An Old Timey Podcast

• 54: JC Penney Was a Hustler! (Part 2)

  Say what you will about James Cash Penney Jr. Just don’t say he didn’t work his booty off. After he left his hometown, James tried desperately to succeed as a businessman. He found work as a sales person. He bought a struggling butcher shop/bakery. With each effort came failure. Then he discovered a new kind of business. It was called the Golden Rule Dry Goods Store. The store featured low-priced goods in a clean environment. The store owners treated their customers with respect. James went to the store, hoping to be hired. He knew that if he could get his foot in the door, he’d one day find success. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Currey, Mary Elizabeth. Creating an American Institution: The Merchandising Genius of J.C. Penney. Dissertations-G, 1993. Kruger, David Delbert. J.C. Penney: The Man, the Store, and American Agriculture. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. Penney, James Cash. Fifty Years with the Golden Rule. Harper and Brothers, 1950. 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.

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• 53: Is JCPenney the Best Department Store? (Part 1)

  Normie C starts this series with a bold claim: That JCPenney is the best department store ever. This raises a lot of questions. Questions like… Really? Has Norm been to other department stores? Also, really?? In Part 1, Norm loads us up with all the context we’ll ever need about James Cash Penney Jr. A poor farm boy from Missouri, Penney would eventually create a chain of department stores with more than 2,000 locations worldwide. (If you’re able, please listen to this episode while wearing your finest St. John's Bay polo.) Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Currey, Mary Elizabeth. Creating an American Institution: The Merchandising Genius of J.C. Penney. Dissertations-G, 1993. Kruger, David Delbert. J.C. Penney: The Man, the Store, and American Agriculture. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. Penney, James Cash. Fifty Years with the Golden Rule. Harper and Brothers, 1950. 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.

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• 52: The Creator of Mother's Day Tried to Destroy it

  Mother’s Day. When Anna Jarvis founded the holiday, she envisioned it as a day for everyone to honor and thank their mothers. She worked tirelessly to promote the holiday. She hoped it would be celebrated around the globe. But after a few years, Anna noticed that Mother’s Day was becoming… commercialized. Anna was incensed. She went to war against florists, greeting card makers and anyone else who might make a profit on Mother’s Day. Her anger even spilled over onto charities that used the holiday to help fundraise for mothers in need. By the end of her life, Anna Jarvis figured that if she could bring Mother’s Day into this world, she could also be the one to end it. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from: “The mother of mother’s day,” by Daniel Mark Epstein for The Philadelphia Inquirer “The founder of mother’s day mostly cared about her own mother,” by Nina Martin for Mother Jones “Anna Jarvis: The woman who regretted creating mother’s day,” by Vibeke Venema for the BBC “Battling the Mother’s Day monster,” The Ottawa Citizen “Why Mother’s Day founder Anna Jarvis later fought to have the holiday abolished,” by Jonathan Mulinix for Mental Floss “How the founder of Mother’s Day died alone, childless and penniless in an insane asylum,” by Laura T. Coffey for Today.com “Who made America?” for PBS.org 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.

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  1:34:05
• 51: America Can’t Figure Out Daylight Saving Time (Part 2)

  In his final episode on Daylight Saving Time, Norm tells us that America has flip flopped on Daylight Saving Time for decades. We love it! We hate it! We implement it; we rescind it. Will the battle ever end? Probably not! Will Norm survive the disease known as the flu? We sure hope so! Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Austermuhle, Martin. “A History Of D.C.’s Bizarre Daylight Saving Mishaps.” DCist (blog), n.d. https://dcist.com/story/19/03/11/a-history-of-d-c-s-bizarre-daylight-saving-mishaps/. Duster, Chandelis. “Trump Urges Congress to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent.” NPR, April 12, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/12/nx-s1-5363208/trump-daylight-saving-time. Preprau, David. Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. Basic Books, 2006. “Vietnam Lotteries : Selective Service System,” n.d. https://www.sss.gov/history-and-records/vietnam-lotteries/. 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.

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  1:35:02
• 50: Hello, Sunshine: Why We Have Daylight Saving Time (Part 1)

  “OMG, the sun is up! Shouldn’t you be awake, doing productive things?” … that’s essentially what Benjamin Franklin shouted when he advocated to change the hours of human activity to take advantage of daylight. That idea later evolved into Daylight Saving Time. Since its inception, Daylight Saving Time has had its fans and critics. In this series, Norm refers to the critics as Sun Cynics. The fans? Sun Sluts. Where will you land? Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Byrne, Kerry. “Meet the American Who Created Time Zones, Charles F. Dowd, Schoolmaster Set Clock for Mankind.” Fox News, December 17, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/meet-american-created-time-zones-charles-f-dowd-schoolmaster-managed-clock-mankind. “Full Text - Daylight Saving Time - William Willett’s Pamphlet,” n.d. https://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/willett.html. Preprau, David. Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. Basic Books, 2006. “The Builder Who Changed How the World Keeps Time,” March 11, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160310-the-builder-who-changed-how-the-world-keeps-time. “Time Balls: The Rise and Fall of a Timekeeping Icon.” September 19, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-58559814. “What Is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) - and Why Does It Matter? | Royal Museums Greenwich,” n.d. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/greenwich-mean-time-gmt. 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.

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  1:23:20

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