All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

ABC:LHS #090-2 Frank Fleer... ...did not invent the gum that today carries his name, but his name has become synonymous with the pink chewy glob coveted by children of all ages worldwide.

ABC:LHS #090 We start with three ballpark Franks... ...Francis Richter, whose writing helped to make the game respectable; he is in the Baseball Hall of Hame. ...Frank Fleer, the man who ALMOST invented the pink gum that's accompanied baseball cards for nearly a century. ...Frank Bettger, who went from failure to success after he blew out his throwing arm in Chicago (prepared and presented by fellow guide Rich Wilhelm). ...Joseph Howard Berry, Jr., who is in two Halls of Fame but is nearly forgotten today because of an unfortunate nickname; yes, it's that bad. ...Thomas Mitchell, partial owner of the Phillies during some lean times, including the staggeringly bad 1930 season; on the bright side, he co-founded Jupiter Island, Florida. I will release an optional segment on September 5th about the rich history of baseball nicknames, and the problems with who does the naming.

BBB:LHWS 059-2 Wilhelm von Wymetal ... ... was an Austrian emigree with a dueling scar who took his expertise with opera to Hollywood, where he directed stars like Nelson Eddy & Jeannette McDonald, and to Pittsburgh, where he shepherded the Civic Light Opera through its early days of success.

BBB:LHWS 059 An estimated 1500 musicians ... ...fled central Europe's political turmoil in the 1930s and 1940s. Tympani player Oscar “Papa” Schwar came from Germany; Leopold Stokowski considered him the best kettledrum player he had ever heard. Wilhelm von Wymetal came from Austro-Hungary, dueling scar and all, to New York City, where he introduced and produced more than a dozen new operas at the Metropolitan, and traveled to Hollywood to direct operatic scenes in movies starring Nelson Eddy & Jeannette McDonald. Jani Szántó was a Hungarian violinist who made it to Philadelphia with the help of his friend Pope Pius XII; along the way, he briefly owned the 1702 Stradivarius violin known as “Lord Borwick.”

ABC:LHS 089-4 Robert Stewart Ralston... ...was attacked and severely wounded by his servant who had been his enslaved valet. The result was destruction of Black neighborhoods.

ABC:LHS 089-2 John Bohlen... ...and his brother Bohl made a world for themselves in the colonies as merchants whose offerings including liquor and people. German-speaking immigrants were common in the colonies, but especially in Pennsylvania.

ABC:LHS #089 ...slavery was an essential part of the colonial economy. The enslaved people of President George Washington have been in the news recently. John and Bohl Despite Philadelphia's northern location...Bohlen were German immigrants who made their fortunes in the New World dealing with "gin and slaves," according to their relatives. Stephen Duncan was simultaneously a Pennsylvania businessman and a Natchez nabob, the owner of more than 2000 enslaved human beings. Robert Stewart Ralston was severely beaten by his former enslaved manservant whom he had freed, but retained in employment. The largest trial for treason ever conducted in the United States was conducted in Philadelphia following the Christiana Resistance of 1851, an armed pushback against slave catchers sent to retrieve some self-emancipated African Americans. OPTIONAL: I asked CoPilot, a Large Language Model assembler of information, to develop a counterfactual for me - What would the USA be like if slavery were abolished with the Constitution, and Immigration were limited after 1800. Although purely speculative, it is a fascinating read.