Meet Sapphire-our Jay Day and the Day Home Team Pet Of The Week
Wake Up Crew Highlights: May 23, 2022
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Is The White House White?
The most famous house in the country, the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in DC, is know for pristine white color (or lack thereof). Why is the White House white?
Our 1st President, George Washington, picked the site for the White House in 1791, the construction began in 1792 and, by the time Washington had completed his 2nd term in 1798, workers had finished it up. Instead of painting it with the usual paint, they actually used a lime-based whitewash to prevent water from leaking into & freezing within the porous sandstone.
The White House’s first resident, America’s 2nd President John Adams, moved in in 1800. It didn’t take long for folks to start referring to it not as “the President’s House” or “the Executive Mansion”, but by its nickname which alluded to its exterior hue…they called it “the White House”.
In August 1814, British troops set fire to the house, and not long after a rumor began circulating that the White House had been painted white to cover the damage (but it was just that, a rumor). The lime-based whitewashing that was done after the war was really just a continuation of the already-in-place tradition. Maintenance staff then switched to white lead paint (570 gallons of it) to cover the home in 1818 & keep up its beaming white facade.
The White House was still its informal nickname for the next 80-or-so years, until 1901 when President Teddy Roosevelt made it the residence’s official name. Roosevelt was also responsible for the major renovation at The White House that relocated the president’s offices to what we now know as the West Wing. And now YOU know why the White House has been, and still is, white.
If you’ve got a Mundane Mystery you’d like to know more about? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or send an email to [email protected].
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Berryville Graphics
Wake Up Crew Highlights: May 20, 2022
House of The Week 5/20/22
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are Fire Trucks Red?
A fire truck blazing down the road can create a ton of anxiety for anyone, as well as a ton of questions: “Where’s the fire?”, “Is it someone or somewhere I know,” and my main question, “why are fire trucks red?” Seriously, why ARE fire trucks red? Sure, red is an eye-catching color, but let’s be honest, most people notice fire trucks because of the flashing lights & sirens (since you hear it way before you see it). So why are fire trucks red?
One of the theories is that, back before automobiles became prevalent, fire trucks weren’t actually trucks but horse-drawn wagons, repurposed from farms to include firefighting equipment. The undercarriages of those wagons were painted red, since the color was an inexpensive & hid dirt & damage. So, when firehouses eventually adapted from wagons to trucks, they kept the same paint scheme, too.
That’s one proposition, but a more believable theory revolves around Henry Ford. In the early 1900s, Ford Model Ts (which were the most popular automobiles at that time) were only available in one single color: black. So, when fire trucks came about, red was picked as their color to make them stand out from all the black passenger cars.
Studies have been done to find the most effective color schemes for emergency vehicles, but those studies have had mixed results. For instance, lime yellow was found to be more noticeable than red. But lime yellow isn’t of much use to motorists if they don’t associate the color with danger or urgency. Whatever the true original reason for fire trucks being red in the first place, they remain red to this day simply because it’d be too difficult for our human brains to unlearn the association of “red means emergency”.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Berryville Graphics
Wake Up Crew highlights: May 18, 2022
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Fast-Talking Auctioneers
If you’ve ever been to an auction, or have ever seen one in a movie or on TV, then you know auctioneers – those fast-talking speakers who guide the whole sale process – really seem like they have somewhere else to be. They’re always in a hurry, right? They always talk blazingly fast. Why is that? It may seem nifty, but it is necessary?
As it turns out, they don’t technically have to talk that fast. But they do want to talk that fast, because it offers the best chance at getting the best prices from their best customers. Speaking so quickly, tends to generate a sense of urgency in the buyers.
That lightning-fast auctioneer patter is called the “chant”, and while it may seem fast it really isn’t as fast as you might initially think. If you were to disassemble the auctioneer’s words & remove all the filler, you’d basically end up with linear strands of numbers or prices.
But it’s that filler material, however, that builds the sense of urgency within the auction: things like “can I get”, “do I hear,” “come on,” “I see”, etc. Auctioneers will usually string those fillers together to create an almost musical drone. And the cadence of that drone hypnotizes bidders into a trance of sorts, which leaves them itching to engage with the auctioneer when he makes the call to raise each bid.
Not just anybody can be an auctioneer. A lot of states actually require auctioneers to be licensed, which can take a great deal of time & practice. And why would anyone want to put in that much time & patience to become a fast-talking auctioneer? Well, for many, it’s an investment. Because many times, they can contractually get anywhere from 10% to 20% of each sale price for the items sold.
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via Twitter (@AndyWebbRadio), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Berryville Graphics