An Old Timey Podcast

The Presidential Fitness Test has been a gym class staple for decades. Generations of Americans have performed pull-ups, sit-ups, mile runs and flexibility tests under the watchful eye of their sweaty peers. In the end, a select group of kids were given the coveted Presidential Physical Fitness Award.
At the time, it all seemed *so important*! But was it, actually? Whose idea was it? And did it accomplish what it set out to do?
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from:

“A brief history of the bizarre and sadistic Presidential Fitness Test,” by Phil Edwards for Vox
“Tools of the trade: The Presidential Physical Fitness test,” by Elissa Nadworny for NPR
“The report that shocked the president,” by Robert Boyle for Sports Illustrated
“The soft American,” by John F. Kennedy for Sports Illustrated
“The origins of the Presidential Fitness Test,” by Vince Guerrieri for Mental Floss
“Remember running the mile in school? The Presidential Fitness Test is coming back,” by Rachel Treisman for NPR
“The first 50 years, 1956-2006,” by Julie Sturgeon and Janice Meer for the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
“The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and the Systematisation of Children’s Play in America,” by Matthew T. Bowers and Thomas M. Hunt for the International Journal of the History of Sport
“Exercise pioneer Bonnie Prudden dies at 97,” by Kimberly Matas for the Arizona Daily Star
Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

George C. Parker was an infamous con man. He sold the Brooklyn Bridge countless times. He sold Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb. He sold Madison Square Garden. He sold the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He even sold the Statue of Liberty! Most often, the victims of his schemes were new immigrants who didn’t speak English and were unfamiliar with America’s public property laws. 
…but… was George C. Parker truly the prolific scammer he claimed to be? The internet sure thinks so! Normie C begs to differ.
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: 
Asbury Park Press. “Capt. Parker Held For Extradition.” June 30, 1928.
Asbury Park Press. “Parker, Famous ‘Seller,’ Seized Here, Gets Life.” December 18, 1928.
Asbury Park Press. “Parker, Noted Confidence Man, Is Arrested Here.” June 29, 1928.
Brooklyn Daily Times. “Famous ‘Con’ Man Starts as ‘Lifer.’” November 23, 1928.
Brooklyn Daily Times. “Smartest Bunco Salesman Faces Life Term If Convicted.” July 8, 1928.
Brooklyn Eagle. “Albert Murch Dies.” August 11, 1931.
Brooklyn Eagle. “Brooklyn Bridge’s ‘Seller’ Sent to Sing Sing For Life.” November 23, 1928.
Brown, Peter Jensen. “Bridges, Bunco and Basso - a Gullible History of Selling the Brooklyn Bridge.” Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog, October 1, 2020. https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2020/10/bridges-bunco-and-basso-gullible.html.
Cohen, Gabriel. “For You, Half Price - The New York Times.” The New York Times, November 27, 2005. https://archive.is/5GeA4.
Courier-Post. “Bunco Prince Faces Life For $150 Deal.” July 9, 1928.
Daily News. “Con Man Uses Love Notes To Gag Dupes.” July 8, 1928.
Detroit Free Press. “Selling Brooklyn Bridge.” November 23, 1928.
Ellery Queen Magazine. “Stranger Than Fiction.” November 2022. https://www.elleryqueenmysterymagazine.com/the-crime-scene/stranger-than-fiction-november-2022/.
Find a Grave. “‘Capt.’ George C. Parker (1860-1937).” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/229047420/george_c-parker.
HISTORY, dir. Modern Marvels: Building the Brooklyn Bridge (S2, E20) | Full Episode | History. Modern Marvels. 2023. 46:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-JFnbJ19U.
HowStuffWorks. “Meet the Conman Who Sold the Brooklyn Bridge — Many Times Over.” July 26, 2022. https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/conman-sold-brooklyn-bridge.htm.
IrishCentral.Com. “The Man Who ‘Sold’ The Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Ulysses Grant’s Tomb.” February 25, 2026. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/man-sold-brooklyn-bridge-statue-of-liberty.
Lincoln Journal Star. “Bridge ‘Seller’ Is Caught in Law’s Net.” December 11, 1928.
Marysville Journal-Tribune. “Man Who ‘Sold’ Brooklyn Bridge Again in Jail; Other Old-Time Crooks Come to Grief In New York.” December 1, 1928.
Mimi Matthews. “The 19th Century Confidence Man.” June 20, 2016. https://www.mimimatthews.com/2016/06/20/the-19th-century-confidence-man/.
Minium, Alice. “The Untold Truth Of 19th-Century Conman George C. Parker.” Grunge, April 4, 2022. https://www.grunge.com/820192/the-untold-truth-of-19th-century-conman-george-c-parker/.
Naked History. “The Man Who Sold the Brooklyn Bridge.” https://web.archive.org/web/20190718114933/https://www.historynaked.com/man-sold-brooklyn-bridge/.
NYC Walks. “The Brooklyn Bridge — ‘If You Believe That, I Have a Bridge in Brooklyn to Sell to You.’” https://nycwalks.com/blog/the-brooklyn-bridge-if-you-believe-that-i-have-a-bridge-in-brooklyn-to-sell-to-you/.
Racing Nellie Bly. “Con Artist George Parker Sold Brooklyn Bridge And Famous Monuments.” Accessed April 24, 2026. https://racingnelliebly.com/strange_times/con-artist-george-parker-sold-brooklyn-bridge/.
Sifakis, Carl. Hoaxes and Scams: A Compendium of Deceptions, Ruses, and Swindles. Facts on File, 1993.
“Sing Sing Prison Admission Registers, 1865-1939.” n.d. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8922/.
The Brooklyn Citizen. “Man, Suing State, Charged With Forging Contracts.” September 18, 1930.
The Brooklyn Citizen. “News of the Day.” July 18, 1892.
The Brooklyn Citizen. “Nothing Heard of Criminal Who Skipped Jail.” January 3, 1906.
The Brooklyn Citizen. “Old Offender Once Again in Toils of Law.” July 7, 1928.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “Once Sold Brooklyn Bridge And Lots in City Hall Park, Rest of Life May Be In Jail.” July 8, 1928.
The Brooklyn Daily Times. “Roamer, 58, Is Given Life For Forgery.” December 17, 1928.
The Houston Post. “Selling Brooklyn Bridge.” December 26, 1928.
The Mayfield Messenger. “Con Man Who ‘Sold’ Brooklyn Bridge Gets Life in Prison.” December 18, 1928.
The Miami Herald. “Dean of Slickers Given Life Term.” December 18, 1928.
The News Journal. “Former Resident of Shore Gets Life Term.” December 18, 1928.
The Saginaw News. “His Wasted Sales Talent.” July 10, 1928.
The Washington Post. “Life for Brooklyn Bridge Swindler.” December 18, 1928.
Times Union. “Big Claimant Against State Recognized by Judge Conway.” September 18, 1930.
Times Union. “Lifer Recalls Nervy Escape.” November 23, 1928.
Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Garrett Morgan was a prolific inventor. He invented the gas mask. The three-way traffic light. The self-extinguishing cigarette. He even created a hair care line. But, as a Black man, he had to be creative in how he presented his inventions to the public. He knew that some people would refuse to buy his invention if they discovered that it had been invented by a Black man.
So? Sometimes he hired white actors to play the role of Garrett Morgan. Sometimes he posed as his own assistant. In short, he did what he had to do to get people to take his inventions seriously.
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from: 
“Overcoming discrimination by consumers during the age of segregation: The example of Garrett Morgan,” by Lisa D. Cook for Business History Review 
“Guardian of the public safety: Garrett A. Morgan and the Lake Erie Crib Disaster” by William M King for the Journal of Negro History
“Garrett Morgan,” National Inventors Hall of Fame
“Garrett Morgan,” Encyclopedia.com
“Of courage and caution,” United States Patent and Trademark Office
“Black inventor Garrett Morgan saved countless lives with gas mask and improved traffic lights,” Scientific American
“Gas mask inventor dim memory here,” by Jim Strang for The Plain Dealer
“Wakeman Country Club” Green Book Cleveland
“Garrett Morgan,” Biography.com
Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Nintendo couldn’t believe their luck. Their latest arcade game, Donkey Kong, had become a surprise hit. But then Universal, one of the largest media companies in the world, came knocking. They claimed that Donkey Kong infringed on their King Kong trademark. Even worse? They were ready to go to war.
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from:

Audureau, William. The History of Mario. Pix’n Love, 2014.
Internet Archive. “Universal v. Nintendo Court Documents.” 2026. https://archive.org/details/universal-v-nintendo-court-documents.
Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children. Random House, Inc., 1993.
Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Nintendo was in trouble. It was 1980, and they’d just poured a ton of money into an arcade game they’d hoped would be a hit. They called it Radar Scope. It was a massive flop. In a panic, the company rushed to create a new game that they hoped would make good use out of all their unsold Radar Scope arcade cabinets. That game – Donkey Kong – took the world by storm.
Nintendo basked in the success of their new game. They had no idea that a massive lawsuit was headed their way.
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from:

Audureau, William. The History of Mario. Pix’n Love, 2014.
Internet Archive. “Universal v. Nintendo Court Documents.” 2026. https://archive.org/details/universal-v-nintendo-court-documents.
Sheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children. Random House, Inc., 1993.
Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!
Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.