Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart 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 the century to the 1940s, summer in New York meant one thing. It was time for a trip to Coney Island. You might rub shoulders with

well-heeled Upper East Siders and working-class Brooklynites as you wander through the

park searching for summer fun. You could swim in the bay or brave the wooden roller coasters or you could wander the boardwalk.

And there, barkers called from every direction, urging you to come into their tent.

Did you want to see a four-legged woman?

Or how about a boy with a face like a dog?

But nestled among the strong men and sword swallowers

was a completely different kind of attraction. a small awning filled with even smaller

glass boxes and inside the tiniest babies you had ever seen.

Because from 1903 to 1943 the best place to care for your premature

baby was Dr. Martin Cooney's child hatchery on the Coney Island boardwalk.

At the turn of the century the odds for a baby born early weren't great.

Hospitals didn't have the advanced medical technology that helps premature infants

both survive and thrive. Even if they did, however however many wouldn't have used it

Unfortunately the attitude at the time was that premature babies were weak and not meant to live if they survive their early birth great but if they didn't then it just wasn't meant to be.

Either way, most hospitals wouldn't waste valuable time and resources on them.

While this cruel take on survival of the fittest was common in the medical field, it wasn't the rule.

In the 1870s, several doctors had been inspired by the incubators used to hatch chickens and were

trying to perfect aversion for human babies.

...