Dark History - 114: The Dark History of Josephine Baker pt. 1: the first influencer was also a spy

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Today's story is one that's so juicy it feels like a movie plot. I'm talking about fan favorite Josephine Baker. What if I told you that your favorite celebrity was not just an international superstar but also a secret agent who single-handedly saved thousands of lives? Stay tuned! Get your first visit for only five dollars at https://www.Apostrophe.com/DARKHISTORY when you use our code: DARKHISTORY.  Go to https://www.HelloFresh.com/darkhistoryfree and use code darkhistoryfree for FREE breakfast for life! One breakfast item per box while subscription is active. Don’t miss your chance this holiday season to stuff all those stockings with gifts from OUAI. Go to https://www.theouai.com/DARKHISTORY for 15% off sitewide. As a special, limited time offer for our listeners, get $15 off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go https://www.SkylightFrame.com/DARK. 

Buckle up for Road to Electric. The podcast that takes you on a journey through the facts and myths of electrified vehicles. The last one that I saw said that the average Canadian drives about 50 kilometers per day. And so for most of us, this issue of range isn't really an issue at all. Most of us are not driving that far in a given day.

So most of us could actually make do with quite a low range electric vehicle. If you're just doing short urban chores, running around, picking up groceries, shuttling kids to and from activities, you don't need extended range. The right place for EVs is short haul urban vehicles. Listen to all the episodes of the Road to Electric

podcast on Mazda.caca or wherever you get your podcasts. For answers to more of your questions about M-H-E-Vs, P-H-E-Vs, B-E-Vs, and everything in between. Safe travels! What if I told you your favorite celebrity was also a secret agent for the government? I mean not only that, they single-handedly saved thousands of people from certain death. I know, I know.

It sounds like something out of a movie, but it really didn't happen. This person went from being impoverished, abused, and neglected to an international superstar, a respected government spy, and a civil rights icon. Today, we'll be talking about the one and only Josephine Baker.

Yeah, I mean, her story has so many twists and turns. We literally could not keep this to one episode. I mean, it's out of control. Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. I'm Hansi today. If you're new here, hi. Here we believe history does not have to be boring. I mean, yeah, it might be tragic.

It might be sometimes happy. But either yeah, it might be tragic, it might be sometimes happy, but either way, it's our dark history. So all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy history, goss. Shall we? Well, first, if you're washing this over on YouTube, I need to acknowledge Joan. Joan and Paul are both dressed up like Mr. Josephine Baker,

but I got a phone call from Joan's people because she wants more air time. I know, I know, like whatever. So she's moved and then Paul just happened to be here. I mean, he was on the ground, so it's better than that. Okay, I have a confession. I have an obsession with female spies. I think it stems from, you know, being,

I was a lover of like Carmen Sandiego growing up or like Harry at the spy. I think maybe that's where it comes from or even maybe my favorite horizontal collaborator, you know, Coco Chanel. But I feel like all of these female spy stories are just like, they're so juicy, right? Especially because no one suspected women of being spies.

I mean, they're so underestimated. So they could get away with all kinds of stuff. Plus, we're pretty sneaky. I think we'd be great spies. Anywho, so while I'm down this spy rabbit hole, I kept noticing this name that cup coming up over and over again. And if you're familiar with makeup and beauty, you've heard this name a million times. She was a famous cabaret dancer who basically became like an overnight celebrity sensation for her trailblazing onstage personality.

And she was so well connected that she was eventually tapped to become a secret agent. Yeah, her name was Josephine Baker. Again, this woman had lived so many different lives that I kept forgetting that I was reading about the same person. She was a comedian, a dancer, an it girl, a spy, an activist, and an all-around icon. So, let me stop rambling and just tell you about Miss Baker. Josephine Baker was born free to Josephine McDonald on June 3rd,

1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a washer woman, which means like she washed clothes for her living, and Carrie raised Josephine along with her brother as a single mother. She struggled to find work, I mean, to just be a mom, running the household, and earning enough money to live and take care of everyone. So when Josephine was like just a baby, her mother ended up remarrying and had two more kids. But Sally didn't work out like with her second husband either. Even at a young age, I mean Josephine, she knew that her mom was heartbroken over the marriage not working out. At this point, her mother had four kids to take care of on her own,

and she never could depend on anyone to help her parent feed kids. I mean, anything. And because of this Josephine's family, it had to move around a lot to wherever her mom could find work. I think it's safe to say that Josephine had a bit of a rocky relationship with her mother, I guess. It was said that Josephine looked just like her father, which was like really triggering for her mom, Carrie. So she would see Josephine and think of her ex, and she would take out her frustrations out on Josephine, just saying really horrible things to her. Like, she hated her or that she wished she was dead.

I know, her mom, just a very nasty woman. Things weren't much better for Josephine at school. I mean, I guess she only had one outfit to wear every day, but like literally though, she only had one outfit. So poor thing, she had to wear this one outfit and like you think kids are nice. LOL, you know, no, they're gonna remind her that she has one outfit.

Like a lot of the little girls, Josephine had dreams of being a princess one outfit. Like a lot of the little girls, Josephine had dreams of being a princess one day. She used to have like this fantasy where she transformed into Cinderella and like that same dress that she would wear every day would turn into like this gorgeous ball gown. She had a very active imagination when she was a kid

and she was a natural performer. Josephine, she loved to sing and dance. I guess like she would put on little shows for the neighborhood kids where she would sing it like act and this was her happy place. But at school things were different. I mean the kids were mean of course. I mean they would pick on Josephine and she would have to endure this bullying for years. I guess one day she had this light bulb moment and this moment would like shape her entire life. As the kids were making fun of her, she decided to just get in on the joke.

So Josephine, she would start making goofy faces or like sticking out her tongue, crossing her eyes, just doing anything to get the kids to crack up, to laugh. And it worked because now the bullies who were laughing at Josephine were now laughing with Josephine. You see, this is what she liked. She reclaimed, she reclaimed her presence in the room. Now she became like the class clown from that moment on. I mean, at least they weren't laughing at her, you know, but Josephine's childhood would come to a halt pretty quickly on one Sunday afternoon.

I guess on this day she was walking home from church and she accidentally stepped on a rusty nail that had been on the road. Now she had been barefoot when she was walking, she stepped on that nail, it just like went right into her heel. And pretty soon after, her foot became super infected and her leg like swelled up to an alarming size. So naturally Josephine had to be taken to the hospital. And then when she got there, I guess this Boso doctor like looked at her leg and told her, look Josephine, we have to amputate your leg

in order to save, to save your life. And I call him a Boso because, well hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. So if the doctor says they have to amputate your leg, you're gonna be like, oh my God, no, right? So Josephine, understandably flips out. She's like, no. If they took her leg, she thought she'd never

be able to dance again. So this is why I call him a bozo doctor because the doctor decides to like drain the wound first and hold off on the amputation. And I guess just like draining the wound made Josephine feel a lot better, but to everyone's surprise, it ended up working and she didn't need an amputation. So it's like maybe that should have been option one versus like you need an amputation. But we're not here about that again. It's just something I got hung up on for a hot second. So her leg is saved, thank God.

And after a few days, she was able to return home to her family. But little did Josephine know that this injury, it would become like the abrupt ending to her childhood. Hey, you can't have the magic of the holidays without stress. Right, what? Yeah, family, maybe someone's nag the magic of the holidays without stress. Ugh, right, what? Yeah, family, maybe someone's nagging you all the time, buying gifts, maybe you're traveling,

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started going door to door in different neighborhoods, taking any kind of job that she could get. She mostly swept steps for like clean snow from sidewalks, and then Josephine met a widow and her name was Ms. Kaiser. So I guess Ms. Kaiser, she couldn't have paid Josephine like a big salary or anything. So she ended up just hiring her to do like household cleaning

work in exchange for clothes and food. And to Josephine, this was like a great trade-off. Clothes and food for a little bit of cleaning. Hell yeah, I'll do it. Now first, Ms. Kaiser was really, she was super nice to Josephine and kind. Like she bought her some new dresses and some new shoes. She fed her, she was just nice.

And for Josephine, it was just great. And for Josephine it was just great. But then Miss Kaiser started showing her true colors. I guess after some time she started to treat Josephine like she was her slave. She would verbally and physically abuse her and give Josephine way more work than she was able to handle. And at the time, there was a law in Missouri that said, even if kids work, they still had to go to school. So Josephine would get up at 5 a.m. Eat her breakfast of cold potatoes,

do some manual labor for a few hours before school, and then she would have to walk a couple of miles to go to school. Then after school, she'd walk her ass back to mischaisers and go right back to work. She would prepare dinner, wash dishes, you know, clean, do everything. Then mischisers would give Josephine her dinner,

which was like cold cornbread and molasses. It was a pretty miserable situation, but one of the only things I guess that made it a little bit more bearable for Josephine were the animals. Josephine loved animals. Emma Skyser, she had dogs, chickens, and I guess some other animals like roaming around on the property, but Josephine's favorite was this rooster who she named Tiny Tim. So Josephine at times would even share her dinner with this rooster Tiny Tim. And I know as time goes by, tiny Tim was starting

to get a little, a little plump, you know? Because Josephine was feeding her the tiny Tim on his cornbread and stuff. So when Miss Kaiser sees, you know, those juicy chicken thighs, she's like, what's that? Chicken? Because she's an awful bitch.

She ordered Josephine to kill Tiny Tim so she could eat him for dinner. It's not funny, it's just like really awkward, right? That would suck. Yeah, and of course Josephine, she didn't have a choice. So she grabbed a pair of scissors, got the, you know, and then prepared him for dinner.

I mean, pretty traumatizing. And at this point, I mean, Josephine just wanted to get away from his Kaiser, but she had nowhere to go. Joan, how do you feel if I ate you for dinner? You should be mad. That's why you see so thin. She doesn't want to be a target. As the months went on, Josephine was not doing well. I mean, she had been working and worked to the bone. She was malnourished, she was exhausted, and she was just terrified all of the time. One day Josephine was boiling water,

and she forgot to watch the kettle, right? So like, it accidents happen. Water boiled over the top, gets everywhere. We'll miss Kaiser. When she saw that this had happened, she was pissed, and she ends up grabbing Josephine's hand, and she plunge it into the boiling water. What?

Yeah, she did. She burned her skin almost all the way off like to the bone. And that might be dramatic, but like really, really bad, though, is what I'm saying. I would say it's giving Gypsy Rose's mom but I think that's worse than Gypsy roses mom. Well, you know, but it's giving. Hmm? Anyway, so this happens to projosephine.

She ends up waking up like at a hospital just traumatized. So her mom, Josephine's mom, she's like, I guess you could stay at home for a little while I'm laughing because it's her mom, so you would hope, but her mom's kind of a bitch. So her mom, Lesser Josephine stay at home. But she's like, you need to, you need to like, go back to work and start paying for shit around here. You know, you can't just like sit here and be a freeloader. So not long after Josephine, she ends up getting a job with another family called the Masons. The Masons end up giving Josephine like a room and board for her cleaning services. And by all accounts, the Masons treated Josephine really kindly. Allegedly, I don't know, I wasn't there, you know.

But it was said that they gave her like a real bed and they gave her good food. They let her play with neighborhood kids and they just treated her like a human who would have thought, you know, even bought her clothes. Ah, Josephine said that she was feeling a little bit more comfortable there, and she had fun. Like, they're in the basement. She set up like a little theater where she would have performances with the neighborhood children, and it was fun.

It was a lot of fun as a kid. Did you ever do performances? I remember I used to listen to the Goof, what is it? Goofy movie? Anyways, that soundtrack was a bop, so I used to love a Goofy movie soundtrack and I'll put on like little performances alone.

I didn't want to perform in front of anybody in my room and it was just the best. Kids, huh? Being fun. Anyways, now I'm doing it now here, which is kind of interesting, without the goofy movie soundtrack. I'm getting off track here, Bailey.

Okay, but Chupron film performances. They would dress up in like Miss Mason's old clothes or as costumes and just, this is when she was like really having fun and being, you know, creative theater fun, but then something weird started happening. So every night Josephine was getting like this

really odd feeling. She would say that she felt like there was a ghost who was haunting her. Because at night she would hear scary, heavy breathing, but she would never see anybody. But the one night she heard the breathing again, and she felt something like climbing into her bed. And this night specifically, she screamed for Miss Mason, you know?

So when Miss Mason comes into Josephine's room, turns on the light, I don't know if they have a light, but she, you know, reveals she discovers that Josephine hadn't been lying. I mean, there was something visiting her every single night in her room. And no, it wasn't a ghost. It was Mr. Mason. And uh, Mrs. Mason was obviously horrified. And naturally, you're like, oh, God, good. I hope she like turning her husband and took care of the kids, whatever.

Wishful thinking. None of that happened. The next morning, she instead wishful thinking. None of that happened. The next morning she instead fired Josephine. So, safe to say Josephine was upset. I mean, she's over here thinking that she had done something wrong. You know, she's the one I got fired. So while she was collecting some of the clothes Miss Mason gave her, she even said to herself, quote, somewhere deep inside me, I vowed that somehow I would grow up to be a famous star with beautiful, flowing gowns.'

And quote, Well, by the time Josephine left the mason, she wasn't even eight years old. Which, bro, I was like, what? What? What? She's only eight. She's only eight. And she's already seen some shit, okay? Well, at this point, Josephine decided that she would rather do like way more difficult jobs than deal with another person being abusive towards her in their home, you know? So she once again found jobs. She polished floors, she babysat, she ran air and she shoveled snow, anything she could to help her family and still be able to save like a little bit for herself.

Again, at eight years old. Yeah, eight, I was like picking my nose and not smiling in sears, family portraits. You know, good for her. I mean, every time Josephine seems to get a little ahead, it kind of seemed like something bad in her life would happen. In 1917, there was a horrific attack on the box car town Josephine and her family lived in.

Box cart towns are exactly what they sound like. People would set up whole communities and live inside railroad box cars, kind of like tiny homes, before tiny homes, I guess. The box cart town that Josephine lived and got attacked. These towns were mostly made up of black residents and racial tensions were high due to a union strike in the area. So it was almost like overnight families in this community were now without homes. Josephine and her family were forced to move into crowded tenement buildings. And by this point, all of Josephine's siblings were working to help pay rent and get food on the table, and they would spend just years scraping by.

But time goes on, and Josephine was freaking done. She was like, I've been working my ass off since I was literally seven, okay? She was tired of being trapped in the sick cycle as she felt like she could not get out of. So, she decided to look for a job that would take her out of these circumstances. Hey look, during the holidays, people don't have a lot of time, right? Whether you're hosting or traveling, it could be a lot.

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That's hello fresh America's number one meal kit. Josephine ended up at a place called the old chauffeur's club in St. Louis, which was like a cool hangout club from musicians in the city. You know, it was so different from any other job she had and she absolutely loved it. And even though it was hard work, she was happy to do it. She met a lot of interesting people while she was working there, including a steel worker named Willie. I know, I was like, steamboat Willie, not the same thing. Like, tiny tin. I mean, whoa! The story is it all! But Josephine was smitten right from the

jump, and like not long after these two met, they decided to get married. I know, the only problem was that Willie was 25 and Josephine was 13. So, you know, it was against the law for them to get married. Okay, but Josephine and Willie, they still exchanged spows on December 11, 1919. There's that year again. But look, nothing was official. Like, there was no paperwork or anything. I think it was more of like a spiritual ceremony, you know? They do that here in LA and you're like, all right, whatever.

But Mary life, it didn't last long for Josephine. She and Willie had financial troubles, and there was even physical violence that happened between the two of them. After one violent fight, Willie walked out on Josephine and like she never saw him again. And that night, she bowed, you know what? I'm gonna get the hell out of St. Louis.

Like there's nothing here for me. She knew exactly how she was gonna do it. So Josephine and her friends sometimes would go and see this musical variety group in town and they were called the Dixie Steppers. And she was like, was obsessed with them and like this show. She learned every word of dialogue and like every step of the dance and that the chorus girls did. So she would joke around with her friends saying like, what if I asked the director for a job like, wouldn't that be crazy? Oh my god. And like no one took her seriously because they thought she was joking. But you know

what? She wasn't joking. And she was like, I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna ask. So after one of the shows, Josephine, she waited by the stage door. And she lied to security. She's like, oh my God, I have a job interview. It's crazy. It's over there with that guy. And I guess he just let her in. And that's how Josephine found herself in front of the director of the Dixie Stuppers.

And she goes to them and she just begs him for an audition. I guess at first he was just trying to ignore her, but Josephine was persistent. She showed him some of the moves, some of her own moves, and it turned out he was like, ah, she's kind of fricking talented. She had this hypnotizing presence, and this guy decided to give her a chance.

So Josephine, like, talked about luck right here. She was hired to join the Dixie Stepper Course Girls the very next day, but it turns out getting the job would be the least of Josephine's problems. Josephine, she hadn't had any formal dance training. I mean, she'd been like dancing for her friends and stuff, you know? But it was clear. It's pretty obvious. It's like she had potential. Her style, different, you know, her movements were almost uncontrolled and experimental. And right away, you know, the other girls noticed this.

And because she's different and doing things her own way, they start, you know, boiling her and making her feel unwelcome. I mean, to them, she was weird because she was untrained and she was just doing her own thing. And a lot of them were just questioning, like, why the hell did the director even hire her? Like, what is this mess? Just being bitches. Well, Josephine, it was getting to her. She was kind of expecting to be fired. But instead, the director promoted her to one of the starring roles in their

new show, Romeo and Juliet. So Josephine was going to play Cupid. And this would involve her being strung up from the ceiling with like a bow and arrow. And I mean, Josephine's like, all right, I'll do it. But just like when she was dancing with the chorus groves, she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was flailing her way through the performance and not at all performing the part like she was supposed to.

And now, first the director was pretty pissed off, but that's when he realized the audience, they were all losing their shit. They were just cracking up at Josephine's performance. They found her to be goofy, but it was like a breath of fresh air, which is different. Again, once Josephine got off of that stage, she's like, I'm fucking fired.

But instead, she was told to keep doing what she was doing. He was like, it's workin' babe. Keep doin' it. Show after show, she was making the audience laughter as it's off. And this job led her to meeting other famous singers in the area like Clara Smith. I know Clara, who is she? I don't know. She was one of the biggest American blue singers on the scene, okay? And she had this amazing vocal range.

She actually had the nickname Queen of the Moners. Uh, I know. Good for you, Clara. I'd like to challenge you on that one, but all of you have it. One time Josephine went to go see Clara show. And like while she was on stage, Clara had some kind of wardrobe malfunction.

I guess she had gotten some food stains on her costume. Well Josephine was there and she was able to just rush right in and she was able to get the stains out. I mean, she had a lot of experience cleaning, so she just was able to help. Well, Clara, she was like, oh my god, I'm impressed. So she ends up offering Josephineina job on the spot as her professional dresser while she performed across America. Josephina's like, oh my god, hell yes, like this is finally my ticket out of St. Louis. And she

agreed off she went. Now mind you, Josephina was only 13 at this point. Okay. She's killing it. Kids, obviously, they were not allowed to up in leave school. And I definitely were not allowed to work on the road if they were under age. But Josephine was tall. She was a little lanky. And she had a very mature bubbly personality. So she easily passed for someone of an older age, you know? So I would say, I don't think she lied. It was more like, you know, she didn't tell anyone how old she was.

Yeah. She boarded a train out of St. Louis and said, quote, I'm leaving here and nobody, but someday I'm going to be as somebody. And quote, good for her. I'll tell you what, the dry winter weather is so unhelpful when you're going for a winter look. It's so cold and windy and like even in a way that the elements do a number on our hair around the holidays every year.

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Go to the way THEOUAI.com slash dark history for 15% off site wide. OK, I know. That's the way THEOUAI dot com slash dark history for 15% off. So on the tour, Josephine would occasionally fill in for any of the course girls who got sick. She knew the dancers already, so they're like, you go. And every time she got on stage, she would completely steal the show. It was said, quote, Josephine enjoyed making people laugh and began a clown-like performance.

She acted clumsy, stuck out her tongue, and crossed her eyes while a stupid grin spread across her face. It was kinda like when she was getting bullied at school and she would flip the narrative. You know, so she was a one in control. Or it's like, if you kinda are raised as like the middle child or something, you kinda always had to be the loud one,

the performer to get attention. Yeah, I'm a middle child. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha And Josephine always did one of her like goofy routines and the shows were always a hit. Josephine finally felt like she was appreciated for like who she was. And on the road, Clara became somewhat of a mentor to Josephine. It was on the road that Josephine was also said to be openly bisexual, but to be fair, Josephine was only 15 years old and Clara was a full grown adult. So, I mean, yeah. So it didn't last between the two of them, but, you know, they were doing things.

Not long after her relationship with Clara, Josephine met a man named William Baker. Now the two of them, they fell in love and they got married so quick. It's like, girl, calm down a little bit, you know, but she loves love. Unlike her other husband, Willie 1.0, this William 2.0, had to say job and was like very supportive of her career and just, you know, a good guy, I guess. But, but sadly, again, the marriage didn't last, but she did get her iconic last name from him. And she also left that marriage with a very clear mindset. She did not wanna end up as a housewife.

Uh-uh. She was like, this is so boring. I wanna be a famous performer, and I don't know, like, that's it. Point blank period. Josephine's, but the next few years, singing and performing at different clubs in different shows,

where she would do, again, her signature goofy act. But, you know, after some time, she felt like she was kind of like a broken record. loves in different shows where she would do, again, her signature goofy act. But, you know, after some time, she felt like she was kind of like a broken record. Doing the same thing every night, you know? Plus, at the time, if you were a performer of color in America, your career couldn't really be brought to this next level, you know?

Then Josephine got the opportunity of a lifetime. In 1925, Josephine is now 19 years old. Okay, she's already been through a lot of shit, right? She gets offered her dream job in Paris as a dancer. In Paris, I know what? Me, small town, like the dream. I'm naturally Josephine is terrified. She doesn't wanna leave America,

but she couldn't say no. And she took a risk. And she tapped ass her way right over to Paris. That's who tapped dancing. Once she got there, Josephine said she knew she made the right decision. In Paris, everything was different. I mean, people were way more fashionable.

They were a lot more open, accepting. They were more sexual and just, cool. You know? Plus, they were a lot more open-minded about race. It was everything Josephine wanted and she instantly knew she belonged. And this was like a very glamorous time in Paris. I mean, Josephine was performing at a famous club

right down the street from Mulan Rouge. She went from performing Qt Little Flopper dances to nearly nude, completely experimental dances. And this is where she was able to really own her sexuality. Unlike any of her other jobs, she was given complete creative control by the producers. So Josephine would take the stage in her famous costume. Big earrings, long-prone necklace. She had something to cover her chest, but it looks like it was made out of diamonds or shiny stuff. And then she had a short skirt

that was made out of rubber bananas. If you're over on YouTube watching, you can see that we have Joan here. She's wearing the nice Josephine inspired outfit. How do you feel Joan? Like a banana, Chiquita banana girl? I think Paul did a better sorry. Don't come at me, okay? But look at that hair girl. Look at those titties.

I just wish she could dance, Paul. Her performance was called Dance Sovage, and it was an experimental take on African dance themes and styles. She said, quote, I came on stage and a frenzy took possession of me. Anyways, the way she was performing was like breaking down stereotypes in a really important way. At the time, there were hardly any performers of color

from America in Paris, so people were absolutely fascinated by her. Josephine had a great, like, a positive reception and she really got like, ray reviews. But of course, like, there's always gonna be those critics, lots of them would show up to her show, just reviewing them, and they would use a lot of like, ray-ishly charged descriptions of her her they tried to stereotype her in her shows and just write off all of her success

But Joke was all them because Josephine She didn't give up she was like, I wouldn't do my thing Ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da audience is. I mean celebrities and paris start flocking to her show. And one of the most famous writers at the time, Ernest Hemingway came and saw her show. And he even described Josephine as quote, the most sensational woman anybody ever saw. And, quote, if I were her, I'd put that on t-shirt. I'd be like, um, Ernest Hemingway told me, get on my way, the most sensational woman. Thank you all.

So within just a few months, she was the hottest celebrity on stage. And within a year, Josephine was a goddess in Paris society. Her name was everywhere. She had cocktails named after her perforumes, hair products, etc. etc. Now her hair product actually, she had this palm made. It was called Baker fix and it helped women get Josephine signature hairstyle down. In Josephine she had a very signature hairstyle. It was like sleek, shiny. I have this gorgeous shine to it, slicked back.

It was called the E-tun crop. I've never heard of that, but it was called the E-tun crop. She had a few curls on her forehead and her cheek. And they almost looked painted on. It was really beautiful. And so she came out with this product called Baker Fix, which was so smart. Way ahead of its time, right? Like she knew to profit off of this. It was a best seller for like 30 years. And Josephine, she made more money than anything else with this one product, which is really crazy to think about, right? But she had this look that people wanted and nobody had seen before.

And still to this day, like her hair alone just everything. And it wasn't just beauty products. She had a bunch of shit like stores, hence sold dolls that were dressed in little banana skirts. She also literally changed fashion in Paris, like women would start wearing skirts as short as she wore them on stage. Everyone wanted to be her and everyone wanted to get with her, get next to her, be around her, she was everything. Josephine was a lover, you could say, and she had lots of

different lovers, you could barely keep track. They all would shower her with elaborate presence, including a pair of like gold shoes for coats, jewels on jewels on jewels and a pair of 150 year old earrings that once belonged to a Duchess. And the press was just like obsessed with her. One theater critic seems Henry Jean Sun wrote quote, as beautiful as the night Josephine Baker is the dream, the clown, the great sensation of the evening. I would get all this embroidered on stuff just around my house because I have a wife just loving her. She's like, oh my God.

You know, could you imagine going from like her upbringing to this, it's such a 180. She was still working her butt off. I mean, she was working like 18 hour days. She also had a side job where she would perform like smaller gigs. And then on top of that, I guess on the weekends where she would perform smaller gigs. And then on top of that, I guess on the weekends, she would party hard.

And you know, so Josephine's really feeling herself. She's on top of the world, and she's just, ah, she's here, she's arrived, she's made it, right? And you know, things are like going really great for yourself. And you're like, I'm gonna have an amazing, I don't know anybody, ah. Sometimes, all it takes is one little fuck boy to throw off your whole game.

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Yeah, that's a long time. I mean, you got nothing to lose. Gifted. It's a great gift I'm telling you. I gifted a couple of these to my siblings who live out of state and I just upload pictures of myself and different like sweaters and stuff.

It's so fun. I don't have family, it's just me, okay? As a special limited time offer for our listeners, you can get $15 off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to SkylightFrame.com slash dark. Again, to get $15 off your purchase of a Skylight Frame, just go to skylightframe.com slash dark. That Skylight Frame, SKY LIGHTFRAME.com slash dark. Shout out to Aunt Perth, the Hangarrel. This is when Josephine needs to set me a butthino.

I know, just set me, I was like, Panelkeo's dad, I know him. Not. It's not. So naturally at first, you know, Joseph being loved, love, and she's like, oh my god. Just what's his name? Just seppie. Hi. It's like love at first sight.

This guy seemed perfect. He was Italian-Sallyan. He was a count. In other words, he was Italian royalty. He was 37 years old, and on top of that, he wore a monocle. So you know, he was fancy because only fancy people wear monocles.

Mr. Peanut, need I say more? Thank you. So Josephine, smitten, she decides, you know, this is her partner now, right? He's starting to give her her advice. He's a count. He's like, he's smart, he's older. She decides to like, you know, listen,

and maybe let him be her manager. So they decided to work together, right? Now he's in charge of her money in all our stage deals. And again, why wouldn't she? You know, he's a count. I think of the Sesame Street guy, because I still want him thinking of. So I guess this guy, he like showered Josephine

with love notes during the day. And then at night, he would take her out to like, Foucheet clubs, cabaretes and Paris. But Josephine's girlfriends, they all hated this guy. I don't know. You know, as a friend, you know when something is not right with their, you're like, mm-hmm. Mm-mm-mm.

And they knew there was something suspicious about this guy. He was hiding something. But Josephine's stubborn. She's gonna date him anyway, so this guy. He was hiding something. But Josephine is stubborn. She's gonna date him anyway, so who cares? She was just digmatized. She didn't give a care in the world. Nobody liked this guy.

Giuseppe had this way of getting Josephine to trust him because he knew how to get to her. He would feed into our greatest fears. Like, hey, telling her, your career is going to end one day and then you're going to be completely forgotten. Just classic toxic boyfriend behavior. And he ends up using this to convince her to open up her own nightclub, which I really don't think this is a bad idea at all.

I kind of think this is great advice he gave her. He told Josephine that she was letting other people profit off her success by dancing at their clubs. If she really wanted to capitalize on the moment she was having, she should only be dancing at her own establishment. Slurr! Hello, I thought that was smart. I was like, okay, that's not bad. On December 14th, 1926, Josephine and her man, her mancy, they open up. Ches, Josephine. Josephine was also making headlines at this point performing on stage

with her very special guest. And this is my favorite part because again, remember she loved animals. So she eventually got her own pet, who she named, Jiquita. Yes, this pet was a pet, Chita. Yeah, it was a Chita, a literal chit, how she got the cheetah?

We don't know. I'm just gonna assume that my personal opinion was drugged and like dragged around, right? But anyways, Cheetah would sit on stage in her diamond and crusted collar while Josephine performed. Now, you want to top a glamour? You're over here with this little fake plastic stuff.

Get up. Ah, ah, ah, ah. Be better. Be like Jiquita, okay. Anyways, she loved Jiquita so much. She even released a song named after her. And I read this article that was saying, like Josephine would take Jiquita on walks.

Again, it's a cheetah. So I don't know how that worked, but people love Cheetah, this cheetah, Jikita. And then I heard, this is another rumor because I can't find the article where I read this, but I heard that this cheetah banana girl, Jikita banana was inspired by Josephine and her cat. Banana for her skirt, Jquita for the cat.

You're welcome. I don't know if that's true though, but I think it is, because it's the same time. Anyways, okay, so things are going well at Josephine's, her club thing, then, I don't know where. Josephine makes a surprise announcement. She's like, everybody listen up. I just wanna let you all know that me

and the count are married. And baby, it was a talk of the town. Josephine goes to the press and she tells them that, you know, they were married and they did it on her 21st birthday over at the American Embassy. And everyone was just reporting on it, like, oh my God, Josephine, well, I mean, even in America,

they reported on it. It's like theine I mean even in America they reported on it is like the front page of the Milwaukee Journal so okay but they said like Josephine Baker black dancer weds a real count they really didn't have an appreciation for her like they did in Paris because that headline sucks ass but whatever well get this because this is when people start coming for Josephine's lover, they want to know a little bit more about this guy. So I think it was not what it was supposed to be this man was a little different, a little strange,

but nobody knew what it was, you know? For Josephine, she got gooped, she got gouged, she got snatched, she got bam, booze, all, duh. Because slowly, the truth started to reveal itself. This guy just said being, he wasn't Pinocchio's dad, he wasn't even a count, and on top of that, he wasn't actually even rich. Nah, it turns out this guy, he was just a brick layer from Italy

who was just really good at lying and he was tan. I know. Josephine didn't know, and I know. And I was like, oh my God, is this like the very first catfish? He may have been like this whole elaborate family history. Like he had so much time. He just thought of everything,

fake name, fake job, fake life. I mean, it was 1927 and people weren't gonna Google, those are the thing, right? Everyone just believed him. And I guess he carried himself like royalty and he pretended he had money and that was good enough for everybody. God, it must have been so much easier

to be slimy back then, huh? You said, why? Friends reporters, they smelled something cap-ish-y. Turns out the wedding was as fake as the count. Huh. Which is kind of a good thing, though, because like reporters, they couldn't find a marriage record at all between Josephine and the count.

And I guess the whole marriage actually had turned out to be just a publicity stunt. And then they exposed the count's real identity and the Count. And I guess the whole marriage actually had turned out to be just a publicity stunt. And then they exposed the Count's real identity and the press, but I think they did it to bring attention to her club. We should get a kind of fucking spark. But not smart that he bamboozled everyone, you know? Eh, it didn't matter, okay?

Because Josephine used the press to her advantage. I mean, without the count, Josephine's new club was a huge success. Cusverse, they were willing to pay for overpriced foods and drinks just to get a chance to be in the same room as her and maybe even Chiquita. You know, maybe even talk to her, shit. So Josephine decided it's time to like start writing

her shit. So Josephine decided it's time to like start writing her memoir. I mean, she's literally 21 years old, and you're like, okay, girl, calm down. But between you and I, I think it's safe to say she's lived. She's lived more life than a lot of people. So you write that memoir, girl. Now, if her house it, it was quite a spicy read. In the book, which is called The the memoirs of Josephine Baker,

Josephine gets pretty deep and says, quote, I am tired of this artificial life, weary of being spared on by the footlights. The work of a star discusses me now." End quote. So Josephine essentially has burnout. I mean, she didn't work as a she was seven years old, geez. I know, it's like how much PTO did she have wrapped up? She hasn't even used yet, okay? She's overworked, she's tired, and being at the top of her game.

I mean, it's awesome, but she's ready for that new chapter, that new challenge, she's just ready. But then the world descends into chaos. During World War II, Josephine goes through a bit of a re-brand. She discovers that like all the skills she's acquired over her long career, perfectly suited to help her save the country from the Nazis. Amphanessis is just the tip of the iceberg for what was in store for the rest of Josephine's life. Tune in next week for our part 2 on Miss Josephine Baker when Josephine takes on the Nazi party.

It's random, but damn this woman, she sure was something. Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs, and while you're're there you can also catch my redder mystery and makeup. I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story so make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along and see what you're saying. Now let's read a couple of comments you guys left me. Tammy Bernat left me a comment saying, quote, Bailey, I'm allergic to silver. Me, Of course, Bailey is a vampire. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge that yes, I am indeed a vampire. Please respect my privacy at this time. Thank you so

much. Two eleven cake left us a comment saying, quote, my dad always says, if something is free, you're the product." End quote. Tell you that what's up. He knows what's up, okay? And also, it's very classic, dad. They say nothing for like six months and then they say something like that and it hits so deep and you're like, wow, dad, yeah. See you in six months. Kim Prokaryon left us an episode suggestion, quote, allio, or marjorine, has a pretty rose history all by itself. I would love to learn more about the facts in that dark history.

It started out as a lubricant made by the military. It sounds perfect for you. Like to use? Yes, no, maybe, hopefully, pretty please. End quote. Okay, it's so funny that you bring this up because I literally like I know I have knowledge on this I built up knowledge on like government butter and government cheese and I really want an episode to talk about it And I think this might be it

We should talk about it. That's a great idea and I love you for it Thank you guys so much for leaving comments. I love you for watching and I love you for engaging with me. I love reading them every week. So just keep them coming, okay? And maybe you'll get featured here. Or you maybe won't. I don't know. Anyway, Dark History is an audio boom of original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian,

Junia McNally from Three Arts, Kevin Crush, and Matt N. Lowe from Made in Network. Writers, Joey Skavuzo, Katie Burris, Alison Palobos, and me, Bailey Sarian, Production Lead, Brian Jaggers, Research provided by Zander Elmore, a special thank you to our expert Sloan Crossley, and I'm your host, Bailey,

Sarian, thank you so much. I hope you have a good rest of your week. Don't forget to make good choices, and shake it out, baby. See you next week. I said that already. Okay, bye. Thank you.