In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod and New England Podcast

Episode 80: The Sword & Shield of Harwich, South Park 25 Years Later, Top 'Could Have Been' Athletes, Concord NH, Jack the Ripper(8-11-2022)

August 11, 2022 Christopher Setterlund Season 1 Episode 80
In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod and New England Podcast
Episode 80: The Sword & Shield of Harwich, South Park 25 Years Later, Top 'Could Have Been' Athletes, Concord NH, Jack the Ripper(8-11-2022)
In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod & New England Podcast
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Show Notes Transcript

Episode 80 begins with a trip back to the golden age of Cape Cod restaurants.  This week it's a look at a beloved establishment run by a beloved family.  Get ready to eat heartily and smile widely as we reminisce about the Sword and Shield of Harwich Port.
It is part city and part wide open spaces.  This week's Road Trip takes us to one of only six capital cities New England has to offer.  Concord, New Hampshire is filled with historical places, educational wonders, beautiful scenery, and its share of highly-rated restaurants.  Find out more about why you should pay it a visit in this episode.
25 years ago this week television saw the debut of one of the most controversial, yet enduring, shows of all-time.  South Park changed the way animated shows were seen and created with its adult humor and takes on sensitive topics.  More than that it has become a cultural phenomenon that has crossed over generations. From VHS to streaming, this week is a look back at what it was like when South Park first burst onto the scene.
This week's Top 5 looks at athletes that 'could have been.'  Whether through injury or simply not living up to the hype, these athletes did not make it to the lofty expectations bestowed upon them.  Find out who made the list!
Also there's a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule looking back at what could have been the first victim of the notorious Jack the Ripper.

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 Intro

 Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 80. United States is baking in the Hot August son but the finish line is near Labor Day is coming up and fall my favorite time of year. And we got a great episode of the podcast coming up right here. We're going to kick things off with the story of a beloved Cape Cod restaurant and the beloved family that ran it. The Sword and Shield restaurant of Harwich Port. We're going to take a road trip up north trying to cool off as we go to the beautiful capitol city of Concord, New Hampshire. We're gonna go way, way back in the day, 25 years ago, this week to the debut of the groundbreaking and controversial TV show South Park, there will be a brand new top five these are the top five could have been athletes, ones who had their careers cut short or didn't live up to the hype. And as always, there’s a brand new this week in history, and time capsule, all coming up right now on episode 80 of the in my footsteps podcast. So like I said, basically everywhere in the US is just cooking under the hot summer sun. But fall is near labor days coming up. I know the kids that have to go back to school or that or going back to college don't want to hear it. God knows when I was a kid in school, I hated the back-to-school ads that started seemingly earlier and earlier every summer, almost to the point that you'd have back-to-school stuff before you get out of school. But when you're an “adult,” and you're working and it's hot, and you're in a place like Cape Cod, where people come and visit and pack the beaches and packed the roads, you do look forward to when they all go away. And you've heard me say a bunch on the podcast falls my favorite time of year but more so it starts right after Labor Day. We still have the nice summer weather for another several weeks month. But the people aren't there to pack in the beaches and the roads. But whether you're out in the heat taking a walk sitting at the beach, or you're inside in the AC, thank you for tuning into the podcast. Thank you to everyone that has been sharing it leaving reviews word of mouth. I really appreciate it because I can only do so much promoting. I think it means more when people that aren't me share it and say you should listen to it. If you want to support the podcast you can always buy me a coffee go to buy me a coffee.com Find the in my footsteps podcast. Any donations go toward advertising the podcast, just a way to reinvest in what I do. But like I always say sharing it and telling other people is the best way to help me market this podcast. It's definitely been a fun and interesting summer. I have a lot of irons in the fire. You've heard me mentioned the lady of the dunes book. I have two other books that are in the final stages being put together for release later this year. I do my personal training at Mind Body spine chiropractic Cape kettlebell, I have my in-home clients, and I do this podcast. You can never say that I don't keep myself occupied. And hopefully you follow me on social media, Twitter, Instagram. That's where I post more real time updates of anything that's going on with any of those projects I just mentioned. Right now let's dive right into the episode with the story of a beloved Cape Cod restaurant and the beloved family that ranted so right now is the story of the Sword and Shield restaurant from Harwich port on episode 80 of the in my footsteps podcast.

 The Sword and Shield of Harwich Port

 There are some places that do not need any sort of advertising to become popular. Great food and a great atmosphere coupled with a great staff lead to great reviews which lead to increased business, such as the case of the sword and shield restaurant in Harwich. It was here along Route 28 that a legendary establishment was created by an even more legendary person. Ted Apostol had known he was going to become involved in the restaurant business from his time stationed overseas in World War Two. It was during his five years in the service that he began working in the kitchen, cooking and mass and serving his commanding officers like General George S. Patton. Apostol fought for the United States at Normandy, France on D Day in 1944. He was already a hero and a legend before even stepping foot in a kitchen on Cape Cod. Upon returning home Apostol married his sweetheart Denise. Her family was also entrenched in the Cape Cod restaurant scene, an uncle on the river way in Yarmouth, and a cousin owned stage way in Dennis. Ted worked for Nicholas Vroundgos who ran the New Yorker restaurant on route 28 and Harwich port. The spot already had a lengthy history having been opened as the New Yorker sandwich sub by Vroundgos and Arthur drain in 1932. Ted worked there before he went off to war and returned after showing the loyalty and work ethic that would define him and rub off on his staff. Ted and Denise bought the New Yorker from Vroundgos in 1948, and began their dream of running a restaurant. It started slowly, with little changes being made to the restaurant as the couple got their feet under them as management. It would not be very long until the establishment was transformed from a sandwich shop to full-blown restaurant. The New Yorker was seasonal at first closing for the winter, however, the apostles would stay open year-round once they received a liquor license in 1966. Despite being of Greek heritage, Ted chose not to feature his native cuisine as part of his restaurant, choosing instead to stay true to the original menu of American style and English style items. Welsh Rarebit prime rib clam chowder Virginia baked ham a fisherman's platter, stuffed lobster and swordfish dishes were all faithfully prepared for decades. The only thing the apostles did were add their wildly popular sweetbreads into the 1950s and 60s business grew. The New Yorker eventually had a staff of 50 during the busy season. At one point, Denise was having trouble signing the checks for all of the staff and she asked TED to go down to the courthouse and have his last name changed legally to Apostol from its original spelling of ‘Apostopolus.’ Hopefully I said that right. The biggest change for Ted was still yet to come. In 1966, The New Yorker was closed and completely remodeled. Inside the decor would be a throwback to 16th century England. With plaid-colored carpeting, a new outdoor awning supported by knightly spears and an entrance canopy. By May 1967. The remodeling had been completed, and the little sandwich shop was now nearly four times its original size. It was rechristened the new sword and shield of York, though most would simply call it the sword and shield. The grand reopening was highly covered, including a mansion in the Boston Globe. This was the only time in their entire tenure of ownership that the apostles would spend any money on advertising. The rest was all word of mouth. At one point Denise remarked that she estimated 85% of their customers were repeat, she could recognize hundreds of people by their faces. The sword and shield continued to expand in 1969 with the addition of the Merrie Knight pub, which featured light fare, a full stock of liquor, a walnut bar, and red and plaid carpeting. With the addition of this lounge, the sword and shield was able to seat up to 350 people, there would routinely be lines of people out the door waiting to get in from six to 9pm Nearly every night during the summer. Such a booming business dependent on great management and a great staff, Ted and Denise made sure to take care of both many of the staff they would hire in the early days as the New Yorker remained with them for 20 years or more. They were and still are a tightly knit bunch. Several people who got their starts under the apostles at the sword and shield learn the business under Ted and went off to start their own restaurants. Ted Apostol became a legend due to things like cooking meals for locals at his establishment during blizzards when people would lose their power as he had a generator. It was also his very close friendship with Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, who was a frequent visitor that got his name noticed in the Washington DC circles. In 1984, the apostles sold their iconic establishment to which mirror Beach Club Chef George Sherman, he immediately changed it up by advertising the sword and shield in local newspapers. Sherman ran the restaurant for a few years before selling the property to Dr. Jay Richard Fennell in early 1990. Even after leaving the restaurant business, Ted Apostol remained vibrant and active. even picking up golf at the age of 80. He lived a long full life passing away at the age of 99. In 2015. Denise ended up moving to San Diego with her daughter Stacy, who was an active part of the business working the bar or waitressing. Their legacy is defined by their work ethic, and a dedication to simple good food that made the sword and shield a spot that is still remembered fondly more than two decades after closing. And as I mentioned earlier, the fact that staff stayed there for 20 years or more, and they were still tightly knit. I got to see that firsthand when working on my historic restaurants of Cape Cod book when Stacy Apostol allowed me a total stranger into her family home with some of the servers that had been there for 20 plus years, showing me old photos old menus, and regaling me with stories for a couple of hours. And if that's how they were with me a total stranger, it's apparent how good they must have been when the sword and shield was at their peak. And me being someone that kind of grew up in the restaurant business as well. I could appreciate that chance to reflect and share the funny stories in the sentimental moments that Stacey and the others on that day that I got to meet them all when they got to do that. I appreciated that. And that's why the sword and shield chapter of my historic restaurants book is one of my favorites that I worked on. I knew little about it before I started the book. And now I feel a connection to it. Thanks to the kindness and hospitality of Stacy Apostol and the others that were there that day. I apologize that I can't remember their names that was several years ago. But do you longtime Cape cutters remember the sword and shield? Do you remember Ted and Denise Apostol if you're driving down Route 28 In Harwich port, look for Buckies Biscotti. That's basically the building where the sword and shield was. The sword and shield was so big that it took three businesses to fill it. But those types of family run restaurant with all word of mouth and little to no advertising are so rare, and they're definitely more non existent today. And it just goes to show you those the Golden Age the good old days as they say, a restaurant, hospitality, nightlife, all that stuff. That's why I love that time period of 30, 40, 50 years ago. And I'll end this up by giving another special shout out special thank you to Stacey Apostol. And the Sword and Shield servers that I got to meet with when I researched my book. It was really a great experience. That's why I wanted to include this in the podcast this week.

 Road Trip: Concord, New Hampshire

 This week's road trip we are going to another one of the capital cities of New England. It's New Hampshire's capital of Concord. Recently, we checked out Vermont's capital of Montpelier. And then way back, we went to Hartford, Connecticut, there's only so many state capitals, New England has six of them. So I'm trying to parcel them out throughout the podcast. Concord is similar but different to Montpelier, similar with the beautiful scenery and being further north in New England. It's 70 miles northwest of Boston. So it's not that far north, but it's North enough. For me from Cape Cod, it's about three hours to get there. But while Montpelier is the smallest capital city, population wise in America, with the population close to 8000 people, Concord is a little bigger, with the population in 2020, of 43,503. An interesting little fact is Concord is the capital of New Hampshire with a population of 43,000, in comparison to Massachusetts, where it would be the 32nd largest city, which is Beverly currently. So for those of us that live in Massachusetts, imagine Beverly being the state capitol, I just find that funny and interesting. Much like with Montpelier, the State House, the state capitol building of New Hampshire in Concord is a beautiful spot to visit. Because you think of the state capitol buildings as being right in the middle of a metropolis, a big city and in Concord, there's beautiful green all around it. Just like in Vermont. You've got the Merrimack River which is running not through the center of the city, but kind of around the outskirts of it. The further north in Concord you go the more wide open it gets. The southern part is the more city with the state capitol and more strip malls. The airport the Douglas N. Everett arena skating arena. One of the crown jewels of Concord is the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center, which is a science museum. It's located at two Institute drive. It's located right next to NHPI New Hampshire's Community College. This museum is dedicated to Alan Shepard and Christa McAuliffe. It's named for them. They were both astronauts. Alan Shepard was the first American in space. And Christa McAuliffe was the first teacher in space. Those older listeners will remember the tragic Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986. I was eight years old when that happened. And that's where it Christa McAuliffe, and all other six crew members tragically died when the space shuttle exploded. There's so much to see there two floors of permanent exhibits. Outdoor Astronomy and Space exhibits. There are rotating exhibits annually. There's a planetarium, which is always fun. This is a great place for families to start if you're visiting Concord. Check them out also at Star hop.com. That'll give you a way better idea of what you can see there as there's only so much I could fit in this segment. If you're heading up to Central in northern New England, you definitely want to participate in some apple picking fresh apples from a fresh apple orchard. So you can check out the Carter Hill orchard at 73 Carter Hill Road or Carter Hill apples.com. You can pick apples, you can pick blueberries, they've got a bakery, they're fresh baked goods from an actual apple orchard. They got pies sweet breads, cookies, the famous apple cider doughnuts. There's also New Hampshire cider works there on site cider press that works through the fall and winter so you can get fresh pressed apple cider there. It's unbelievable. If you're into history, like I am, you can check out the Pierce Manse, which was a home owned by the 14th President of the United States, Franklin Pierce, who was a New Hampshire native. It's at 14 horseshoe pond lane. It's on the beautiful horseshoe pond, which literally it's a curved pond is what it looks like. The house is rather unassuming. But that's kind of the charm of it. Where when you think of a presidential mansion, or a home the President would live in you think of a huge one. This one it's not huge. It's open for tours from June through October, and should definitely be appreciated because it was set to be demolished in 1971. And it got saved. It was saved by a group called the Pierce brigade and they're the ones that currently own it and take care of it. Find out more about it at Pierce manse.org and you'll see some pictures that should entice you to at least go and check it out. It's history. I'm a big fan of history. If you haven't noticed from the podcast. If you're checking out Concord and you didn't get your fill of apples or blueberries from the Carter Hill orchard, you can go to Tucker's which is a delicious breakfast restaurant at 80 South Street or Tucker's NH.com They've got the classic breakfast and lunch fair pancakes, waffles, eggs, omelets, they've also got biscuits and gravy, strawberry cheesecake stuffed French toast I mean that should get you in the door right there. Tucker's has six total locations in New Hampshire. So if you're not in Concord, you can find them in New London hooks it Dover, Merrimack and Bedford. If you're looking for dinner, check out the barley house at 132 North Main Street and also at the barley house.com. They're located right near the Statehouse the golden dome, they were established in 2000. And they've been voted best burgers in New Hampshire by New Hampshire magazine. So there's a reason to go right there. They've got outdoor dining for the warmer weather, premium craft beer and cocktails. It would be a perfect day in Concord to start off with breakfast at Tucker's and then dinner and drinks at the barley house while in the middle just searching and observing all of the beautiful scenery in New Hampshire's capitol and all the little nooks and crannies that you can find. But rather than just making a day trip out of it, why not spend a few days there and really soak in what Concord has to offer? A perfect place to stay is the centennial hotel there at 96 Pleasant Street and the centennial hotel.com. You can save money if you book more than two weeks in advance too. So there's a little incentive. It's got modern amenities and Victorian charm, this beautiful sprawling brick building. It just fits the ambiance of Concord. Were inside it's like a big city hotel but on the outside it's Got that northern New England charm to it. But like I say, with all of these places that I share in the road trip segments of the podcast, it's best to go and just find your own way. When I've been to Concord, it's just a matter of you just drive your car. If you see something interesting, you stop or you park and walk and you never know what you're going to find. I could have spent 10 minutes just talking on the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center, or 10 minutes on the Pierce Manse, or 10 minutes on what it's like to be there in the fall with the foliage. But that still leaves so much that you've got to discover there. Because besides being the state capitol of New Hampshire, it is every bit of quintessential northern New England town with beautiful foliage in the Fall River views apple picking blueberry picking delicious breakfasts, craft beer and outdoor dining in the evenings. I mean, what could be better, and it's only 70 miles northwest of Boston. So it's not that far from most places in New England. So go and check out Concord, New Hampshire, go to visit Concord dash nh.com, which is a site sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce that'll really paint a picture of why you need to go there. And I'll be back next week with a brand new road trip to tempt you to go to another place in one of the beautiful cities and towns in the six states in New England and beyond.

 This Week In History

This week in history, we are going back 134 years ago, August 7 1888. And what is seen as potentially the very first murder victim of the most famous serial killer of all time, Jack the Ripper. This is often up for debate whether this victim was one of Jack the rippers but it's in the same area the same sort of vicious, violent end to a streetwalker. The woman named Martha Tabram was found on a first floor landing of George yard buildings located in an area called George yard, which was located off of White Chapel High Street in London. So White Chapel is most commonly known as the area where Jack the Ripper struck a lot. Back then it was considered one of the most dangerous streets in London. And although today it's called Gunthorpe street it still has a menacing air to it. Martha Tabram was found with 39 stab wounds all the way from her throat to her abdomen. Assistant coroner George Collier called it one of the most dreadful murders that anyone could imagine. And people were stunned with the fact that this murder could take place so close to where people were sleeping, and no one heard a thing. This murder of Martha Tabram led to the general sense of unease in the White Chapel area that things weren't right. And this turned into complete and total panic a few weeks later on August 31, when Mary Nichols was found murdered, she is always considered the first of the canonical Jack the Ripper victims. That's why Martha Tabram on August 7, is considered to probably be a victim with it being so similar to the other Jack the Ripper victims, although just like with the canonical five, the gruesomeness and viciousness just escalated with each one. Annie Chapman, Elizabeth stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Kelly became the others of the canonical five victims of Jack the Ripper. So even though there's the canonical five, the Jack the Ripper file, the White Chapel murderers file, the police file has 11 names in it. So maybe they all are victims of Jack the Ripper, maybe it's only five maybe it's six with Martha Tabram. One thing is for sure whether it was 134 years ago this week in history, we know for sure that 134 years ago this month in history, Jack the Ripper began his spree of horrific brutal crimes. And now we'll try to switch up things to a little less morbid topic as we go for a brand new time capsule. We're gonna go 47 years ago this week, August 11 1975 to see what was going on in the world of pop culture. The number one song was Jive Talkin’ by the Bee Gees. This was off of their album main course. And would be rereleased on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. This was for all intents and purposes considered to be the Bee Gees comeback song and they became the kings of disco. It was their first top 10 song since 1971s How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? This was one of nine number one songs that the Bee gees had during their careers, putting them third among groups for number one songs behind only the Beatles and The Supremes. The number one movie was Jaws. This movie was the original summer blockbuster by Steven Spielberg about the man eating shark off of Amity Island that terrorizes beach goers Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfus, Robert Shaw, and the mechanical shark named Bruce that broke down a lot, which is why you don't see it as much in the movie. The movie made $472 million on a budget of $9 million. And was every bid a monster hit movie, when adjusted for inflation, the movie made $2.6 billion. That'll give you an idea of how big this was. It spawned three sequels, one that was good one that was mediocre, and one that's considered one of the worst movies ever Jaws The Revenge. But this movie was huge, the highest grossing film ever until Star Wars came out two years later. The number one TV show was mash. This war comedy drama was on for 11 seasons, and 256 Total episodes. Mash was a Mobile Army surgical hospital. That's what it stood for. The show was so big that out of its 11 seasons, it was in the top 10 for nine of them. And the finale of mash was the most watched television episode ever in 1983, with 106 million viewers in the United States alone. And if you were alive back then if you were a kid, August 11 1975, and you needed something fun to do to occupy yourself, maybe after dinner, maybe before bed, you could ask your parents to buy you a ViewMaster which looks like a set of binoculars, six reels, seven images each, you could get ViewMaster back then was owned by the general Angeline and Film Corporation. Click the little button and get new images, you would get the six reels you could have Winnie the Pooh, Donald Duck, Bambi, Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, and Fat Albert. And all of this excitement together would be $4.99 or about $27.48 when adjusted for inflation. I had view masters when I was a kid, they were around before 1975. And I'm sure they're probably around in some way shape or form today, but they were definitely considered fun in high tech back in 1975. And that's going to wrap up another time capsule another this week in history, where we look at what happened. And now we're going to go into a top five and look at what could have been as these are the top five could have been athletes ever. And we're going to jump right into it right now.

 Top 5: Could Have Been Athletes

 So this week's top five we're going to be looking at what could have been the what ifs of sports, specifically athletes. This doesn't just apply to athletes that came out of college and should have been stars but weren't. This can be ones that started to get established or were established and had their careers cut short. The main criterion of this top five is that these athletes did not live up to their hype, whether it was their fault or not. And obviously, I'll explain each one. Typically with these lists, they are in no particular order. And also there are some honorable mentions to kind of get this started. So honorable mentions for the could have been athletes are Greg Oden of the NBA, Brian Taylor of Major League Baseball, and Robert Edwards of the NFL. You can look up any of those and see why there could have been with the honorable mentions has just dropped the names kind of get you primed and ready and we'll move on to the actual top five. So let's get it started. Top five could have been athletes. Number one, Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson made his mark even though his career was cut short by a terrible hip injury, but he was a two sports star playing major league baseball for the Kansas City Royals and professional football for the Los Angeles Raiders. He was this rare combination of speed, power, skill, and crossover appeal with the commercials the Bo knows commercials that every kid that's my age or around my age remembers. He only played four seasons of professional football before the hip injury, and eight seasons of baseball before retiring from all pro sports at the age of 32. Number two is sterling Sharpe. Sterling Sharpe played seven seasons for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL playing all 16 games every season. He made the Pro Bowl five times and had 595 career receptions before a neck injury forced him to retire at the end of the 1994 season at the age of 29. Given his overall durability, it's easy to have predicted that Sterling Sharpe could have played another five or six seasons at full power. And he likely would have ended up in the top five for receptions, yards touchdowns, but we only got left with a good size taste of what could have been one of the greatest receivers of all time. Number three is Gale Sayers who was the running back for the Chicago Bears. Sayers began his career in 1965, and he was both a running back and kick return specialist. He was very durable for his first few seasons, but a right knee injury in 1968 forced him to miss the final five games, but he played the full season in 1969 and was named comeback Player of the Year. An injury to his left knee though in the 1970 preseason kind of ended his career. He played a total of four games across his final two seasons before retiring after the 1971 season at the age of 28. He rushed for nearly 5000 yards in his career. And you could only imagine if he had four or five more seasons, how far up the all time greats rankings he would have gone. But despite having his career cut short, Gale Sayers is still the youngest person ever inducted into the Hall of Fame at the age of 34. So like I said, this could have been list some of these people were big stars. Gale Sayers is a Hall of Famer, but it's just a matter of how his career was cut short and you never know what could have been. And that leads us perfectly into number four. Tony Conigliaro. Being from New England, I am very familiar with the story of Tony Conigliaro, or Tony C, he was first called up to the Boston Red Sox in 1964, at the age of 19, and he was an immediate sensation. Over his first three full seasons he averaged 28, home runs and 76 RBI. During the 1967 impossible dream Red Sox season, Tony Conigliaro was hit in the face with a pitch and basically he was never the same again. He ended up playing a total of eight seasons, though he sat out all of 1968 with his injury. And after the 1971 season, he sat out three more seasons before trying to make one final comeback with the Red Sox in 1975. And after that, he retired at the age of 30. And finally, number five on the list of top five could have been athletes is Len Bias. Again, being from New England, growing up a huge Celtics fan. I knew all about who Len Bias was. He played college basketball at the University of Maryland. He was drafted by the Celtics with the second overall pick. This was right after the Celtics had won the championship. So adding one of the best college players in the world to your team, it was seen as a giant coup that was going to keep the Celtics on top of the NBA for the foreseeable like decade. Len Bias as the ultimate could have been because Celtics scouts before they drafted him compared him to Michael Jordan. There's no way to know what he could have been. But if he was even close to Michael Jordan, and then coming to join the Celtics with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish. He was in talks to sign with Reebok for endorsements. But it wasn't to be only a couple days later, Len bias was dead from heart failure from cocaine use from partying from being drafted. And that's one of those that was one of the first real shocking moments of my sports fandom, because he was so hyped, like in the future with the hype with Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, Len bias was hyped like that. And he may have never been as good as those two but you never know what if. And that's the saddest part. That wraps up the top five could have been athletes, which one of these you think had the brightest future before their careers were cut short Bo Jackson, Sterling sharpe Gale Sayers, Tony Conigliaro, or Len bias. And I'll be back next week with a brand new top five that will be just as random but hopefully a little more uplifting than this one.

 Back In the Day: South Park’s Debut

 When I was a kid in the 1980s cartoons were more innocent, I guess you would say. Sure, there were occasionally more adult themes in the older cartoons like Looney Tunes, and super violence in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. But ones I grew up watching, like He-man and Smurfs and GI Joe and transformers and Muppet Babies. They were geared towards kids and I always thought cartoons were geared towards kids. But as I got older, I realized that wasn't the case. And then in 1989, The Simpsons came along and changed everything. They became the first cartoon to be shown in prime time since the Flintstones in the 1960s. And the symptoms was groundbreaking, especially for an animated show. But nothing could prepare me for what came 25 years ago this week in history with the creation of the cartoon South Park. On August 13 1997, the very first episode of South Park debuted on Comedy Central, and as of the recording of this podcast, there have been 318 episodes of South Park. The animated series takes place in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado, and as the pretty wacky exploits of the townspeople, but in the beginning, it was mainly the kids. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and of course, Eric Cartman, who became one of the most famous/infamous characters in television history. The series was the brainchild of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and their imagination and the ideas they come up with just they still amaze me to this day. The very first episode was the anal probe episode where Cartman gets abducted by aliens. And you could tell at the beginning the animation was different. It was kind of like stop animation with these cutouts of the characters that move they even seem to have shadows on the screen. So it was unlike anything I'd seen. And the language and the subject matter were unlike anything I'd ever seen in anything animated. And it was right in my wheelhouse. I was 19 years old when South Park first came out, but I didn't see it when it debuted. And this is a funny story of how I first was introduced to South Park it was basically through the internet and clips from the first few episodes that would get online. So South Park has kind of crossed over generations. And there's no more apparent way of pointing that out. Then when I first saw South Park, they had these compilation video cassettes VHS tapes at the video store that you could go and rent. And these were simple. They were just South Park Volume One Volume Two like that. And it would have a pair of episodes of the show. In addition to interviews and these kinds of cutaway skits with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. I can remember one where they had this pet pig and they supposedly feted bacon even though you know, it wasn't real bacon, but the idea was that it was feeding a pig bacon. But it's like South Park's been around that long they had VHS compilation tapes, you could rent at the video store, which is wild. When I first saw this show, I never thought it would be on 25 years later, I thought it might be something that kind of was quirky and had a cult following for a few seasons. But eventually, the censors and parents would get to it, and it would either be severely watered down or just canceled. South Park was a trailblazer, but it also had a lot of competition. The Simpsons had already been established for probably seven seasons by the time South Park debuted. King of the Hill just came out, which was created by Mike Judge who had done Beavis and Butthead and that was a huge part of my high school years. And only a couple of years later, in 1999 Seth MacFarlane created Family Guy which was kinda like South Park also, but ramped up just a little bit more with the craziness. So South Park had to kind of keep finding ways to grow and adapt. And they've had some really controversial episodes. The Scientology one is a huge one that I remember being controversial. The one word Cartman kills his enemies parents and turns them into chili and makes them eat them. The one that was Butters very own episode. There are so many with over 300 episodes. Those are just a few that popped right into my head. The show brought a lot of phrases into the lexicon of America. The ‘Oh my God, they killed Kenny,’ which was for the first few seasons every episode, Kenny McCormick would get killed in some crazy way. But then he'd be just back at the beginning of the next episode, which in later seasons, they made it seem like he was a superhero Mysterion which was why he couldn't die. Or Cartman phrases like ‘Screw you guys, I'm going home’ or ‘respect my authority.’ I'm actually surprised they didn't get sued more with all of the famous people that they have there that they mock. Most are in good fun, but some are pretty cruel. In the first season, they had Barbra Streisand on there and she became Mecha Streisand destroying the town. I know she didn't like that. But no matter how controversial the show is or how certain groups have wanted to canceled, the show has a legacy. It's won five Emmy Awards and been nominated 20 times. And it's also been nominated for an Oscar and Academy Award in 1999. There was the movie South Park Bigger, Longer Uncut, and the song Blame Canada was nominated for Best Original Song. So South Park is an Oscar-nominated animated show. And as the years have gone by and Trey Parker and Matt Stone have aged and matured, I guess you could say the shows have gotten a little more complex, with these long overarching storylines. And these multi-part episodes like the Black Friday one, or imagination land that still have the same crude and crass humor. But it goes deeper. And South Park has attacked a lot of controversial topics over the years. And they have a lot more leeway. Based on how they produce their show, they can turn around a new episode, I believe it's in six or seven days they can go from zero to finished episode. So they seem a lot more topical than a show like The Simpsons that takes many, many weeks at least to finish a show. And although in the 25 years, I believe the kids have only aged two years from age eight to age 10. They still are allowed more diverse storylines based on them aging, whereas the Simpsons has been on for 30 something years and they're all the same age. So it gets to a point where there's only so much you can do and then more recent episodes seem to ruin the continuity of the timeline from years earlier. For those of you that like South Park, I've got great news. For those of you that hate it, I got bad news. In August 2021, Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a $900 million deal with Paramount that guaranteed at least six more seasons and 14 more movies of the South Park franchise. Now granted season 25 is only six episodes and it's really short. But you can see that this show is going to be around for a while. It's just mind blowing to me that 25 years ago this week, the show started that way back then I was 19 and renting VHS tapes that had compilations of the first episodes. And now here they are 25 seasons in streaming on HBO Max with a $900 million guaranteed contract. I love South Park still, I'm a huge fan of the show. But what about you all out there? Do you like South Park? Did you use to watch it but fall out of love? Did you start watching it later? None of my nieces and nephews were even born when the show started. So there is definitely a generation of kids that grew up knowing about South Park. It wasn't this big landmark thing that dropped in the middle of their lives. It's just always been there. But it's a nice link back to my childhood and knowing that I'll be at least 50 years old and still be having new episodes with Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan and Randy marsh and the craziness of him and the foolishness of butters. And that same crazy song The theme song by Les Claypool from Primus that really kicks the show off on the right foot. But you had 25 years ago this week, South Park made its debut changing the landscape of animated television forever. And the effects are still being felt today as the show continues into its 25th season with almost 320 episodes. So go pick your favorite South Park and head on down there and have yourself a time

 Closing

 That'll do it. That'll wrap up episode 80 of the in my footsteps podcast. As always, thank you so much to everybody who tunes in and shares the episodes, it really makes a huge difference. I love doing this. I love recording and sharing these and hearing what people think of what is shared. Because it's all stuff that I enjoy New England based travel in history and lifestyle and 80s and 90s nostalgia. So finding that a lot of you enjoy at least some of that is great because then I get excited when I find topics I think you'll enjoy. Find me all over social media, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, check out the in my footsteps podcast blog at blogger.com, visit my homepage, Christopher setterlund.com. If you ever have questions or topics you want to maybe hear about, you can always shoot me a message at Christopher setterlund at gmail.com. I'm always planning ahead when it comes to the podcasts. So typically, I have the next two podcast episodes plotted out, just so that if I get free time, I can kind of record some of them. Because this isn't really a current events podcast. Granted, sometimes it is like when I talked about the Lady of the Dunes documentary, that's more current events. But this podcast by and large is evergreen. So basically you could listen to any of the episodes at any time, and it'll be as relevant now as it was then as it will be in the future. And speaking of evergreen, next week will be episode 81 of the podcast. We're going to go back three years when Cape Cod had a series of tornadoes. And I'll tell you the story of when the tornado went right over my work literally over the building. And what kind of an experience that was. We're gonna take a road trip to New Haven, Connecticut. We're gonna go way way back in the day and look at some classic 70s and 80s PSAs. With the snippets short films, there's going to be a brand new top five that are the top five OG video game characters. These are all going to be ones from before 1990 bring back some memories. And of course, there'll be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule all coming up next week on episode 81 of the in my footsteps podcast. As I have been saying for the last several episodes, visit Kiwis Kustoms both spelled with K’s at etsy.com Homemade handcrafted accessories, fairy hats, dog and cat sweaters, Balaclavas, quartz necklaces, Kaleigh Marks, takes suggestions to requests if there are things that you see, when you go to her Etsy page or things who don't see, send her a message and she will get on that for you. She's extremely talented and honing her craft and coming up with new ideas all the time. I guess that creativity runs in the family. But check out her page at Etsy it cost nothing to look it costs nothing to just poke around and you won't be disappointed. That's Kiwis Kustoms both spelled with K’s at etsy.com. And as we get further into August, the dog days of summer getting closer to the end of the tourist season, the tourist summer season. Make sure to get outside all you can enjoy the vitamin D I know it's hot as hell and humid especially down on Cape Cod, we get that soupy air. And it's Green head fly season which I found out recently during a run on the bike trail. Nothing beats getting treated like a buffet by these insects. But enjoy it however you can. Whether that means taking this podcast with you, or just sitting in the sun on the beach on the bike trail, taking a road trip, just enjoy it because before you know it, it's going to be cold. It'll be sun setting at four o'clock, it'll be winter, time just keeps on rolling. But do stuff that you enjoy. It's good for your mental health. Like I always say if it's not hurting anyone the things that you enjoy, then just do it. And hopefully you enjoy these podcasts. And that's why you're listening right now. And I'll just keep pumping out the content here and all over social media. So thank you again to everyone for tuning in. And remember in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path and leave the biggest footprint you can because you never know what tomorrow brings. It's never guaranteed. This has been the in my footsteps podcast. I have been Christopher Setterlund and I will talk to you all again soon.