafeterias for workers.

7. Side Quest: Confederate Zebulon Vance & Zionist Philanthropy

[78:06–86:41]

• A wild digression where Nathan Strauss traveled to lay a wreath at a Confederate monument (for anti-antisemitism), then became a major Zionist, funding health/charity infrastructure in Ottoman Palestine.
• A twist of fate: His broken leg in Palestine prevented him from boarding the Titanic with his brother Isadore.
  • Isadore and wife Ida were passengers. The real-life inspiration for the elderly couple in Titanic who die together in bed—Isadore gave his lifeboat spot to others, Ida refused to board without him [85:43].

8. Deep Cut: Macy’s and the Founding of Israel

[88:28–90:44]

• Mrs. P reveals the Israeli city of Netanya is named for Nathan Strauss. The family bankrolled various institutions in pre-state Israel, laying foundational infrastructure.

9. Modern Macy's: Controversy, Mergers, and Private “Macy’s Jails”

[92:16–98:48]

• Quick run-through of post-family Macy’s history (mergers, expansions, flagship properties).
• Macy’s had “private policing” with secret jails and ethnic profiling; NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer lawsuits put an end to some of these illegal practices.

  “Getting thrown into Macy’s jail is crazy.” — Alex [96:50]

10. Final Trivia: Macy’s Red Star Logo Origin

[99:13–100:05]

• The iconic red star comes from founder Roland Macy’s sailor tattoos, not socialism!

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ragamuffin Day:
  “Kids appropriated the homeless and the 1920s it started to annoy most adults… The children were appropriating homelessness.” — Mrs. P [12:44]

• On Balloons Replacing Animals:
  “You would think [it was about safety]. It's not true. The balloons are far more dangerous than the animals ever were.” — Mrs. P [16:52]

• On Historic Balloon Rewards:
  “A pilot… uses the wingtip of his plane to decapitate the balloon… and claims his reward.” — Mrs. P [23:43]

• On The ‘97 Balloon Accident:
  “In the 97 parade, high winds pushed the Cat in the Hat balloon into a lamppost and the falling debris struck four different people, fracturing one woman's skull and leaving her in a coma for 24 days.” — Mrs. P [29:23]

• On Nathan Strauss’s Philanthropy:
  “So he can point out something. Elon created an AI that called itself Mecca Hitler, and then he demanded that it praise him... Not a coal station to be seen.” — Alex [70:41]

• On Titanic:
  “Isadore and Ida were last seen on the deck arm in arm. Eyewitnesses described the scene as, quote, the most remarkable exhibition of love and devotion.” — Mrs. P [86:41]

• On Macy’s Store Jails:
  “Getting thrown into Macy’s jail is crazy.” — Alex [96:50]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:00] – Viral spectacle of the 2024 Macy’s Parade (Busta Rhymes/TMNT, K-pop, toddler joy).
• [07:01] – How the Macy’s parade started and the historical oddity of Ragamuffin Day.
• [16:14] – Balloons replace animals. Balloon mayhem and wild reward stories.
• [27:54] – Sonic, Cat in the Hat balloon disasters.
• [33:27] – Pink Panther balloon stabbed by a cop.
• [35:01] – Giuliani’s balloon safety task force.
• [36:01] – Macy’s parade post-9/11 as national symbolism.
• [43:07] – Roland Macy’s business innovations and cultural impacts.
• [54:55] – Mrs. P’s personal department store history and nostalgia for retail past.
• [62:43] – Strauss Brothers’ philanthropic impact: pasteurized milk, penny meals, homeless shelters.
• [78:06] – Side quest: Nathan Strauss, Zebulon Vance, and Confederate weirdness.
• [85:43] – Titanic tragedy: the Strauss love story.
• [90:44] – Netanya, Israel’s connection to Nathan Strauss and Macy’s.
• [96:03] – Macy’s “private police,” jails, and Eliot Spitzer lawsuit.
• [99:13] – Origin of Macy’s iconic red star.

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Episode Tone & Language

As always, Alex and Mrs. P are irreverent, conversational, and a bit dark but deeply curious. Jokes abound ("he sold his yacht to feed war orphans! Jeff Bezos has a yacht to get to his yacht!"), but not at the expense of heart—especially on topics like immigrant philanthropy, the strangeness of power, and the horrors of history. The banter is affectionate, sharply observational, and never lets the listener get bored.

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In Closing

What starts as a goofy reflection on parade memes morphs into a rollicking exploration of consumerism, American history, Jewish philanthropy, balloon physics, and the strange afterlives of department stores. The parade, and Macy’s itself, is “American soft power” at the weirdest—and sometimes most unexpectedly impactful—level.

For listeners who missed the episode, this summary captures the brainy, bewildering, and at times moving journey from talking Ninja Turtles to Titanic romance, pasteurized milk to protests about Palestine—plus all the wild, red-starred trivia in between.

Transcript

[A]

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There, the last one.

Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.

[B]

This year, every millennial lost their mind when they saw Busta Rhymes with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the Macy's Day Parade. There was so much to be seen. An epic bacchanal of capitalism that happened in front of all of our very eyes. And who did their research on that parade? Mrs. Pearl Mania. And we're gonna find out not only about the Macy's Day Parade, but the secret history of Macy's and its connection to the creation of the stage State of Israel.

[C]

It got really weird.

[B]

Too many tabs.

Remember to smile.

Welcome to Too Many Tabs, a podcast where a husband and wife duo sit next to each other at a table and. Mrs. P. Today is a very special episode.

[C]

It is.

[B]

It is. Because you did your research about a parade. The icon of parades, an incredible parade. It's the parade that most Americans think about when they're told of parades.

[C]

Yes, absolutely.

[B]

It has things like balloons.

[C]

You know, yay, balloons. These are not the type of balloons at the parade.

[B]

No, these are balloons because Phil DeFranco turned 40 years old and I surprised him on the Crashing out podcast.

[C]

And then you left them here.

[B]

And then I left them up because I'm kind of lazy. Yeah, I'm kind of lazy.

[C]

The vibes are good, though.

[B]

But it is good. It makes me feel like I'm in a happy place. The same way with parades, but also, if you want to get in a happy place. I'm doing a live show in Philadelphia. Oh, you are? On December 20th and 21st. It's a matinee show at Helium Comedy Club.

[C]

A matinee show.

[B]

Matinee show, everybody.

[C]

That's right. You're going to get there before there's traffic.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You're going to be able to find parking.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You are going to be home and in your soft pants before 8pm that is totally correct.

[B]

These are all options. Go to the link in the description of this show to get tickets. We're going to be doing two shows that is on Saturday, December 20th and Sunday, December 21st. And can I tell you something? What's really crazy about the 21st?

[C]

What?

[B]

That show starts at 3:30.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

3:30 in the afternoon.

[C]

You get a nice meal after this.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Honestly, you could go to brunch and then come to the show.

[B]

Wow. A brunch comedy show. And see me yell at you in a dark basement. All right now, Mrs. P. Yes. We want to talk about not dark basements.

[C]

No.

[B]

But bright lights, big balloons, big city.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

New York City. And the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

So we watched the big parade.

[B]

We did.

[C]

And you loved it.

[B]

I did love it. This year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade brought me so much joy. And also. Okay. In particular, I put it on for one reason. One reason.

[C]

What's that?

[B]

Our toddler loves golden by the K Pop Demon Hunters. We haven't even watched this movie.

[C]

No.

[B]

But if this song comes off on anywhere.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He literally goes up, up, up and golden. And. But it's the toddler babble. Yeah. So he's just like. And so it was like, okay. And I knew they were going to be in the parade.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Because I saw on social media they're like, K Pop Demon Hunters will be there. And I said, the baby got to watch that.

[C]

Yeah. Oh. And he loved it. He was dancing along. We got a video was the coolest.

[B]

I got a video of it. And if we were different people, we would have posted it on social media. And then I got a lot of brand deals. But we didn't. We didn't. And our management team is mad about it every day. But. But while watching it, we also then got to be boomed by a bunch of other different things.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Particularly Busta Rhymes and the Teenage Mutant Ninj Ninja Turtles, which is a moment that was the moment when we truly felt old, was we were sitting there and Busta Rhymes was with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And I went, ow.

[C]

Yeah. Well, this is the thing. We weren't the only people watching.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It was one of the most highly viewed Macy's Day Parade events in a long time.

[B]

In a very long time.

[C]

Everybody just was in the mood.

[B]

Yeah, everybody was. And it was one of those ones. I mean, again, it was streaming everywhere. And also you had it on on NBC. It's been on NBC forever. Uh, it's been on NBC for so long that everyone always comments that Al Roker lost weight. Al Roker was lost weight 20 years ago.

[C]

Yeah, We're.

[B]

His stomach staple surgery that he had is old enough to drink. Okay. You don't need to bring it up anymore. Al Roker just looks like that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Anyway, everyone really enjoyed the parade.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then a crazy thing happened.

[C]

What's that?

[B]

Which is you saw it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you were going to tell me about it.

[C]

Well, no, here's what happened. People got online and they were like, this is too. This is too much capitalism.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I. Okay, that's not the direction I thought we were going to go with. But yes, it was very true. I did see somebody post that the Macy's Day Parade was too commercial. And I mean, and I literally had to tweet it. I had to post to this person on threads. I said, do you mean the department store parade?

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

It's literally a department store parade.

[C]

A parade thrown by a department store. This is peak capitalism.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so. But that thread post and us laughing about it is what led me down. This, like, lure search was like, okay, everybody, I think in America knows about the Macy's Day Parade, but why did we just start letting department stores throw parades for themselves?

[B]

Can I tell you something real fast? Before we do that, I just want to say there's this one very funny story. You guys know Kamel Nanjani?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The stand up comedian. He moved to America from Pakistan.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And when he came here, it was on Thanksgiving. His first day in America is on Thanksgiving. And he was in New York and he went outside and there was a Macy's Day Parade. And Mariah Carey was there and he thought, yeah, like, this is one of those things. The Macy's Day Parade is American soft power. Like when people think, oh, my God, America's the land of opportunity, they are like Kamil Nanjani thinking, Mariah Carey is going to go buy you on a float. And every day, every day, you have a chance to win the lottery. The streets are paved with gold. They have no idea about our crushing medical debt. They have none. Because there are no floats about a crushing medical debt. But you've done some research on not only the Macy's Day Parade, also the history of Macy's.

[C]

Yeah, it got weird. It went everywhere. I was in. I was. Somehow I got to Abraham Lincoln and then I got to Palestine and Zionism.

[B]

What?

[C]

I don't know. It got really weird fast.

[B]

But we're going to start. We're going to start with the parade. Itself.

[C]

Yeah, we're going to start with the parade.

[B]

Okay, go ahead, take us off. Tell us all about how did the Macy's Day parade get started?

[C]

Okay, well, it start. The parade itself started in 1924.

[B]

1924.

[C]

That's how old this bad boy is.

[B]

Okay. Roaring towards.

[C]

So we're coming up to an anniversary because, you know, it's going to be a lot of years of this parade.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

Okay, so the. The way that this parade starts, okay. Is the Macy's store employees are march to work.

[B]

Okay. Okay, Wait, wait. So they had an employee march? Yeah, but it was to work, not a strike.

[C]

No, it wasn't.

[B]

No, they were like, oh, no, no, no.

[C]

They were like, we're hype. We're going to work.

[B]

We're going to work.

[C]

Yeah. And they all got dressed up and they put on these really vibrant, fun costumes.

[B]

Oh. Like colored like this. Vibrant and fun like this right here. Happy birthday, Phil and Jesus. Okay. Yeah. And Jesus's birthday is coming up too. Yeah, but Phil DeFranco is my Jesus.

Okay.

That's.

[C]

He hates that it's his birthday too.

[B]

I know he does. I think he's okay with it.

[C]

He's okay with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

We had a good time. George Santos was there. Okay, go ahead.

[C]

So, okay, so all the employees, they're marching towards work down the street dressed up, and they have, like, live bands with them.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And so there's lots of music.

[B]

And when you say bands, you mean like marching bands?

[C]

Yeah, marching bands.

[B]

Okay. Because, like, I just want people. People get pictures in their mind. When you say, when I hear live band.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I immediately go with, like grunge rock, garage band, guys with guitars. This is. This is 1924.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You have people in marching bands carrying big tubas, beating big drums.

[C]

It looks like the movie Dumbo.

[B]

Okay, got it. Yes, 100%. Okay.

[C]

So. And then they also have live animals from marching down their street with them because they borrowed them from the Central Park Zoo.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Okay. They borrowed animals from the zoo?

[C]

Your friends at the zoo.

[B]

This I will say. I will say we used to live in a world of merriment and fun, right? Now, I know, listen. Now I know that if some guy showed up one day and went, we need to borrow some lions from your zoo because we need to sell some things at the department store. That would not fly today. That would not fly because insurance woke.

[C]

Government, ruined our good times.

[B]

No, it's because insurance would be involved. There would be some competent liability. Competent people would be like, wait, maybe don't let a zebra walk down the street.

[C]

The zebras got loose in Philadelphia all the time.

[B]

It's happened multiple times. But anyway, the. But that wasn't because somebody's borrowing it. That was just because we have bad.

[C]

The zebras get loose in Philly, man. They just go wild.

[B]

But so they have. So they literally are marching down the street with zoo animals.

[C]

So the employees are dressed up.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

They've got a live band. The zoo animals are going down the street with them. They're going to work.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

Okay. And at the very end of the parade is Santa Claus. That's right, Santa Claus. Santa Claus is riding on a throne. And. And then when they get to the Macy's department store, on the balcony of the department store, they have a throne for him, where he is then sat upon the throne as king of the kiddies.

[B]

King of the kitties.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Do I need to get the board?

[C]

No, no.

[B]

I need to get the board.

[C]

This is not weird. Back then, they just call the kid the king of the kitties. It was.

[B]

King of the kitties is weird.

[C]

It's weird. I didn't.

[B]

That's very weird. I don't like it. Also, I don't like the idea of crowning an old man. I famously have been to too many protests where I've said we should not crown old men as kings of anything. Okay, no kings.

[C]

So the audience at the point for this parade, the people lining the streets, was, like, over 250,000 people showed up.

[B]

250,000 people.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Showed up to watch employees walk to.

[C]

Work with animals and a live band.

[B]

I mean, that's. That's. That's.

[C]

They didn't have TV back then.

[B]

I know.

[C]

This was a big deal.

[B]

This was a big deal. What are you doing? Hey, guys. What are you doing today? Well, I was thinking about looking at my iPad and playing Plants versus Zombies. Well, that doesn't exist yet. All right, well, then we were thinking about being racist to, like. Oh, okay. We do that every day, though. That's kind of boring today. Oh, I have a better idea. Why don't we go walk down and watch the employees walk to the Macy's.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. Anyway, it was such a success, this parade.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

That Macy's declared it would become an annual event.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So, like, there's a big success. Okay. It was such a success that it actually decreased the popularity of Ragamuffin Day.

[B]

Ragamuffin Day?

[C]

Yes. The typical children's Thanksgiving Day activity. Ragamuffin Day featured children Going around and performing what is described as, quote, a primitive version of trick or treating. They were begging.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Okay, hold on. Wait.

There was that. We had Ragamuffin Day.

[C]

Ragamuffin day started in 1870, a few years after US President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. It typically involved children going from door to door and asking for candy or money. And these children were dressed in the style of the homeless of New York City, wearing rags and oversized shirts and stuff and exaggerated clothing to imitate beggars.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Ragamuffin Day.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Kids appropriated the homeless and the 1920s, it started to annoy most adults that they would do this. And then there was a big public backlash against the begging in the 30s because most Americans were struggling during the midst of the Great Depression.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Okay, time. Give me. I got to breathe. I need to breathe. I need. I need to think here for just a minute.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So you mean to tell me there was a second Halloween that happened on Thanksgiving?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Where kids dressed up like homeless people and then demanded candy or money. And then people got. Were like, this is kind of annoying. After 50 years. They did it for 50 years.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He went, that's kind of annoying. But it went away because people. There were so many homeless people. They're like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My culture is not your costume anymore. The children were appropriating homelessness. But in New York City, is this. Like, what's that. What's that movie that. Remember I watched that one movie from the. From the twenties or thirties.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

About. I think Meet Me in St. Louis has a song.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I'm talking about. You not know Judy Garland movie. Anyway, in it, they do, like, a primitive form of Halloween.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Where the kids are, like, in America, back in, like, the late 1800s, early 1900s, kids, every kid across America basically had a purge night.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Like, you know the movie the Purge?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Like, kids just went fucking crazy. Yeah. And, like, it was just acceptable. And then they just caused too much havoc. It went too far.

[C]

We got to reign these kids in.

[B]

And then people were like, well, how do we make money off of it?

[C]

It's.

[B]

So they invented. So what you're telling me is they invented the Macy's Day parade to distract the kids?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

They're like, if we do a parade, the kids will stop dressing up like homeless people and accosting us for quarters.

[C]

Demanding money on the streets and at our front doors.

[B]

I can just imagine being. It's 19, 27.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You're in New York and you're Nice brownstone. There's a little wrap at the door and you open it up and there is a child covered in dirt smoking a candied.

[C]

Actually, probably they smoked real cigarettes back then.

[B]

See? Give us some money. See? Or we'll go egg your house. Like, what the fuck?

[C]

Like, oh, my Ragamuffin Day. So anyway, the public backlash against Ragamuffin day in the 30s made the promotion of alternatives more popular, which elevated the Macy's Day parade. And so, like, the mayor came out and like, everybody was like, we're not doing ragamuffin anymore. There's a parade on Thanksgiving. That's what we're doing.

[B]

Can I tell you what a great turn for history because right now, famously New York has a mayor elect who's super not into parades. Zoram Hamdani, there is a very funny clip.

[C]

He's not that he's not in the parade.

[B]

No, no. He just. They kept. They tried to stick him on parades. There was this very.

[C]

Parades, very serious.

[B]

And they were like. He literally said, I don't think about parades. Like, the quote is so funny. They had. Curtis Lee was on one side. It's just like, ah, this man hates parades. And Cuomo's like, ah, parades. And Zord's like, I just.

[C]

I don't think we should make the city more affordable. Focus on that.

[B]

But what about the parade, sir?

[C]

You got to put on a hat. That being said, I feel like he should make a committee, like a parade committee and put Ceela Lewis in charge of it.

[B]

Oh, no. Curtis Lewis should be the mayor of parade.

[C]

Should be the parade guy.

[B]

He should be. He should be the mayor.

[C]

He would do a cat parade.

[B]

That dude loves cattle percent he should have a cat parade. And that would bring it back to the Macy's Day live animals.

[C]

Oh, well, here's the thing. The balloons, the big Macy's balloons, okay, they get introduced in 1927 to replace the live zoo animals.

[B]

So they. Okay, I was about to say, I know they don't do zoo animals now. And I was thinking about like circuses. The circus is coming to town. They have the big carts, like the lion in the cage.

[C]

Yeah, very. That.

[B]

Yeah. But these are just loose.

[C]

I don't think they were, but I think they had them.

[B]

Okay, got it, got it, got it. But they were like this. After a bit they're like, we can't keep doing this. So they brought in balloons, like, yes.

[C]

But way bigger, but much.

[B]

And you.

[C]

And I just want to why do you think they got rid of the animals?

[B]

Because it's safer to just have balloons.

[C]

You would think that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's not true. The balloons are far more dangerous than the animals ever work.

[B]

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[C]

For Patreon exclusive content for Patreon exclusive.

[B]

Content ad free shows and Mrs. P, right now we're running a special, a special promo. Yeah, we are. It's our Project 2026 promo. Get 30% off an annual team lead.

[C]

Membership today using code Project 202026.

[B]

Yep. And we'll have the link down below.

[C]

And when does that code end?

[B]

That code ends on January 6th, 2026. So you have until 11:59pm on January 6th, 2026 to make this decision. We want to make sure your next year is just great and full of love and light like the after party and vibing with the food. Idiot. But Mrs. P, we're not here to talk about food.

[C]

No, we're talking about balloons.

[B]

Yeah, we're talking about Thanksgiving day balloons at the Macy's Day parade. We but not balloons. A little bit bigger than this, right?

[C]

A little bit. In 1928, Macy switched from inflating the balloons with air to helium.

[B]

Wait, wait, in what year?

[C]

1928.

[B]

1928. So when they first had them, they weren't floating.

[C]

No.

[B]

They were just being carried or they were on carts.

[C]

They were basically like rolled. Like they were. They were pretty big. And they were attached to carts and then rolled or carried.

[B]

Gotcha.

[C]

But I also just started thinking about how funny it is to think about like the ragamuffins who are probably trying to work for a dime, blowing up these.

[B]

And they're running. But they're running around with hat pins. I got to stick them. I got to stick the balloons.

[C]

So they stopped forcing orphans to blow up balloons.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

That I made up. That's not true.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And got helium. Right. In 1928, they released. Okay. This is. They decide they're going to use helium instead of blowing them up.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay. And that with human air. Okay. That same year. So they have these five giant balloons in the parade filled with helium. So they're floating by.

[B]

There's only five.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, got it. And there's floats and bands and.

[C]

Yeah, and they got the. And they're on the ropes and there's people carrying them.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And at the end of the parade, they cut the ropes and they let them go.

[B]

Wait, what? They were just letting the balloon loose.

[C]

Let the big ass balloons float away.

[B]

Okay, wait, wait, that's like in bit. Tim Burton's Batman, remember? With the Joker? And the balloons are shooting the gas everywhere.

[C]

Yeah, but. So this wasn't an evil plot by the Penguin, right?

[B]

No, that was the Joker. The first movie was the Joker. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[C]

So they release the balloons at the end of. Okay, but then here's the thing. Helium balloons slowly start to leak, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so then there's going to be a giant balloon that flies that eventually comes back to earth somewhere in New York City. Right.

[B]

I mean, it could be anywhere though. That's the thing. Balloons have balloons. Even hot air balloons. Yeah. They can go up and down. The rest of their directions are decided by the wind. Okay, so it could be in New York City. It could have made it to Jersey. Yeah, Like, I don't know how long they would last.

[C]

So here's the thing. The Macy's announced at the end of the parade, after they cut the ropes that they were gonna put out a reward of $100 to anybody that brought the deflated balloons back.

[B]

But these are massive balloons.

[C]

Huge.

[B]

So you gotta roll it up.

[C]

So if you find the deflated balloon, okay, roll that sucker up and bring it back to Macy's. You're gonna get a hundred bucks.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Which today. And Today's money is $1,830.

[B]

That's not money to shake a stick.

[C]

That's. I mean, it's. If I lived in New York City and I wasn't, like, crossing a bridge to pay a toll.

[B]

It's not ten grand.

[C]

No, but still, there's a lot of money back.

[B]

It is still a lot of money. 100 bucks is still a lot of money back then. That could get you a nice vacation.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean? Actually. But actually, it was crazy. We're thinking about 1800 bucks in today when 100 bucks, like, that was, like.

[C]

Months of a lifetime. Yeah.

[B]

Today, 1800. It's. What's so funny is actually our inflation is so twisted right now because you're like, 1800 bucks. I'm like, oh, that's not even one month of daycare.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, that's. That's where our brain is broken. Like, 100. Like, there's. There's like. Like rent was $15. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, this balloon's encroaching. Yeah. Hey. Well, it's encroaching on you. But the other thing I want to say is I'm just so blown away of the idea. Nobody thought this could come down in the wrong spot. They weren't worried about drones.

[C]

We don't want telephone wires, things like that.

[B]

They have telephone wires. They have all those things. But they're not worried about if they hit it, because, again, it's the 20s. We live in a world of whimsy.

[C]

Also. Also, keep your eyes on the sky, Jeffrey.

[B]

Okay, so. So there's the thing.

[C]

There might be a balloon coming down.

[B]

I've been to funerals where they used to do dove releases. And then people got weird about the dove release, so they started doing balloon releases. But then people are like, you know, like, they would have a balloon, and they worry about the environment. So then they had to get, like, special balloons. But back then, they're like, how big is this thing, huh? We'll set it up to the sky. We'll see whatever comes down, someone will get $100. See, that'll be fun. It's full of whimsy.

[C]

Funny story. A pilot flying his plane in New York City.

[B]

Oh, no.

[C]

He sees a dragon balloon midair.

[B]

Oh, this is a dinosaur balloon.

[C]

This is a dragon balloon midair okay, hold on.

[B]

Imagine. I want you to imagine being a pilot in the 20s and you see a dragon. You'd be like, all the stories are true.

[C]

But then you get closer and you're like, ah, but it's one of those Macy's balloons.

[B]

Oh, I'm about to get a hundred dollars. See? Hold on. Let me hold this. Like a big cigarette holder. $100.

[C]

He uses the wingtip of his plane to decapitate the balloon and pop the sucker and then follows it down, takes it, takes it to Macy's and claims his reward. He popped it in the sky and took it.

[B]

Yo. Okay, that might be the greatest pilot of all time. That's crazy.

[C]

However, in 1932, they stopped the practice of rewards for the balloons because a novice pilot attempting the same fear feet nearly crashed her plane and almost killed herself and other people. So they had to stop.

[B]

Okay, so women ruined that. All right, so it was cool. It was cool until women got involved. Okay, I'm just saying. I just. I heard the pronoun. Okay. Wow. When. With her plane. She nearly crashed her plane.

[C]

So then you understand why pronouns are important.

[B]

Oh, no. 100. My name is Alex. I completely understand why pronouns are important. Okay. George Santos literally said it, called me, she give her a kiss.

[C]

Oh, that was incredible.

[B]

Okay. It's a weird.

[C]

Made me so happy.

[B]

It's. So. Yeah. This is from Alex. She sent this to you. I was like, yeah. My whole life. No, especially. Especially when, like, dealing with email communications.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

When I was in the business world, the amount of people who never heard me or didn't know me personally would assume, because I was also told through my emails that I was too terse. That was too short. So I learned to add emojis and exclamation point, all these things. So people assumed I was a woman.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

In my.

[C]

My post, imagine a world where people didn't know your voice. Meanwhile, now we can't go to the grocery store without people turning around hearing you talk.

[B]

Yeah. And meanwhile, I'm, like, talking to the kid. Okay, Now.

[C]

So through the 1930s, the parade continues to grow with crowds getting over a million people lining the parade. People are coming from all over to see this parade. This is a big frigging deal.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

A million's crazy.

[C]

The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 during World War II, because the rubber and helium were needed for the war effort.

[B]

Okay. So they didn't have enough for the balloons.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Not. It also feels like one of those things where, like, kind of like during COVID where you're like, oh, this feels like a weird. Like during this moment of national sacrifice.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. And so it's like, maybe we're not being over joyous. However, we're going to talk about COVID later. And sometimes people need spirit, the spirit of good vibes of parades when things are going down.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

But I think that during this specific part of the war effort, it was very like, the women are in the factories, the kids are in the factories.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We don't have helium and rubber. Like, it kind of was like, we're not doing that right now. However, in 1945, the parade resumes. And it became a worldwide parade in 1945. Well after 1945, because it gets featured in this little known film called the miracle on 34th Street.

[B]

Oh, yeah. It's so funny, actually, The Miracle on 34th street is the only. Like when I am in Manhattan.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm like, oh, we're near 31st Street. Other Macy's around here. It's like the only place.

[C]

The only spot, like we're going in.

[B]

It's the only spot I know.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And solely because of that movie, I don't even, like, big fan. I don't love most Christmas movies. I'm like, I'm not a huge Christmas guy besides Muppet Christmas Carol, or else I'll get shot.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But number one, when it comes to, like, I think I watched it once and I was like, oh, pretty good.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But, yeah, it was a huge movie. Yeah, it's a massive movie.

[C]

It's a massive Macy's.

[B]

Yeah. But I'm saying that movie also, like, made Macy's a Nash International name for sure. Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So marching bands had been part of the parade since the beginning.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Right. But in 1958, we're jumping ahead a bit. The first celebrity performance is added. So we talked about a celebrity being with the Ninja Turtles.

[B]

Yeah. Busta Rhymes.

[C]

Busta Rhymes.

[B]

There were so many celebrities this year. There was so many.

[C]

And obviously Mariah Carey in the past.

[B]

Mariah Carey.

[C]

So many different famous people. The first person ever was actually Akin. Benny Goodman, who was the King of Swing.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Betty Goodman. I actually know that name.

[C]

Yeah. So he was the first live performer to join the parade.

[B]

Does he sing, though? I guess he was. I think he might have been on a cart. Yeah, he was like more like a conductor guy.

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

You know what I mean?

[C]

I didn't look it up. I was too busy. I had way too many tabs. This Is going to get weird.

[B]

Okay, keep going.

[C]

So during the 1993 parade, we're going to. We're jumping ahead now.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

1993 parade, strong gusts of winds pushed Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a lamppost in Columbus Circle. The lamppost damaged the balloon and the top of the post broke off while inside the balloon, dragging it down and injuring a child and an off duty cop in the process. I have video of this.

[B]

Oh my God.

[C]

I want to show it to you.

[B]

Okay. This is JD Dapper reporting from the start. Gusty winds were a big concerned for parade organizers. As it turned out for good reason. Just before 10:30, a first time balloon, 64 foot tall, sonic the hedgehog was swept into a street lamp. Oh no, it's eyeball. Oh, oh God. Oh my God. It was right in his eye.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Oh my God.

[C]

So the wind was so windy it popped side of the hedgehog with a lamp. And then that lamp part fell and hit a child and. And an off duty car.

[B]

Another wind's picking up.

[C]

Oh no, there's another balloon has entered the.

[B]

Another balloon. It's a boy.

[C]

It's.

[B]

It's a boy.

[C]

So during the 1997 parade, a very. There were very high.

[B]

This didn't become an issue till the 90s.

[C]

Well, here's what happened in the 90s. We went big, baby. Oh, we got big. So the balloons are just getting so big. This is the issue.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

In the 97 parade, high winds pushed the cat in the hat balloon into a lamppost and the falling debris struck four different people, fracturing one woman's skull and leaving her in a coma for 24 days.

[B]

What the fuck? Oh my God. Yeah.

[C]

Wait, look at. Look how big this balloon is.

[B]

Oh my God.

[C]

It was way too big. That is not a balloon that big.

[B]

Well, to that lady, real fast, I just.

[C]

No, stop adding balloons.

[B]

Well, soon.

[C]

Oh my God.

[B]

I hope she gets well soon.

[C]

Wait, can I tell you, I opened a tab about the woman because I was like, wait, I want to know.

[B]

What happens real fat, real fast. Before you even say anything, I just want to say like what an insane story and how the did that not get beat made into a movie like instantly? Like that feels like the premise of like a 90s comedy. Yeah, right. Oh, what happened? I went to. I went to the parade. I got struck by some cartoon animal debris. I went into a coma and when I woke up, I fell in love with my nurse. You know what I mean?

[C]

Hallmark movie energy.

[B]

No, but not even Hallmark movie. It has that weird like, it feels like a Sandra Bullock movie. It's very Sandra Bullock movie.

[C]

But let me tell you, I looked up this woman because I was like, what happens when you wake up 24 days after the Macy's Day Parade? And, like, what happened? Like, I. So I'm like, who is this?

[B]

Your first thought is, my Christmas shopping. I did it. Catch up my Christmas shopping. Your second thought is, I'm now swimming in debt. I'm swimming in medical debt. Because America is a nightmare. That's why you never want to get well soon.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

It just means you're financially sick.

[C]

Her name's Kathleen Corona. Corona.

[B]

Corona. She's Italian.

[C]

Years later, a few years later, Karana sues Macy's.

[B]

Okay, good.

[C]

And the city.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And a city contractor. She sues them for over $395 million.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[C]

And in 2001, she settles the suit out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.

[B]

Get that. Get that paper.

[C]

While Corona has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, her mother did share an update in 2005 with People magazine.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And I have a quote from her mother.

[B]

Okay, let's hear from her mother.

[C]

I'm gonna do an accent.

[B]

Do it.

[C]

Kathleen goes out of town for Thanksgiving. You would, too, if it happened to you.

[B]

Imagine. Imagine just being like, is that a balloon?

[C]

I gotta leave when the parade comes to town.

[B]

Listen, I'm happy.

[C]

Gotta leave. When she sees the Cat in the Hat.

[B]

Oh, my God. They keep bringing the Cat in the Hat back, too. I wonder what her thoughts are on the Grinch, because. Oh, no, it's. It's. You know, it's seuss. It's all Dr. Seuss.

[C]

Doctor. Dr. Seuss.

[B]

That is so.

[C]

Wait, then I keep looking into this woman. All right, so. So Corona narrowly escaped death a second time.

[B]

Shut up.

[C]

When a small plane carrying a new. The New York Yankees pitcher was Corey Liddell crashed into her apartment in 2006. The plane's engine landed in her bedroom just minutes before she was set to arrive home. She's in the Final Destination movies. Like, God was like, you were not supposed to survive the parade.

[B]

The plane engine hitting her bedroom is literally. This is from Donnie Darko. That's Donnie Darko. Like, we are living there. No, no, no, no, Babe, I need to. Give me a hair. I need you to understand. We can. Everyone has talks about the. The timeline. Yeah. And how to fix the timeline.

[C]

No, we're not. Don't say it out.

[B]

I'm going to say it out.

[C]

I know what you're suggesting. Don't.

[B]

I know we just. We need her to be in that bed.

[C]

No.

[B]

Okay. Because if you watch Johnny Darko.

[C]

No.

[B]

The world goes terrible because he doesn't get hit by the plane engine.

[C]

Yeah. Listen.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Barney the dinosaur. I'm pivoting. Barney the dinosaur.

[B]

Dinosaur back here.

[C]

The Barney the dinosaur balloon veered out of control years later and was punctured by a street light and deflated. A Pink Panther balloon also collapsed onto the ground. And the only way they got it to stop moving is it got stabbed by a cop.

[B]

What?

[C]

A New York City why The cop stabbed the Pink Panther balloon so that they could deflate it.

[B]

The cop. This is above and beyond. Which is what's crazy is, is I've. I have not heard of any of these. The only thing I know for balloon controversy. Can I tell you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Is spider man eating Uncle Sam's ass. Or maybe it's the other way around. You know, when they're in of front deflating the balloons. Yeah. No, there was the really sweet video this year of the kid dressed as spider Man.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You see that one?

[C]

Yeah. And he was out on the. The. Not the fire, the trails. The fire.

[B]

Yeah. He's on the fire escape dressed as spider Man.

[C]

He's like, they're blowing up my balloon.

[B]

Like, that's cool.

[C]

I love that.

[B]

That's cool.

[C]

That's the greatest childhood memory for that kid.

[B]

Oh yeah. Ever forever. He's dressed as Spider man inflate like as he's watching a spider man. It get inflated.

[C]

If they don't use that image to promote the Macy's Day parade, like as childhood nostalgia next year.

[B]

Listen, they need to make sure get your Macy's moment. Oh, you know, if I wasn't brand toxic, they'd be right on this.

[C]

You know who's not brand toxic, Mrs. P? Call me Macy's. Anyway, after the Pink Panther stabbing.

[B]

Mayor, you know who's not brand toxic after the Pink Panther stabbing. Also, you said that Palestine is coming up soon.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

[B]

Uh. Oh.

[C]

Forms a task force in response to the balloons.

[B]

Rudy started a balloon task force?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And they created numerous safety regulations that were implemented the next year.

[B]

Oh, that's good government.

[C]

Which. Which included size restrictions because they were getting too big.

[B]

Clearly.

[C]

And the removal of lamp post arms on the parade route. So they changed the shape of the lampposts.

[B]

That makes total smart. That actually makes total sense. Okay.

[C]

Also they started requiring physical training and lessons in physics for the handlers so that people could understand if the wind is going this way, we Move in this direction.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. This is what the committee came up with. This is smart, reasonable government.

[B]

This is. This is. Okay. This was what government was like before the box die or whatever that was.

[C]

Took over Rudy's brain for the Four Seasons.

[B]

Yeah. Before Four Seasons Landscaping put an image up. Okay.

[C]

So in 2001, after September 11, there were debates about whether to cancel the parade because there was still the lingering scent of burnt metal in the air and there were still rescue efforts going on.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because obviously Thanksgiving was very close after.

[B]

September, and this is not far from the World Trade Center.

[C]

Exactly. So despite some debate and backlash, they decided to move forward with the parade. And the parade went on as scheduled. And it served as a symbol of resilience. Resilience and a major step in the city's recovery after the attacks.

[B]

Well, and, you know, there was a lot. There was a lot in. During that time. I remember it was like two or three weeks.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

There was a whole debate after September 11th of kind of like, when does life restart?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's a debate we never really had about COVID Yeah.

[C]

Because we never had the opportunity to take a beat.

[B]

Yeah. We never had.

[C]

We never had a moment in the horrors of September. Yeah. After September 11th, I feel like the nation, the city, people that are within the city. I like you. We had those weeks to just be really quiet and grieve and be sad and angry and, like, process those emotions.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

And I don't think as a country or as the globe, we've ever had a minute to really process and grieve what happened with that pandemic.

[B]

No, we haven't. Instead, we have RFK come poems. So. Okay.

[C]

Okay. So during the 2000. During 2005, the MA. There was another collision. The M and M's balloon collided with a street light, and parts of the light fell on two sisters who suffered minor injuries. And that. That sucks.

[B]

We.

[C]

Another balloon injury. Balloons are very dangerous. Again, not the zoo animals.

[B]

Yeah, but just unleash. They should just unleash a lion. Yeah, but I just make that the Macy's thing.

[C]

I need to play you this clip from the Eminem Macy's Day parade. The. The announcers talking about it before it happened. Because it's so funny the way they talk about this Eminem float before this happens.

[B]

Okay. This is before the collision, before the collision. Got it.

[C]

Okay, let me get it for you. These characters are on video, and if.

[B]

We told you they were not in.

[C]

A panic, we'd be full of Hot air. But they're definitely ready for their close ups. Not exactly contestants for Fear Factor. It's yellow and red. Eminem's hot air balloon, furnished, of course.

[A]

By Eminem's chocolate candies.

[B]

They may be thinking color us clueless as they flirt with trouble. With yellow hanging on by a thread and red struggling to keep his best buddy from flying off into the blue. Will these classic candymen get out of this delicious dilemma? Our dissent. Okay.

What a foreshadowing chat. GPT could never. Also, I love that they brought up Fear Factor. And it's like, it's like you have Rogan ruined the. I know. Before they destroyed the country.

[C]

Who would have known that Joe Rogan's Fear Factor would lead us to where we are today?

[B]

Al Roker is sitting there with his new stomach staples in just having the time of his life, making jokes about Eminem's hanging from an even bigger balloon. He said, oh, they won't make good contestants on Fear Factor. It's like, well, that guy's gonna pick the president.

[C]

Yeah, great. So to bring it very, very close to our current times in 2023 Pro Palestinian protesters disrupted the parade. Protesters were wearing white jumpsuits and covered in fake blood. And they glued themselves at different parts of the parade route on 6 Ave. And the NYPD were very quick to intervene and arrest the protesters because they didn't want to hold up the parade too long.

[B]

Yeah, I remember seeing it on Tik Tok Live and Instagram and other different places. It didn't make it on like the main broadcast, but it did. It was showed up a few places.

[C]

Yeah. And this isn't even the note I wrote down about Palestine that I was talking about earlier.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yeah, because I did research about the history of Macy's.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And how potentially they funded Israel.

[B]

Like, like, what do you mean they funded Israel?

[C]

Like the creation of Israel.

[B]

What?

Stop looking for the perfect gift. Check out ARA frames. Ara's digital frame is the gift your loved one will display all year long. Ara makes sleek, easy to use digital photo frames. Share memories with your loved ones from anywhere. It couldn't be easier.

[C]

We got an aura frame which we gave as a gift. And it is incredible. It's so easy. You just use a QR code, you download the pictures, they open the box, they're already in the frame.

[B]

Yeah, we preloaded it. Yes, it's a boomer proof gift. It honestly was so good. We loaded it up with pictures of the baby, we gave it to the grandparents, and it just sits up there. And then we can keep casting to it from our own homes at it. With the our app, you can upload unlimited photos and unlimited videos and you can even preload those photos. As we said, you'll have the perfect gift right out of the box. For a limited time. Save on the perfect gift by visiting aura frames.com and get $35 off our frames bestselling carver matte frames named number one by wire cutter by using promo code too many at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code too many. This deal is exclusive to too many Tabs fans and our frames sell out fast. Order yours now and get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning too many tabs at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. This entire Christmas shopping season, you've been looking for the perfect gift for others. But it's time to give you the perfect gift for yourself, which is data privacy, which you can get by Delete Me. If you go to joindeleteme.com Pearlmania20, you can save 20% off a subscription today to get your information removed from data broker and people finder websites. This entire time, while you've been using every single app to go and try to find the perfect gift for your loved ones, data brokers have been collecting little bits of information that you leave behind. Your name, phone number, address, email address, and more. They've been taking these and putting them together into files and then they've been selling these files to other people. Who are they selling this information to? No one knows. Because the data brokers don't care where your information goes. They just care that they can make money off it. So make sure that you protect yourself today. Protect yourself, your family and more by going to joinedeleteme.com perlmania20 today to save 20% off a subscription. When we join Delete Me, we've discovered hundreds of lines of our family's information just out there for anyone to buy. And now that information has been removed from all of these different sites. Joined to lead me.com/perlmania20 and save 20% today. And just to remind you, I am doing a live show in Philadelphia December 20th and 21st.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Get those tickets down in the description. Mrs. P, you alluded to a pretty big note there.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

About the history of Macy's and the funding the foundation of Israel.

[C]

Don't jump ahead. Okay, we got to go a little bit further back.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Get there. Let's go to 1822 and name Roland Macy is born.

[B]

Okay. There's a man named roland Macy.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

1822.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He's the founder of Macy's.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay, Got it. Okay, so Roland Macy was born to a Quaker family on Nantucket island in Massachusetts.

[B]

Oh, that's never good.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

No, just real fast, real fat. Whenever Mrs. P mentions Quakers, it's rarely. We are not batting well with Quakers.

[C]

We're doing great with Quakers.

[B]

Okay. I don't know about that. All right, that's going to throw it out there.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Richard Nixon was a Quaker.

[C]

Oh, God.

[B]

Okay, go ahead.

[C]

But. Okay, so for most of his young adult life, he worked as a sailor because, again, island. Right.

[B]

Nantucket.

[C]

Yeah. He works as a sailor on a whale ship called the Emily Morgan.

[B]

Okay. And he hates whales.

[C]

Well, I think that they utilized whales a lot back then.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[C]

Well, over and such. Yeah. And he was deep into the sailor life. Okay. This dude. This kid is a sailor to the point that he had a lot of, like, sailor tattoos.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

All right.

[B]

Pretty cool ones that would then be appropriated by hipsters later in life. And then they would stand around while drinking their IPAs.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[B]

Okay. 2013 ruled.

[C]

It was a great year.

[B]

It was.

[C]

Okay. He notably had on his forearm big red sailor stars.

[B]

Big red sailor stars.

[C]

Yes. Because he's sailor. Don't jump ahead. Let me let it live there.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Foreshadowing.

[C]

He and his brother Charles open a dry goods store in Marysville, California, during the gold rush in 1850.

[B]

We just talked about this with Levi Strauss and the jeans and everything. Yeah. And everybody who opened. A lot of you open the stores out there really, really, really well.

[C]

That's the whole thing, is they went there to go sell dry goods.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Here's the thing, though. Their store failed. Oh, whoopsie daisy.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

His brother Chuck stayed out there, but Roland headed east.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And he's gonna go east and go back to Massachusetts for a little bit. And between 1843 and 1855, he opens multiple retail dry goods stores, four of them to be exact. And they all fail.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

But here's the thing about Roland. He learns from every mistake. He clocks it. He's like, this is what I did wrong.

[B]

Yeah. Here's one thing I can point out.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because this man is only like. I think I did the math real fast. 1822. We're at 1858, I think you said.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Or 1855.

[C]

We're at 1855 right now.

[B]

Okay. So he's 33. He's 30 something. Three years old.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Same age as Jesus when They nailed.

[C]

You to a cross.

[B]

And you've already told me now about. He's failed five businesses. Yes, but he's been allowed to fail five businesses and be able to restart them. I feel like in today you wouldn't be allowed to do that. Because of credit. Because of credit reports, all these different things. Like, it's a different time.

[C]

Unless you're Elon Musk. That dude fails at like so many businesses, but. Yeah, but the government and President Trump, he also failed at everything.

[B]

Yeah, but he was already rich.

[C]

Yeah, you can fail when you're rich. Okay, so Macy moved to New York City in 1858.

[B]

New York City.

[C]

And he established a new store called the RH Macy Dry Goods Store.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And he made sure that it was significantly north of other dry goods stores. So it's kind of out of the way. It's in its own location. It's not around a lot of other stuff. And on the company's first day in business on October 28, 1858, sales totaled $11.08.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

Which equates to $402 approximately today.

[B]

That's not great.

[C]

But it's pretty good back then.

[B]

It's pretty good back then. I'll give it that.

[C]

Before your first day.

[B]

First day. First day jitter. Yeah. Okay.

[C]

Selling oatmeal. Dude, he's doing great. It's oatmeal.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. Gotcha.

[C]

Gotcha.

[B]

Right, you're right. Right.

[C]

As the business grew, Macy expanded into the neighboring building. So he just started buying up the buildings that are close to him.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

Right. And he's opening up more and more departments in each new space. Okay, are we starting to see where the idea of a department store.

[B]

Yeah. So he's like, okay, we'll buy. I buy the. The row house next door. That is where I'm gonna sell ladies goods.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

The row house next to that, that's gonna be hats.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

The row house next to that, that's gonna be. Yeah, whatever.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[B]

Will be its own department.

[C]

So he also started new concepts in marketing, such as an in store Santa Claus during the holidays.

[B]

That was from Macy.

[C]

Yup.

[B]

This guy invented the idea of the mall Santa Claus.

[C]

Exactly. He was like, if I bring Santa.

[B]

In here, then you'll come to.

[C]

You'll come here. It's an event for you to come to. He also just started doing themed exhibits, which I always loved about Macy's. Macy's in Philly used to do like a big flower exhibit around the perfume section during the flower show in Philly.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so like he came up with this idea of big exhibits that had to do with the. What he was selling.

[B]

Well, the big one in New York is one thing I do remember when younger going to Manhattan is like the big window displays as well and those different type of things. Because again, you want to attract people's eyes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And as they're saying they're looking and they're going to. Oh my God, look this, it's so. Oh, how much is this hat?

[C]

Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

And so the window exhibits was the next thing I wrote down. They're separate from the interior exhibits. I'm talking about interior exhibits.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

And then the illuminated window displays were their whole thing.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

This is the point where we're talking about illumination. He's. We're talking about electricity's just up and coming.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And he's illuminating his windows with like holiday decorations. This is stopping people in their tracks.

[B]

So he's, he's really is an innovator.

[C]

He's an innovator of market.

[B]

What, him and the people he's working.

[C]

Yes. He's not alone.

[B]

We're giving him this the same way like you would give Edison the light bulb. Like, there's probably other people who are like, what if we did like a seasonal display? And he's like, how much will it cost? Yeah. But he signed the check, so he gets the dip.

[C]

So he also offered a money back guarantee for his items. This is a big deal. Cash back, babe.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

The store also produced its own made to measure clothing for men and women that would be assembled on an on site factory. So you could go there, pick out an outfit, get measured there. And then there were staff members in one of their departments that would sew it in sight and you'd pick it up like a day or a week later.

[B]

Well, and this is especially at this time, this is before washing machines. So like, like what we know now about our sizes. Right. Medium, large, you know, your pants, pant size, all those different things. Yeah, they used to. Everyone used to get tailored clothes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It was very uncommon. We didn't have like, there just wasn't large shirts. Like, this is because of washing machines. Mass fast fashion, mass fabric, all these different things is specifically because of washing machines. Is why we change.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like getting this done is crazy.

[C]

Absolutely.

[B]

And he's figured out, he's also much like later Henry Ford, he's figuring out how to make it into a streamlined process.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

That's crazy.

[C]

So the store did move several times before setting into its current location at Herald Square in 1902, which is 34th Street.

[B]

That's where the miracle is.

[C]

He also, during this period of time, brought in two partners.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

We don't really need to know anything about them.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

They weren't that interesting.

[B]

All right. So he brought in two guys who had money.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

He's like, hey, I don't want to spend money on everything.

[C]

Let's talk about something actually interesting.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Macy made history in 1875 by appointing Margaret Getchell as a store manager, making the first instance of a woman holding an executive position at a major retail store. This groundbreaking move was not only a recognition of her competence, but also a strategic decision to attract female customers. And it set a precedent for gender diversity in the retail industry, inspiring more and more women to enter the workforce and pursue leadership roles.

[B]

So you mean to tell me that Macy's.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Is responsible for dei?

[C]

Yes, absolutely.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Fun fact. And the reason I actually knew this tidbit in my mind palace, I didn't have to look this up except for the dates. And her name is when I worked at Macy's.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

I worked at Macy's like, a million years ago. I worked at the one in Northeast Philly at the Roosevelt Mall. Shout out. I don't know if that exists anymore.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Because a lot of Macy's closed.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I worked at the Coach counter selling Coach handbags. That was my favorite. It's where I fell in love with, like, I love. You know, I love a Coach handbag.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And that's where I learned everything about Coach. And it was, like, part. It was. I worked there for. During the holidays. It was, like selling Coach handbags. And I was next to all the fragrances and the makeup. You know, I had a great time. I know you, and I love a department store. So getting to, like, be in Macy's during the holidays was, like, such a fun time for me because my grandmother worked at Strawberries and Clothier, which was, like, a Philadelphia institution. It was like the. It was like the Macy's for us.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Macy's eventually bought Strawberry and Clothier and turned them all into Macy's.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But so growing up with, like, this. This idea and love of department stores and having women in my life who fundamentally worked at department stores was, like, because of this woman. So we knew her lore. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah. Well, the other thing, too, is. And I think people. Because department stores, for the most part, are dying.

[C]

Yeah. And everyone's really sad about it. And I'm Everyone.

[B]

Yeah. Well, Macy's is, is the big dog because it bought so many of the regional ones.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So like a lot of people copied Macy's.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then Macy's later came in and bought them all up. And a big part of that was to buy up the land underneath.

[C]

Oh, yeah, for sure.

[B]

And. And to control that and to borrow against it. But the other part of it, though is that the department store, it's a depart. Like, people don't think about it that often, but like Walmart and Target, we call them big box stores.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But they're department stores, too. Kmart was a department store. It's just about how they sell themselves.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like Walmart, Target, Kmart, the marts of them all. They all were like, oh, we're like a grocery store that sells more stuff.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like Macy's, Boscoff's, all these different places. They would have like, some food items, but it was like chocolates.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

They would have luxury chocolate covered pretzel. Yeah, yeah. Stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, Stuff like that. But. But it's like they were never going to sell.

[C]

You know who has a great, like, food section? Harrods in London.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Oh.

[B]

Which is another department department store. But like all these different places, like. But as we started out, Macy started out as a dry goods store.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That then moved in these other areas. And then they got rid of the grocery.

[C]

Yeah, they got.

[B]

Because they said, well, someone else will handle the grocery. We're going to go more into the lu.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because we have a higher markup on it.

[C]

Yeah. But I think the thing that I love about department stores, and I grieve our loss of department stores is that like, because each, each department had a person or like two people. And so like, you would go to Macy's and you're like, this is the woman that knows Clinique. This is the woman that knows Estee Lauder. This is the guy that works in the suit area. And I'm going to ask him about getting my husband a new suit. Like, there were people, there was staff, they were informed and educated. They were all making salaries.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And now you go, if you go to like, let's say Target, we're going to Target. But if you did. And there are all these different departments. Is anybody there answering questions? Is anybody there helping you?

[B]

Yeah, but it's only that because nobody there is a specialist.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

Because everyone is a universal customer service rep now. Where everyone has to know the only job they have to do is to scan the upc.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

That's it. And then tell you at Walmart, we don't take Apple pay.

[C]

Yeah. And then you. But.

[B]

But we use facial recognition to. To. To map exactly who it is in the store. So even if you pay with cash, we can send you an email telling you about that. That's fucking weird. But let's get back to Macy's.

[C]

Hold on.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

I had a thought that you interrupted and I wanted to finish it. And I can't remember what it is anymore. So we'll get back to Macy's.

[B]

Good.

[C]

Okay. So Macy passes away in 1877.

[B]

Oh, Rip to the goat. And hold on. Hold on, Rip.

[C]

So he. So he passes away and he. I. The only thing that, like, I thought was very interesting is in his will, he left a lot of stuff to his wife Louisa. And I pulled a quote from the will.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

To Louisa. Absolutely. All the paraphernalia, wearing apparel, watches, rings, trinkets, jewels and personal ornaments reputed to belong to her and during her life, the use of all household furniture, books, clocks, bronzes and works of art.

[B]

Trinkets. I'm just stuck on trinkets.

[C]

I love it when you pass away, you better leave me every guy.

[B]

I'm leaving you every trinket and the right to use the furniture. Oh, I remember.

[C]

What I was gonna say is, back in the day, before department stores started to go away, people got specially trained in each department so you could get paid more, so you could make a commission.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So like the people that worked at the coach department, like, where I was, we wouldn't. We would get special training on leather goods and how they're made and why this is important, why this is good. And then I would get a commission for selling it so that I had a base salary and I'd make more money. But at Target now or whatever.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Even if somebody did help you understand the difference between the plugs you're buying in the electric section, that person's not making a commission or having something they could put on the resume to then take to, like, potentially go work at the Coach Boutique or the Estee Lauder Boutique. Like, it just sucks all around. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[B]

But don't worry. We have dynamic pricing now, so that way the shareholders can make more money.

[C]

In the following year. After he dies, Macy's partner, La Forge dies. And the third partner, his name was Valentine, he dies as well in 1879.

[B]

Okay. So all the partners are.

[C]

Everybody's dying. Ownership of the store passes to the Macy's family and the Macy's Family doesn't really. It's. I think it's mostly the wife, and she's like, no, thanks. He has a son. He doesn't leave his son much. He leaves his wife and his daughter most of it. He's very much one of those guys. It's like, you need to make it on your own and be a man.

[B]

Boy name. So he hit him with a boy names.

[C]

I'm like an annuity of some amount. But like, he. He really doesn't even leave the business to him.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And the. The wife is. Doesn't want to deal with it. She's got her trinkets to handle.

[B]

Yeah. So she ends up my trinkets and paraphernalia.

[C]

My good furniture.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I bet you she had incredible trinkets.

[B]

Oh, it's 1870. 1870 is peak trinket.

[C]

She's having the time of her life.

[B]

Yeah. Also, whenever I hear paraphernalia, I immediately think, bong.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like it sounds like. Not at all. It's not drug paraphernalia. Yeah. Legalese has ruined us.

[C]

So they. They end up selling the Macy's family sells the store to Isadore and Nathan Strauss, not the Levi Strauss guys.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

Okay. In no relation. No relation.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

1896. Now the Strauss Bros. I'm gonna call them the Strauss Bros. They had a crockery store. Do you know what crockery is?

[B]

No, what's crockery?

[C]

So crockery is the term that they used to use back in the day. A lot more for ceramic tableware, like dishes, plates, bowls, cups to serve and eat food. So this is where we get crock pot. A crockery is like the. All of the dishes together.

[B]

Oh, like a crock of.

[C]

Okay, There you go.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So they had. They have this crockery business that I believe their dad started. And then they were, you know, working in. And they had a special license to sell china and crockery goods to the Macy's store. So they were in charge of basically the crockery department. So now when you go to Macy's, a lot of times this happens at weddings when you're doing your wedding registry.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Or if somebody has a wedding registry, you go to that department where the china and the plates are. Yeah, that's the crockery. And these guys had the license to that sell in that section.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Through Macy's.

[B]

And so we had our wedding registry at Bed Bath and Beyond.

[C]

Doesn't exist anymore.

[B]

Doesn't exist anymore. Thanks. Private equity.

[C]

And so because of. They had A positive relationship with the Macy's family. And they had enough revenue saved. They bought Macy's and became the partners in 1896.

[B]

Can I tell you how interesting that is? Like, it's. That's very interesting because a similar thing. It wasn't because the partners died, but a similar thing happened with McDonald's.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

A guy named Croc.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Who was selling milkshake machines to the McDonald's brothers founded it was like, shocked because they kept buying. He's like, there's no way you need this many milkshake machines.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I know we did. And then he went and he saw what they were doing and he was like, I need this business. Like, this is groundbreaking. Nobody understands of how smart this is. The same way the Strauss brothers, who were selling Crocs crockery. It's just funny how these things have a cycle.

[C]

Back then you could do this kind of thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay, so let's take a break and when we come back, I want to tell you all about the Strauss Bros. And. And some things I've been talking about.

[B]

Oh, hints.

[C]

The holiday season can get busy, so finding time to cook can be tough. Save time and get a hot meal with factor. Factor Chef prepared meals make it easy to eat healthy. You can enjoy hot, delicious dinners in just two minutes. Factor offers a wide variety of weekly meals, including premium seafood like salmon and shrimp at no extra cost.

[B]

Oh, and let me tell you, Mrs. P, I love the factor meals, especially the shrimp meals. There's this one they do a lot that come with the cavatappi. It's as you know, a lot of them are naturally gluten free, so it fit into your diet. There's this shrimp one. I think it was like a shrimp dill. Oh, so good. I ate it all the time. Also the queso fundido with the shaved cauliflower rice. I would get that and then I would get chips on the side and I would eat them up and I feel good and I feel healthy and it's just the right amount of food.

[C]

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[B]

Eat smart@factor meals.com Too many 50 off and use code too many 50 off to get 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for one year. That's code too many 50 off@factor meals.com for 50% off your first box plus FREE breakfast for one year. Get delicious ready to eat Meals delivered with factor offer only. Valid for new factor customers with code and qualifying auto renewable subscription purchase.

And we're just getting a little bit closer to Mrs. P's devilish foreshadowing.

[C]

Subtle foreshadowing.

[B]

So subtle.

[C]

Okay, so the Strauss bros.

[B]

The Strauss bros.

[C]

They were born in Germany.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

They're Jewish.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And then their family moves where? Georgia.

[B]

Georgia. Russia. Georgia.

[C]

The state.

[B]

Oh, the state of Georgia.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Oh, where Phil DeFranco lives.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Who just had his 40th birthday.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

So they move to Georgia.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And as the children, they move to New York City or. No, they use. They. They move to New York City as young adults with their dad because his dad opens the crockery.

[B]

Okay, but why do they move from Georgia to New York City?

[C]

Oh, Civil War stuff.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

Their family lost a lot during the Civil War, so they went to go reinvent themselves in New York City.

[B]

Wait, so they. Okay, hold on. I just want to real fast. Having a lot of money in the south and then losing it in the Civil War, that's never a good thing.

[C]

I did find that their family was against slavery.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Like, as a belief system.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

But then it got a little weird. I don't know what's going on. You know what I mean? I don't know. So Isadore Strauss. That's our first brother.

[B]

I want first brother. Got it.

[C]

Okay, so Isadore Strauss served as a U.S. congressman for one year, representing New York's 15th congressional district as a Democrat.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

During his one year term, Strauss was a champion on tariff reform.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Opposing the high rates of the McKinley tariff, and collaborated on what's called the Wilson Gorman Tariff Act.

[B]

So wait, let me get this straight. This guy goes and becomes a congressman for exactly one year.

[C]

Just one.

[B]

His only thing he works on is getting rid of tariffs.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Which directly affect him.

[C]

The man that sells crockery.

[B]

Yeah. As a man who is importing plates from all over the world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He literally showed up because, I don't want to pay this fucking tax. So he basically became a. Became a congressman to lobby himself.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

He is his own lobbying agent and congressman. Yeah. And he was successful.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's incredible.

[C]

Isador Strauss was also the president of the Educational alliance and a prominent worker in charitable and educational movements. He declined and offered to be the Postmaster General by the US President, Grover Cleveland.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

He had the offer to stay in politics, and he was like, no.

[B]

Yeah. And he's connected. He's, like, well, connected enough to be getting offers like this. Being a congressman all These things. Because, like, when you think somebody who. Like when you hear the term crockery store.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You don't think passing paper money. Money, money, money. Because it was literally. This is like. This is the equivalent of running. Of selling iPads.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, plates were big deals.

[C]

Plates were big deals.

[B]

They were breaking a lot back then, too.

[C]

So that's Isadore, but we're not gonna talk about. I want to talk about Nathan.

[B]

Okay. And real fast. Isadore should not be confused with Isilia Door, who refused to throw the one ring into Mount Dune during Lord of the Rings.

[C]

Okay. Nate was big into philanthropy and public service.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

He served as a member of the Board of Education, as a Parks Commissioner, and as president of the Board of Health and the Department of Health.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So.

[B]

So Nathan Strauss is, like, into everything.

[C]

He's really into public service.

[B]

Got it. Okay.

[C]

Okay. He and. And philanthropy. I have such a hard time with that word.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

He donates a lot of money to the New York City Public Library.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

Specifically targeting young people. He wants more young people to read, so he's buying specific. What we would call y. E novels. And there's actually a young people's collection at the Donnell Library center named after him.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Because he was very much in the literacy of the youth.

[B]

So he was probably buying some Conan the Barbarian books. He was probably getting some of. That Was the guy. John Carter of Mars.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Probably had some of those in there. He's like, the kids love these books. I don't know what they're about. A man who can jump high on Mars.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

In 1894, he was selected by Tammany hall to run for mayor of New York City on the Democratic ticket, but he withdrew from the race when his friends in society threatened to shun him.

[B]

Okay. Okay. This is so funny. He nearly got Cuomo, so he was like, no, I'm not. I'm not stupid. I'm not Andrew Cuomo. That's incredible. Do you know what Tammany hall is?

[C]

I think I do. I think it's, like. It's like the dnc.

[B]

No, it's, like, more extreme than that. It was the Democratic party machine in New York.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So do you remember. Remember we watched the movie Gangs in New York?

[C]

Do I remember? I love Gangs of New York.

[B]

Tammany hall is. Is the guys who are like, we need more voters. Get them Irish off the boat. Get them over here.

[C]

Like, that's.

[B]

That is Tammany Hall.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And like, they controlled the Democratic machine so strongly.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That. That like they chose the candidates, they knew how, like where to put the money, all this different stuff. They didn't get broken up until a man became mayor whose name was LaGuardia. Who we named the airport after. Yes, LaGuardia, the socialist mayor. Oh. Is who Zoramdani is actually mirroring his entire like, campaign about.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And behind it was LaGuardia came in, was like these guys, these idiots aren't listening to the people at all. Like they just do this, this over and over and over again.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It was just. It was a whole machine politics.

[C]

Crazy that the DNC would do that and not listen to people about what they want.

[B]

It's fucking wild.

[C]

Crazy.

[B]

Yeah, it's. It's a wild thing.

[C]

I wonder.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I wonder when that'll stop.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So in 1892, he and his wife Lena privately funded the Nathan Strauss Pasteurized Milk Laboratory to provide pasteurized milk to two children. To combat infant mortality and tuberculosis. In his battles with the disease, he opened the Tuberculosis Preventorium for Children and Lakewood Township, New Jersey. Him and his wife wrote a book. The title of the book is called Disease in Milk. The Remedy Pasteurization. The life work of Nathan Strauss.

[B]

So he's the Hank Green. He is Hank Green. Hank and John Green.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Of TB of his era. Like famously. John Green particularly has been like very big on trying to end tuberculosis, which is a terrifying disease, which also is like an old. It feels like an old timey disease if you are in the developed world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

In general. But this is incredible. I love the fact. I love the fact that this dude was like raw milk bad.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And now here we are fighting it again and tuberculosis is back. He literally. Is it. Oh no. Oh, but he's a Jew. He's a Jew. So. So actually we need to drink the raw milk because it's a Jew plot.

[C]

Is that. Oh, no. Anyway, in his book he discusses the fact that unpasteurized milk fed to infants was the chief cause of tuberculosis. Typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria and other diseases that were the main cause of the 25 infant mortality rate in the United States.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Nathan Strauss is credited as lead. As the leading proponent of the pasteurization movement which eliminated the hundreds of thousands of deaths of deaths per year due to the disease bearing milk.

[B]

This is crazy.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

So the guy who owned Macy's.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Actually dropped our infant mortality rate.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

By 20. Not much higher than 20. Like 24.9%.

[C]

Yes. Yes.

[B]

Just because he was like, boil the milk idiots.

[C]

Yeah. No, literally him and his wife Lena. This was like their cause.

[B]

This was their big thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Now. Now billionaires big things is getting people to drink raw milk and not taking vaccines and being racist on Twitter.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But back in the day, it was, for the love of God, boil the milk. The babies are getting scarlet fever from bacteria in the milk.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

This is insane.

[C]

During the economic panic of 1893, another panic. Strauss used his milk stations to sell coal at the very low price of 5 cents for 25 pounds to those who could pay, those who could not receive the coal for free.

[B]

Wait, hold on. What do you mean milk stations?

[C]

So he had pasteurized milk stations set up all around New York City so people could have access to clean milk. You could. You would buy the clean milk, like in the glass jugs and everything. Pre Pasteurized.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And they would talk to you there about why you should drink pasteurized milk and tell people, hey, come get our low price pasteurized milk.

[B]

We already boiled the milk for you. It's safer than that weird junk down there.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Have you looked at those cows udders?

[C]

And eventually they turn the milk stations into coal selling stations where they would sell coal at a loss.

[B]

So he's subsidizing.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

He's using his money to subsidize people so they don't freeze to death.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Okay. So he can point out something. Elon created an AI that called itself Mecca Hitler, and then he demanded that it praise him while saying that it loves him forever.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And he's the richest man in the world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Not a coal station to be seen.

[C]

So Nathan also opened multiple homeless shelters what served serving almost overseas. Six, 64,000 people. Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And at these homeless shelters, you could get a bed and a meal for 5 cents. He also.

[B]

A nickel.

[C]

A nickel for a bed to sleep in and a hot meal.

[B]

Okay, okay.

[C]

He also funded separately 50,000 meals that were $0.01 each. So they would have meal stations, like the milk stations, where you go get a hot soup and a bread and ba, ba. And it would be for one penny, you could get a hot meal.

[B]

That's incredible.

[C]

He also, they found out later, gave away thousands and thousands of turkeys anonymously. You're just giving out turkeys.

[B]

You just hand in turkey.

[C]

Turkeys out. Turkeys out, baby.

[B]

I just. I'm just picturing again, I'm just picturing people, you know, like rich guys with the money, guns. Yeah. Spraying things. Instead, it's just this guy being like, turkey, you get a turkey, you get a turkey, you get it.

[C]

Oprah's A different episode.

[B]

Oh, okay. I just foreshadowed next week. Okay, go ahead.

[C]

So also, at a certain point, he noticed that two of his employees at the Macy's store were starving themselves in order to save their wages to feed their families.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And when he realized what they were doing, he established what may have been the first subsidized company cafeteria in which staff were getting free meals so that they didn't have to not eat to feed their families.

[B]

Oh, my God. And the thing is, is I actually, in my lifetime, I remember, like, I worked at a company that had cafeteria.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

That it wasn't free, but it was cheaper than going out.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

It was cheaper than going to Wawa. Again, Pennsylvania. We eat gas station food. Going to Wawa, McDonald's, Chick Fil A, any of the places around. It kept you in the building. It also gave us a reason. Like, the break room is probably one of the saddest places in America and workplaces right now. Because you go in there, you're annoyed because you want to just watch, you know, your YouTube, like this show on.

[C]

Your phone with the AirPods mini tabs, podcast with your air with your AirPod in.

[B]

And then the co worker from accounting comes in and sits across from you're like, that's weird. There's like. But there's not enough seats.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Somebody microwaved fish. And you're like, why the would you do that? And then there's just the sign that says your workers rights.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're like, what the fuck? And it's just. And it's. It's in fluorescent lighting. But, like, I've worked in. I worked in so many places that had wonderful cafeterias that had good food at it at reasonable prices. And then as it got closer to Covid. Covid killed a lot of them.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But they were already, like, the. The price point was already slipping away.

[C]

Suddenly, somebody in some boardroom was like, you know, we can make a profit off of our employees.

[B]

You know, we. We can. We can pop a race rating for one quarter.

[C]

Basically. Yeah. Basically.

[B]

That's all it came down to. So he's literally like, it looks like you're starving to death. I'm gonna feed you guys.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He could have also paid them more, but also.

[C]

But I think.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, but he's doing a lot with that. Okay.

[C]

We're picking our. Choosing our battles right now, babies. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, we are. We are. Okay.

[C]

In 1898, during the Spanish American War, Nathan Strauss donated an ice plant to Santiago, Cuba.

[B]

He gave them an ice plant yeah, they needed ice. He was like, here's a plant to make ice. He donated. Now, to be fair, that was a US Imperialist war.

[C]

Blah.

[B]

But he was like, here's enough money. Here's an ice. I'm just thinking back again to Elon.

[C]

Not the ice we're dealing with today.

[B]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Different ice. Literally in the drinky ice. Okay, but I'm just thinking again during COVID Not to completely harp on Elon.

[C]

The entire time, but there are other billionaires. You can.

[B]

There are others, but this one is the dumbest. Elon was like, I'm going to give the breathing machines. What was that? The. Remember, the respirators.

[C]

The respirator.

[B]

And he actually just sent CPAP machines to a bunch of hospitals.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

With Tesla stickers on them.

[C]

Idiot.

[B]

Yes. Fucking moron.

[C]

Nathan Strauss was appointed by President William Taft as the sole United States delegate to the International Congress for the Protection of Infants that was held in Berlin in 1911. He was also asked to be the delegate for the Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis Congress that was held in Rome in 1912.

[B]

Literally John Green.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

No, literally, John Green did that at the UN he literally went to a tuberculosis conference. Like. Like. Like this is. Oh, my God. Also, like, building hospital. Like John. Like this is. Imagine if John Green also ran Macy's.

The fuck are we. Okay, okay, okay, okay. No, it's John and Hank Green. This is just John and Hank. Oh, my God. Okay, go ahead.

[C]

Nathan Strauss retired in 1914 to devout his time to charity. Okay, okay. During the winter of 1914-15, he served over 1,135,731 penny meals for the unemployed from his milk depots in New York City.

[B]

Wow. Over a million served.

[C]

Yes. Literally.

[B]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[C]

In 1916, as American entry into World War I loomed, he sold his yacht to the Coast Guard and used the proceeds to feed war orphans.

[B]

No. No. He sold it.

I'm so mad. I'm so mad. Jeff Bezos has a yacht. To get to his yacht.

[C]

It's a littler yacht that's still big.

[B]

It's still big.

[C]

Goes into the mega yacht.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And they park it in there.

[B]

And not once has he ever been like, what about these war orphans? Instead, he's like, what if we put a new data center in this cornfield?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

What are we talking about?

[C]

He sold his yacht to feed the war orphans.

[B]

The Macy's guy.

[C]

The Macy's guy. One of the bros. Okay, but listen, we need to take a break. And when we come back, we're gonna go to North Carolina for some weird side quest that I opened a tab on.

[B]

What?

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[D]

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[B]

Side quest time. Mrs. P, you said we're going to North Carolina?

[C]

Yes, and it's very strange. Okay, so shortly after World War I, Nathan Strauss travels to Asheville, North Carolina.

[B]

Okay. Oh, well, Asheville is. Is now. Is like a very cool.

[C]

It's nice.

[B]

It's a very liberal area. I mean, they're dealing with a lot from the fallout.

[C]

This is not why he goes there.

[B]

He doesn't go there because it's cool and chill.

[C]

No. He goes there to lay a wreath at the Confederate Vance Monument in a quote, debt of gratitude for Zebulon Vance's opposition to antisemitism.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Just give me a second. I need to breathe. I need to breathe. Oh my God. Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Did you say Zebulon?

[C]

Zebulon.

[B]

Zebulon Vance Vance.

[C]

I know.

[B]

Okay. And he's a Confederate.

[C]

Uh huh.

[B]

Who is against anti Semitism. I don't want to get. He. Okay.

[C]

Zebulon Van. So then I had the same questions that you're having.

[B]

I'm having so many.

[C]

Who the fuck is Zebulon?

[B]

Because before this moment, I love Nate. Nate was such a good guy. He sold his yacht to pay war orphans.

[C]

I know, but there is a lot of duality in humanity, man.

[B]

Okay, man.

[C]

Okay, so Zebulon Vance was a Confederate senator in North Carolina who is super influential. Influential during the Reconstruction era.

[B]

Oh, that's not good.

[C]

He was also well known for being what is called a philosemite.

[B]

What?

[C]

Which I had to look up what the hell that word meant.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Which means someone who loves, defends, and admires Jews and Judaism. This admiration is often rooted in stereotypes and can be seen as just as problematic as anti Semitism as it can lead to viewing Jewish people as a monolithic group rather than as individuals with diverse expressions, experiences and beliefs.

[B]

So he's Confederate John Federman. Yeah, he laid a reef at a monument for Confederate John Federman. That's what you're describing to me right now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm going to lose my mind. Had we had one of those. We had a Confederate John Fetterman.

Name Zebulon. Babe, Zebulon is supposed to fight Buzz Lightyear. What are we talking about? And he's during the reconstruction. That's so bad. That's a bad time. Okay, babe, yeah, just keep going.

[C]

So Zebulon Vance frequently spoke out against anti Semitism and he was considered progressive by many during his lifetime.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Vance was also a slave owner and is now regarded as a racist by modern historians and biographers.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

So now after this trip, unrelated completely, Nathan's gonna go to Palestine.

[B]

What? Well, the last segment, I was cheering for this dude. This is it. This is the foreshadowing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You've set me up for hours. I got balloons.

[C]

Babe, the balloons were already here.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, they were for Phil DeFranco. I'm not being in Phil DeFranco into this. Okay, okay.

[C]

Nathan and Lena. Okay. Nathan and his wife Lena, they go on a vacation tour of the Mediterranean.

[B]

Of the Mediterranean.

[C]

This is, they're just on vacay.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[C]

In 1904, they stopped over to Palestine, Okay. Expecting it to be one of many stops. However, when they get there, they get to Jerusalem. And he is quoted as having said they have to change their plans because once they saw the Holy Land, it left such a deep impression on them that they gave up the idea of going any other places and they wanted to just really stay in this soul stirring area as they felt a strange and intense desire to return to this land.

[B]

I, I, I wonder if, Honestly, I've never been in Jerusalem. Jerusalem. I always wonder though, if there is literally like a gas in the air there. Because this is such a common story of everyone who goes to Jerusalem. It's just like they get there, they go, oh, they feel drawn to it. The only time I've ever felt close to that is when I went to New Mexico. I went to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

And I was standing out in like some brushland and I went, oh, no, I get this. They call it the Albuquerque suck.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Or the New Mexico suck. Like you go there and you just. There's something about it that draws you. You back. Right. And, like, maybe. Maybe there's something like that is there that just makes you be like, oh, I have to make this my whole personality.

[C]

Yeah. The scent in the air is just perfumes being sprayed at Macy's.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So Nathan and Lena become staunch Zionists.

[B]

Oh, great.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

He then spent is going to and from all the time from New York City.

[B]

And by the way, this is. This is during a time. I just want to say Zionism was new.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

This is a new concept during the time. It really doesn't pop up until, like, the 1890s.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it is. It is a newer concept because in the most part, Jews wanted to live where they were. They just wanted to have their villages stop being burned down.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because that was a common story across Eastern Europe into Russia. And even including issues in America. Like, most Jews were like, hey, man, I'm here. I just. I just would like people to stop trying to burn my businesses down, attack my home, steal all of our money, and chase us out of town.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That was most. And so there's this idea that popped up, which is, oh, what if we all just go back? What if we just go back to this spot that our book said that we used to be from? And so this idea became attractive to some people, but it also was like a long shot. It was like a pipe dream thing. Much like, again, Elon Musk, we're all gonna go to Mars. It was that. It was. Because it was that sort of fantasy idea.

[C]

Yeah. Nathan and Lena start really funding the building of different charity places in Palestine.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay. He built a soup kitchen. He built multiple soup kitchens for the aged, the blind, the physically defective there. He financed workrooms so that unskilled laborers could find employment. He built health stations that ministered to the victims of malaria. And he provided over $250,000 for the establishment of the Jerusalem Health Center.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Okay. So Nathan and his wife were visiting Palestine in 1912 on one of their many visits there.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And the thing is, is he breaks his leg while they're there.

[B]

He breaks his leg?

[C]

Yeah. He. He's out there doing stuff, and he breaks his leg.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And this, because of this injury, he has to cancel these plans he has with his brother. Okay. So Nathan and Lena and Isadore. And I forget Isadora's wife's name. Ida. Ida. They all had a big family plan. They had tickets that they were gonna go on a vacation together.

[B]

Okay. And he wanted to show his brother Palestine.

[C]

No, no, no, no, no.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

They were meeting up to go on a different vacation.

[B]

Okay, got it.

[C]

After this trip to Palestine. But he broke his leg, so he couldn't go because they were gonna get on this boat trip on the RMS Titanic.

[B]

Shut the fuck up. He was going to go on the Titanic. Key final destination, the Titanic.

[C]

Isadore and Ida did go on the Titanic.

[B]

Oh, no.

[C]

They were passengers on the Titanic. When at about 11:40pm on April 14, 1912, it hit an iceberg. Once it was clear that the Titanic was sinking, Ida refused to leave Isadore and would not get into a lifeboat without him. According to a friend and a Titanic survivor, Colonel Archibald Gracie, when he offered to ask an officer if Isadore could enter the lifeboat with Ida, Isadore refused to be made an exception while women and children were still aboard. While Ida is reported to have said, quote, I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so shall we die together. Ida gave her lady maid her fur coat and insisted on her getting on the lifeboat. Isadore and Ida were last seen on the deck arm in arm. Eyewitnesses described the scene as, quote, the most remarkable exhibition of love and devotion. This ship sank at 2:20am on April 15.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Wait. Shut up. They. Okay, okay. This is the scene from the Titanic, if anyone's seen the movie. And I know at one point it was the most popular movie in human history. They are the couple on the bed. James Cameron changed it.

[C]

Yes. No, literally.

[B]

Literally. He changed it to the two of.

[C]

Them on the bed while the water rises up.

[B]

Yeah. As their whole. They're like big. Spooning each other on the bed.

[C]

No, that's them. Literally.

[B]

That's fucking crazy. Yeah, that's them.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

That's the Macy's guy.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

What the fuck?

[C]

And Nathan and his wife didn't go because he broke his leg in Palestine.

[B]

But also. Can I tell you how insane this is? There are all of these. There are so many conspiracy theories about Titanic involving the Federal Reserve. What? Because there's people on the Titanic that, like, died. And there was something involved with, like, the Federal Reserve was formed after that. Because again, it's one of those things where people put together. Oh, it's the 1910s.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The Federal Reserve is, like, in 1914 or whatever it is. And so, like, there's people in there that was rich. Because it was a rich people boat.

[C]

Yeah, it was full of rich people.

[B]

It was a rich people, but cost.

[C]

A lot of money.

[B]

Yeah, it cost a lot of Money to be on there. And it was the new thing. Yeah.

[C]

It would be like, rich people love the new thing. That's why that Katy Perry flew to space.

[B]

Yeah. It would be like, oh, my God, if the Katy Perry rocket blew up, people would be like, oh, there was actually a secret plot under there. It was really his somehow.

[C]

You know, There was definitely a secret plot, but.

[B]

But this is just one of those, like, crazy things. That is so wild.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

All because you only. Okay. We only learn this because our child likes K Pop demon hunters.

You really tap. You really. No, they went down, down, down. You really.

You really tabs this episode.

[C]

Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. The Israeli city of Netanyahu, which is the Hebrew name for Nathan. Wait. Was named in his honor.

[B]

Shut up. Shut up. Say that again.

[C]

The Israeli city of Netanyah, which is the Hebrew word for Nathan, is named in his honor.

[B]

Netanyah.

[C]

I know what you're thinking. Not related. The city's founder had hoped that he. Nathan, would contribute towards the development of the city, but Strauss didn't have anything really left to give because he had contributed so much money elsewhere. Lol. I literally wrote LOL because he was donating so much money that. That these city planners were like, I know what we'll do. We'll name it after Nathan Strauss, and then we'll feel like he should give us more money to build out the city. But he actually was already like, no, I mean, I appreciate it, guys. I do appreciate it, but I'm also funding so many other things.

[B]

Wait, hold on. Hold on.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So Benjamin Netanyahu, huh? Which. That's not his real name. His family changed their name to Netanyahu.

[C]

Yeah, I did look it up, because I thought the same thing.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And it's not related. Benjamin Netanyahu's grandfather's name was. Last name was Nathan, and that's why they changed Netanyahu.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, got it. Because there was a moment there.

[C]

I know.

[B]

Wait, so does that mean that Benjamin Netanyahu's name is actually Benny from Nathan. Yeah.

[C]

And then Yahoo is like Yahweh. So it's like Nathan of God. You know what I mean?

[B]

Okay, got it, Got it. Got. I got it. That's what that's supposed to mean.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[C]

So, yeah, Nathan.

[B]

There was literally. There was a moment there where I had a heart attack where I was like, you need to tell me.

[C]

You need to apologize to the Green bros. Oh, geez.

[B]

Oh, yeah. No, yeah. My apologies to Hank and John Green.

[C]

You didn't mean it.

[B]

I did Not.

[C]

I didn't want to.

[B]

I have to stop jumping on these dudes nuts when they do good things early. And I need to learn how you structure this show. You always front load the good stuff. You always front load the good stuff. You're never like, this guy was evil. Also, here's some good things. You're always like, oh, isn't he nice? And I'm like, he's so nice. You're like. And here he is over here.

[C]

So. Nathan Strauss dies in January of 1931. Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Now here's what I'm doing. I want to take a break. And when we come back, I want to tell you about how a money laundering sexual deviant from New York, a governor, specifically launched a civil rights investigation into Macy's.

[B]

What?

[A]

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[D]

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[B]

You said a money laundering sexual deviant. New York governor.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I'm gonna throw a pin.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

I'm gonna throw a dart. Go ahead and just say, this is Elliot Spitzer.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, okay, listen, I just. I just. You said the 2000s. I just go. I know of one. I know of one. Because I would have said Cuomo. I would have said Cuomo. But we don't really have the money laundering in there in the same sort of way.

[C]

Yeah. That we know.

[B]

That we know of.

[C]

Okay, so listen, before we get to there, after. After Macy's death, Macy's goes crazy, right? And what I mean by this is like there's a lot Strauss deaths. The Strauss death, yes, yes, I'm sorry. After the Strauss deaths, Macy's as a company, years and years of different. I don't want to waste our time with mergers, expansions, buying other companies, etc.

[B]

They bought strawberries and Clothier in Philly. They bought probably whatever the place you.

[C]

Grew up near to go through all those years of stuff.

[B]

I got a thing real fast. If you're watching this on YouTube or on Spotify, throw down the comments. What was the local department store by you that became a Macy's? You're old enough, you'll remember. Or your mom mentions it all the time. All right, go ahead.

[C]

Misses it. But I do want to just go over some quick baseline information. Macy's is the largest department store company by retail sales the United States.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

They have an annual revenue of $25 billion. That was in 2023. They operate about 450 locations including Puerto Rico and Guam. Macy's Herald Square is one of the largest department stores in the world, spanning approximately 1.1 million square feet of selling space and covering an entire. Almost an entire New York City block.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

The property value alone the just the fucking building is estimated to be valued at $3 billion.

[B]

That's crazy. And that's not even counting. If you tear it down, then start building condos.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. Also, I did forget this, but I wanted to put it in. This is like earlier, but it just, it was so interesting because escalators, okay. Escalators were invented in the late 19th century by the Otis Elevator Company during the Paris Exposition in the 1900s. And Macy's was one of the early adopters of escalator technology in the retail stores.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Right. In the early 20th century, these escalators were a hit with customers because they were like a friggin ride.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And contributed to the store success. Now here's the reason I wanted to make sure I put this in here. I've been on one of them, the OGs.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

Yes. So like I said, my grandmother worked at Strawbridge and Clothier, which was eventually purchased by Macy's. But Strawbridge and Clothier also bought one of the original escalators and it was, you know, in the back and they had to close it down because it wasn't safe anymore.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But do you remember take your daughter to work day? Those, Remember those back in the day, take your daughter to work day?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I went to work with my grandmother one year.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And so I went to Strawberries and clothing with her.

[B]

Yeah. It was the best of the Wanamaker.

[C]

Building in Philadelphia building. And as part of it, she was like, let's go to the back. I'm going to show you the original escalator. And then the guy there was like some maintenance guy back there, and he was like, hey, I'll turn it on for the kid. And so they had to, like. And like, I think they need to oil that fucking thing up. It was crazy. I watched, like, three maintenance guys get involved so they could rev up the OG escalator so I could ride up and up. It only went up, and then I had to walk down a set of stairs.

[B]

That's great.

[C]

The thing that was super interesting about the original escalators is they were really slim.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It was only one person at a time because they didn't have, like, the way you could pass somebody now.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Or like to stand side by side. No, it was like the littles just go.

All the way up. And I read it, I wrote it like, a few times because I felt like they put so much effort in getting it turned on that I should.

[B]

Just, like, you were a good person as a child.

[C]

Yeah, as a child.

[B]

What happened?

[C]

I don't know. So anyway, I don't talk about anymore. I want to talk about controversy.

[B]

Controversy? Yeah, Macy's controversy.

[C]

In July of 2003, then New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer.

[B]

I called.

[C]

Launched an investigation into the private policing system Macy's had used to deal with suspected shoplifters. The investigation was prompted by a civil rights lawsuit and an article in the New York Times which reported on many of Macy's tactics, including private jails and interrogations. Spitzer's investigation found that many, many of Macy's actions, from ethnic profiling to handcuffing detainees, to be unlawful. And in 2005, Macy's settled the civil rights complaint for $600,000, claiming to have put the illegal tactics to an end while maintaining a security system within itself. I.

[B]

Okay, so first thing going, getting thrown into Macy's jail is crazy.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's insane. Okay. But the second thing is I actually have some experience with this.

[C]

What do you mean?

[B]

Not getting arrested at Macy's? It's a twofold thing because, one, I worked at a mall. I was a mall security guard.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

And as a mall security guard, I legit was not allowed to go into Macy's. What? They made a very big deal that we were never allowed to cross into the boundary of the Macy's because they had their own security and this was in 2009, 2010. So this is seven years after that. But they had a very big thing. But the one thing we would always hear about is the Macy's guys were always bitching because, one, they were complaining that they weren't allowed to, like, prosecute shoplifters as much anymore because of this.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But also, most of their job was to stop dudes sucking each other off in the bathrooms. Like, there was something about the Macy's.

[C]

I didn't write about this where, dude, I didn't know about it.

[B]

The dudes, like, the. The Macy's bathroom was like the grinder of the 2000s and I think the 90s, honestly. Actually, it was probably sniffies. Get in the comments and tell me which ones I'm right. Was it more of a sniffy vibe or was it a grindr vibe? Either way, people take. If you went to Macy's to take a poop.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You were in for an experience.

[C]

I knew that because. Not because of my grandmother, but because when I was older, I would always go to the Wanamaker building. Macy's.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Downtown and in Philly. In Philly. And it was notorious. It was like.

[B]

It was a pickup spot.

[C]

It was a pickup spot. And it was one of those things. And it's so interesting to me that I never. My brain knew things, but I didn't know them. Like, everybody kind of, like, said it jokingly, and we. It was like a conversation of like, oh, yeah, you know, like the Wanamakers men's room. Oh, Bubba. And it was the same way we used to be like, oh, fucking Cosby.

[B]

Yeah. I like, it was like everybody.

[C]

Everybody in Philly knew.

[B]

Yeah. But it wasn't. But it never. It was one of those things where everybody knew, but you didn't say it to everyone.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean? It came up in certain conversations, but I just remember people being like, oh, yeah, the Macy's. Macy's men's room guys just sucking each other off in there all the time. I was like, what the fuck?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Such a crazy thing. Oh, they're never sponsoring the show, by the way.

[C]

No, Macy's, you my favorite.

[B]

There's like three of them left in the region.

[C]

Okay, so finally I want to close out the episode with a little piece of information about the Macy's logo. So I want to pull it up for you. I'm going to show it to you. Okay, great. This is one of the original ads from 1911. Macy's. Okay.

[B]

With the big red star.

[C]

Yeah. And then There's a big painting, the dry goods. See, there's the big red star.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

And currently Macy still uses the red star.

[B]

The red star, yeah.

[C]

And that, that star is from the original Mr. Macy, his sailor tattoos.

[B]

Okay, got it. So that's what it is. It's not the red star of communism that we need to have take over this country to bring the proletariat back to full fruition.

[C]

No, no. And I know you called it. You called it earlier.

[B]

Yeah, well, you set it up. I mean, I was trying to be fair. Your foreshadowing is as subtle as a baseball bat to the head.

[C]

I know.

[B]

What I will say though is actually you did really teach me something about the connections of the Strauss brothers, the second owners of Macy's, to the. The formation of the state of Israel.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I had no idea. Like I remembered when the, like when the Palestine protests, the pro Palestine protests block the Macy's Day parade. I had no idea of the connection.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And like, obviously when everybody say it was like, oh, yeah, what's the way to get out there to bring like. I don't know, I want it. I don't know either. I mean. Yeah, it's just one of those things.

[C]

I wasn't able to like find out if they knew that there was like this strange connection.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It might have just been. All eyes are on this moment.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You need to get in front of it. I don't know.

[B]

It's crazy. That's. It's. This is such. I just want to say. Mrs. P. Yeah. You tabbed me.

[C]

I tabbed you.

[B]

Tab me really good. Okay, so I just want to say, guys, real fast, thank you to everybody out there who enjoys the show. Thank you for the five stars, thank you for the likes, the comments, the Patreon, all those different things. You can always join us at promania500.net using Project 2026 to get that 30% off. Let us know if you have any other thoughts and feelings on this and then we'll talk about it on the.

[C]

After party where we respond to your comments.

[B]

Yeah. And thank you guys so much. This has been too many tabs. This has been Mrs. Pearl Mania. And if you want to find it, I bet you can find it at Macy's before they go out of business. Cause they're closing a lot of stores.

Too many frauds and too many scammers that we wish weren't real. Too many cons and too many spammers. And we're starting to feel like we've got too many tabs open. It's too many tabs.

Remember to smile.

Everybody loves a parade.

[C]

Leave it in.

At geha, we stand behind our members.

[A]

Because we were founded by members.

[C]

So we build health plans with a nationwide network of 1.7 million providers, plus.

[A]

Hearing and fitness discounts.

[C]

Visit geha.com to find your federal health plan.

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