The Strange History Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 8 - A Very Victorian Yule Log: Good Luck, Bad Omens, and Fireplace Superstition Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

The Victorians didn’t just burn a yule log — they studied it. Cracks were omens, smoke signaled future fortunes, and if the flame died before morning? Someone in the household was doomed. Amy explores true accounts of families who fed their logs ale, decorated them like honored family members, and guarded the ash like sacred treasure. Cozy? Yes. Chill-inducing? Also absolutely.
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

“Butter Busts, Breakfast Champagne & The Great Turtle Takeover: Gilded Age Oddities” Part 2 Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

Step into the wonderfully unhinged world of America’s Gilded Age in this hilarious and true deep dive into butter sculptures, breakfast champagne culture, and the day thousands of decorative turtles escaped and caused chaos across New York City. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, we uncover bizarre fairground art, dark-dining scandals, portable mansions of the elite, and the infamous Ice Cream Riot that shook the streets. Packed with absurd historical details, humor, eyewitness accounts, and societal chaos, this episode is perfect for fans of strange history, vintage oddities, and stories too ridiculous to be fiction.
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🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 7 - “Drunk caroling + street parades + people demanding food from wealthy homeowners." Dec 07, 2025

Show notes

Before the Victorians romanticized it, Christmas was basically: Drunk caroling + street parades + people demanding food from wealthy homeowners. It was the original trick-or-treat, but louder
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🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 6 - “Toxic Tinsel: The Victorian Christmas Tree That Tried to Kill You” Dec 06, 2025

Show notes

Victorians adored decorating their Christmas trees — but many ornaments were crafted from arsenic-rich green paint, mercury-coated glass, and lead-based glitter. Amy explores how a little holiday sparkle occasionally led to dizziness, nausea, or sudden fainting — and why newspapers still called it “the height of elegance.” Forget festive — Victorian trees were basically weaponized foliage.
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

Secrets from the Past Part 2: Vintage Remedies & DIY Hacks: Strange Beauty Tricks, Pantry Solutions, and Forgotten Household Secrets Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

In Part Two of this nostalgic and entertaining series, we explore the stranger side of vintage household hacks — including beauty rituals, pantry tricks, old medical remedies, DIY fixes, and bizarre home solutions passed down through generations. From freezing sweaters to stop shedding, polishing shoes with banana peels, deodorizing clothes with vodka, clarifying soup with eggshells, and boiling orange peels and cloves to freshen the house, these forgotten techniques reveal a fascinating chapter of everyday life before modern products and convenience culture existed. This episode blends real historical accounts, questionable medical treatments, proven hacks still used today, and the weirdest pieces of domestic wisdom from the 1800s to the 1970s. Whether you’re interested in cleaning history, traditional home skills, lost domestic arts, natural remedies, sustainable living, or just love quirky vintage facts, this episode is a funny, educational deep dive into how households once survived without Amazon, Pinterest, or disinfecting wipes. Laugh, learn, gasp, and occasionally say, “Wait… people really did that?”
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

Secrets from the Past Part 1: Vintage Household Hacks, Bizarre Remedies & Lost Cleaning Tricks | The Strange History Podcast Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

Step back in time and discover the weird, wonderful, and surprisingly effective world of vintage household hacks. In this two-episode series, we explore the cleaning tips, DIY solutions, beauty tricks, pantry hacks, and bizarre old-school home remedies our great-grandparents swore by. From using vinegar to clean everything, shining furniture with walnuts, polishing shoes with banana peels, deodorizing clothes with vodka, to freezing sweaters, boiling orange peels for scent, and clarifying soup with eggshells — these forgotten tricks reveal how people survived long before modern products, Pinterest, or Google. This humorous and storytelling-driven deep dive blends real historical accounts, science, odd traditions, and vintage home-ec culture. Featuring everything from effective hacks still used today to questionable remedies (looking at you, mustard plasters and turpentine), this episode is perfect for history lovers, DIY fans, homesteaders, cleaners, and fans of quirky old advice. Whether you’re here for nostalgia, knowledge, or entertainment, prepare to laugh, learn, and maybe rethink everything under your kitchen sink.
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🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 5 - “Boom! The Explosive Birth of Christmas Crackers” Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

What do you get when you mix gunpowder, paper hats, and holiday cheer? A Victorian invention that went off — literally. Amy unwraps the story of Christmas crackers, the noisy, spark-filled party favors that occasionally left guests singed but satisfied.
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🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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Follow The Strange History Podcast wherever you listen and never miss an episode. 🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 4 - “Season’s Grievings: When Christmas Cards Showed Dead Birds” Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

Before Hallmark came horror. Amy dives into the bizarre world of early Victorian Christmas cards — featuring dead robins, frogs with pipes, and insects doing chores. Discover why these creepy images were meant to symbolize renewal, not ruin, and how the Victorians found beauty in the morbid.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support.
🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
Submit your ideas for The Strange History Podcast
Follow The Strange History Podcast wherever you listen and never miss an episode. 🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 3 - “Light It on Fire: The Explosive History of Christmas Pudding” Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

Brandy, flames, and third-degree burns — nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a dessert that doubles as a torch. Amy investigates the fiery ritual of Victorian plum pudding, complete with true accounts of flaming disasters, family pride, and the occasional singed moustache.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support.
🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
Submit your ideas for The Strange History Podcast
Follow The Strange History Podcast wherever you listen and never miss an episode. 🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

The 25 Strangest days of Christmas Day 2 - “The Mourning Tree: Victorians Who Decorated with the Dead” Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

Some Victorians hung silver baubles… others hung Aunt Mildred. Amy unpacks the unsettling custom of placing mourning ornaments — locks of hair, miniature portraits, and memento mori — on Christmas trees. Inspired by Queen Victoria’s lifelong grief, this eerie practice blurred the line between celebration and sorrow.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-strange-history-podcast--5773362/support.
🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
Submit your ideas for The Strange History Podcast
Follow The Strange History Podcast wherever you listen and never miss an episode. 🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.

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