mugs

Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith had a different sort of destiny than his siblings, who were doctors and lawyers. Soapy led a dishonest life that included bribery and graft, fraud, theft, and extortion. When he discovered that he could make more money with less effort by being clever, he changed his line of work to running confidence games on gullible westerners, from soaps scams Colorado to fleecing prospectors in Alaska.

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During the 19th century it seemed like the American West held endless possibilities for great wealth, and Americans were looking for that next big thing. Two Kentucky swindlers, taking advantage of gemstone fever, lured some of the country's biggest bankers and businnessmen -- and the founder of Tiffany & Co. -- into a jewel con with claims of having discovered a large deposit of diamonds. The value of their diamond mine would have exceeded $86 million in today's money. If it had been real.

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Calling herself a financial agent, Sarah Emily Howe introduced the women of the greater Boston area to the Ladies’ Deposit Company, which potentially sounds a lot better than what it really was: a swindle. The Ladies' Deposit was a savings bank that promised women a very high interest rate on deposits – so high, it seemed to impossible. It relied on referrals, and Sarah used the deposits she collected from those new customers to pay the large returns she'd promised to early customers. If that sounds like a Ponzi scheme to you, you're right -- but it happened about 40 years before Ponzi, himself, tried it.

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Psst, buddy, want to buy some cheap gold? It may appear to be a gold bar on the surface, but in reality, what's for sale is something far less valuable. American Reed C. Waddell is credited with one of the most celebrated cons among cons – the goldbrick swindle. You'll never find a better deal!

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Poyais: a magical place, and the picture of Caribbean paradise. And according to Scottish swindler Gregor MacGregor, it could all be yours … if you invested in his land, Poyais. In the early 19th century, MacGregor invented his own country, and then conned investors into buying the bonds of a country that did not exist.

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Between the years 1869 and 1874, a man calling himself Lord Gordon-Gordon swindled the wealthy populations of Scotland, England, the United States, and Canada. Until he began pulling cons in the late 19th century, though, there isn't much information about this guy. We don't even know what his real name was. But we do know he had endless charm and charisma that helped him bilk people out of millions of dollars, including one of the richest and most ruthless railroad tycoons in American history.

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Ann O'Delia Diss Debar was a medium and a fortune teller who was once described by the famous performer Harry Houdini as, quote, “one of the most extraordinary fake mediums and mystery swindlers the world has ever known.” She made her name -- well, her many names -- as a spiritualist with occult powers, but she was 100 percent fraud. And from 1870 to 1910, she bilked people for millions of dollars around the world.

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Back in the mid-20th century, a widow named Susanna Mildred Hill began placing newspaper ads posing as a much younger woman looking for love. Once she had fraudulently won the affection of hundreds of pen pals, she asked each for a gift of money -- and she successfully did so for years. Known as the Lonely Hearts Scam, this con continues to be big criminal business. We're going to talk about romance scams, and how to keep yourself safe from falling for it.

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Bill Rockefeller Sr. once bragged that he taught his sons about business by swindling them: "I trade with the boys and skin 'em. I want to make 'em sharp.” But the Rockefeller name and money were established not by Bill, but by his eldest son, John D. Rockefeller Sr., who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. Bill, himself, had no interest in things like family or work. He liked to roam, and created a career on the road, peddling worthless trinkets and miracle elixirs. This is the story of the thorn in the side of the Rockefeller family. 

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William Thompson certainly was not the first person involved in the con game. We can assume people have been tricking and cheating each other likely since there were people to trick and cheat. We really don’t know a whole lot about William’s life. He just sort of pops up in the historical record when he starts getting noticed around the streets of New York City -- which, as you might imagine, is not good for the con business. He may have been small time, but he was the guy responsible for helping coin the term, confidence man -- or con man.

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Legendary New York City police detective Thomas F. Byrnes once described Bertha Heyman as "one of the smartest confidence women in America." And she was considered among New York City police to be, “the boldest and most expert of the many female adventuresses who infested the country” at the close of the 19th century. Let's meet this so-called Confidence Queen.

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His medical contemporaries once considered him to be a "clever, money-mad neuropath." But what makes Dr. Albert Abrams a bit different than other charlatans we’ll meet this season is that though he was dismissed within the medical community for quackery in his time, he probably wasn’t a guy running a con – at least not on purpose. 

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Their crimes may vary, but con artists have this one thing in common: the power of persuasion to take advantage of people. And in this episode, we’re talking about how one woman known as Madame Rachel took advantage of Victorian high society with her pricey promises of eternal youth. 

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Join the ladies for a crunchy and weird toy filled episode! 

Write us some of your cringe stories at [nervouslaughterpodcast@gmail.com](mailto:nervouslaughterpodcast@gmail.com)

The socials: [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nervouslaughterpodcast) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/NervousLaughterPodcast) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/NervouslaughPod)

The Breast Milk Baby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KupsmQDdgVE

Elizabeth from Knoxville: We're storming the Capitol, it's a Revolution!

The Most Dangerous Toys: 

The Most Dangerous Toys of All Time

It was a charming and persuasive man named William Thompson who is considered to have been the original confidence artist – although that’s a title that’s probably difficult to pin down. Welcome to a new season of Criminalia, where we'll be talking about master swindlers, offering things too good to be true throughout history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode kicks off as the remodel sage continues. Transporting "mini" splits sounds very complicated. Tamara has lots of questions. Things are less than ideal for DIY. Transportation and moving is complicated, and bodies are tired. Luckily the tried and true method of a budding following behind the truck and calling if something looks like it is going to fall off worked. Tamara is getting set up at her new digs, and has already found a new restaurant. Getting ready to pack Tamara does ask Rheannon for advice. Rheannon mostly approves the outfits and shoes. This launches a downhill fast rant about shoes. There is a new challenge on the table. Mugs have been shipped, but they have not arrived. The sage of the mugs continues to go downhill fast much like this episode.  

At first, Jessi wasn't a potter. In fact, she actively avoided ceramics and focused on two-dimensional art instead. But as she pursued her fine arts degree, she was required to take a ceramics class. What followed was an unexpected love for creating hand-thrown pottery and an opportunity to find a career she loved in the arts. Listen as Jessi shares how she became the studio manager at Hanselmann Pottery.
Instagram: @Hanselmannpottery
Website: https://hanselmannpottery.com/
Find the show notes for this episode at mazumausa.com.  

In this episode of Shopify Masters, we’re in London, UK, chatting with, Raquel Acosta the ceramist and owner of Glaze Me Pretty. Raquel shares how her pottery hobby became a profitable business, how she uses Instagram to grow her sales, and what it takes for you to build a social following. 

For more on Glaze Me Pretty and show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/glaze-me-pretty-career-pivot?utm_campaign=shopifymasters&utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=podcast

On this episode, Cyrus is joined by Vijay Subramnian, Group CEO And Founder at Collective Artists Network, to talk about the field of managing talent. They talk about the Collective Artists Network, his journey as an entrepreneur in these times, becoming a public figure, being a coffee mug collector, his belief in the phrase "Build something large, money will follow", and lots more. Vijay also talks about being a part of a band early in his life, how he managed his own band and got the band a Red Bull endorsement, feeling like he had a calling in entertainment, how the pandemic has affected the talent management world, the Collective being the largest creator marketplace in the country, and how every artist should have an agent to take care of the non-creative work. All this and more on this super fun episode. Tune in.

Follow Vijay: https://www.instagram.com/vijaysubramaniam84

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel:

Also, subscribe to Cyrus' YouTube channel:

You can follow Antariksh on Instagram @antariksht: https://instagram.com/antariksht

Do send in AMA questions for Cyrus by tweeting them to @cyrussaysin or e-mailing them at whatcyrussays@gmail.com

Don't forget to follow Cyrus Broacha on Instagram @BoredBroacha (https://www.instagram.com/boredbroacha)

In case you're late to the party and want to catch up on previous episodes of Cyrus Says you can do so at: www.ivmpodcasts.com/cyrussays

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android: https://ivm.today/android
or iOS:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, Cyrus is joined by Vijay Subramnian, Group CEO And Founder at Collective Artists Network, to talk about the field of managing talent. They talk about the Collective Artists Network, his journey as an entrepreneur in these times, becoming a public figure, being a coffee mug collector, his belief in the phrase "Build something large, money will follow", and lots more. Vijay also talks about being a part of a band early in his life, how he managed his own band and got the band a Red Bull endorsement, feeling like he had a calling in entertainment, how the pandemic has affected the talent management world, the Collective being the largest creator marketplace in the country, and how every artist should have an agent to take care of the non-creative work. All this and more on this super fun episode. Tune in.

Follow Vijay: https://www.instagram.com/vijaysubramaniam84

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmY4iMGgEa49b7-NH94p1BQ

Also, subscribe to Cyrus' YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UCHAb9jLYk0TwkWsCxom4q8A

You can follow Antariksh on Instagram @antariksht: https://instagram.com/antariksht

Do send in AMA questions for Cyrus by tweeting them to @cyrussaysin or e-mailing them at whatcyrussays@gmail.com

Don't forget to follow Cyrus Broacha on Instagram @BoredBroacha (https://www.instagram.com/boredbroacha)

In case you're late to the party and want to catch up on previous episodes of Cyrus Says you can do so at: www.ivmpodcasts.com/cyrussays

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android: https://ivm.today/android

or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.