Welcome to Calm History. I'm Harris, and this podcast is my quirky mix of education with sedation.

So go ahead, lean back, put up your feet, and settle into my time machine of tranquility.

I hope this episode distracts and relaxes your overactive brain squirrels.

If you liked my episode about the history of rubber and Charles Goodyear in Archive episode

number one, then I'm confident you're going to love this episode also.

Today, I'll take you on an immersive journey on how the sap of a rubber tree in 1910 was collected, cured, shipped, and converted

to consumer goods by factories throughout the world.

We'll begin by visiting a rubber plantation deep in the jungles of Brazil.

You'll meet the local workers and learn how they are hired, how they harvest the rubber

trees, how they dress, where they live, what they eat, how they get paid, and even what they do in the off-season.

I will also be posting some real photos on the Silk Plus message board

that were taken around 1910 of some rubber plantations, some rubber trees, and some workers as they harvested

and cured the rubber sap.

All right.

A visit to a rubber plantation.

The Journey of Rub rubber from tree to consumer.

The year is 1910, and you've joined me on a trip into the Brazilian forests.

We're walking along a small path, carefully etched into the floor of a dense jungle.

Look, this is a rubber yielding tree. I place my hand on a large tree on the edge of our path.

I can tell by your face that you are doubtful

because this tree looks like most any other tree

that you'd see in a jungle.

...