Allusionist 2: Bosom Holder

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Today, we learn how 'bra' went from meaning a piece of French armour to something sold at Victoria's Secret.

Bra expert Lori Smith gives us a peek beneath the blouses of yore, from bra-boning to bra-burning.

Here's the first recorded appearance of the word 'brassiere', in Vogue from 23rd May 1907:

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Fancy making your own hankie bra, a la Mary Phelps Jacobs? Here's the pattern. Or the blueprints for a power station, I'm not sure.

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Here's an instructional video to help you:

Nope, not a clue.

Additional reading:

• They discovered a medieval bra, AKA 'breastbags'.

• Here's an interesting potted history of the bra, and here's a brief history of knickers that includes an illustration of a woman relieving herself into what looks like a gravyboat.

• Mary Phelps Jacobs changed her name to Caresse Crosby and went on to have an intriguing, turbulent life - patenting the first brassiere was certainly not the pinnacle of her achievements.

RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
limnology

CREDITS

• Presented and produced by Helen Zaltzman.

• Bra master Lori Smith blogs at rarelywearslipstick.com and tweets at @lipsticklori.

• Thanks to Amber Butchart and Greg Jenner.

MUSIC

• 'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick

• 'Underwear' - Magnetic Fields

• 'Underneath Your Clothes' [Instrumental] - Shakira

• 'Underwear' - Pulp

- HZ

Allusionist 1: Ban The Pun

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When it emerged I was going to make the Allusionist, I got a lot of people asking me, "Are there going to be puns in it?"

“No,” I cried! “No! I hate puns!”

This episode is about puns. 

I thought if I got them out of the way, we might never need speak of them again.

Late last year, China announced puns are to be banned across all media. Frankly, I wish I could ban them in my own family. I spoke to my brother Andy and my dad Zack about their punning which has blighted my life since 1980.

Perhaps all Zaltzmans should be tested for Witzelsucht Disease.

If you're a glutton for punishment, some brave soul has edited together nearly TWO HOURS of Andy's puns from his podcast The Bugle, which you can listen to here. Warning: high dose may prove fatal.

RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
gralloch

CREDITS

• Presented and produced by Helen Zaltzman.

• Andy Zaltzman can be found touring, on The Bugle podcast and tweeting as @zaltzcricket and @hellobuglers.

• Zack Zaltzman can be found in his studio trying out puns on his sculptures.

• Thanks to Chris Skinner.

MUSIC

• 'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick

• 'China In Your Hand' [Instrumental] - T'Pau

• 'Here' - Tindersticks

- HZ