The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 194 - The Girl Watchers

Episode Date: July 28, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine The Girl Watchers Society and things gone wrong. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH...

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Starting point is 00:00:43 past but you can help rewrite their future. Donating will make sure animals are happy, healthy and ready to start their next chapter. Show us your heart so they can show you theirs forever. Visit your local global pet foods between February 10th through 26th to contribute. You'll get a free take-home treat with every donation. Eat, play, love. You're listening to the dollop. This is a bi-weekly American History podcast. Each week I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds. A man who has no idea what the topic's gonna be about.
Starting point is 00:01:31 You'll be okay. I love you. You're gonna be alright boy. I love you so much. You're gonna be okay. I love you so much. Come here. I love you so much.
Starting point is 00:01:42 Do you want to look who to do? One bottle. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave, okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not gonna become a tickly podcast. Okay.
Starting point is 00:01:53 You are queen-fakey of made-up town. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to Mingle. And do what? Pray. Hi, Gary. No. Is he done, my friend?
Starting point is 00:02:07 No. No. I love you so much. We already did that. Alright. This podcast is brought to you by our sponsors on Patreon. All of you subscribers out there, I want to thank each and every one of you. You guys are awesome. I want to kiss your sweet little, sweet little knees.
Starting point is 00:02:32 And uh... What? Thank you. Knee kisses. Don't kiss their knees. The pub? Doesn't the pub do that? Nope.
Starting point is 00:02:40 What is it? Well, I mean he does, but behind closed doors. Fair enough. Fair. We just lost all our Catholics. Yeah. Well, that's a shame. That was a huge get for us.
Starting point is 00:02:50 1954. Yeah. Hey, look, see if we were recording. Yeah, that would be great. I thought I might have forgot. That would be great. Don Sayers was an ad man working in Pittsburgh when his small ad agency was bought by a New York investor.
Starting point is 00:03:06 The copywriter and his family were moved with a few other employees to New York. At that point, he and his wife had two young girls. Okay. Working with a small group of close guys at the corner of 57th and 5th Avenue, they soon became aware that many very... They had an office, right? Yeah. Okay.
Starting point is 00:03:26 They weren't just on the street. Right. Like most ad men were then. Right. Soon they became aware that many very attractive women shopped in the neighborhood. Don himself had a great view of from his office and one day noticed a group of birdwatchers heading into Central Park. They had notepads and binoculars.
Starting point is 00:03:44 A friend was in Don's office with him and they both watched the birdwatchers as they made their way to the park. Then they grabbed a couple of fellow ad men and went to Rubens for lunch. As they did, they noticed, quote, two or three good looking girls. We didn't think of them as women in those carefree days, girls. One of the guys... So girls is like a negative term for women. I mean, it just means they're...
Starting point is 00:04:11 Well, back then they were saying, we didn't call them women, we call them girls. Yeah. Feelingless objects. To them, it's not negative. Right. But it is in the prison when you look through it. Oh, if you're an adult male? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:24 Yeah. I don't call a 25 year old a girl. She's a girl. One of the guys brought up the birdwatchers and said, quote, you know, those people have the... In the Audubon society, those people have the Audubon society, we should have our own society. Oh boy.
Starting point is 00:04:41 What? I mean... A couple of days later, the man got together again and noticed one of their crew was watching women a little too aggressively. What? Yeah. I mean, that's a quote. I couldn't forget...
Starting point is 00:04:54 Don said that and I couldn't forget what he meant. But let's just leave it at that because I'm sure super uncomfortable for everybody. Yeah. There had to be a little crotch touch. A drooly weird man. Woman. Nope. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:05:06 Girl. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's a... She's two feet away. Two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away.
Starting point is 00:05:17 She's two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away. She's two feet away. I mean, that's a little more than aggressive. Pure insanity.
Starting point is 00:05:28 It was suggested that they should have a set of rules just like the birdwatchers did. By hopefully they keep the rule where you don't have sex with the thing you're looking at. Don, being an Ad-Man, immediately thought it would be great to have a parody of birdwatching books, but it would be about women or girls, as he called them. He wants to make, okay. He finished a first draft in less than two weeks on company time. Using his connections, he found an artist who lived in Carmel, California, and the drawings
Starting point is 00:06:00 were done. They have been described as vava-vom illustrations. Soon the book was set to Harper's, and the next day Harper's responded that they'd like to publish the book. This is a good story. And the book is just drawings of women they've spotted? It's a girl watcher's book, like a birdwatcher's book. In the sense that it's like a peeping Tom book?
Starting point is 00:06:30 It's how to look at girls, just like how to look at birds. How to look at girls without them knowing with binoculars and shit. Well, I don't know if you look at them with binoculars, but respectfully looking at a girl. How to gawk at women in public. That's what it is. Okay. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:06:45 You're welcome. But they say it's just like how to watch women or girls. At that point, Don decided he wanted to take things past the book and create a girl-watching society. This is very, very rapey. He figured it would help sell the book. They'd have membership card and no one's going to get raped. Even me?
Starting point is 00:07:13 In the story. Yeah. Damn it. They'd have membership cards and wear lapel pins. And it worked. Pervos. And it got a lot of publicity, which helped sell the books. How were the girls feeling about this?
Starting point is 00:07:28 It doesn't matter. Right. Of course. That's part of the charm beauty of this story, right? From the novelty book based on the model of birding manuals, quote, although we believe that girl-watching has it all over birdwatching, we feel that these two hobbies do show you share one important feature. They're both genteel.
Starting point is 00:07:49 They both respect the rights of the watched. A girl-watcher never leers, nor does he utter any sound which might betray his joy. Here's the difference. Go ahead. Those bird-watchers don't want to have sex with the birds. Well, that's a very blanket statement, isn't it? Except for Audubon Andy. Imagine, oh, to just have my face between those red breasts.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Oh, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep. Oh, come on. Oh, canary me. That would be a big difference in that a bird-watcher is just enjoying the beauty of an animal in nature while a girl-watcher wants to fuck her. Yes, different. Huge difference. Huge difference.
Starting point is 00:08:37 Big difference. Big difference. Audubon recommended girl-watching centers in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 59th Streets and 58th Street between Madison and 6th Avenue. These locations were based on the quality of shopping in the area. Had they ever heard of the Try to Talk to Them Club? Also a fun organization that's out there. Audubon said it was, quote, never in good taste to look down after watching a beautiful girl's
Starting point is 00:09:09 face. Wait. What? Oh, is he saying? Don't look at the tip. Right. Okay. Press.
Starting point is 00:09:18 Right. Or jugs. Whatever. Maybe we don't need you to help right now? You know what I mean? Fun bag. Excuse me? Stop.
Starting point is 00:09:26 Totally stop. Hit pause. Hit pause. Pause this. And we're back. After a nice little sidebar. Yeah. So he's saying, don't look at the breasts.
Starting point is 00:09:36 Right. Just like the fact that you have to put that in a book is terrifying. Sure. Sure. That's shocking. Instead, after looking at a girl with a beautiful face, you were supposed to look at your penis. You were supposed to look down at her shoes. Okay.
Starting point is 00:09:50 And then I assume you're supposed to do this. Also, if you're looking from the face down to the shoes, what's in between? What's in between? What's in between? Fair point. Breasts and genitals. Seems like it might be a little bit difficult. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:05 Slowly make your way down to the shoes. Go sideways at the neck. Come back at the navel. Close your eyes. Look down and then open them at the feet. The quote, slowly taking about three seconds, raise your eyes, remembering always not to move the head. Sorry.
Starting point is 00:10:24 That whole move seems really fucked up. You just did a gesture that really makes it very clear. But so you essentially... You look at her head. This is me. I'm looking at you. You look at my head. You drop down to my feet.
Starting point is 00:10:35 Your head's lower. And now with the lowered head, your eyes raise back up to my face. Like a creepy fucking weird. Like as weird as it could be. The girl will then scream. Yeah. All of this fantastic advice made Don sort of a consultant. So he's like, for what?
Starting point is 00:10:58 People came to him like the Italian film export company when they needed help promoting a movie. Paul Maul Cigarettes then approached Don about using his book as a guide for a new ad campaign. Fortunately, he was an ad band. So this all worked out. One ad was called the quote, white coated lab loon. It showed a big breasted woman walking by in an office holding a clipboard and in a white lab coat.
Starting point is 00:11:28 Behind her, a man at a drinking fountain is so distracted that he's squirting himself in the face with water. Oh, so this is... So this... Text. This is when we decided to objectify women. Text. Don't let this girl's costume fool you.
Starting point is 00:11:51 She's not really a mad scientist. She's a girl. A real live girl. It's just that she has... It's just that she has to prove something to herself and to her family. What is happening? She has to prove that she has a brain and that if she ever has to compete with men on their own terms, she can do it and win.
Starting point is 00:12:13 But she really doesn't want to compete with men. In her heart, she wants to attract men, eventually marry one. The girl watchers should not let this situation disturb him, however. If the girl is watchable, she should be watched, no matter what her motives or ambitions may be. The same thing is true of a cigarette. What? It is smokable.
Starting point is 00:12:34 It should be smoked and Paul Mall is the most smokable of all. What? How? I mean, how do you not get that caught in your head? Holy fuck. What is that? How long was the ad? Was it a scroll?
Starting point is 00:12:48 You read that. That was a printed ad. You fucking read all that. Back then you read... Back then ads had a lot of reading. There was a lot of reading. But that... That could just be a catchy jingle.
Starting point is 00:13:00 Wow. The ads also pushed... The way he just popped out. Look at this. Yeah! Nice jump. Fucking beauty. Right from the windowsill onto the chair.
Starting point is 00:13:12 My boys losing some weight. Crazy motherfucker. The ads also pushed people to join the Society of Girl Watchers, which was described as... Oh, I guess I've dropped it. Okay, Life Magazine caught on and described girl watching as man's favorite sport. So weird. Life Magazine. Life Magazine.
Starting point is 00:13:34 In 1962, Life published a four page... Life has really said a lot of messed up stuff. Life published a four page picture story about girl watching. Life discovered that no one had ever used those two words together. It's so interesting. It's such a great description of man in general. It is important to watch women. Hey, quick question.
Starting point is 00:13:56 How can we can't just masturbate on the street while we look at girls? Well, I think you can. Don said soon the phrase was being used in good humor as it had been intended. At that time, no quote, feminist police demanded it be discouraged. That's him saying that? Yeah. This is before they got on those high horses. It's just a fun joke thing.
Starting point is 00:14:25 Also, I have a joke book about black people. The only time a woman should get on a high horse is if we're going to watch her breast jiggle. Thank you. All right. The Girl Watching Society grew more than Don thought it would, and it continued for a while. In San Diego in 1962, the AP wrote about the local chapter of the Girl Watchers Society. By this time, it was called the International Society of Girl Watchers. 140 men had gathered to compare notes on, quote, the science of the casual glance.
Starting point is 00:14:58 What are you talking about? Scientists, and they're a science. Here's how to look at a woman. Is the idea that this look like it makes the woman want you? I think, yeah, that's all part of it. I think that it makes them want you. And I also think it's a way to do it without, they think it's a way to do it without freaking them out or being gross. You're being so public.
Starting point is 00:15:22 They'll have access to these publications if they want them. Oh, come on. They don't read. They've got a secret society. I mean, they'll just be like, oh. Well, no, I think that. Here's an idea. Ask them what they think.
Starting point is 00:15:35 What? What do they want? What do you mean? Oh, god damn it. They also discussed the possibility of a woman's auxiliary for the society. Do tell? But they didn't go any more of that because what happened was the science and discussion of broadening their global organization went out the window because they really just wanted to talk about looking at hot ladies. Right.
Starting point is 00:15:59 Yeah. Okay. So the second that they, like the second that they're, they're trying to add any sort of value to the conversation, like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Right out the door. No, no, no. Nope. Joe Began, 53, was the president of the society. He was a public relations man, bald and the father of six kids.
Starting point is 00:16:15 I can't wait to hear what his thoughts are. A good watcher is one who is sly enough not to let the girl know she's being watched. You know what I mean? You know, we thought about calling ourselves the creep society. Yeah. The key is to not let your wife know by talking about it publicly. They actually asked, I didn't put it in here, but they did ask his wife. And she was like, she was like, I haven't seen him do it yet.
Starting point is 00:16:41 He's gotten away with everyone so far. Joe went on to discuss their techniques. Quote, a seeker is a watcher who is sneaky about it. He stands on the street and hides behind a newspaper. Then he makes a sighting and he peeks around the edge of the paper. How about this? What about anyone else who's watching you? What kind of vibe are you putting out there?
Starting point is 00:17:07 No moaning also. There was also what was known as the neck twister. That's where you'd snap her neck and fondle her. He puts a finger in his collar as if he's scratching his neck. As the girl walked past, he twists his neck to watch her. What year were sunglasses invented? I'm going to Google that right now. Also there is the shoelacer.
Starting point is 00:17:40 He puts his foot up on a window ledge to tie a shoelace. He takes a downer view, which is the preferred- Imagine seeing this. Imagine actually seeing this in mo- First of all, your playbook is out there. Your playbook is out on the streets. If you're tying your tied shoe, people right away know. It almost feels like you're taping a sitcom intro about guys who watch women.
Starting point is 00:18:05 Does it remind you of the stupid looking version of the yawn arm over the shoulder? Yeah, the whole thing is like, be super slick with a move everyone knows about. And there was the move known as looking through the empty cocktail glass at the bar. This is 64, 62. 1929. Okay, so the Adam. So weird the year the stock market crashed too. I mean, I don't know why, that's amazing.
Starting point is 00:18:33 But, but- Yeah, they could've just used sunglasses. But they have a whole thing. Clearly they've got an angle. There was also the move known as looking through the empty cocktail glass at the bar. Quote, he pretends to be looking at the olive on a drink, but he's really looking at the girl down the bar. BAM! This is called knowledge.
Starting point is 00:18:52 This is shocking. This is called knowledge. You're being given knowledge. This is shocking. Now, once the girl's been watched for enough time, which apparently a good one could do in about 10 seconds, in that 10 seconds span- Imagine being a woman in a bar, you'd be like, I got to get out of here right now. You're looking at me over at the bar.
Starting point is 00:19:11 My shoelace is untied. Excuse me while I read the paper. I'm just going to finish this martini. She's like, ugh. During that 10 seconds span, you should be able to judge whether her clothes fit her figure well, whether her hair is in style, if she is confident and other good stuff. The watcher would then give her a rating and hand her a card, which rates her as excellent, good, fair, striking, charming, lovely, etc.
Starting point is 00:19:43 I'm going to get out of here. Hey, here's for you. It says good. Thanks. Yep. Thank you. You are welcome. Did you tie your shoelace?
Starting point is 00:19:57 You don't give me that back. I'm going to write fair. Fair enough. Fair. I don't want it. If it's not excellent, and even then, I don't want it, but I don't want it. Can I add that back? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:07 I am writing butthole. Okay. Butthole. All right. All right. Goodbye. Would you like to go out? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:15 You didn't even know. I was looking at you. I did. Yeah. You didn't know? We all know. I'm like an eye magician. Okay.
Starting point is 00:20:23 Okay. I don't want to go out anymore. You know what David Copperfield is? He's like, if I was, if my eyes were a man. You mean David Copperfield from the Dickens novel? Who gives a shit? The guy does the magic. I don't know of him yet.
Starting point is 00:20:38 You're a god, a woman. What are you? Welcome back to Time Traveling Pervert. I don't know any magic, Jim. I'm going to get you out of that dress like Houdini. Who? You'll see. Time Traveling Pervert.
Starting point is 00:20:57 Okay. So give her a card. That's insane. Biggin said the girls would usually take it as a subtle compliment. What? He's lying to everyone. No, because he can't read women at all. That's why he's staring from across the room and hands him a fucking card.
Starting point is 00:21:13 Well, he's probably looking at her feet once he hands it to her. He's married. What is happening? And his wife knows he's the president of the organization. He gave me a fare card last night, actually. As of 1962, the group would meet four times a year in San Diego. There were about 500 men in the Girl Watchers Society worldwide, most joined by male. Don was the man to go to.
Starting point is 00:21:35 In the late 60s, he appeared on The Tonight Show and to tell the truth. In 1967, he was invited to Montreal to help celebrate Girl Watching Week. Pepsi approached. Girls stuck around for that week. He approached Don to help promote Diet Pepsi as the drink for, quote, girls that Girl Watchers watch. Girls that girls. This this this really is that this is the beginning of the objectification of women through advertising.
Starting point is 00:22:06 That's what the story is. But as we know, the late 60s were a time of serious social upheaval in America. Many groups were growing tired of their. We want to make Girl Watching the Get Out of Vietnam movement. Many groups are growing tired of their treatment by our white male dominated society. One of those groups was obviously women. In 1968, feminists targeted the Miss America pageant for protest. They staged a theatrical demonstration outside the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Starting point is 00:22:38 This was one of the first media events to be that showed the nations that the women's liberation movement was happening. OK. The feminists demanded an end to Miss America, calling it, quote, a degrading, mindless, boob, girl symbol. They attacked the ludicrous beauty standards they had been conditioned to accept. The winner of Miss America contest would be sent to be ogled by soldiers in Vietnam after winning. They held signs like cattle auction and no more beauty standards.
Starting point is 00:23:11 The nearly foreign women had what they called a freedom trash can. It was a trash can where they would throw stuff in like dish detergent, false eyelashes, wigs, copies of girly magazines, high heels, et cetera. They also threw their bras in. Was there a coalition of men who found a way to gawk at the trash cans? They wanted to set it on fire, but they were not able to get a fire permit so they did not burn their bras. That did not stop the rumor that they had burned their bras.
Starting point is 00:23:41 And reporters started calling them baw burners. Bra burners. Bra burners. Right. At the same time, across the street, a crowd of about 600 men gathered to show their disproval. Don't look at them. They'll know. Everybody hold up their martini glass.
Starting point is 00:24:00 The best way to protest is to put the sign above your head for a minute, slowly drop it down, and then lift it up slightly. They told the women they should throw themselves in the freedom trash can. The women's movement had really kicked off at the Miss America beauty pageant. Every newspaper in the country reported on it, and the movement was taken more seriously. But the men's staring movement was far from over. All one had to do was look at Francine Gottfried of Williamsburg during that same month, September 1968. So this is almost right when the giant protest is happening.
Starting point is 00:24:34 Francine was one of six children of a retired postal worker. She had been born and raised in Williamsburg. She had a rather sheltered life, going to Hebrew school, taking piano lessons, and dating the local neighborhood boys. Like a lot of Brooklyn life back then had all revolved around the neighborhood. When she was 16, Francis began to develop rather large breasts. Oh boy. At that age, she said, quote, The teachers in Eastern District High School, which I attended, started to look at me,
Starting point is 00:25:05 and so did the construction workers in the area. Boy, construction workers were always on board. They never stopped. They were like the anti-movement of the guys who glance. You gotta wonder how many girls are just fucking ogled by their teachers. Oh yeah. You can turn that in. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:23 Terrible. So quote, she says, After I saw this happening, I just ignore it because otherwise I would smile and it could lead them on. Her fellow high school boys wouldn't look her in the eyes, always staring at her breasts. All right. I mean, they're trying to figure it out. Yeah. I mean, they have perpetual hard-ons.
Starting point is 00:25:45 They don't know what's happening. If there's anybody we can forgive looking at breasts at a 16-year-old. Just about to say that. Yes. We try not to tell them to do it, but it's... Well, I mean, it's the difference between, like, you know, this is the first time they've ever seen something. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:04 You know, I mean, you look at it for a second and it's new and interesting, and plus, like you're saying... They have permanent hard-ons. Yes. Your balls are machines. At her brother's wedding, a woman guest said loudly, quote, when she walked down the aisle, nobody looked at the bride, her measurements were 43, 25, 37. 40...
Starting point is 00:26:28 Wait. I'm not even sure what that means. Okay. 43 is enormous. Oh, wait. That's 40. That's right. That's the breast size.
Starting point is 00:26:37 Yeah. That is big. And after she graduated from high school, she went through a few jobs, cashiered a local store, clerical worker at the post office, where her breasts were constantly stared at. Boy, she just can't get away from weird mail. I don't know where she's going to do it. Yeah. Hope she does it soon.
Starting point is 00:26:54 I'm a mail lady. I'm a mail. Oh, my God. I'm a mail. Mail this. I'm a mail. I'm a mail. Oh, mail lady.
Starting point is 00:27:02 Where'd she go? For you. She's handling all the packages. The mail lady is handling packages. Oh, boy. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Four years after high school in May 1968, she got a job working at Chemical Bank, New York
Starting point is 00:27:20 Trust Company's downtown data processing center. She was just 21. She was making $85 per week operating an IBM 1260 machine. Francine was five feet, four inches tall. That with your classic large hair of the day. Sure. New York magazine would later say, quote, she usually wears tight sweaters. Wait.
Starting point is 00:27:47 The magazine said that about her? But how's she not going to wear tight sweaters? That's right. She's got huge breasts. Wet sweaters. She's fine. I'm hiding my breasts by wearing a bag. Jesus Christ.
Starting point is 00:28:02 So each day, Francine had the same routine that she started on May 27th. She would catch the subway in Brooklyn, which she would ride for 40 minutes to Broad Street Station at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets. Then she would quickly walk several blocks to the Chemical Bank. The first day she walked, a few men noticed Francine's body. And the next day, a few more. As each day went by, there were more and more dudes waiting for Francine to come out. Waiting for her?
Starting point is 00:28:29 Waiting for Francine to come out of the subway so they could watch her walk to work. It's just so creepy. The subway station was right outside of the New York Stock Exchange, and she would come every day at the same time, which seemed to be a deadly combination. My stock's rising. You're choke laughing. You almost killed me. Stockbroker?
Starting point is 00:28:59 Told Stockbroker. Clerk told Clerk. Shithead told Shithead to be out there by 1.15 to get a look at the girl in the tight sweater. This is Diet Coke Break, but in reality. Remember when they had to take Diet Coke Breaks for the hot construction worker? 10.30, Diet Coke Break. Was that really a commercial?
Starting point is 00:29:17 Yeah, and they would watch the girls or the girls would watch the guy. But the novelty of that being girls watching a construct, ogling a man. That was why that was. I get it. The actor's name was Lucky Something. Every day, groups of men gathered around the exchange and the nearby statue of George Washington. Who would have been proud? I would have loved this.
Starting point is 00:29:39 George Washington always said, look at them as long as you can. Look at them until they cry. Washington. And with each passing week, these groups of men got larger and larger and larger. By the end of the summer, on September 21st, the crowd was being described as boisterous. When she came out of the subway, she was met by applause and cheers. I mean, you just don't want to be a man. Well, you just think like for her, you're just like, I mean, yeah, like, what do you do?
Starting point is 00:30:13 She's like, she's a woman, but she's also a fucking kid. Like they don't know what the fuck. And I mean, there's like, so there's just no real rights. But like, what do you do? I mean, you have to start being like, I'm going to get like grabbed at one point. There's a 21 year old girl coming out, always met her fucking screaming at you. It's crazy. And they're like, she probably likes what we're doing.
Starting point is 00:30:31 And she also probably thought, well, this is just happening to all women when they walk out. Right. This is probably just what happens down here. She probably like brought it up over a coffee break. They were probably like, you know what I hate? I hate how long the subway takes to get here. She's like, oh, I hate it too. It's the worst.
Starting point is 00:30:46 And I hate like how all the, you know, the thousands of guys and construction workers go out there and applaud and whistle whenever you walk by. What? I just, I hate how long it takes to get here too. But I almost feel like the two block walk, you know, when the guys follow you and drool and applaud and shout things like that to me is kind of the oddest part of the walk. But I think the train takes long too. So both parts are weird, but commuting is weird. So men started throwing ticker tape out of office windows as she walked down the street on her same daily route. Now she was walking through a phalanx of men to get to her job.
Starting point is 00:31:30 No one knew her name. No one bothered to ask. They just knew her body and that's all they were interested in. Men, the greatest. On the week of the 21st on Wednesday, the crowd had swelled to 2,000 men. When I said thousands of a joke two minutes ago, what I thought I was doing was using hyperbole to heighten the comedy. Turns out men are that bad. And now there's 2,000 men watching one girl walk to work.
Starting point is 00:32:08 21 year old girl. As they call her. Look at that girl. So they're cheering and yelling at this 21 year old woman because she has large breasts. Right. All makes sense. Oh. And Wednesday was the day the exchange was closed.
Starting point is 00:32:28 So 2,000 men had shown up. Wait, without that needing to be there? When the exchange was shut down. I thought it was closed today, honey. It is. I'm guessing that a lot of these guys knew about her and they couldn't get out of work. And this was a day that they could. So they all fucking went down on the day off.
Starting point is 00:32:50 So it's the guys who weren't working down there showing up being like, I want to get on high on this 21 year old. That's why I'm betting there were so many men that day. Cool stuff. The next day, Thursday, when she came out of the subway, there were 5,000 men. Oh, okay. I really, to me, I thought this was going to be a little footnote in this story. I am shocked at what's happening. 5,000?
Starting point is 00:33:18 5,000 men. There's so many more girls in the... This would be appropriate if there was one woman left on earth. And you had never seen one. Yeah. Welcome to Club Smurfette, lady. You had never seen a woman before. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:36 This is totally acceptable. This would be what it would be like to be a human transported to an alien planet and then just be like, walk around for a day. Totally. And you just be walking around and they're like, yeah, hello. The men packed the streets from the four corners of Broad and Wall Street intersection into the street itself. Traffic was stalled. Women climbed on light poles to get a look and heads popped out of windows. The Buttonwood tree that marked the original site of the New York Stock Exchange was so full of men that the tree was bent over.
Starting point is 00:34:11 Grey-haired executives at the House of Morgan peered out of their windows. Francine came out of the subway in a, quote, tight yellow sweater and tight red skirt on. So she was asking for it. What I'm talking about. Come on. What is she doing walking around like a woman with stuff on? You can't dress up like a titted fruit salad and expect us not to stare. That's it.
Starting point is 00:34:38 That's it. You look like a lady boo banana. Okay. And I'm hungry for bananas. So. I mean, men are just awful. Well, awful. Awful.
Starting point is 00:34:54 No matter what it is, it always seems like it comes down to us finding a way to exploit people and make them feel bad. Feel really bad. It was total madness for the next half hour. The crowd of letches surged forward to surround her. Men shoved men. People were pushed against walls and windows. Some were almost trampled. Men climbed on top of four cars, which caused the roofs to buckle in.
Starting point is 00:35:23 The police? I mean, this is like Independence Day. Independence Day for women. Yeah, I mean, that's crazy. Could you imagine being her? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I mean, she's living the life of powder.
Starting point is 00:35:47 This is like science fiction. It's insane. The police had learned of the ongoing situation and two plainclothes officers were there to help her get safely to her job. They hustled her away from the crazy mob into a nearby building, then out the back door and down a few streets for a grand entrance to her office where men were still waiting. They got into her. So they got her out the back door, took her down like a side alley. And there were still men who were like, hey! And then the front of her building was like, hey, hey, hey, what's up girl in the sweater?
Starting point is 00:36:20 I knew you'd take the wrong way. Hey, you know me. I like tints. That's my thing. It's also, hey, is that your thing? Just 500 men go, excuse us. Our shoelace is untied. Except for one guy holding an olive glass.
Starting point is 00:36:39 And I'll finish my martini. So they get her into her building. But Francine was late. Her boss was very angry. I didn't do anything she repeatedly told him. Your tits did. Then the phone started ringing. It took just four minutes after she sat down.
Starting point is 00:36:57 Can you put your tits on the phone? Hey, I want to talk to your boobs. Why are you talking? I called breasts. The offers were rolling in, screen tests, modeling jobs, television appearances. Overnight she became a household name in the New York area. And she still had to go to work the next day. On Friday, word was out.
Starting point is 00:37:19 Two New York newspapers wrote about the tight sweater-wearing girl. They used her name, her picture, where she worked. No. And the route she walked. Oh my God. All right there in print. That helps. Thanks for helping.
Starting point is 00:37:36 I think there are a lot of women working in the news media back then. Seems like it. At 1.15, everyone was waiting. The cops were there, both plain clothes and uniformed with bullhorns. Yeah, and tight clothes. The media, reporters and cameramen were there. We're here live. Francine is about to walk to work.
Starting point is 00:37:58 We don't know how it's going to go today. We don't know what sweater she will be wearing, but we know it's going to be tight. I'm going to have to cut you off there, Brandon. We actually have word that Francine is running five minutes late. Really, it reminds me, the other day I was watching what I'll call the news. And they had the breaking news thing up. And it was for Trump's helicopter landing. And they were waiting for it to land.
Starting point is 00:38:23 And it was like, you knew it was land. It's not breaking news. The things you'll send reporters to. It's a helicopter on a scheduled landing. And they're just there to probably be like, why are men being such devils? And it's like, all you're doing is advertising. Right. Here's why Trump's the worst.
Starting point is 00:38:40 Although I don't know. I bet you, I bet you the number of men in power, like the newspaper guys and stuff, that thought this was a bad thing was just minute. Oh yeah. I'm sure. So Francine is now big news, not just in New York. This was now a nationwide story. The number of men now waiting for Francine to come out of the subway
Starting point is 00:39:04 was estimated to be 10,000. This is, this is bananas. There are 10,000 men waiting for one girl to come out of the subway. 21 year old. There's something about it. There's something about her being 21. Yeah. Because I think, I think, you know, I think if you're an older woman,
Starting point is 00:39:30 you might have the confidence and understanding to maybe take another route or just do something different. I think she is so young and so sheltered, as she said, that this is such a fucking insane thing that she doesn't quite know how to handle it. And it's also, what it also does, I think, by her being 21 is, and I don't think this is even a right way to think, but it's super creepy because there's probably a lot of older guys there. A lot of older guys.
Starting point is 00:39:58 So like, at least if she was like, closer to their age, there still is something that irks me especially. We're good people. We're good people. Okay. So there's 10,000 people. The streets are completely choked. But Francine did not come out of the subway that day.
Starting point is 00:40:17 I wonder why. Her boss told her to stay home. And there the phone started ringing. She got over 250 phone calls that day. Are you going to be coming out of the subway soon, Francine? Hello? I devoted my life. I bought a tent, and I sold my house,
Starting point is 00:40:37 and I'm living right outside of the subway station. And I sleep almost all night and in the morning. And then the one thing I want to do is see you when you come out at 1.30. And if you are not there, I don't know if I'm a man anymore. Then one guy calls it. He's like, anyway, call me back. One guy calls it. He's like, excuse me, my shoelace is untied.
Starting point is 00:40:58 Oh, wait. Shit. Shit. I counted them, media from all over the world, talent agents, movie studios, advertising agencies, radio and TV talk shows, and many others. Francine was, I think as most 21-year-olds would be, excited by the intention, but she was incredulous.
Starting point is 00:41:17 What are they doing this for? I think they're all mental cases. I'm just an ordinary girl. There are thousands of girls on Wall Street, and they act as though I'm the only one. I can't believe it. And then she pauses and says, about two years ago, my doctor said that I would not grow in height anymore,
Starting point is 00:41:34 but my bustline was still growing. And now I have all these crowds around me. These people in Wall Street have the responsibility of handling millions of dollars, and they act like they're all out of their minds. Fair. Fair. 21-year-old woman there making points that make sense.
Starting point is 00:41:53 Yep. But that was the end of Francine and the street madness. She started taking different routes to work. Nothing ever came of all the offers. No one knows what happened to her. Oh, wow. Though Wikipedia cites a rumor that she became a stripper, I'd give 100% that that's a male fantasy hope, right?
Starting point is 00:42:19 Yeah. As that's all they were thinking of her as. The rumor started because what else could they think? Right. They couldn't think, what man in that group would think she went on to become a scientist? Or that she wanted to hide from this. Right.
Starting point is 00:42:35 Right. It wasn't over though. Jesus. Around the country, morning radio DJs had heard about the big breasted 20-year-old girl from New York, and they wanted to prove they had women with better breasts. A Cleveland Morning Zoo moron sent two women, 21-year-old Sheila Moore and 25-year-old Suzanne Zulkowski.
Starting point is 00:42:55 They took the same walk with hordes of men waiting as they came out of the subway at 1.30 p.m. One man was quoted by a newspaper. This is better than the World Series. Oh, God, sir. Hollywood had to get in on the act. A morning man from KGIL, whose listeners called him sweet dick, was up to the task.
Starting point is 00:43:14 Terrible. He found Jerry Stotz of Burbank. She was a married mother of a 21-year-old and had huge breasts. Jerry was 36. Her husband told her, quote, as long as you're having a good time, it's your day. On October 11th, Jerry made the walk down Wall Street in what was now being called, quote, the sweater girl Derby.
Starting point is 00:43:38 Her measurements were similar to Francine's, though her motives were different. This was less than a month after women protested outside of the Miss America pageant. In 1970, feminists would organize a Wall Street Ogle Inn. Tons of women poured into Wall Street and cat-called men walking to work.
Starting point is 00:43:57 What a nice tie. Those pants just bring out your best. You're old, but I like you. I mean, the problem is inherited, which is that men will be like, can I see your breasts? That's all I was thinking of. Don Sayers would later write that the... What you really should do is just shout how little
Starting point is 00:44:19 their dicks are as they walk by. That's exactly what you should do. Don would later write that the Miss America protest of 1968 was the beginning of the death of girl watching, quote, then came the 70s and 80s and the landslide victories of indignant feminists. The loss of the lovely word girl was a parallel casualty of the house cleaning.
Starting point is 00:44:43 Now they wanted to be called women. Those fucking monsters. Unreal, dude. Those fucking monsters. Unreal. But he did say that he had five sisters and four daughters and considered himself a feminist. Oh, well, yeah, clearly.
Starting point is 00:44:57 At least his testicles are. Quote. Particularly in the Department of Women's Sports, I believe the expansion and acceptance of opportunities for girls, there I said it again, and sports has been the most laudable achievement in the feminist movement. Oh.
Starting point is 00:45:14 So... So he gets it. He gets it, which is nice. It's nice to wrap it up knowing that he gets it. He does get it. He clearly learned his lessons. He learned what this was all about. And women can play sports.
Starting point is 00:45:30 Yeah. So important things have happened. Hey, he learned. He did learn. I'm also inventing the sports bra. But he said, I'll always miss saying girls. Oh, he's the real victim. He lamented the days when his crew of girl walkers
Starting point is 00:45:46 would walk down Fifth Avenue, observing their strict rules of behavior that showed nothing but respect for the girls. He's a good guy. Just so you know, we are awful. And here's the problem. The problem is that for the most part, we've only gotten conditioned to rules.
Starting point is 00:46:12 And it still sort of seeps out and rears its ugly head in many other ways. Well, online. Racism. Sexism. Yeah. Access pool. The new Wall Street of 10,000 Guys.
Starting point is 00:46:25 What's the fucking difference? Totally. That's all it is now. Totally. Those guys are able to now be what they want to be, and they can do it anonymously. So they get to fucking... Which I guess is what is so interesting about that story
Starting point is 00:46:39 is that they're not anonymous. Right. But it was socially acceptable. Exactly. But to imagine a time when you weren't looked at as a leering creep. Right. There were books about how to look at girls.
Starting point is 00:46:53 Like that shit's all related. If you have a girl watching society, it is related to 10,000 men showing up to look at a girl. And how far was she from having her shirt ripped off? Oh, fuck. I mean, that... You know, that... Yeah, seriously.
Starting point is 00:47:07 I mean, you could see that just... It just takes one lunatic to make a whole thing sort of spiral. Yep. I mean, that's almost a testament to that dumb movement. Like, at least the guys were able to, like, keep it at ogling. Which movement? Oh, the bird watching?
Starting point is 00:47:26 Yeah. I mean, that's shocking. That's like a mind twit. I mean, that... Well, it got so much worse than that, right? Yeah, that's what I mean. It gets so much more... It's hard to imagine in a day like today
Starting point is 00:47:39 that you could get 10,000 men focused on one girl and something not go horribly wrong. And here's the big point. There was not one story I found anywhere, including months later, whatever story I read and whatever newspaper I read it in, there was not one that did not mention that she wore tight sweaters, which is totally blame her for walking at it.
Starting point is 00:48:07 That's it. She wants to be looked at. But again, like we were saying earlier, I mean, like... Why does she do? How? She has no choice. You have no choice. It also doesn't matter if she wore a tight...
Starting point is 00:48:17 You don't get to fucking... I mean, this is an extreme example of you don't get to stare at women if they're wearing hot outfits because you want to. Yeah. You can fucking glance at them and go, okay, they're pretty, but you can't sit there and fucking stare at them like a monster. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:33 But this is just the extreme example of that. Yeah. You don't get to fucking stare. Which is true. I think there is... Automatically, I think... Everyone likes to be looked at. Stand up is based on the idea that guys like to look at girls.
Starting point is 00:48:49 That is a thing that you just can't stop because that's almost instinct. What you can stop is how... With that in mind, how bad does it make another person feel? You can limit that and you can figure out rules for that. Yeah. But when you go back to the idea that like... I mean, again, it's just...
Starting point is 00:49:10 What it really is, again, is it's just like white dudes, for the most part, figuring out ways to objectify people. It is mostly white. If you look at the pictures, it's mostly white dudes. Well, because I don't even... At that time, there's no way that a black guy would feel comfortable going there. I mean, I'm sure that they did, but you still... It's a white... It was a white man's world, you know.
Starting point is 00:49:34 And everyone else is just living in it. I think that's changed. Yeah. I think we've gotten far away from that. Yeah. Did I get a picture? I like when I get a picture. Look, and here's something I'll say about her.
Starting point is 00:49:49 She's not gorgeous, right? She's like a cute... She's like a cute, short sort of woman. She just has... Like, literally, she just has like an hourglass figure. Like, that's sort of... That's the sort of thing to it. But so I think that when all of those reporters and everyone else,
Starting point is 00:50:11 I think they're expecting like this gorgeous woman because of the... Those are all the dudes. They're packed around the subway. And they're like... Some look like regular... I mean, this is just so weird. That's just that they all look like regular dudes. And this is 1968. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:30 You don't know the monsters. I bet someone's dad... One of your listeners, one of your dads was there, wasn't he? Oh, and someday a dad in the sun ran into each other there. One of your dads. Okay, you're definitely creeping up. Here's the cops escorting her. That really is so weird because you're...
Starting point is 00:50:52 And it's not like... Yeah, she's attractive. But it's so weird. It's the point of doing it. It's so weird. It's not the target, right? It's the point of doing it. I guess. It's the power of it.
Starting point is 00:51:07 A bunch of dudes fucking hooting and hollering and making it feel like she's owned. Anyway, we signed... We signed bra's. I was so... So hoping you wouldn't say breasts. Yeah. I'm so glad you didn't. No.
Starting point is 00:51:26 I'm fun, baby. Because this whole thing would have been a shit show. The whole thing would have been wiped out immediately. But when you started saying bra, I was like, fucking... No! The whole everything we've just done, this whole thing would have been wiped out. No, I'm leaving with the pun. Alright, we signed cars.
Starting point is 00:51:42 And bra's.

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