In this episode, the 23rd in Danny Hurst´s Monopoly placename history series we reach Oxford Street and the nearby set of gallows that could hang 24 people at once. Danny tells you all about its famous victims and the history of some of the biggest department stores on the street and shares the story of the underground shops that are said to exist there.

He also tells you about the street´s important connections to music, including one of the UK´s most famous jazz clubs, before rounding things up by telling you about some of the street´s most famous placard people, including a man who used his placard to share his belief that eating protein caused sexual deviancy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Oxford Street was previously called Tyburn Road.
• The huge Tyburn gallows were in use for over 600 years.
• It is part of a much larger Roman Road.
• John Lewis was the first department store to open on the street.
• The street has a rich musical history, is the go-to place for protestors and was the place to go to buy fake goods.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Christmas meant, turkey, trifle, and Monopoly – fighting over the car with my sister and sulking over fines and taxes. ´

‘The end of Oxford Street is considered to be the tacky end.’

‘He was often spat at during his campaign.’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Shop for all official versions of Monopoly here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/785DC233-0A69-4DF8-98E9-4F50CC50A59E

HOST BIO

Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can.

CONTACT AND SOCIALS

https://instagram.com/dannyjhurst
facebook.com/danny.hurst.9638

https://twitter.com/dannyhurst 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-hurst-19574720

Podcast Description

"History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." James Joyce.

That was me at school as well. Ironically, I ended up becoming a historian. The Unusual Histories podcast is all about the history you don't learn at school, nor indeed anywhere else. Discover things that you didn't know that you didn't know, fascinating historical luminaries and their vices and addictions, and the other numerous sides of every story.

We start with the Monopoly Series, in which we explore how the game came to be, the real-life connection between the cheapest and most expensive properties, the history of each location, how proportionate the values were then and are today, what the hell a "community chest" is and whether free parking really does exist anywhere in London. 

If you love history; or indeed if you hate history, this is the podcast for you…