The Mayor Of Tiny Town vs Australia's Shiftiest Showman – Part One

The Mayor Of Tiny Town vs Australia's Shiftiest Showman – Part One

From a digitised formerly secret Australian military intelligence file comes one of Forgotten Australia’s strangest stories.

In 1911-1912, from Sydney to Brisbane, Perth to Melbourne, and all points in between, Australia was enthralled by the little people entertainment troupe known as Tiny Town.

Everyone was especially fond its undisputed star, 'The Mayor of Tiny Town', aka 'The Turkish Tom Thumb', the incomparable small-man performer Hayati Hassid.

Yet how did this beloved celebrity - who also acted as editor of 'The Tiny Town Times' - become designated an enemy alien after the Great War broke out?

What did this dark twist have to do with showman and self-professed father of Australian aviation Frederick Hooper Jones?

And just where do genocidal Turkish sultan Abdul The Damned, legendary escapologist Harry Houdini and Aussie rock band The Angels fit into this picture?

Join me for a four-part deep dive that takes us from the harems of the dying Ottoman Empire to the roller-skating-mad London vaudeville scene, from a forgotten antipodean box office blockbuster to the controversial very earliest days of Australia aviation.

You won't believe your ears.


Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


My new book Hanging Ned Kelly is out now and will make a cracker of a Christmas present.

You can read a free excerpt here - and get 26% off the RRP: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(317)

The Murderous Mrs Mitchell – Part Two

The Murderous Mrs Mitchell – Part Two

In 1923 Nurse Hannah Mitchell faced trial, charged with the murder of Bertha Coughlan and the attempted murder of her ex-husband Frank Bonfiglio. The evidence was sensational, as were the verdicts. Fo...

11 Mar 201935min

The Murderous Mrs Mitchell — Part One

The Murderous Mrs Mitchell — Part One

She dropped a headless torso into the Yarra River and shot her ex-husband full of holes — and these were just two of the horrific crimes alleged against Nurse Hannah Mitchell in the 1920s. The full st...

11 Mar 201947min

The Bathurst Rebellion

The Bathurst Rebellion

While many bushrangers are celebrated as rebel leaders, the one man who might really fit the bill—Ralph Entwistle, leader of the Ribbon Boys—is all but unknown. It was his naked swim that led to Austr...

19 Feb 201940min

Australia’s Killer Politician

Australia’s Killer Politician

Elected to state and federal parliament, Thomas Ley’s career in 1920s politics was marked by hypocrisy, corruption, ruthless manipulation and the lingering suspicion that he may have killed his rivals...

13 Feb 201935min

The Tantanoola Tiger

The Tantanoola Tiger

Australians are no strangers to big cat stories, but only one mystery resulted in the capture of not one but two monsters. In the early 1890s, witnesses claimed to have seen a tiger in the Tantanoola ...

23 Jan 201933min

The Parramatta River Murders

The Parramatta River Murders

In March 1872 Australians were shocked by one of the most cold-blooded murders the colonies had ever seen. The nightmare began with the discovery of a badly decomposed body that had been weighed down ...

16 Jan 201941min

Australia’s Titanic Hero: Part Two

Australia’s Titanic Hero: Part Two

With Titanic sinking in the early hours of 15 April 1912, boatswain Albert Nichols has to muster his men and make ready the lifeboats. Around 1am, it’s claimed, he was given a dangerous mission that, ...

9 Jan 201934min

Australia’s Titanic Hero: Part One

Australia’s Titanic Hero: Part One

Albert Nichols was born in 1864 on remote Lord Howe Island. After a public scandal that saw him pitted against his parents, Albert fled to Sydney before working his way to London as a seaman. There he...

9 Jan 201933min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
henrettelsespodden
rss-historiske-romanser
historier-som-endret-norge
rss-katastrofe
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
sektledere
historier-som-endret-verden
aftenposten-historie
rss-benadet
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-gamle-greier
vare-historier
sannhet-eller-konspirasjon
historiepodden-ww2
rss-historiepodden-ww2
rss-alt-var-bedre-for
historiepodden
med-egne-oyne