On this episode of Our American Stories, before haunted houses filled October nights, Halloween in America was a mess. In the early twentieth century, it was less about candy and costumes and more about broken fences, stolen gates, and angry neighbors. Communities were desperate for order, and their answer came from an unexpected place. Schools, churches, and civic clubs began creating haunted attractions: small events meant to channel mischief into something creative.

Author Lisa Morton, whose Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween remains a definitive account, traces how those first haunted houses grew into the elaborate haunted attractions we know today.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1846, a group of pioneers set out for California with dreams of a better life. Known as the Donner Party, they fell behind on the trail, took a disastrous shortcut, and became trapped in the Sierra Nevada as winter storms closed in. With supplies gone and snow piling up, survival came at a great cost.

Here’s their remarkable and tragic story.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Frankie Avalon became a household name before he turned twenty. With hits like “Venus” and “Why,” he dominated the Billboard charts during the golden age of American pop. But while many teen idols faded, Avalon evolved. He starred alongside Annette Funicello in a string of beach party films that captured the imagination of a generation. Decades later, he returned to the spotlight in Grease, performing “Beauty School Dropout” as Teen Angel, a moment that introduced him to millions of new fans.

Frankie Avalon reflects on his music career and how he kept performing from the 1950s through today.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, along the shores of Lake Michigan is a story stranger than fiction: a man preserved in a glass coffin. He was part of the House of David, a communal religious group whose followers built amusement parks, baseball teams, and their own legends. Visitors came from across the country to see him, but not all of them came with good intentions. Thieves once tried to steal the diamond necklace that lay inside the coffin.

For decades, the figure has fascinated locals and outsiders alike, raising questions about faith, spectacle, and how we remember the dead. Chris Siriano tells the story of America’s man in the glass coffin.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, most people know the story of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Fewer know what happened next. After flames destroyed the heart of the city and left more than 100,000 people homeless, Chicago didn’t collapse. It rebuilt faster and bigger than anyone thought possible. Businesses reopened while the rubble was still smoking. New buildings rose within months. In just a few decades, the city transformed itself into a global center of commerce, architecture, and innovation.

Chicago historian Tim Samuelson, the city’s first official cultural historian, tells the largely forgotten story of how Chicago’s location, grit, and can-do spirit made one of the greatest urban recoveries in American history possible, and how that recovery gave birth to the modern skyscraper and the Chicago we know today.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, it began with a few rare bottles and a collector who thought he’d found perfection. But what looked like the discovery of a lifetime turned out to be one of the most elaborate wine scams in modern history. Billionaire Bill Koch, known for his meticulous taste and love of authenticity, discovered that his prized collection included counterfeits, some of them forged so well that even experts were fooled. Rather than quietly move on, he poured millions into uncovering the truth.

The investigation led to Rudy Kurniawan, a charismatic con artist whose deception stunned the wine world and exposed the lengths people will go to chase prestige. Here's Bill with the story.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, before the Pink Panther ever tiptoed across a screen, Henry Mancini was a steelworker’s son from Pennsylvania with a trumpet and a dream. Music took him from Army bands during World War II to the backlots of Hollywood, where he helped shape the sound of American film. Through works like Peter Gunn and “Moon River,” Mancini turned simple themes into lasting emotions.

His late wife, Ginny Mancini, shares the story of their life together.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Dominico Canale arrived in America from Italy in 1859 and eventually settled in Memphis, Tennessee. He began with a fruit cart and built it into a thriving business, one that eventually included a whiskey bearing his name. Then Prohibition shut that part of the family business down, and Old Dominick disappeared from Memphis. The Canales kept the name and the stories, but for generations, the whiskey itself seemed destined to remain part of the past.

More than a century later, an unopened bottle of Old Dominick turned up and helped convince the family that the story wasn't finished. Master distiller Alex Castle shares how the Canales brought the brand home to Memphis, built a new distillery, and began making whiskey in the city again.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his dark tales and haunting poems, yet his imagination stretched far beyond the macabre. Behind the tragedies that shaped his life was a writer who helped define Gothic literature, pioneered detective fiction, and even ventured into early science fiction.

Chris Semtner, curator at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, reveals the wit, creativity, and depth of one of America’s most enduring literary voices.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.