Oh What A Time... - #151 Mega Corps (Part 1)

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

This week we’re taking a good look at some of the biggest companies ever to grace the planet; expect to hear from The Hudson’s Bay Company, the greatest (and most pungent) fish sauce company you never heard of and how about we discover the golden age of the American Motors Corporation?And have you ever been uninvited from a Christmas party? Ever been banned from one? Ever put your festive foot in it? You know what to do: [e-mail]! The comedy history podcast that has spent as much time talking about the invention of custard as it has the industrial revolution is here with its first ever live show! Thursday 15th January at the Underbelly Boulevard in London’s Soho. 🎟 Tickets are on sale now: https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/oh-what-a-time/And in huge news, Oh What A Time is now on Patreon! From content you’ve never heard before to the incredible Oh What A Time chat group, there’s so much more OWAT to be enjoyed!On our Patreon you’ll now find:•The full archive of bonus episodes•Brand new bonus episodes each month•OWAT subscriber group chats•Loads of extra perks for supporters of the show•PLUS ad-free episodes earlier than everyone elseJoin us at 👉 patreon.com/ohwhatatimeAnd as a special thank you for joining, use the code CUSTARD for 25% off your first month.You can also follow us on: X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepodAnd Instagram at @ohwhatatimepodAaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice?Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk).Chris, Elis and Tom x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

O Watertime is now on Patreon. You can get main feed episodes before everyone else, ad free, plus access to our full archive of bonus content, two bonus episodes every month, early access to live show tickets and access to the O Watertime Group chat. Plus if you become an O Watertime All-Timer, myself, Tom and Ellis, will riff on your name to postulate where else in history you might have popped up.

For all your options, you can go to patreon.com forward slash O-Watertime. Hello and welcome to all one-a-time, the history podcast that asks all of the important questions, such as prior to, I'm going to say, 2010, just to be on the safe side, what was the equivalent of being thrown out of a WhatsApp group for a social event before it's happened that you were planning to attend? What? Wow Because that's just happened to me You need to talk me through what's happened This is already exciting A party is happening

And has happened every year Yes For a long time And we always go Oh my God What's up WhatsApp group Just got a notification

Oh yeah you've been removed What So is Izzy So we won't be going this year So just to step myself through this This is a pre-existing WhatsApp group that exists from the previous years of this party, I'm assuming. Yeah, yeah, it's always a Christmas do.

Okay, and we're heading towards it again, and they've now booted you out before they discuss it. Yeah, yeah, we're recording this late November. The WhatsApp group hadn't been added to since last December. Hey, hope everyone's still coming round. Yeah, we're coming. We'll be there. Not this year. Please tell me you hadn't replied saying you'd be there and then you were booted out. No, no, no, that hadn't happened.

That hadn't happened. And I think the admin is doing a little bit of admin. Yes. But I think I think this person's admin, whoever they may be, they've decided to scale down their party. And we are the collateral damage. Now, I think it's important in moments like this, Ellis, and I'm sure you agree, to reflect on why that might have happened.

So what do you think may have led to that? Is there anything from the previous year when you were dancing naked on the table doing their helicopter or something like that? What happened? I wouldn't say I offered a huge amount to this party. I'll tell you what I think happened. I turned up, I didn't say very much,

but I did eat a lot of their food and drink a lot of their wine. But I don't think I offered much. And I'd never met them before. I was in the corner a lot. There was one guy I knew. I talked to him. I didn't really mingle.

My kids. I don't know what they were up to they might well have been being naughty I don't know but I wasn't I certainly wasn't I certainly wasn't attending to them but there was nice like who would meet and stuff and I helped myself You annihilated the buffet

Did you help yourself to any living room ornaments No but I did annihilate the buffet And what do you think Issy did To deserve that or do you think she's just collateral damage because you annihilated At the buffet? Yeah yeah

Was she whooping in her hollering as you've annihilated the buffet and prevented anyone else from enjoying it? I think, unfortunately, by association. She's the collateral damage of the collateral damage. It's right. She is the collateral damage of the collateral damage. I think they've looked at us as a family and thought, no. If I had a Christmas party and someone came over and just destroyed all the dried meats.

All the time, not offering anything, no conversation. I'm not talking to anyone. Yeah, that's invitation revoked for the following year. It's quite a sort of medieval way. approaching a party as well, isn't it? To turn up and just devour all the cured meats. I think that's what happened. I think they saw me coming.

I think they thought to themselves, well, we don't really see him during the year. Do we want Henry VIII over for this Christmas party? Always the same. Captain Gout, smashing his way through all the meat gout. There's a new T-shirt range. Always the same. I think they thought to themselves.

What does he do? He arrives later than he says he's going to... He doesn't join in. He stands her with his coat on and eyelids the buffet leaves the earliest opportunity. Yeah. I've had a repeat conversation with our mutual friend Joshua Wittaker about a funny thing that happens in party WhatsApp groups. A sign that you've been added as an afterthought and late to the party is when you're added and clearly all the information has already been given. And there's loads of callbacks to jokes that you can no longer suit.

There's all the callbacks. That's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's loads of running gags of things that are no longer visible on your version of the WhatsApp group because he read it's so late. Yeah. But Ellis is the worst way around where you've been added. The banter's flying and they're like, oh, whoa, I didn't realize this guy was still here. The cured meats are flying into Ellis's mouth.

They're kidding. I'm just, I'm being faced with my own behaviour. Yeah. last year turned up didn't take cokes off an annihilated buffet didn't speak to anyone

kids went upstairs their behaviour and accounted for I don't know what they were doing they might have been throwing paint to the walls for all I know had a bit of wine

left without saying goodbye what happens 11 months later you're at the WhatsApp group do you know what I kind of hands up that's fair enough I suppose Was it a recent deletion

because he would have basically had you spent most of this year thinking you'd got away with last year? Yeah, about an hour ago. Survelyling. So close to the finish line. Do you think there's been like an 11-month tribunal

about your behaviour last year that has only just reached a conclusion? The final hurdle. They may have been measuring teeth marks in the Hammond iberico or the mortaredia and eventually realise which mouth fits. And it's Ellis James. He's the main culprit.

They've gone through my dental records. Now, Elle, I don't, obviously, especially now, we live in a world full of conflict and war. It should be a time of forgiveness. But I want to bring a new word in, and that is revenge. What is going to be your revenge for this act? Is there a way of making it one all? Well, the ultimate revenge would be to host a better party. Sadly, I cannot be asked.

And I've been to your parties, Ellis. Why, shit. You have never. laid on cured meats. At best you've had some old bolognades from the previous night fill in the fridge. I wouldn't even know where to buy it. Well, the cured meats had gone long before the party rolls around.

Oh, that's absolutely incredible. Getting high on his own supply. You could turn up and there's empty packets of keyword meats. Yes. Evidence of what I've worked my way through. Final question. When the party happens, are you going to walk past and look through the window? Like a Victorian child with a toy shop?

sort of face, press against the glass. I think you're not so good question, actually. I think I might just cycle around the house in a sort of loop again and again and again. Well, I mean, you know where the party's going to be. You could just turn up. Maybe turn up with your own cured meats. I don't know where it will be.

I don't know when it would be. Yeah. Well, you'll be able to hear the anti-Ellis chance that are floating down there. Oh, yeah, of course. All the songs slagging you off, the chance. Yeah. All of the cured meat songs.

Kew would finally enough for all of her. Well, Ellis, I generally feel for you because that would leave me completely heartbroken. I'll be perfectly honest. And if I was organizing a Christmas party, you could come to mine, but I'm not. But I want you to know if I was, you'd be invited. Izzy's not thrilled. I'm quite glad in a way, actually.

Absolutely. And why is that, Al? Well, it's just one less social engagement in December. It's quite a full-on month. I mean, we've just talked about this for eight minutes. It doesn't really sound like you're glad. It's not the actions of someone who's glad, is it? All right, then.

I had a new outfit. Fine, I was going to turn up in more of my best new gear, but never mind. Well, if any listeners are holding a Christmas party and want Ellis to come, do DM the show. The one thing I did say, actually, as I was mentioning through the cured meats, I was going to say my keyword meets, I'd provide a number of it. That's the problem, isn't it? You can't differentiate. Such a telling word.

What's communal and what's yours? As I was mentioned through their keyword meats, I did stop to tap someone on the shoulder and say, where did you buy your overshirt from? With a mouthful of cured meats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he said what? And I said, let me just take a photo of the label. And that was basically the end of the conversation. So I wasn't really the life and soul. It was very administrative from my point of view.

Oh, God, it's all starting to make sense now. Well, generally, as I say, if any listeners are having a Christmas party, do feel free to email the show, DM the show. No, I'll be there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be there. I mean, I would say south of Birmingham and east of Bristol. And dependent on the cold meat spread. Oh, the cured meats, yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to know what the cured meat sort of a scene is like in your hometown. I'm quite interested to hear from the listeners.

Have you ever been banned from a Christmas party? And what did you do? That's a great question. Was it worse than eating all the cured meats? Yeah. Hello at oh what a time.com. It's the lack of conversation, I think. That's what did it for me.

Yeah. Yeah. I should have, I should have offered something. Yeah. Because if you're an absolute bantosaurus rex and you tuck it into the cured meats at the same time, I'll forgive you that if you're just so entertaining. Maybe it's like, yeah, party fuel. I was like a midfielder was always passing sideways and backwards. A festive Mark Noble. Keeping it ticking over, but never doing anything particularly exciting. No. Just on

WhatsApp group, this story came to mind. So when Manuel Pellegrini was manager of West Ham, he kept adding Sergio Aguero to the West Ham squad chat. And then Martin Hobel kept deleting him. Just to be clear, too, listeners you want into football, Aguero does not play for West Ham. No, he plays for a rival team, Manchester City. Turned out, it saved him under like Andy Carroll on his phone. Impossible to mix those two up.

So Sergio O'Guerre kept getting added and deleted the West Ham Club chat. That's so funny. Do you know what, I went to the Lord, well, the Lady Mayor's show, which has been running in London for 800 years, because my daughter was representing the British Guide Movement. It's a very traditional event. So there was one, you know,

there was the British Guide Movement float. There was the, you know, different regiments of the British Army, the Royal Guild of Scriveners, the Royal Guild of Acturies, followed by West Ham United. With a bus playing, I'm forever blowing bubbles,

on a loop, blowing bubbles. They were the only, the only London Club being represented by a float. I thought, I thought, that is classic West Hamann. There was no Tottenham, Arsenal, Charlton or Millwall. I love that. Although the Scrivenors does sound like sort of the nickname for a lower league side

that does all right in the FAA Cup. Oh, yeah. Braintree, aka the Scrivenors, against Port Vale in the biggest game with their history. There were so many of those, like, guilds for industries that I just, I'd never heard of, or I didn't understand.

Scrivener is a great name, Scrivener, isn't it? And why were you there? You're there for the Guild of Cured Meets, hoping to catch a few strays. So if you do have a Christmas party, you want Ellis to come to, do email the show. And don't expect much, by the way. But he will be there. I will be there. But just because I'm a mega entertaining bantercaster with some of the most popular buntarcasts on the internet, don't expect much for me.

In the real world, nothing to offer. In the real world, absolutely. Morrie bun. All he has to offer is a hungry mouth and that's it. But what better time to dip into correspondence as we ask for you to email and sort out Ellis's Christmas plans. Let's read some of your emails now. Should we do that? Oh, yes. Yeah. So, you sent us some correspondence, have you? Well, let's take a look at you then. This is a fantastic email from someone called Yvonne Jackson who says,

Dear Chris Ellis and Tom, this is the perfect podcast, funny, fascinating and with hosts that have things in common but each bring something different to the table. Oh, what Ellis brings to the table. Nothing, he just takes from the table. Minus cured meats. I just take.

And now here come the key forward, I'm an all-timer. What an absolute legend. Great. And because she's an all-timer, Yvonne has suggested a brilliant subject for an episode. My idea for an episode is Maps. Such a good one. Navigation has been mentioned a few times on the pod, but a deeper look into maps would be great.

They're fascinating how they use politically, empire, scale, changing borders and perhaps mention of the good old treasure maps in fiction. Where did that narrative come from, pirates, I assume. I remember being gifted a real world map that was produced to show the proper scale of the planet, it, Africa and India were enormous. And at the time, as a half-African young girl and comparing it to the Atlas that I was seeing at school, it was the first time I realised that maps have other agendas. That's a fascinating point, isn't it? Interesting. Yeah. The use of a map

to sell an idea to show the idea of strength and what your part of the world represents. And just because I need to shoehorn this in, it is a map, she says. If you are not aware of this, then please behold the beauty that is the Traffic Scotland's live tracker of their gritters. I'm sure you especially Tom will appreciate the pun legacy this community have. Have you seen this before? No. I love this. It's a live map. Oh, Elle, this is so up your street. It's a live map that shows you where all the gritters are, you know, the gritters that get rid of the ice and snow in Scotland. Okay, there they are. I'll hold up the camera. You can see them buzzing around on the screen. Well, I can't actually. Because of your

background, it sort of got lost in the Golden Gate Bridge. Just to explain, for some reason, I have a Golden Gate Bridge background on, which I wanted to remove, but the boys want me to keep up for a bit of fun. I'll give you the name of some of the gritters. I'll see what you think of this. There's Salt Disney, having that. Sled Zeppelin. Yes.

This will do nicely. Gritty, gritty bang, bang. Here, here. Salty claws. License to chill. I like this one. Lord Caldemor. And you can see exactly where in Scotland they're going around.

Salt Disney. It's so good. Gritter bit. The Polar Patroler And here's my favourite one The Basil Salty Isn't that great? So you've got all of these gritters

Going around Scotland My favourite is Isn't there Gritty McGrick face? Well there's loads on here I assume that probably is in there There's the grittier snowman Sweet Child O'Brien

Ice sweeper Willie Hansel and Grittal I want to break freeze There's Ice Leavister Baby And let's find one more Let's wrap it up with one more I'm going to scroll up To North Scotland here

North Scotland and where Mr Snow at all is going around. Lovely stuff. You can go on this map. You can see where all of these gritters are at any point. So Yvonne says, thank you for bringing me so much joy. Looking forward to the live show, and I hope you'd enjoy this live map.

The point is, Yvonne, we thought this was such a good idea for an episode. And this is one of the great benefits of being an all-timer. We immediately contacted our brilliant historian, Dr. Darrell Leeworthy, and said, let's do an episode on maps. And it is underway. He's researching it now. So that will be happening over the next few weeks. this listener requested episode will be coming out soon.

I think maps are fascinating, aren't they? They're amazing things. I remember studying the Mapper Mundi at school. I don't know what that is. What's that? In school history lessons. A very early, I think from memory, sort of medieval. I think it's the earliest map, isn't it?

Yeah, medieval map that I think is kept here of a cathedral. But I remember saying that the funny thing with maps as well, especially the older ones, is how wrong they are. Yes. What? have done better. Well, no, I couldn't, but I mean, I mean, they didn't know. Like they, like with the Map of Mundy, there's so little sea. They thought that the world was all land. It's a lot of, it's basically, it's basically this, isn't it? You're like, yeah, and then, and then I think, I think Norfolk juts out of it, and then a little bit of Kent. And yeah, I think, I think that's

pretty much it, actually, yeah. You know the guys who would like sail around coasts and attempt to make a map. So all early mapmaking must have been vibing it by the eye. There must have been so many jobs where you could just blag it, I think. Yeah, back then. Absolutely. My main problem with early maps, C-wise L, is they're quite heavy on the sea monsters. There's a lot of sort of pricking and stuff like that, which I think if I'm reading a map

and I'm seeing that as an image on a part of the world, I might have to travel across. I'm thinking, I'll probably find it. I probably take the Eur star. I'll probably take a different route. None of it makes me want to go exploring. Ooh, yeah, I'm being eaten by a massive sea monster. It's quashing my wanderlop. I'd never see before.

That sounds good. I was useless with maps. I did orienteering as part of my Duke of Edinburgh and never had any idea which way up it should go, how far things were. It just was completely useless, completely broke me. Yeah, I remember crying on an orienteering trip because the, the, the guy in charge said, and if you don't listen to me, and I haven't been listening,

and you can't read this map, you're not going to be able to get back to the base camp, and you're not going to have anything for your tea, and I cannot miss a meal. Yes. I've never missed a meal in my life, and I'm thinking,

you what, mate? Come on, man, I'm nine. If only, Elle, we've been able to say, with the advent of the iPhone and Satnav, this information will be useless. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course, it's important now because it's 1990,

but in about 30th, all bollocks. So you can ignore what I'm saying then. It will never be relevant. Okay, then year five, off we go. The only lesson we'll need to teach you will be remember to charge your phone. That is the only thing. Is that what Duke of Edinburgh is now? Do bring power banks. Is that basically what Duke of Edinburgh is now? It's loads of school kids and a teacher going, okay, so I'll give you the postcode of the place we're going to, type it into your phones, and then we'll just walk in that direction. There we are. Okay, the Apple Maps group go this way. The Google Maps group go this way and then the nerds using ways, you can stand on my left-hand site. So if anyone else has got any

suggestions for other episodes, anything else on maps, and most importantly, have you ever been chucked out of a Christmas party and why? Extra points if you've been banned the following year. Here's how you can get in touch with the show. all right you horrible luck here's how you can stay in touch with the show you can email us at hello at oh what a time com and you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter at oh what a time pod

now clear off so one of the ways you can support the show is to become a patron Tears include full-timer, all-timer and part-timer but one of the benefits of being an all-timer is we will read out your name and postulate where in history you may have been before. Are you ready, gents? Absolutely. This is incredible. We've got a double header. Someone has signed up

under two names. Oh, okay. Ophelia Margot and Colwyn Sonny Hughes. Ophelia Margo is the most beautiful woman in England. Yes. In 1880 and everyone who sees her turns to dust or so. Spent 80% of her waking day Sort of sat on a rock by the coast combing her hair Yeah Occasionally birds Land on the shoulder

And newspaper journalists will write Articles about how beautiful she is But they've never seen her She's like a hearsay It's like a word of mouth booty That's such a great name Might she have been a muse For a famous artist

Oh yeah 100% Painted by about a hundred times Yes Yes Exactly a hundred times I'm going to paint you a hundred times And she had a fantastic charmed life

Living in Kent Waiting on hand to you know Hand and foot Didn't have to do anything Incredibly dainty fingernails And very soft hamlets Never removed from a WhatsApp group for a party Absolutely not

She could eat all the coup would meet she wanted Married to a British ambassador at some point Oh yeah one of a but never I just saw him. Too busy brushing a hair on a cliff. Colwyn Sonny Hughes. A far darker story. I think early industrialists maybe.

Yeah. Sent his kids to work in the most dangerous parts of the British Empire. Yeah, that's absolutely perfect. Spent his career fighting against worker rights. I think probably the captain of a Navy vessel at a time when What was it when they used to ground people up in the streets? What was that called? Oh, a press ganged, yeah, yeah.

Press ganged, yeah, yeah. That sort of time. Quite problematic, captain. And if you had some horrific injury during a naval battle, zero sympathy from Colin. Yeah, exactly. You could have lost your right arm and your right leg. And he's like, go on then, what I mean, what are you waiting for?

Died the year before they realised that vitamin C sorted out scurvy. So, yeah, that's one really bad final horror voyage. Yeah. Campaigned against the introduction of the weekend. Oh, 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The musician. Yeah, totally.

He was at Glastonbury. Not this guy. Do you want one more name? We've got quite a few altabers these days. Dana Minor. Dana Minor. Which I thought it's very constellation-like. Dana works for the FBI.

Come on. Oh, that's interesting. Dana is spying on us. Yeah. I'm saying that. Because of Dana Scully. I've just realised where that's come from. Close enough.

Well, there you go. If you want to have your name post-lazoned upon, you can join our Patreon, where the benefits include tickets to any future live shows. But as you're hearing this, our live show is now on general sale. The actual event is Thursday the 15th of January, 2026. We are playing at the Underbelly Boulevard in London, Soho.

Thursday, 15th of January, 2026. Tickets are on sale now. There will be a link in the description of this episode, but you can also get the link via our Patreon, and here's how you can sign up for that. Hello again, you horrible lot, enjoying the show. Well, why not show the love by becoming a Patreon supporter today?

For a mere handful of farthings, you can get ad-free shows, two bonus subscriber episodes each month, access to all the past, bonus eps, first dibs on live tickets, and even help decide what subjects the boys cover next. Your support makes everything possible, so sign up today at patreon.com slash oh what's a time or oh what'satine.com. What are you waiting for?

Stop dawdling! So on today's episode we are discussing megacorp. Those companies, those institutions that are absolutely massive that everyone's heard of, but often fail for the craziest of reasons. So Tom, what are you going to be discussing? I'm going to be talking about one of the largest companies in ancient Rome, and it's fascinating. I've loved learning about this stuff. I'm going to be discussing one of the largest car companies in America in the 70s and 80s. And are you ready to learn about right now one of the oldest corporations,

in existence. Am I ever? Oh, yes, please. Okay, let's wind the clock right back to a great European Imperial Corporation. Now, when you talk about European Imperial Corporations, a few familiar names crop up. You've got the East India Companies. The British, Dutch, French, and Portuguese

each had their own version, vast trading giants that doubled as private empires. The Dutch East India Company, or the VOC, was founded in 1602 and became one of the world's first joint stock corporations, meaning people could buy shares essentially in the empire. Interesting. Over nearly two centuries, it generated one billion pounds in profits

with employees drawn from all over Europe, Dutch, English, Scots, and even a few Welshmen from Swansea. Wow. There's the old joint stock theatre in Birmingham. I don't know if it's still there, but I used to do quite a lot of gigs there, sort of 15, 16 years ago or so. But the Sims of money you're discussing are just enormous, isn't they? I didn't realize

this is how I found out how much money was in like the British East India Company. So it was founded in 1600. It went on to eclipse the wall. It was arguably the most powerful corporation in history ruling much of India before being dissolved in 1874. But the bloke who owned it or kind of ran it really aggressively

in the 1600s was a bloke called Sir Josiah Child. He was heavily involved in the British East India Company and basically where I live in once did. He owned the lot. he actually built Wonstead Manor which was they call it London's Lost Versailles because it was an enormous palace

it was bigger than Buckingham Palace Oh and that's where you live is it That's your That's it I live it I moved in I'd like to do an episode of this Because it is absolutely fascinating

But yeah This guy Sir Josiah Child He's still got his like monogram On like pillars around Wonstid Where I live Oh okay You can still see sketches Of what his home looked like

And it was insane, like the gardens, the landscaped, the scale of it. Like there's lakes he dug that are still knocking around today. And it was through reading about him that I realized how much money the British East India Company had. Like at the time, I think it was the wealthiest organisation in the world. And there's an argument I actually read that it might be the most wealthy business like ever to have been created. So, yeah, that was like 1600, the British East India Company was founded. And while Britain's Eastern Empire was run out of Calcutta, it had a Western counterpart too,

one that would shape the entire history of Canada. And that company was the Hudson's Bay Company, or HBC, was founded in 1670. It makes it the oldest surviving corporation in North America. And it began not with English merchants, but with two French explorers. Pierre Espirit Radisson and Medard de Grosiers. They wanted to trade in animal furs from the far north,

but the French authorities in Quebec refuse them a licence. So in a move that would define centuries of colonial rivalry, they switch sides sailing to England to ask for royal backing instead. That is a thing, isn't it? That really speaks to the time. Whereas now you do a Zoom call with someone to try and get royal backing or give them a phone call. They had to literally sail across the world,

which would have taken them six or seven months probably to get from Canada to UK to ask. And you're hoping you get a yes as well. Danger's crossing and no guarantee you'll get a yes. So, yeah. You could try and be charming, make a misstep, annoy the queen and you're not getting a yes. And it's like you've wasted the last seven months.

A lot of pressure on that opening gambit. I mean, the thing I always think about this time as well, losing seven months is a hell of a lot when your life expectancy is about 40. Yeah. Especially if you're running around like northern Canada with bears trying to grab pelts. Yes, good point, actually. It's like why kids go mad about their birthdays. Because everybody had like five or six.

And they only remember the last two. So no wonder they're like, yeah, it's quite a big day for me actually, my birthday. Yeah. Do you think when you hit 90 and it's clear you're closing in on the end, they get excited, like really exciting again. You get that sort of childlike glee back again. You go, well, I've only got a five left. I always think about, you know, when they do the Guinness Book of Records of the world's oldest man or woman, and they always show the picture of them on their last birthday.

and I've never seen anyone over the age of 100 who's in that Guinness Book of Records they're genuinely delighted to be having another birthday. I always think it must be like a sort of bowler edging towards a century in the cricket and they're like, oh my God, I'm actually going to do it. You know, like sort of, this isn't even my skill set.

I'm a bowler. I'm not a batter. Oh, God, I just need to not get out. Play it nice and safe and then I can get a century, raise my bats to the pavilion. My worry with buying a birthday gift as well for someone who's 101 is you get them something that they love so much that they suddenly are filled with regret that they didn't get into it earlier. Like a skateboard.

They love it and they go suddenly, oh, I've lived my life the wrong way. I love this. I've got at most six months to skateboard. I could have had 50 years of Rubik's cubing. Exactly. Why did you give me a Nintendo? Switch now. I love gaming. Now! I've just really got into Rainbow Road on Mario Carl.

Heartbreaking. They're over in England trying to get permission to explore northern Canada. King Charles II and his cousin, Prince Rupert, for whom much of the land would later be named, jumped at the chance to annoy the French and make some money doing it. So they provided ships, supplies and a royal charter granting the two men exclusive rights to trade in the Hudson Bay region. The first expedition in 1668 to 69 was a success and on the 2nd of May 1670, Charles II officially incorporated the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading in Hudson's Bay.

Their new domain was named Rupert's Land, a territory covering roughly 40% of modern Canada. Wow. Amazing. That's amazing. Have you seen the Revenant? I have, yes. This is what I imagine it to be like. You're just running around a really remote frozen desolate wasteland with trees and bears

trying to grab peltz with every imaginable danger ahead of you knowing that you haven't got access to the internet or a phone and if you get in trouble you need to sort yourself out and that will be the thing that would worry me most if all right I'm going to throw you back

into like 1617 the Revenant style northern Canada but I'll give you a phone with one app Yes. It's a really good question. Ringo the parking app. Well, I would say Uber, but there's no cars to pick me up. So that's pointless. Well, I don't know.

I could give you Uber, but I don't know. There's any roads. Yeah, that's my point. I'll give you Uber and a bloke. But even though I get Uber, so you're saying that there's one Prius somewhere in the Rockies. Trying to find it. Yeah, in Northern America. And if you request him, he'll turn up, but he's got to get

through the forest. That's not going to work. Well, I'd say there's a, what would it be? There's an obvious answer, which is just the only thing that would be functionally useful, which would be maps. Because you can't order Uber Eats because there's no delivery drivers and there's no takeaway companies. But at least maps shows you where the rivers are and stuff. Point there's updating your fantasy Premier League team. Yeah, exactly. That's good.

Yeah, that's what I'm going with maps. And just to just be clear, that is the right answer. Yeah, I think that's the right. That is the right answer. Yeah. From the start, Hudson's Bay Company operated as both a business and a government. This is the mad thing about these trading companies. Often they were fighting wars and stuff.

Yeah. So the Hudson's Bay Company built trading forts around the bay and declared a monopoly over all trade within its vast territory. The local Cree people became indispensable trading partners, providing the company with beaver pelts in exchange for European goods. Over time, HBC developed its own currency system, the made beaver, based on the value of one bear. full male beaver pelt. So if you can imagine a fur-based economy where pelts were swapped like coins, this was Rupert's land.

By 1718, the company had secured total control of the Hudson Bay region. So would you pay for your big shop with pelts? Have you got like a pocket full of pelts? How do you get given change? A smaller pelts, I guess. A little bit of pelt. A squirrel pelt.

There's a scene in the Revenant where the indigenous people like fight the Pelt traders, don't they? Right, the star of the film and take all the pelt's back. As a currency, it's not the kind of thing you can just stick in your pocket and run around, is it? Yeah, it doesn't fit in your wallet, does it? But on the plus size, you suppose you could wear them. You're wearing your currency until you need to spend it.

Yeah, and if you're really rich, you've got to dress like Joey from friends. Exactly. As fashion's changed in Europe and the beaver population declined, the fur trade lost its dominance. But by then, the Hudson's Bay Company had become a territorial power in its own right. And when Canada was formed in 1867, Rupert's land still technically belonged to HBC. Oh.

Two years later in 1869, the company sold it to the new Canadian government for 300,000 pounds, about 31 million pounds a day. That's a good price. Yeah, that's a good deal, isn't it? I spout what we paid for Andy Carroll. And that transaction helped create the provinces of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. It was one of the largest real estate transfers in here. history, a private company selling off nearly half a continent, half a continent for 31 million pounds. Yeah, that is a great deal. There are houses in London worth more than that.

For half a continent. Incredible. By the late 19th century, the fur trade was dying, and HBC reinvented itself as a retail business. It opened small sales shops across Western Canada, selling everything from food to fabric. And then in 1913, the company, the company took a leap into modern consumerism by opening its first true department store in Calgary, and it was modelled after Selfridges in London or Galleries Lafayette in Paris. From then on, the Hudson's Bay Company, or simply the Bay, became a familiar name on Canadian High Streets. And in 1920, it celebrated its 250th anniversary. Wow, that's amazing, isn't it?

With a full marketing blitz, films, records, a company magazine called The Beaver, and glossy ads celebrating itself as a national and national. But of course, behind the scenes, rival retailer Eaton had already overtaken HBC as Canada's biggest department store chain and even ranked among the top 10 retailers in the British Empire. Financially, the Hudson's Bay Company was never as massive as its East India Cousins. When it merged with a rival fur trade of the Northwest Company in 1821, its total value was about £10,000, which is roughly about £10 million today. So for comparison, the East India Company could raise 10 times that amount, 100 million pounds, in a single year.

Wow. Wow. Mad. Still, the Hudson's Bay Company's influence was vast, not in sheer wealth, but in shaping a continent. Its forts became towns, its trade routes became borders, and its ledger books became the earliest maps of Canada. But like all great trading companies of empire, the Hudson's Bay Company was built on colonial exploitations. Its official histories talk of partnerships with Indigenous peoples but the reality is that frankly most of the wealth flowed one way

to London shareholders who never set foot on the land that made them rich in its own company magazine the Beaver called this progress but for the Kree and other First Nations it meant a loss of land, autonomy and livelihoods and a legacy which Canada is still grappling with today and today the Hudson's Bay Company is still technically alive over 350 years old at this point making it one of the oldest corporations on earth, as I said at the beginning, and it began as a third trading outpost in the Arctic Wilderness. It ended up as a modern retail brand with branches in

shopping malls. It's a remarkable continuity and a reminder that the same corporate DNA that once ran empires still shapes our economies today. And after all, the Hudson's Bay Company was doing capitalism before capitalism even had a name. Wow. Fascinating. Good, isn't it? It is. It's astonishing. It's still going. In terms of the ethics, I think it's almost as if it's like unbridled and infinite wealth is often come from quite deeply problematic places. Yeah. Whatever, Tom.

I earned my billions by pulling my bootstraps up on working hard, actually. Maybe a company which is worth billions and billions where you go, oh yeah, they're just really good guys. They've always been really good guys. Ellis James Industries. Just out of interest, what does Alice James industries entail? What are the main things in the Ellis James industry? Is it still beaver pelts?

It's a beaver pelts in history podcasts. I make about a billion for the year. But the beaver pelts are all organic. Although they made a lot of money, the Hudson's Bay Company and companies like the British East India Company, I'm not interested in going back in time and earning anything from their, like, it's just too dangerous. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Running around the world. the ships, the beaver pelts, the revenant, it's not for me. It doesn't feel very chill, does it? No. Well, you could maybe, if you are sensing that a rival is trying to kill you and stab you what it happens to be, you could dress up and pretend to be a beaver if you've got one of the beaver pelts, that could be your get-out, wrap it around you, make a few little snuffly noises and hide by a bush.

But wait a second, that's a bad idea because they kill the beavers for the pelts. Ignore that. You're right, Chris. Let's not go back. I need to have to make a damn with your mouth. That's a very good point. Forget it. Forget the whole idea.

That's the end of part one of Mega Corps. If you want part two right now, you can become a Patreon subscriber. Go to oh watertime.com for all the links. And don't miss our first ever live show on Thursday, the 15th of January, at Underbelly Boulevard in London, Soho. If you want a ticket, you can go to ohwatertime.com. There's a link right there. And hopefully we'll see you then.

If not, we'll see you tomorrow for part two. Bye. Goodbye. Bye. Oh, what a time is now. Yeah. Patreon, you can get main feed episodes before everyone else, ad free, plus access to our full archive of bonus content, two bonus episodes every month, early access to live show tickets and access to the Oh What a Time group chat. Plus, if you become an Oh What a Time All-Timer, myself, Tom and Ellis, will riff on your name to postulate where else in history you might have popped up.

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