PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox
A Tragic Mystery
In 1923, Big Moe is a giant in the world of grocers in Grand Rapids. Each Thursday, the Gustatory Gallavanters (GeeGees) meet at Moe’s Queen Anne style home for dinner and foodtalk.
At exactly six, white-gloved servants begin bringing courses: steak tartare with raw egg; mandarin orange, lobster, and snow pea salad with ginger dressing; gazpacho soup with garlic croutons; braised pork loin topped with smoked chicken livers.
For dessert, cherry flambé over vanilla ice cream and Madeira sherry in the special glasses.
By 1943, every GeeGee has died or is dying of stomach cancer. It’s a tragic mystery…
[99 words]
Note: I saw the glassware at the Grand Rapids Public Museum recently. I never would have known they glowed, but one of the workers in the replica of a shop they have set up waved me over and shined a black light on them. It wowed me but also led me to look for more information about the radioactive glass, especially after the worker said, “oh, it’s perfectly harmless.”
Rochelle wrote a story this week about The Radium Girls. I just finished reading a book about them. Learn more about the book here.
Rochelle is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
ADDENDUM: After reading Linda’s and Fandango’s stories, I became curious as to what the differences (if any) were between Depression Glass and Uranium Glass. I found a fairly concise article to discusses the differences between them and also compares Carnival Glass. If you want to learn more, here is the link.
Tao Talk 
Fabulous Lisa :D awesome story!
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Thank you, Carol Anne :)
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I wonder what might be causing that
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I had never heard of radium glass, interesting.
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Interesting like the Chinese curse interesting :)
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Right?! 🙃
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:)
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So what did you discover? If it is radioactive, surely it is harmful to humans.
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“They” said radium was not only not harmful but had curative properties and they put in “health drinks” and coated everything in it back in the day. They knew it it was a bone-seeking substance that would never be removed from a body and had a half life of 1600 years iirc. Yet they purposely sabotaged anyone who would let the workers know all of that, either through paying them off or having their experts deny any harm — for decades!
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Tragic.
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That’s what I call a toxic meal even though the menu suggests all the best dishes.
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Thanks for reading and your comment, Clare.
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We were no naive about the dangers of chemicals. Now we know, but we seem not to care. (K)
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Exactly, Kerfe. I’ve been buying biodegradable trash bags for a few years and just found out that they have sandwich bags that do also. I’d bought some silicon zip-lok bags and bowl lids in quart size that work well. All of this is a drop in the bucket of what we are up against.
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It is, but we do what we can.
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Little did they b know how harmful these were
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I shudder each time I think of it. And then I rage at “the corporation.”
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Indeed, they should have researched it better
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Sadje, THEY DID. Then they purposely and willfully covered it up.
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That’s criminal 🥲
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The mystery, right? What on EARTH stands out about these, right? ;) Well done!
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Na’ama, thank you for your astute comment. My heart hurts when I think of these women and the loved ones who suffered along with them as they faded away.
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Indeed, there were those who already knew the dangers and did not convey them to the women, and that was the criminal aspect of it. The fact that people at first did not know the danger is bad enough … but the suffering of those who were not even told of the perils they were exposed to … that’s unforgivable.
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Na’ama, it was at every level of cover-up, from the bigwigs, to the plant manager, to the paint-mixing unit, to their dentists, doctors, independent (but paid off) researchers to the giant poster that laid out, detail by detail, that it was perfectly safe, to their immediate supervisors who insisted they point-dip-paint in order to get the dials just right. MAKES ME SICK and it tortured these women to a slow, lingering, relentlessly excruciatingly painful death as their loved ones stood by, helpless :(
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Exactly
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Harmless? Yeah, suuuuure! A great story, Lisa.
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Steve, thank you. I appreciate your readership and support :)
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My pleasure, I enjoy your site. 🙂
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interesting story. thanks for sharing.
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You are welcome, and thanks for reading, Plaridel.
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You were making my stomach grumble…until that last paragraph came around. Nice story! I’m gonna have to learn more about the Radium Girls. How tragic!
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Angela, the book I mention will tell you everything and probably more than you ever wanted to know about this dark chapter in America’s corporatocratic history.
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An absolutely ghastly story but a brilliant take, Lisa!
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Nancy, thanks much. Great way to describe it.
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I like the motto of a lot of businesses is to hell with safety (or the environment) if you can make a healthy profit.
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Always. There’s a special place in hell for the shot callers in them.
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Perfectly harmless as an epitaph? Good work.
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Indeed. Thanks, Rob.
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It was sounding so good, and then…!
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It’s downright haunting, Keith.
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Nicely told story. And gee, I wonder what could have possibly happened to the members… Makes you wonder today how often we are told there is nothing to worry about…
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EXACTLY, Dale. Not sure if having google have articles on everything that range from harmless to deadly either. How are we supposed to sort it out? Thanks for reading and your thoughtful comment.
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Yeah, Exactly that, too! Too much information and not all of it accurate makes it so hard to decipher.
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THEY never care as long as people buy their stuff.
Awsome story, Lisa, and there’s a lot to learn.
BTW I wanted to switch to silicon kitchen ware instead of using plastic but found, that the production is anything but environmental friendly and will not break down easily either. So I stick to wood, paper and stainless steel which at least will rust away eventually.
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Thanks for the heads-up on silicon. I thought that was a naturally occurring substance and would be best. Did not know about the polluting process to create. I just bought a box of biodegradable sandwich bags but have no idea how they were created.
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Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s always a dilemma, we don’t always know how many chemicals and energy are needed to make something we want.
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All I think of as I look at the green in the image is ghosts, specifically from Ghostbusters. 🤓
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What a mystery! The stomach cancer! Lol
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Thanks, R.M.
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Dear Lisa,
Apparently not all that glows is good. Our stories went hand in hand this week. Great photo, too. Thanks for sharing it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, indeed. Our stories and the photo gleam with disturbance together. So horrible to think the women’s bodies still set off geiger counters :( You are welcome on the photo.
Shalom,
Lisa
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A history lesson and a sad story in one. Gosh what a dreadful death. Radium glass sound terrible when you really think on it. Nicely told.
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Laurie thanks very much. Yes, it is really terrible.
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Fascinating image..thanks for the rest of the story.
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Dawn, thanks and you are very welcome.
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