-Surviving The Titanic_ History's Luckiest Woman • Puppet History.

Welcome one and all to Puppet History. Today we'll be taking an ever-winding look at yet another chapter in the heavy, heavy book we call history, while our guests ruthlessly compete for the coveted title of History Master. I am obviously your beloved host, The Professor. He won't tell us what his name is. I've tried to guess it throughout all these episodes. Wow. If you guess it, you can win my little jelly beans. Don't wanna know what that is. That's not a euphemism. Ryan Bergara, are you ready? I'm ready. Special guest Jenny Lorenzo, are you ready? What's up? Then let's crack in. You guys wanna know what you're playing for? Yes. Yeah. I mean, that's, yeah. Yeah, sure. It's the coveted cup of the History Master. Whoa. Ignore the hand. Man, I've always wanted a trophy. Let us first meet Violet Jessup, whose life would intersect with history in some pretty wild ways. Violet was born in October of 1887 in Argentina, where her parents had immigrated from Ireland. In her adolescent years, her dear old dad passed away, and after moving to London, Violet decided to help her mother support her siblings by taking up a job as a ship steward. What kind of ship we talking here? Like a cruise ship, or like a? I think generally cruise ships. She's applying to like liners, which are- Like a carnival cruise kind of thing? Yeah. I've actually never been on a cruise. Are they fun? Have you guys been on cruises? Yeah. I haven't actually. I've been around the Caribbean a couple times. If you go on like Royal Caribbean, they have like a park now on one of the damn ships. They got lazy rivers though now, I think. They have like skating rinks, and like I said, a park. All right, let's not get the professor on his lazy river team. I love lazy rivers, man. I'd love to die on a lazy river. If he doesn't end his life face down in a lazy river in Boca Raton, then he didn't live a life worth living. That's how I want to go. Just imagine me floating. We're telling a history story here, right? Oh yeah. I'm imagining this. So she wanted to be a ----, so she wanted to be a stewardess on a ship. She wanted to be a ----. She wanted to be a ---- stewardess. From the get-go, she had a rough time nailing her interviews. Don't we all? For some history points. Oh yeah. Can you guess why? A, she was considered too attractive. B, she was considered too unattractive. C, she smelled of boiled ham. All right, Ryan Bergara, what have you chosen? You don't have to say my full name. Ryan Bergara. I put C. Boiled ham emanating from someone's pores is very funny to me, especially in a small room with high stakes. Jenny, what'd you put? I chose B because the stewardess industry has always been pretty vain, especially with airlines. You have to look hot. That's not true, unfortunately. So I would assume it applies to cruise ships as well. Yeah, yeah. Well, let's find out. Yeah, he keeps doing that. He keeps passing out and then the curtains go down. It's very alarming. I don't know if he was vomiting or passing out. Oh, my jelly beans. Vomiting or passing out? Oh, my jelly beans. We got some technical difficulties back here. Everything's fine. Well, all right, we need a hand. Oh, my jelly beans. Yes, come in, sit down. I'm a crusty old sea dog. Hello, yes, I'm Violet Jessup. I'm here about the stewardess position. Are we facing each other? Yes. Yeah, okay, good. Now wait, hang on a second. You're here for the what now? The stewardess position, sir. I'd like to be of help at sea. A stewardess? A beauty such as yourself? Why, that's a line of work meant for old maids and miserly hags, scuzzy old seafolk, not unlike myself. That's very strange. This is some weird bullshit. I don't know what's going on here, but it's odd. She was too hot. So they wanted, what, ugly people working the cruise ships? I'm sorry, is that what? Is that somehow more offensive? I don't know if he was trying to put the moves on her, like, oh, you? You're far too attractive. A beauty like you shouldn't be slaving away on the poop deck. I don't know. Sorry, nobody got any history points for that one. I thought I was like, don't know enough about cruise ships, I guess. I guess so. In response, Violet and her mother put together what they called a quote, man-frightening wardrobe. And after a couple of interviews, she found herself employed by the White Star Line, a company who was looking to corner the market in transatlantic travel with the launch of three state-of-the-art luxury cruise ships. Can you guess the name of these three ships? A lot of writing from Jenny. Ryan, what'd you put? I didn't know, so I just put Bruce, Robin, and Alfred. Bruce, Robin, and Alfred. Everyone's favorite trio. Those are the names of butlers? Oh, no, that's Bruce Wayne, Robin, and then Alfred is a butler. Just what in the hell kind of answer was that? Is this a game to you, Bergara? Jenny, what'd you put? Well, I'm totally wrong, but I wanted to just- Sure. La Niña, La Pinta, and La Santa Maria. You know what? I'm gonna give you a point for that because those are real ships. So you're off to a great start. I'm so excited. This is consistent with what he's been doing. I haven't won a single damn game. You tied. And this is not an assault on you, Jenny. This guy is creating points out of thin air like he's Drew Carey on Whose Line Is It Anyway. I was about to say that. It's arbitrary. It's all arbitrary. ****, is that my phone? I think so. Ah, rest in peace. Well, the ships were the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Britannic. Heard of those? Nope. Yes. I've heard of Titanic. I was thinking Titanic, but I did not know the other two. But you knew other ships and that's worth a point. So, you know, pat yourself on the back for that. The first of these three ships, Olympic, was put to sea in 1911 to the roar of thousands of cheering spectators. And it was this magnificent beast that Violet would come to know as her seaworthy home. The workdays were long, usually over 16 hours, and the quarters were cramped. Yet Violet truly seemed to love her experiences at sea as it allowed her to travel and meet people from all walks of life, like her quirky-ass bunkmate who had a strange nickname. Go by the wall and tickle the bricks. What? She had a habit of, like, running- Wait, wait, wait. Run that back for a second. That was the whole nickname? The whole nickname is- The whole nickname, go by the wall and tickle the bricks. Go by the wall and tickle the bricks. It also sounds like something a creep would do. I mean, at that point, you just call her, like, the tickler or the brick tickler. Just try saying that after even, hey. Hey, go by the wall and tickle the bricks. Come over here and look at this. Come out of the living room, go tickle, go by the wall and tickle the bricks. Hey, it's go by the wall and tickle the bricks. This gig was different than others that Violet had done because in this one, she had to deal with a lot more Americans than usual. How did Violet find that experience? A, she found Americans surprisingly appreciative. B, she found Americans surprisingly rude. C, she was thrown overboard by William Howard Taft. What? That's next level. Ryan? I'm gonna go with the opposite of what I think actually happened. Americans are nice and lovely, option A. Okay. Jenny? Bitch went overboard. She went overboard. So did she do her- Well, let's find out what happened. Oh, that was a fast one. That was a fast wardrobe change. I'm getting better. I'm getting better. Getting better. Oh, can I help you with anything, ma'am? I love your fashionable 20th century American clothing and that you're not a reused puppet from another episode. Oh, thank you. Yes. Oh, ****. Hang on, my computer screensaver went on. Yes, if you'd be a doll and get me a cup of tea. Oh, yes, ma'am. But know that you are an individual. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. And a hot towel as well. But you are not, you hear me? You are not a cog in a wheel. Right away, ma'am. You are a strong, in some fresh linens, independent woman. And I respect you. Very good, ma'am. God damn it. Damn, America, what happened to you? I'm finally gonna win one. In her memoirs, Violet said, quote, Americans seem to recognize that you were there to make their trip more comfortable and pleasant. And often observed that the work could not always be easy to accomplish. They were like kind of, you know, demanding, but- Chill? But I feel like so many people nowadays, the ---- I've witnessed. We're all not painted with one brush, though, you know? Their shades are gray to every person. Of course, of course. You know, this was before America became back-to-back World War champs. That's true. You know, we probably got real cocky and shitty after that. That's right. The Olympic was outfitted with state-of-the-art safety measures. It had 15 bulkheads, each sealed off by watertight doors, which meant if part of the hull took any damage, it could be isolated to prevent the vessel from sinking. Unsinkable, you could call these Olympian ships. This was put to the... Stop spinning. This was put to the test on September 20th, 1911, when the Olympic accidentally collided with the British cruiser HMS Hawk. Now, it punched a big old nasty hole in the Olympic's hull, and yet the ship didn't sink. So, you know, great. After some time, Violet was offered a new opportunity by White Star, and this one, oh baby, it was juicy. Violet recalled the celebratory air as the ship pulled out of the harbor. Gently, Titanic disengaged herself from the side of the dock, and we were off on a soft April day. Who could foretell whether it would be farce, sweet comedy, or tragedy? Can you guess whether the voyage of the Titanic would be A, a farce, B, a sweet comedy, or C, a tragedy? Feels like that's kind of more like a personality test than... Oh, oh, grim. That was hilarious. I'm gonna guess you're both going tragedy on that, so I'll give you a couple of points. Doesn't mean anything. What was the point of doing that? Yeah, it was just a joke. We all know that thing sinks. Sinks like a rock, baby. It's true. On that fateful night of April 14th, 1912, Violet had settled into her bunk and was just about to turn in when a thunderous, ripping sound startled everyone on board. She heard faint murmurs in the hall and turned to her roommate, Anne, who said in a tone so calm that even Violet thought it was hilarious. Sounds as if something has happened. This is when the hull was hit by the bite. Yeah, when Titanic hit an iceberg. She recounts it in her memoirs, her roommate said that, and she just started laughing. Violet's account lines up with the tragic narrative, a pervading sense of calm and optimism, passengers sort of humoring the evacuation protocol as the grim severity of the situation slowly dawned on the collective whole. I've only known the broad strokes of what happened. Obviously, the ship sank and it was a tragedy, but I didn't know that when it was happening, people were kind of being like, oh, I gotta take my luggage out of my room, not realizing. Yeah, they were pretty confident that this wasn't gonna sink. Well, even Violet had a hard time comprehending it. It wasn't until she was already in a lifeboat, emergency rockets sparkling overhead, when she realized the actual peril she was in. Quote, looking along the length of the ship, I noticed the forward part of her was lower now, much lower. For a fraction of a second, my heart stood still, as is often the case when faith, hitherto unshaken faith, gets its first setback. Ugh, grim. She didn't realize there was a bad thing happening until she was on the lifeboat? I think even then they were like, get on the lifeboats, everything's fine, this thing's not going down, we just gotta get off of it. Because she also, when she was out on the boats, first realized that there weren't enough boats. She started doing the math, realized things were gonna get pretty bad. There was only like what, 20 boats? I don't know how many boats there were. Sorry. So Violet ended up being one of the lucky few rescued by the Carpathia. She was no doubt rattled by the whole affair and gutted by the loss of so many of her dear friends, with more than 1,500 of the 2,224 people aboard perishing. But Violet also needed to make a living. So what did our gal Violet do next? A, she went to work for rival ship line, Cunard. B, she sued the living hell out of White Star. Or C, she took a job on another White Star ship. Oh God. I really want B to be true, but. Ryan, you're going with, what are you going with? I'm going C. You're going C. Jenny? I'm going C as well. Okay. Just doesn't sound like she had the trauma to avoid it again. All right. History points for you both. Yeah. Well, she spent her time with a few other shipping companies and with the coming of World War I in 1914, she even threw her hat in the ring as a nurse with the British Red Cross. But by 1916, she was back in the employ of White Star on their third Olympian ship, Britannic. By the way, did anybody else sue White Star? You know what? I don't know. Maybe do a little research next time. I would hope so. You got any books in that satchel? Shut up. Now Britannic was meant to improve upon the Titanic in every way, including luxury and obviously safety. It featured a double skin hull, an additional watertight bulkhead to prevent it from sinking in under three hours. It also boasted private guest bathrooms and a full gymnasium. Maybe for hooping? I don't know. Pass that rock around, you know, bunny hopping through the pee patch. And one. Huh? You were right on for the first two. Bunny hopping through the- What is his jargon? He was trying to make sports references. Huh? What's a sport? Yeah. And one. Don't just say and one out of context. And one. That doesn't work. And one. Stop saying and one. Anyway, that's cool and all, but again, war happened. So this luxury ship was very quickly converted into a hospital ship, which kind of sucks for the ship, I guess. They just slapped some green paint on it and a big red cross. They gussied up the first class dining rooms into operating theaters. Bing, bang, boom. That ship's a hospital now. That's pretty sick. Operating theaters. I never got that, by the way, that they would have theater audiences for surgeons back in the day. Oh, yeah. Well, it was generally med students. That was for med students, but they also, I read, let general public come in if they wanted to. Oh, what's going on here? You're providing some facts now? I mean, somebody has to. Oh, ----. Whoa. He's having a conniption. Oh, God. He's about to take out a little pistol from that statue. All right. Now, Britannic also had a unique captain in one Charles Bartlett, who went by a very curious nickname. What was his nickname? A, Unsinkable Chuck. B, Iceberg Charlie. C, Buoyant Bartlett. Those are all ******* good. Okay, Ryan, what'd you put? I put Iceberg Charlie. You put Iceberg Charlie. I love it. Jen? I put Unsinkable Chuck. Unsinkable Chuck. It was Iceberg Charlie. Point for Ryan. I'm gonna win one today, guys. Maybe. I can feel it. I can feel it in my bones. Yeah, he was known for his ability to steer around icebergs, so. You think that was the only question they asked? Yeah. Perspective. Can you move around an iceberg? Yeah. You got it. You're hired. On the quiet Sunday morning of November 21st, 1916, the Britannic was making its way through a channel in the Mediterranean. One of her fellow nurses was a bit under the weather, so Violet, ever the pal, was fixing her up some breakfast in the ship's saloon. What happened next? A, Violet's eggs gave her severe food poisoning. B, Iceberg Charlie began choking on a piece of ham gristle. Or C, the ship struck a German mine. Sounds like a ---- show. Ryan, what'd you go with? I'm gonna go with A. I think it was a ---- show. Jenny, what you got? I'm gonna go with B, a different kind of ---- show, because she's trying to help her sick friend, and then all of a sudden, this dude's choking on a piece of ham whatever. Oh my god, if he dies, she's like an angel of death almost, everywhere she goes. That'd be spooky. The air of morning cheer was brought to a thundering halt with a dull, deafening roar. As the ship shuddered beneath their feet, Violet recalls that, quote, men dropped what they were doing and jumped over presses with agility of deer. In seconds, not a soul was to be seen, and not a sound had been uttered. It was a German mine. Oh, well. Or did she work on another ship? I would not hire this woman under any circumstance. Any ship she gets on is a death trap. A harbinger of doom. So this whole commotion contrasted starkly to her experience on the Titanic, when everyone sleepily packed up odds and ends and shuffled to the deck unhurried. But despite the frenzy, Violet felt little fear this time around, because she knew the drill. Someone's cocky. This ain't my first boat sinking. First, she checked on the sick nurse she'd been preparing breakfast for. That's very sweet of her. But she was already up and out, so great. Then she grabbed a clock, a prayer book, and a toothbrush, since she remembered desperately searching for one when she'd been rescued by the Carpathia. Tweeting out, about to sink, whoa. Sucks. See you bros later. That's exactly what would happen today. Oh ----, sinking bros, this may be it. TTYL. Once out on deck, Violet made her way to a lifeboat, and then looking overboard, saw something that really threw her for a loop. What did she see? A, the ship's propellers chopping up people in lifeboats like a Vitamix. Holy ----. B, Iceberg Charlie beating a Mediterranean tiger shark with a lifeboat oar. Or C, a genie. Okay. Okay, so C's out. This is it, a genie? All right. Ryan, what'd you put? Minced meat, baby. Option A. Sure, Jenny. Same Cs. You also put minced meat. Well, it turns out old Iceberg Charlie thought that the ship was close enough to land that it was worth gunning for it. And not realizing that lifeboats had already dropped into the water, he was accidentally revving those propellers up into an inescapable death machine. Violet could hardly look away, so points for you both there. Yeah. Quote, the propellers were having their little joke with anything in their way. Though hands were lowering boats mechanically, eyes were looking with unexpected horror at the debris and the red streaks all over the water. Jesus Christ. This lady has seen some ----, like literally. Well, unfortunately for Violet, her lifeboat was also dropping into the water. And as soon as it did, it was also slowly pulled in by the propeller's current. Everyone else in the lifeboat jumped overboard as it was drawn in closer. And Violet had to now make a choice, because fun fact about her, she could not swim. How do you think this turns out for Violet? And I'll let you just free write this one. Oh, I hear a lot of writing. And I see a lot of writing with my functioning eyes. Doubtful. All right, Ryan, what do you got? I think she stayed on the boat. Sure. And she beat her chest and hummed like Matthew McConaughey. In Wolf of Wall Street? Like Wolf of Wall Street, she went, wow. Because she's a psychopath at this point. Sure, sure, sure. Jenny, what do you got? I think she just jumped into the ocean and doggy paddles her way out of this. Okay, well, let's see how this panned out. I am mortified. Whoa. Oh, lady, you gotta watch out. I'm no joke. Why must you do the things that you do? Don't blame me. Blame Iceberg Charlie. I will. F you, Iceberg Charlie. Splash, zoink, a thump, thump, thump. I have prevailed. What? Wait, what? Wait, what just happened? What was the thump, thump, thump? She went under the propeller and somehow. The physics of that situation don't make any sense. Explain. Well, poor old Violet had no choice but to jump into the sea. And for what must have felt like an eternity, she was tossed around in the disorienting torrent, but miraculously somehow survived. We're gonna give a point to Jenny for that because she called her jumping in. She said, quote, I felt myself rising. My head come into violent contact with something solid. But happily, on that part where my plentiful hair was thickest, my brain shook like a solid body in a bottle of liquid. What did she hit? She has no idea. She may have grazed the propeller. We don't really know. She has CTE for sure. Like final destination over and over again for her. Yeah, she's really nailing it. Once she finally surfaced, she opened her eyes to a bloody sea of what she described as human flotsam. Jesus Christ. That sounds disgusting. That's a shark's ******* buffet right there. So then she closed her eyes. Now she closes her eyes? Now she closes her eyes because she could actually. She's like, ew, look at these bodies. And now she's actually swimming in it. She would soon be scooped up by a rescue boat and given a cup of hot cocoa that she drank while sitting next to a surprisingly cheery man whose arm was hanging off by a piece of skin. It would be revealed that the Britannic crossed paths with a floating mine laid by a German U-boat, which damaged the hull to such a degree that the ship sank in 55 minutes flat. That's even faster than the Titanic. But even so, due to less hazardous weather conditions and increased safety precautions, only 30 people lost their lives in the incident. Only 30. So White Star is stock at this point. They're not doing great. Business ain't booming. Oh my God. It was in that moment. To bring this story to a close, one last question. All righty. After all this bad luck, how do you think things turned out for Violet in the end? A, she was killed in a rollercoaster collapse on Coney Island. B, she was bitten by a rattlesnake while picnicking in Argentina. Or C, she lived well into her 80s and died a peaceful death. Ryan, what do you got? I'm gonna go with C. She lived well into her 80s and died a peaceful death? Sounds like the writing of an old woman laying in bed. The fact that this woman, the Titanic was a subplot in her life. Pretty interesting life. Jenny, what do you got? I also chose C. You've also got C. Violet, or Miss Unsinkable, as she was occasionally called, continued in the employ of White Star and various other lines for many years to follow and lived until the ripe, bold age of 83. That's nuts. I just, the luck of some people. I would encourage everyone to read her book because she, I mean, she's a great writer. She wrote a whole memoir of her life. There's a lot of details in there we didn't even cover. She had like a torrid love affair. Oh, ----. On one of the boats. She had a run-in with an alligator. Every one of these stories would be the craziest thing that happened to any human. True, yes. And it happened to all of her. Oh, my God. A collection of tall tales. Exhausting. Quite the resume. Well, that concludes our history lesson. I'm going to go tally up the scores to see who receives the coveted cup and title of History Master. While I do that, please enjoy this special performance from a very special guest, the propeller who chopped up all the lifeboats during the sinking of the Britannic. I get worried. Oh, hey, everybody. Well, I got a little song to sing. I hope you're ready. You remember me? I'm the propeller from earlier. I totally, I do. I remember you very well. I wasn't sure. I didn't realize you had two teeth. Huh? He has two little **** teeth. Here we go. ♪ Human flotsam, flotsam, in two words, in two words ♪ ♪ That you likely like to see, likely like to see ♪ ♪ Oh, what a sneaky German U-boat left a nasty little present ♪ ♪ For the old Britannic and me ♪ ♪ Well, I'm a propeller, I ain't a violent feller ♪ ♪ Dropping people up ain't my scene ♪ ♪ But then a iceberg charlie put the pedal to the metal ♪ ♪ Well, I chop, chop, chop and I scream, scream, scream ♪ ♪ My body's floating in the sea, I said ♪ ♪ I chop, chop, chop and I scream, scream, scream ♪ ♪ Hot, there's black get all over me, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh ♪ ♪ I'm a propeller, an awfully sorry fella ♪ ♪ And all I ever wanted was a life of luxury ♪ But World War I, it ruined my fun, my life is misery. Doesn't seem right. Wow, what a singer. Stop complimenting yourself in the third person. No, the propeller wrote that, I mean, that was his song. Like, my brain right now is thinking, like, those people that were watching the folks getting chopped up by this propeller, someone stopped them and said, hey, one day. You know what, honestly, if any of them were still around, or relatives or anything, this is probably very therapeutic for them. That was really good. OK, so we got a funny score situation here. I didn't plan for this, but we got ourselves another tie. So that means. No, we do. That is impossible. So that means we got ourselves a tiebreaker. And this is up to me here. This is up to me. Oh, like everything else, was it? So if you were to launch your own luxury cruise ship, what would you name it? Oh, my god. Take your time. God, that song was good. Very funny. You know, I come on these little tails with you, I get invested. Good. I feel like I'm trying my best. Yeah, you do. I feel like every time, you take the floor out from under me. You've tied once. Well, the other two, I feel like they were arbitrary points given, but it's neither here nor there. No, it's here. I mean, we could go to the tape. It's here and there. I'm going to rip that little satchel off you. That's what I'm going to do. I'll kill you. All right. What do you got, Jenny? This is so ******* Cuban. The S.S. Colala. Ooh. That is pretty good. A colala is Cuban coffee, and it's like cocaine. Ooh, I love coffee. So it just makes you go, go, go. I love that. I got to try that. I just called mine buoy baby. You called it buoy baby. Hop aboard the buoy baby. Hey, welcome to buoy baby. Buoy baby liners. You know what? It's a tough call, but I'm going to have to give to Jenny. Hey. What? Jenny, come on over here and claim your prize. You are the history master. I can't believe he gave it. Wow. Step aside. Take your giant trophy. Well, at least you're taking it with grace, Jenny. All yours. Thank you. I'd like to thank the Academy and my abuela. Normally, they're full of jelly beans, but I spilled them. Jenny Lorenzo, thank you for coming here, for being on this episode with us. And thank you for watching Puppet History. We'll see you next time.