This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A Production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

Gabrielle was born in 1883 in western France.

Her childhood was destined to be a difficult one.

Her mother died when she was 12, and her father wasn't willing to look after her and her siblings.

So he left them in the care of nuns and never came back.

The nun's impact on Gabrielle would be unexpected. She hated how strict and chased they were.

She saw the glamour and the riches of nearby Paris and couldn't understand why anyone would intentionally live a life of poverty. However, the nuns did teach her the important skills she needed.

They taught her how to sew and clean. She developed a preference for a clean home and

immaculate hygiene, and these skills and traits would define her life and even lead her to

change the world. By the time Gabrielle was 20, she was living in Paris and pursuing that glamorous life.

She used her sewing skills to open up a hat shop in 1910, which immediately became a success.

Some of the local cabaret performers took to wearing her hats, making them even more popular

throughout the country. She soon began designing dresses as well.

Gabrielle's preference for immaculate hygiene led her to notice that some of her rich clients

were actually less hygienic than her. She thought many of them even smelled.

She learned more about the world of perfumes, which up until this point was still not

widely used. They had existed for millennia, but the advent of modern chemistry

...