Futility Closet - 304-The Dog Who Joined the Navy

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Futility Closet podcast, forgotten stories from the pages of history. Visit us online to sample more than 11,000 quirky curiosities from a teetering statue to some useful Shakespeare. This is episode 304. I'm Greg Ross. And I'm Sharon Ross. The only dog ever enlisted in the Royal Navy was a Great Dane who befriended the sailors of Cape Town in the 1930s. Given the rank of able seaman, he boosted the morale of British sailors around the world. In today's show, we'll tell the story of Just N nuisance and his adventures among the sailors who loved him.

Starting point is 00:00:45 We'll also examine early concentration camps and puzzle over a weighty fashion. In March 1939, Benjamin Chaney of Cape Town placed an ad in the newspaper saying that he wanted to buy a dog. He got a response from a breeder named Bosman, who offered him a Great Dane. Chaney was stunned at the dog's size. At 15 months old, the top of his head was a meter off the ground, and standing on his hind legs, he was just under two meters tall. But he liked him immediately and bought him. It was a fateful choice, Chaney wrote later, I showed him around the place, including the kitchen. Standing next to the refrigerator,

Starting point is 00:01:33 I pressed the handle down and told Nuisance that if he could do likewise, he could help himself to two pounds of mutton inside. The following morning, I missed the mutton. That incident showed me that I was master of no ordinary dog. A vet told him the dog was in good health and said, by the way, I should buy a very strong collar and chain leash. Your hound is the most magnificent physical specimen of a dog I've ever had in my surgery. He's got the heart and lungs of a horse. A few weeks after this, Chaney was put in charge of the United Services Institute in Simonstown, home to the South African Navy's largest naval base, and he took the dog along with him. Immediately, it was clear that the dog was a sailor at heart, and specifically he preferred

Starting point is 00:02:10 the company of men who wore what's called the square rig, a uniform with bell-bottom trousers and a collar forming a V in front and a rectangle in back. Those men had spoiled him most when he first reached the Institute, and he never forgot it. He would attach himself to any sailor wearing that uniform, but not to any particular man. He might stay with one for several hours and then leave him to tag along with another. As he grew familiar with the base, eventually some sailors on the cruiser HMS Neptune enticed him aboard, and he took to sunning himself at full length in one of the most commonly used gangways. The men were fond of him, but said, why do you have to lie here of all places? You're just a nuisance. And that became his name. As his social circle widened, Nuisance began to accompany his friends into Cape Town by

Starting point is 00:02:55 train, a journey of 22 miles. At first, he went with the chief petty officer of the Neptune, and the chief steward would take care to buy a rail ticket for him. But in time, he began to tag along with any group of sailors who were going, and often without a ticket. They would try to hide him under carriage seats, but hiding a Great Dane was practically impossible. The ticket collector would catch him and throw him out at a station, but he would either scramble on board again or simply wait for the next train. Finally, South African railways threatened to put him to sleep if he kept riding without a ticket, and, seeing no way to prevent this, Cheney said he felt obliged to sell him. That brought an outcry in Simonstown, where Nuisance was now a favorite among both

Starting point is 00:03:34 sailors and civilians. They were horrified that he might be sold off the base when he obviously belonged among sailors, but there seemed no way to keep him off the train. Finally, the fleet admiral thought of a creative solution. If the dog were enlisted officially as a member of the Royal Navy, he'd be given a season ticket for the train. That way he could never be evicted. He could ride to Johannesburg if he wanted. So that's what they did. Nuisance appeared gamely for his official enlistment in early June 1939. He passed the physical exam easily, but finalizing the enlistment documents brought some challenges. They decided that Nuisance was his surname, but they couldn't decide how to list his first name on the form. The lieutenant told his petty

Starting point is 00:04:15 officer, I can't see any other way out than to leave it blank and give the name as just Nuisance. And the petty officer said, that's it, sir, his Christian name, write just in that column. And the petty officer said, that's it, sir, his Christian name, right just in that column. So he was just Nuisance. They made him an able seaman because his length of service would have earned him that rank if he'd been human, and in place of a signature, Nuisance gave his paw print. They made him an official identity disc with his number, rank, and name, as well as a second disc that said South African Railways Free Pass,

Starting point is 00:04:45 and attached both of them to his collar. Then they sent him to the base clothing store where he was given a new seaman's cap that was held onto his head with a linen chin strap. Cheney said goodbye to him and he was transferred to a small naval barracks called Froggy Pond five miles from Simonstown. At Froggy Pond, he was billeted in number one hut with a sheet, blankets, pillow, and mattress for his bunk. He took his meals in the galley and wore his cap and collar at all times while appearing on base. They were both removed when he retired to his bunk. He had no official duties but was free to accompany any sailor around the base and to go ashore in the evenings with his friends. He even took a shower with the men each day. They'd soap him all over and he'd stand under the water until the suds were gone.

Starting point is 00:05:29 It must be said that he was not a model sailor. In the ensuing weeks, the officer of the day charged him four times with being asleep during recognized duty hours, but he was reminded that since the dog had no duties, this did not infringe regulations. Nuisance did appear on inspection parades with his sailor's cap tied correctly between his ears, but the commanding officer complained that he never wagged his tail to acknowledge a senior officer. To his credit, at inspection his hair was never found to be too long, which was sometimes the case with the human sailors. In the evenings he would regularly accompany his friends on the train to Cape Town, where he developed a taste for lager and became such a regular at the Union Jack Club that they gave him a reserved bed. And his fame began to spread.

Starting point is 00:06:05 As the war brought more and more British sailors to Cape Town, his story began to boost morale throughout the Navy. This brought a request from Africander, a Royal Navy shore establishment in Simonstown. The commanding officer there was regularly invited to gatherings in support of the war effort, and people kept asking him to bring the dog. So he requested to borrow Nuisance for a time, and the dog was transferred there. At Africander, Nuisance had essentially the same life as at Froggy Pond. On his first day, he took a nap until late afternoon, shook hands with all the men who had been billeted in his room, ate a meal with them, and followed them to the Simonstown railway station, where he bounded onto the Cape Town train and took up his customary three seats by the window. In Cape Town, he accompanied two sailors to a cafe known as

Starting point is 00:06:49 Mayor's Garden, where he was greeted with a big dish of cutlets. A pianist was playing a waltz, and when one of the waitresses jokingly asked him to dance, to her surprise, he reared up and put his paws on her shoulders. This is one of those unlikely stories that appears actually to be true. Her name was Gurley Baker, and she verified it in a letter to the Cape Times. Quote, After that, on weekends, Nuisance was invariably first on the platform at the Simonstown station. Typically, when he reached Cape Town, he'd go first to a hotel on Adderley Street called The Standard, where his first drink was on the house, a quart of lion lager in a brass bowl.

Starting point is 00:07:38 The sailors called the hotel the Texas Bar because it had batwing doors like the ones in American cowboy movies. Possibly Nusens liked it because he could push through the doors himself rather than wait for someone to open them. By the time he'd finished his first drink, there were usually a dozen sailors ready to buy him another. After a couple more courts, he'd make his way upstairs to the balcony overlooking Adderley Street, put his paws on the railing, and survey the scene. If he saw another dog, he'd give an ear-splitting bark. After about half an hour of this, he'd make his way downstairs again, exit the hotel, and walk down Adderley

Starting point is 00:08:10 Street to the dockyard, where the guards had standing orders to let him in. Every ship at the wharf had a gangway to the pier side, and he had his run of them. If any guard tried to stop him, the dockyard police explained that he was an officially enlisted able seaman of the Royal Navy. Once on board a ship, his goal was to find any other dogs and challenge them. He seemed to believe that only he had any business aboard ships. Since the other dogs knew their ships well, mostly they were able to hide until he'd gone. As his fame spread, letters began to pour in from across the peninsula inviting him to attend charity gatherings that were held to raise money for the war effort and to recruit men and women for the armed forces. If you invited nuisance

Starting point is 00:08:48 to a function and he couldn't attend, he'd send you a letter. The letter read, Dear Sir or Madam, in reply to your kind invitation for me to attend the charity function along with my commanding officer to be held at blank on the blank instant, I am very sorry to refuse this request because my services on that day are needed by the Royal Navy. As I cannot read or write, my CEO has kindly dictated this letter on my behalf, and please do not hesitate to ask for my presence at any future date, as, by that time, my rigorous duties may have decreased, allowing me to attend. I send you a copy of my service documents so you may display them at this function, but my CO wishes to point out to everyone concerned that the Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Naval Forces, has decreed and made it a regulation that no other canines will be admitted as a member of the Royal Navy. Yours

Starting point is 00:09:35 faithfully, Able Seaman J. Nuisance, R.N. If he accepted an invitation, they sent the same letter without the apologies, indicating the time when the CO and Nusens would arrive. The CEO signed these letters personally. Despite his popularity, Nusens still wasn't a model of virtue. The commanding officer of Africandra had to limit the dog's consumption of lager to six quarts a night, and I'm afraid he may have been a bigamist. His enlistment form lists a dog named Judy of the Prince Albert Hotel in Simonstown as his wife and next of kin, but he also officially married a dog named Adinda of Hout Bay on June 1, 1941. Some Navy officials insist that his first marriage may have been dissolved in late 1940, but Judy is still listed on his last hospital form in 1944. Possibly he'd just married Judy twice. I don't know how dogs

Starting point is 00:10:22 handle divorces. Around Christmas 1941, he was charged with three offenses, traveling without a ticket on South African railways, his free pass had fallen off his collar, sleeping in a petty officer's bed, and resisting ejection from the sailors' and soldiers' home in Simonstown. He was found guilty of the first two charges but acquitted on the third because he was judged to have been defending himself from an attack by the Knight supervisor. He was ordered confined to the banks of Lily Pond and deprived of bones for seven days, and both of those sentences were suspended, so that's a fairly happy outcome. In fact, when his cap was knocked askew during the proceedings, he was given permission not to wear it anymore, except on full ceremonial parades. That set a second precedent in

Starting point is 00:11:03 the Royal Navy. At the end of 1941, his conduct sheet read, character, very good, efficiency, moderate, discipline, poor. But it must be said that he never bit a human in his entire naval career, and he wouldn't attack other dogs unless they threatened him first. He had one notable adventure early in 1942 on a British county-class cruiser anchored in Table Bay. Before the ship weighed anchored to proceed on her voyage, some of the crew smuggled Nuisance aboard and hid him, probably in one of the mess decks. They were three miles out when Nuisance escaped, ran up on deck, and, apparently realizing what was happening, leapt overboard. The port captain

Starting point is 00:11:40 in Cape Town Docks actually saw this happen through a telescope. He was ready to order a launch out to help, but Nuisance swam all the way to shore. He was returned to Africander, where the CO ordered him to the sickbay. The senior doctor diagnosed him with exhaustion and ordered him to spend 48 hours in the hospital, but he wouldn't stay in bed, and so they let him go early. By 1942, Nuisance was a fixture on the peninsula. He knew every train station between Simonstown and Cape Town and would travel by himself, sometimes disappearing for a week or 10 days. During that time, he might stay in the naval barracks or aboard one of the ships in Simonstown or at the Union Jack Club in Cape Town or on a ship at the dockyard there, wherever he thought

Starting point is 00:12:18 he could find the most food and drink. There are some stories that I myself find doubtful, but that I'll list here for the record. There are accounts of him breaking up fights by interposing his body and even standing on his hind legs and separating men with his paws, or running between their legs and bowling them over. It's commonly said that he would stand at attention when the national anthem was played, with his nose up, his tail out, and his ears perked. It said he would also do this when the white ensign at Froggy Pond was lowered at sunset and in Cape Town at the noon gun, when he would stand at attention, observe the customary two-minute silence, and even stop other people from moving. It said he would walk through the train when it stopped at Simonstown to wake up any sailors who had passed out or fallen asleep and lead them back to their barracks at night. And he was sometimes said to know when the last trains were due to depart from various stations. This is practically impossible as he couldn't tell time, but it may be that he had learned to divine departure times as well as eating times by watching the movements of crowds. Everyone agrees he was very intelligent. He lived this happy life until 1943 when he was involved in a motor accident and his condition gradually worsened. The hospital bed ticket lists

Starting point is 00:13:25 his final illness as paralysis of the sciatic nerve. It also lists his religion as Canine Divinity League and his previous occupation as Bone Crusher. When he was finally put to sleep, on his seventh birthday, April 1st, 1944, news of his death was transmitted to every British ship and naval base in the world. He was buried with full naval honors at Claver Camp near Simonstown. His body was wrapped in a white ensign, and buglers sounded the last post, and a party fired a volley as he was lowered into the grave. Afterward, Terence Sisson, who'd made friends with Nuisance while serving in the Navy's Fleet Air Arm, received 468 letters from officers and sailors who had known the dog personally.

Starting point is 00:14:05 One had been a leading seaman at the time of the funeral, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal for gallantry against the enemy. He said that he dropped a length of the metal ribbon into Nusens' grave. He wrote, in my opinion, it was no more than able seaman Nusens deserved, not for gallantry against the enemy, but for the comradeship, loyalty, assistance, and great affection he had for his oppos. Oppo was a naval term meaning opposite number or close friend. Sisson concludes his book with a poem that he calls My Last Voyage. For if I die in battle or of disease at sea, wrap me in a hammock, let the oceans cover me. But if by the hand of fate I breathe my last ashore, bury me in earth, a fathom deep, and disturb my rest no more.

Starting point is 00:14:46 Sleep on, nuisance, and may your last voyage be one of calm seas and fair winds. There will never be another like you. The mold was broken when you were formed. You are remembered with affection by a whole generation in your homeland, and will be for many years to come, wherever Appos gather. who helps support our show by joining our Patreon campaign, sending in donations, or even just helping to spread the word about us. If you'd like to help support us, please check out our Patreon page at patreon.com slash futilitycloset, or see the support us section of our website. And thanks so much to everyone who helps keep Futility Closet going. We really couldn't do this without you. We really couldn't do this without you. The puzzle in episode 297, spoiler alert, asked about the purpose of towers for volunteer fire stations in the early 1800s, with the answer being that they were to hang the hoses in so

Starting point is 00:16:00 that they could dry. I was flummoxed by the puzzle as I'd never heard of or even conceived of such a thing, but a few of our listeners were quite familiar with the concept. Lee Sullivan wrote, Hello Sharon and Greg. Your lateral thinking puzzle in episode 297 awakened some fond memories. During the late 1980s, I worked at a magazine in Alexandria, Virginia. Our headquarters was a Civil War era townhouse just around the corner from an old firehouse that featured a tower for drying hoses, just as you described. A restaurant occupied the former firehouse, and I ate there several times a week, subsisting on Brunswick stew and Belgian waffles. The food was marvelous, but that's not the best part of the story. You see, rumor had it the building was haunted.

Starting point is 00:16:41 Toward the end of the previous century, an anguished firefighter committed suicide by hanging himself in the tower. Locals swore his ghost still stalked the premises. Of course, this was A-Town, where creaky old structures crowded the historic cobbled streets. You couldn't swing a cat without it passing through some misty, moaning specter. Not that I would ever swing a cat, but even my own office was reputed to be haunted. Personally, I've never seen a spook there or anywhere else, but nothing supernatural ever happens to me. Thanks for taking me back to those cherished years when I was starting out in life. Keep up the great work. Futility Closet is one of my favorite podcasts. So that's Hose Tower still around in the U.S., at least in Virginia, and here's hoping that Lee has a delightful encounter with a ghost sometime.

Starting point is 00:17:25 I hadn't even thought about that. That's a really creepy story. Chris Swart let us know about hose towers still in use rather more recently. When I was a young boy a short while ago in South Africa, I noticed some fire hoses hanging down the side of our local fire department's tower in Rhodoport in the old Transvaal. This was as recent as 1995 or so. I asked a fiery, living in Australia now, so we abbreviate everything, back then, and they explained that it is to dry the hoses. Don't know if they maybe had electric dryers that were just off, but in any case, it stuck in my mind until I heard the puzzle in the latest podcast. Thank you for bringing back memories of my country of birth. And for more

Starting point is 00:18:05 confirmation that these hose towers are not just things of the past, Bernd Fischer sent his greetings from southern Germany and helpful pronunciation hints for Bernd, including, if you can roll the R, do it vigorously. If you can't, don't pull a muscle trying. I promise I won't be mad. So that was my best attempt at a vigorously rolled R. Bernd wrote, Dear Greg and Sharon, the lateral thinking puzzle in episode 297 was rather confusing to me because I knew the answer before Greg had finished posing the question. But my answer didn't quite fit one of the stated facts. I actually worked in a hose tower in my youth. That was admittedly a while ago, but certainly less than a century. Drawing from that experience, I'd like to point out that hose towers usually do have

Starting point is 00:18:49 staircases. One person will need to climb those stairs and transfer the hoses from the winch to a rack mounted on the top of the tower, and go up again when it is time to retrieve the dried hoses. A little later, in 1997, the nearby city of Furstenfeldbruck built a new firehouse, including a hose tower, so they are still used even today. From the name of that city, you can probably deduce that I grew up in Germany and that hose towers are way more common here than they are in the U.S. Of course, I do not mean to disparage Sharon's puzzling skills. Usually, either of you will solve the puzzle before I do, but then there's nothing for me to write in about. Thank you for the podcast. I have become quite dependent on my weekly dose, so please keep up the good work.

Starting point is 00:19:31 And I guess that makes sense that the towers would actually need to have stairs for someone to get up into them. And I guess someone who actually worked in one would know. Yeah, yeah. So that's three different messages we got from people. I thought that was a really obscure puzzle. It was super obscure to me. Yaku Lo sent us a follow-up to the discussion in episode 297

Starting point is 00:19:52 about concentration camps on British soil during World War II. Hi, Sharon and Greg. During this week's podcast, you referred to a message about British concentration camps. I was surprised that you referred to Nazi concentration camps on the Channel Islands. I was expecting you to mention the concentration camps run by the British in the Boer War, technically the Second Boer War. After the Boers were defeated in the Conventional War, they resorted to guerrilla tactics. The British commander Kitchener employed a scorched earth policy and destroyed farms, livestock, and crops. Boer women and children

Starting point is 00:20:25 were then taken to these concentration camps for, quote, their own protection. Almost 10% of the Boer population died in these camps between 1901 and 1902. This included around 20,000 children. The conditions were horrible and it took the outrage of the British public, spurred on by Emily Hobhouse, to force a shift in policy. Scenes from the camps were chilling and the stories of the conditions became ingrained in the Afrikaner, Boer, consciousness. What is often overlooked is the number of black South Africans who were also placed in camps or forced into labor. For years, especially during apartheid, the impact of the Boer War on the black and colored populations has been overlooked. They played a significant role on both sides, mostly unwillingly.

Starting point is 00:21:07 While looking for some information to send, I came across a debate where a UK politician downplayed the nature of the camps in terms of deaths and the reason for their existence. I have to confess my bias as I am a descendant of the Boer Nation and grew up in the last years of apartheid while Afrikaner nationalism was still taught at school. grew up in the last years of apartheid while Afrikaner nationalism was still taught at school. Thanks for the podcast. My wife and I religiously listened to it every Monday evening, South African time. And Yaku included a couple of clarifications. I am not trying to downplay the Nazi camps or paint the British in a bad light. And black and colored are official population groups in South Africa and not meant pejoratively. So this was an eye-opening email for me. Concentration camps are often associated with the Nazis in World War II, but it turns out they actually had existed for quite some time before then. Yaku sent links to a number of helpful articles on this topic, and one of them,

Starting point is 00:22:00 from the Smithsonian Magazine, explained that it was basically the invention of barbed wire and automatic weapons that began to allow a few people to be able to imprison and guard many people. The first concentration camps, where large groups of civilians were held without the benefit of any kind of judicial trials, were first seen in Cuba in 1896 as part of a decades-long attempt by Spain to main control of the island. Cuban civilians were forced into encampments by the tens of thousands during the Spanish program of reconcentration, and by 1898, one-third of Cuba's population had been forcibly sent to these camps, which became known as concentration camps, and where horrific living conditions, disease, and malnutrition claimed the lives of many of those in prison there.

Starting point is 00:22:45 Only a couple of years later, in South Africa, during the Boer War, the British began using a similar tactic and began relocating civilians to concentration camps starting in 1900. As had been the case with the Cuban camps, there were many who were horrified at the idea of treating civilians in this way. For example, British Member of Parliament Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman asked in June 1901, when is a war not a war? When it is carried on by methods of barbarism in South Africa. As with the Cuban concentration camps, the mortality rates in the South African camps were shockingly high due to polluted water, infectious disease, and inadequate food. Although the Boers were often depicted with very negative stereotypes, they were still of European descent, and thus their poor treatment was rather

Starting point is 00:23:30 shocking to the British public. Less attention was paid to the black Africans who were held in their own British camps, often in even worse living conditions, and at times with only half the food rations given to the white inmates. The end of the Boer War in 1902 ended the concentration camps in South Africa, but not their use elsewhere. For example, the next instance of the use of such camps seems to be from 1904 to 1907, when they were used in the German colony of Southwest Africa in what is now Namibia. In general, these early concentration camps were used to eliminate undesirable groups of people, to remove civilians from contested areas, to subdue those suspected of aiding rebel groups, and as a tool against guerrilla fighters whose wives and children would be imprisoned.

Starting point is 00:24:20 In the following years, concentration camps began being used by more and more countries, and according to the Smithsonian Magazine, over time, concentration camps would become a tool in the arsenal of nearly every country. As with the concentration camps on the island of Alderney that I discussed in episode 297, the British camps in South Africa apparently remain a somewhat controversial topic in the UK, with some who view them in a less harsh light and seek to defend them to some extent. But that's a little beyond the scope of our show to cover today. Thanks so much to everyone who writes to us. We truly appreciate hearing your thoughts and comments on the topics we cover. So if you have any to send to us, please send them to podcast at futilitycloset.com.

Starting point is 00:25:13 it's my turn to try to solve a lateral thinking puzzle greg is going to give me a strange sounding situation and i have to try to work out what's going on asking yes or no questions this is from listener kate burlington around the year 1900 certain young women women in Canada started to sew weights into the hems of their skirts. Why? Okay. Certain young women. Would you say that there is some characteristic about these young women that I'd be able to guess that would put them in a group together? Yes.

Starting point is 00:25:44 Because I think you're implying not all young women did this. No, this group had something in common. This group had something in common. Besides the fact that they lived in Canada, was it more specific geographically than that? Oh, I guess I don't know. Let's say no. Okay. Was their age relevant, the fact that they were young women?

Starting point is 00:26:05 Yes. Were they of a particular age relevant? The fact that they were young women? Yes. Were they of a particular age group? No, I wouldn't say so. But just young women as opposed to older women? Yes. Okay. Was there some activity that they did in common? Yes.

Starting point is 00:26:20 Right. Would you say that this activity was like a sport? Yes. Okay. So women who were participating in a particular sport were sowing weights. I'm trying to think of what sports were popular around 1900. Croquet? No.

Starting point is 00:26:44 Tennis? No. Okay. I can't see how that would help with bike riding, but I'll say bicycle riding anyway. Definitely not going to help with swimming. Young women participating in one particular sport around 1900, sport yes around 1900 yes were the weights going to help them in the sport somehow yes was it to keep their skirts from sort of flapping around um that wasn't the end goal but i'm trying to imagine why you would put weights in your skirt and i can imagine like if you're running around or doing something the skirt might sort of kick up or yeah you're sort of on the right track it was that was the purpose of the weights but why would you want to do that yeah why would you want to do that i'm trying to think i'm trying to think what sports women participated in around 1900

Starting point is 00:27:40 uh like i'd be really surprised if women were playing baseball in nineteen hundred or something like that. I mean, OK, Canada curling. I think what sports are I mean, like ice hockey is big in Canada, but I don't know that women were playing it. Were they playing ice hockey? Yes, they were playing ice hockey. Okay, fine. Women were playing ice hockey in 1900. Yes. And is that why their age is important? Because, you know, generally 80-year-old women aren't playing ice hockey.

Starting point is 00:28:13 That's right. Okay. And they were putting weights in their skirts. Would you say that this was intended to be an advantage to themselves as opposed to a disadvantage to someone else? Well, sort of both, I guess I'd say. Okay. Because like, I don't know, you could use weights in your skirts against an opponent somehow, I'm trying to think, in ice hockey to... You're doing very well.

Starting point is 00:28:36 I had no idea how this was going to go. I don't know a ton about hockey. Was it women playing a particular position? Yes. Oh. Goalie? Yes. Good, because I can't name too many other positions in hockey.

Starting point is 00:28:51 So very good on that one. So the goalies wanted to have weights in their skirts. And did this somehow... Okay, if you're a goalie, you're trying to prevent the puck from going into the goal. And that's pretty much your only job as far as I understand, right? So somehow weights in the skirts, either that would help you move better or differently. Or somehow it would help block the puck better. Maybe if your skirt was weighted down, it would be a better block for the puck.

Starting point is 00:29:24 That's it it that is it kate writes they were hockey goalies and the weights helped make their skirts a better barrier to block the puck in the early days of hockey women played in their long edwardian era skirts and it didn't take long for some clever goalie to come up with a way to take advantage of it to help block shots ah i can't believe you got that oh Oh, because like maybe the, like, I don't know, like the puck could go through your legs or something. Like it could just get under the fabric of the skirt or something. Yeah, this way.

Starting point is 00:29:51 If you're having to wear a skirt anyway, you might as well use it. Yeah, make it a better barrier. Excellent. Thanks, Kate. Excellent. If anybody else has a puzzle they'd like to send in for us to try, please send that to us at podcast at futilitycloset.com. for us to try, please send that to us at podcast at futilitycloset.com.

Starting point is 00:30:12 Futility Closet is supported entirely by our incredible listeners. If you'd like to become one of the awesome supporters of our show and check out some bonus content like outtakes, extralateral thinking puzzles, more discussions on some of the stories and peeks behind the scenes, please see our Patreon page at patreon.com slash futility closet or the support a section of the website at futilitycloset.com. While you're at the site, you can also graze through Greg's collection of over 11,000 quirky curiosities, browse the Futility Closet store, learn about the Futility Closet books, and see the show notes for the podcast with links and references for the topics we've covered. If you have any comments or feedback for us, you can always email us at podcast at futilitycloset.com. All our music was written and performed by Greg's phenomenal brother, Doug Ross.

Starting point is 00:30:55 Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next week.

Futility Closet - 304-The Dog Who Joined the Navy

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