Milwaukee to Chicago

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0:00:02 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America

0:00:07 > 0:00:09with my reliable Appleton's guide.

0:00:12 > 0:00:14Published in the late 19th century,

0:00:14 > 0:00:18my Appleton's General Guide to North America will direct me

0:00:18 > 0:00:21to all that's novel, beautiful,

0:00:21 > 0:00:26memorable and striking in the United States.

0:00:26 > 0:00:28THEY SHOUT

0:00:28 > 0:00:30As I journey across this vast continent,

0:00:30 > 0:00:35I'll discover how pioneers and cowboys conquered the West

0:00:35 > 0:00:39and how the railroads tied this nation together,

0:00:39 > 0:00:42helping to create the global superstate of today.

0:01:12 > 0:01:14My rail journey across America's Midwest

0:01:14 > 0:01:16has brought me to Lake Michigan.

0:01:16 > 0:01:18At the time of my Appleton's guide,

0:01:18 > 0:01:23the United States was at the forefront of a global second Industrial Revolution

0:01:23 > 0:01:28featuring steel, chemicals and heavy engineering.

0:01:28 > 0:01:32Railroads and steamships tied the markets of the world together.

0:01:32 > 0:01:34The cities of the Great Lakes

0:01:34 > 0:01:37supplied the ingredients for success -

0:01:37 > 0:01:41a transport hub, innovation and manual labour.

0:01:47 > 0:01:51I started my journey in Minnesota, in the Twin Cities, and travelled

0:01:51 > 0:01:53alongside the Mississippi River

0:01:53 > 0:01:57before crossing into Wisconsin at La Crosse.

0:01:57 > 0:02:02Now I'm bound for the shores of Lake Michigan at Milwaukee,

0:02:02 > 0:02:05from where I'll turn south to the Windy City, Chicago,

0:02:05 > 0:02:10before travelling the length of Illinois, calling at Centralia.

0:02:10 > 0:02:12I'll then rejoin the Mississippi

0:02:12 > 0:02:14before ending in Memphis, Tennessee.

0:02:16 > 0:02:19Today, I'll make my way to explore Wisconsin's largest city -

0:02:19 > 0:02:21Milwaukee.

0:02:21 > 0:02:25From there, I'll head south, stopping at Racine,

0:02:25 > 0:02:29before arriving in this nation's railway hub - Chicago.

0:02:29 > 0:02:34On my travels, I taste the freedom of the American open road...

0:02:34 > 0:02:36- Ready to ride?- I'm ready to ride.

0:02:40 > 0:02:43..strike out in America's national game...

0:02:43 > 0:02:46Here we go! You're looking like a natural already!

0:02:47 > 0:02:49I make a few announcements...

0:02:49 > 0:02:52258, your train's never late.

0:02:52 > 0:02:56258, your train's never late.

0:02:56 > 0:02:58And I'm blown away by the Windy City.

0:02:58 > 0:03:00Chicago at sunset.

0:03:00 > 0:03:04Surely one of the world's most stunning cities.

0:03:13 > 0:03:15By the time of my Appleton's,

0:03:15 > 0:03:20the railways had already helped to establish communities in the Midwest.

0:03:20 > 0:03:24Now these communities were transforming America.

0:03:24 > 0:03:28My first stop will be Milwaukee, which Appleton's tells me

0:03:28 > 0:03:31is the commercial capital of Wisconsin and next to Chicago,

0:03:31 > 0:03:33the largest city in the Northwest,

0:03:33 > 0:03:38situated on the west shore of the lake at the mouth of the Milwaukee River.

0:03:38 > 0:03:42As railroads linked up with waterways,

0:03:42 > 0:03:47technology supplied jobs for this city of motivated immigrants.

0:03:49 > 0:03:52- MAN OVER PA:- The entire crew would like to thank you all very much

0:03:52 > 0:03:53for travelling with us.

0:03:53 > 0:03:55Your final stop - downtown Milwaukee.

0:03:59 > 0:04:03The railroad first reached Milwaukee in 1851.

0:04:03 > 0:04:05I enjoyed the ride, thank you so much.

0:04:05 > 0:04:07- Thank you.- Bye-bye.- Bye.

0:04:13 > 0:04:17But my Appleton's reminds readers that this city

0:04:17 > 0:04:18is also the best harbour

0:04:18 > 0:04:21on the south or west shore of Lake Michigan,

0:04:21 > 0:04:24the third largest of America's Great Lakes.

0:04:32 > 0:04:36There is no hope of seeing across Lake Michigan

0:04:36 > 0:04:40to the opposite shore - it is far too vast.

0:04:40 > 0:04:44To Europeans like me, these Great Lakes seem like seas,

0:04:44 > 0:04:48and they are an important part of the making of America.

0:04:48 > 0:04:51These enormous bodies of water, joined together,

0:04:51 > 0:04:56enabled people and goods to travel vast distances through them in

0:04:56 > 0:04:58the days before the railroads.

0:05:09 > 0:05:12The Milwaukee that greeted the Appleton's traveller

0:05:12 > 0:05:14had a distinctive appearance.

0:05:16 > 0:05:20Apparently, "the peculiar cream colour of the Milwaukee brick gives

0:05:20 > 0:05:23"the city a unique and pretty appearance

0:05:23 > 0:05:28"and has earned for it the name the Cream City of the Lakes."

0:05:31 > 0:05:34Despite Milwaukee's genteel architecture,

0:05:34 > 0:05:38at the time of my guidebook, it was a proudly blue-collar city.

0:05:40 > 0:05:43Appleton's tells me that "manufactures here are extensive

0:05:43 > 0:05:49"and embraced pig iron, iron castings, machinery and wheels."

0:05:49 > 0:05:51Give me a pair of wheels!

0:05:57 > 0:06:00A few decades after my guidebook was published,

0:06:00 > 0:06:06Milwaukee's mechanical ingenuity gave birth to an American icon.

0:06:06 > 0:06:11The motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson was founded here

0:06:11 > 0:06:15and remains a symbol of the United States's freewheeling,

0:06:15 > 0:06:16pioneer spirit.

0:06:21 > 0:06:23- Hello, Bill.- Hello, Michael.

0:06:23 > 0:06:26- How are you? - What a wonderful machine!

0:06:26 > 0:06:27Thank you so much.

0:06:27 > 0:06:32So, you are Bill Davidson, as in Harley-Davidson.

0:06:32 > 0:06:33What's the connection?

0:06:33 > 0:06:38Well, my great-grandfather was one of the original founders of the company,

0:06:38 > 0:06:43William A Davidson was his name, and we are literally within...

0:06:43 > 0:06:47several yards of where that original factory shed was,

0:06:47 > 0:06:51and that was in the back yard of my great-great-grandparents.

0:06:51 > 0:06:55Did motorbikes exist when Harley and Davidson got going?

0:06:55 > 0:06:57Yes. There were motorcycles.

0:06:57 > 0:07:02In the late 1800s, there was actually a steam-powered motorcycle.

0:07:02 > 0:07:04Quite a contraption.

0:07:04 > 0:07:08There were a lot of different people working in this arena of

0:07:08 > 0:07:11trying to develop a motorcycle.

0:07:14 > 0:07:17Childhood friends William S Harley and Arthur Davidson

0:07:17 > 0:07:20dreamed of building a winning design.

0:07:20 > 0:07:23They enlisted the help of Arthur's older brothers,

0:07:23 > 0:07:26who had experience in Milwaukee's railroad workshops.

0:07:26 > 0:07:31And, in 1903, they rolled serial number one out of that shed.

0:07:31 > 0:07:33Given that there was so much competition,

0:07:33 > 0:07:36how did Harley and Davidson get their break, do you think?

0:07:36 > 0:07:39Very early on, they created a unique look,

0:07:39 > 0:07:42the unique sound and they created a unique feel.

0:07:42 > 0:07:45You know, it's a magnet, it pulls you in.

0:07:45 > 0:07:48When you see a Harley, people actually say,

0:07:48 > 0:07:49even if they don't ride,

0:07:49 > 0:07:52they will say, "Nice Harley!"

0:07:52 > 0:07:55I wonder if it's something to do with the shape of your continent.

0:07:55 > 0:07:57It is vast.

0:07:57 > 0:08:00Is that part of it? It's the invitation to the Easy Rider.

0:08:02 > 0:08:05You know, it might be that Wild West feeling,

0:08:05 > 0:08:07that little bit of rebel in all of us, right?

0:08:07 > 0:08:09Bill, happy riding to you.

0:08:09 > 0:08:11Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

0:08:15 > 0:08:19Today, there are plenty of magnificent machines on display

0:08:19 > 0:08:23at one of Milwaukee's regular biker gatherings.

0:08:32 > 0:08:36- Hello, ma'am.- Hi, sir.- Would you mind switching on the engine for me?

0:08:36 > 0:08:38Let me hear the sound of your bike.

0:08:40 > 0:08:42ENGINE TURNS ON

0:08:44 > 0:08:46I can't hear it!

0:08:46 > 0:08:47ENGINE ROARS

0:08:49 > 0:08:50I heard it.

0:08:50 > 0:08:52Thank you very much.

0:08:53 > 0:08:55Where do you ride your bike to?

0:08:55 > 0:08:58Actually, I came from Saudi Arabia.

0:08:58 > 0:09:00- No!- Yeah.

0:09:00 > 0:09:03Do you feel a companionship with other Harley riders?

0:09:03 > 0:09:05- Yeah, sure.- Why?

0:09:06 > 0:09:11Because we are a biker relationship between ourselves.

0:09:11 > 0:09:14Biker is always brotherhood, you can't buy it.

0:09:14 > 0:09:18- Enjoy your biking.- Thank you.

0:09:18 > 0:09:21- Hey! I love them pants you've got on!- Oh!

0:09:21 > 0:09:23You're so sweet.

0:09:23 > 0:09:24How nice to see you.

0:09:24 > 0:09:27I'd get away with those pants. I like that.

0:09:27 > 0:09:30- And who's this you've got on the back here?- This is my mini me.

0:09:30 > 0:09:34- Your mini me?- Yeah, she has travelled the 48 states with me.

0:09:34 > 0:09:37- You've been through 48 states? - In 27 days.

0:09:37 > 0:09:41- So, tell me, what's it all about? - You feel free.

0:09:41 > 0:09:44It is like a therapy for me.

0:09:44 > 0:09:48The moment I got on the bike, it was like, whoa!

0:09:48 > 0:09:49You know?

0:09:49 > 0:09:52It's just... It's therapeutic, truly.

0:09:52 > 0:09:55Have...? Do you ride motorcycles? I can ride you here.

0:09:55 > 0:09:59- You could?- I could. So, you know what it is to ride on this seat?

0:09:59 > 0:10:01Do you know what it's called?

0:10:01 > 0:10:05- Pillion?- No, it's called riding bitch.

0:10:05 > 0:10:08So, you'll be riding as my bitch!

0:10:09 > 0:10:11It's a privilege.

0:10:11 > 0:10:15That's right, it's definitely a privilege!

0:10:15 > 0:10:18You'll be pleased to hear that I don't have to leather up.

0:10:18 > 0:10:20- Ready to ride? - I'm ready to ride.- OK.

0:10:47 > 0:10:51I have joined a brotherhood and a sisterhood of people

0:10:51 > 0:10:53linked by their choice of motorbike.

0:11:07 > 0:11:09Back in 1879,

0:11:09 > 0:11:13Milwaukee was one of the powerhouses of America's Industrial Revolution.

0:11:14 > 0:11:19It was the plentiful immigrant workforce that enabled the United States

0:11:19 > 0:11:22to lead the world in manufacturing.

0:11:22 > 0:11:24As my guidebook tells me,

0:11:24 > 0:11:29"Milwaukee's population growth has been very rapid," and,

0:11:29 > 0:11:33in this downtown district, there is evidence of one group of newcomers.

0:11:34 > 0:11:39Appleton's tells me that "Germans constitute nearly half the population."

0:11:39 > 0:11:43Their influence is everywhere - breweries, beer saloons, gast haus,

0:11:43 > 0:11:45music halls and restaurants.

0:11:45 > 0:11:49One hears German spoken as often as English,

0:11:49 > 0:11:51but what ideas did they bring?

0:11:52 > 0:11:55I'm making my way to Turner Hall,

0:11:55 > 0:12:00which was a focal point for Milwaukee's 19th-century German community.

0:12:00 > 0:12:02History professor Aims McGuinness

0:12:02 > 0:12:05has been a so-called Turner for eight years.

0:12:05 > 0:12:08It's great to be here. It's an...intriguingly historic building.

0:12:08 > 0:12:10I mean, for example, what's that?

0:12:10 > 0:12:14This is a monument to members of the Turners who died fighting for

0:12:14 > 0:12:17the union during the Civil War in the United States.

0:12:17 > 0:12:21The centrepiece of this beautiful building is its imposing ballroom.

0:12:24 > 0:12:29Aims, there is a wonderful faded grandeur to the hall.

0:12:29 > 0:12:31What have been its uses over the years?

0:12:31 > 0:12:34This was a place to have political debates, to read books,

0:12:34 > 0:12:38to listen to a lecture, to listen to Beethoven

0:12:38 > 0:12:42and also to hoist a beer and to build your muscular strength.

0:12:42 > 0:12:46All those things went together for the Turners and, for us, they still do.

0:12:46 > 0:12:47What was the origin of the Turners?

0:12:47 > 0:12:49The Turners originated in Prussia,

0:12:49 > 0:12:51in what's now Germany, in the early 1800s.

0:12:51 > 0:12:53The founding principles were

0:12:53 > 0:12:55the notions of a sound mind and sound body.

0:12:55 > 0:12:57Founder Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

0:12:57 > 0:13:01named his movement after the physical exercises

0:13:01 > 0:13:03he devised that he called Turnen.

0:13:03 > 0:13:07Today, this word still means gymnastics in German,

0:13:07 > 0:13:10but Turnerism went far beyond sport.

0:13:10 > 0:13:12In order to become a Turner,

0:13:12 > 0:13:14one must commit oneself to the cause of liberty

0:13:14 > 0:13:16and to oppose tyranny in all its forms.

0:13:16 > 0:13:18In Europe, the principal form of tyranny

0:13:18 > 0:13:21to which they imposed themselves was monarchy.

0:13:21 > 0:13:23When they came to the United States,

0:13:23 > 0:13:27it was the institution of slavery that they opposed.

0:13:27 > 0:13:29Many Turners fled Prussia for America

0:13:29 > 0:13:34after participating in a failed revolution in 1848.

0:13:34 > 0:13:38Soon, Turners defended their new nation's founding principle

0:13:38 > 0:13:42of liberty with their lives, marching into battle

0:13:42 > 0:13:45with the Union Army in the American Civil War.

0:13:45 > 0:13:48Do you think then that the Civil War monument that we just saw

0:13:48 > 0:13:51had a real significance in demonstrating their patriotism?

0:13:51 > 0:13:53Oh, I think absolutely.

0:13:53 > 0:13:57In some ways, a monument created in the early 20th century in German

0:13:57 > 0:14:01commemorating people who had sacrificed their lives for freedom

0:14:01 > 0:14:04in the United States wasn't so much a provocation, and the message is,

0:14:04 > 0:14:08"Look, one does not need to speak English at all times in order to be a patriotic American,

0:14:08 > 0:14:11"one can speak German as well."

0:14:11 > 0:14:14And who will tell these people that they are not fully patriotic?

0:14:14 > 0:14:17They've sacrificed their lives for the nation.

0:14:19 > 0:14:22German influence on the modern United States

0:14:22 > 0:14:25was suppressed during two world wars,

0:14:25 > 0:14:30but the principle of sound body, sound mind lives on here.

0:14:30 > 0:14:33Stretch your legs as far as you can.

0:14:33 > 0:14:34Try and reach your ankles.

0:14:34 > 0:14:36What?!

0:14:38 > 0:14:41- How do you do that? - Well, I'm a woman.

0:14:41 > 0:14:44I can only hope that my tight hamstrings

0:14:44 > 0:14:47aren't a sign of an inflexible intellect

0:14:47 > 0:14:50as I join the weekly Ladies Auxiliary exercise class

0:14:50 > 0:14:52under the guidance of Nora.

0:14:56 > 0:14:58Arms over your head.

0:15:00 > 0:15:02Up.

0:15:02 > 0:15:04MICHAEL GROANS

0:15:04 > 0:15:06Try to keep your elbows straight.

0:15:06 > 0:15:09MICHAEL GROANS

0:15:09 > 0:15:11Bend...and down.

0:15:11 > 0:15:14These ladies are giving me an enormous work-out.

0:15:16 > 0:15:20OK. Now get up any way you can.

0:15:22 > 0:15:23Whoo!

0:15:35 > 0:15:40In the 1880s, Milwaukee was known as the nation's watering hole.

0:15:40 > 0:15:43German immigrants brought with them a taste for beer

0:15:43 > 0:15:48and my Appleton's tells me "the breweries are large and numerous."

0:15:48 > 0:15:54Pints of Pilsner were the perfect accompaniment to another German gift to Milwaukee - bowling.

0:15:56 > 0:15:59I'm calling in at Holler House bowling alley,

0:15:59 > 0:16:01one of the oldest in the country,

0:16:01 > 0:16:06run for the past 62 years by the redoubtable Marcy.

0:16:06 > 0:16:08- Hello!- Hi.

0:16:08 > 0:16:10Marcy, do you serve beer here?

0:16:10 > 0:16:11- Do I serve beer?- Yeah.

0:16:11 > 0:16:14- Well, what the hell do you think I'm here for?- Exactly!

0:16:14 > 0:16:16Could I have a Milwaukee beer, please?

0:16:16 > 0:16:18Sure. There you go.

0:16:18 > 0:16:20- You bowl?- I used to.

0:16:20 > 0:16:24I bowled until I was 70 years old, but now I'm 90.

0:16:24 > 0:16:25- You are 90?- Yeah.

0:16:25 > 0:16:29Wow! Are you going to show me the basics of how to bowl?

0:16:29 > 0:16:32- I show you how to bowl? - Yeah, sure.- Sure, what the hell?

0:16:34 > 0:16:38American ten-pin bowling evolved from traditional European skittles.

0:16:38 > 0:16:40What kind of fingers have you got?

0:16:40 > 0:16:44- Erm...stubby ones. - This should fit you.

0:16:44 > 0:16:45- OK.- OK.

0:16:45 > 0:16:47Like that, yeah? Now what?

0:16:47 > 0:16:50Now, see that middle arrow?

0:16:50 > 0:16:52- Yeah.- Throw it towards that one.

0:16:55 > 0:16:56Do it for the team, Mike!

0:16:56 > 0:16:59CHEERS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

0:17:06 > 0:17:07Whoa!

0:17:19 > 0:17:22CHEERING

0:17:23 > 0:17:25CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:17:49 > 0:17:51Hello.

0:17:52 > 0:17:5819th-century Milwaukee might seem to have been a macho kind of place,

0:17:58 > 0:18:00but it wasn't all beer,

0:18:00 > 0:18:03bowling and bikers at the time of my Appleton's guide.

0:18:03 > 0:18:05While I'm in the city,

0:18:05 > 0:18:07I want to look into a small appliance

0:18:07 > 0:18:11that altered forever both the office and the home -

0:18:11 > 0:18:17a certain inventive Milwaukee type was key to the development.

0:18:23 > 0:18:27I've come to the Milwaukee Public Museum to track down

0:18:27 > 0:18:29the history of the typewriter.

0:18:33 > 0:18:36In street scenes that would have been familiar to an Appleton's traveller,

0:18:36 > 0:18:40I'm meeting curator Al Muchka.

0:18:40 > 0:18:42- Very good to see you. - Good to see you, too.

0:18:42 > 0:18:45Why is Milwaukee important in the development of the typewriter?

0:18:45 > 0:18:49Well, Milwaukee is important because of Christopher Latham Sholes.

0:18:49 > 0:18:53He was one of our local residents, he was an inventor, a newspaperman,

0:18:53 > 0:18:59and he was working on an addressing device for his newspapers,

0:18:59 > 0:19:03first by looking at how to transmit the action

0:19:03 > 0:19:06of the finger to a letter on the page -

0:19:06 > 0:19:08and we can take a look at that right here.

0:19:10 > 0:19:13That is an extraordinary thing because, to me,

0:19:13 > 0:19:16it resembles a piano much more than it does a typewriter.

0:19:16 > 0:19:18Well, this is one of the early models.

0:19:18 > 0:19:20We believe this is about 1868.

0:19:20 > 0:19:24The idea was that you would strike a key, like a piano,

0:19:24 > 0:19:26and it would actuate across these bars,

0:19:26 > 0:19:32which were then tied to a tower with rods and actuators

0:19:32 > 0:19:36that would actually bring the type piece up to strike the paper.

0:19:36 > 0:19:38Incredibly inventive.

0:19:38 > 0:19:42But now, this suddenly begins to look like a typewriter.

0:19:42 > 0:19:46- What is this?- This is an 1870s version of the Sholes typewriter.

0:19:46 > 0:19:49So what we have here is a refinement.

0:19:49 > 0:19:51The biggest thing here is, by this time,

0:19:51 > 0:19:53they actually developed the Qwerty keyboard

0:19:53 > 0:19:55that we are familiar with today.

0:19:55 > 0:20:00So why do we have Q-W-E-R-T-Y at the beginning of our keyboard?

0:20:00 > 0:20:03Well, it has to do with the arrangement of the rods

0:20:03 > 0:20:07and all of the little connections inside of the machine.

0:20:07 > 0:20:10If you put it in a regular alphabetic order,

0:20:10 > 0:20:14things tend to cross or letters next to each other will catch on each other.

0:20:14 > 0:20:16That is extraordinary.

0:20:16 > 0:20:19I mean, I have here, obviously, a 21st-century mobile phone,

0:20:19 > 0:20:21it has a Qwerty keyboard,

0:20:21 > 0:20:23and you're telling me that

0:20:23 > 0:20:27the origin of that was a mechanical difficulty that,

0:20:27 > 0:20:30way back in the 19th century, Sholes was trying to solve.

0:20:30 > 0:20:31That's exactly right.

0:20:31 > 0:20:35It was established in the 1870s and it lives with us today.

0:20:38 > 0:20:41Sholes' design went into mass production

0:20:41 > 0:20:45after he won the backing of the Remington company.

0:20:45 > 0:20:49The Remington No 1 went on sale in 1874.

0:20:49 > 0:20:54It became the world's first commercially successful typewriter.

0:20:54 > 0:20:59Sholes had used his daughter Lillian to demonstrate his earlier devices

0:20:59 > 0:21:04and Remington continued to market its newfangled contraptions to women.

0:21:07 > 0:21:09Al, these are...

0:21:09 > 0:21:11wonderful objects and literally beautiful.

0:21:11 > 0:21:15This is one of the original Sholes and Glidden machines.

0:21:15 > 0:21:19It's painted and decorated this way because of the Remington company.

0:21:19 > 0:21:21So the idea was that,

0:21:21 > 0:21:25if the scary typewriting machine was decorated in a similar way

0:21:25 > 0:21:29to an object that's already in your home, you'd be more apt to use it,

0:21:29 > 0:21:31especially for women.

0:21:31 > 0:21:35Their manual dexterity was considered to be superior to that of men,

0:21:35 > 0:21:37so they were really desired as typists.

0:21:37 > 0:21:40By 1888, there were 60,000 typists across America

0:21:40 > 0:21:42and most of them were women.

0:21:42 > 0:21:45Were women typists reasonably well paid?

0:21:45 > 0:21:48Your average clerk at the time was making about 9 a week.

0:21:48 > 0:21:52An experienced typist could make 20 a week.

0:21:52 > 0:21:55That was an incredible amount of money at the time.

0:21:55 > 0:21:58So the typewriter, an object that I very much take for granted,

0:21:58 > 0:22:02had a huge impact on business, a huge impact on society, too.

0:22:02 > 0:22:03That's exactly right.

0:22:04 > 0:22:09Ah! Now, that is the sort of machine that I remember being in my house

0:22:09 > 0:22:11in my childhood. What is that?

0:22:11 > 0:22:13This is my personal machine, it's a Royal Deluxe.

0:22:13 > 0:22:15It's the same model that Hemingway used.

0:22:15 > 0:22:18It's a while since I used one of these.

0:22:48 > 0:22:51Before I leave Milwaukee, I'm curious to sample one

0:22:51 > 0:22:53of its favourite treats.

0:23:11 > 0:23:14- Hello.- Hello. I'm from out-of-town.

0:23:14 > 0:23:16Can you tell me what frozen custard is, please?

0:23:16 > 0:23:20Frozen custard is like ice cream, except it is made with fresh cream

0:23:20 > 0:23:23and eggs, and we serve it fresh out of the machine everyday.

0:23:23 > 0:23:26Right. That sounds good. Now, what flavour do you recommend?

0:23:26 > 0:23:29Our most populars are butter pecan and vanilla.

0:23:29 > 0:23:32Butter pecan, ooh, yes. Let me have that one, please.

0:23:32 > 0:23:35And can I have it in one of those cones with the Stars and Stripes

0:23:35 > 0:23:38- on it?- Yes, sure. How many scoops would you like?

0:23:38 > 0:23:44- One through five?- One through five?! - Five!- Wow, maybe two?- Two.- Two.

0:23:44 > 0:23:47- OK. Anything else? - No, just that, please.- OK.

0:23:47 > 0:23:51First made in 1919 in Coney Island, New York,

0:23:51 > 0:23:54when egg yolks were added to ice cream,

0:23:54 > 0:23:58frozen custard is hugely popular in the dairy state of Wisconsin.

0:23:58 > 0:24:04And Milwaukee is the unofficial frozen custard capital of the world.

0:24:04 > 0:24:07- Wow.- Thank you, sir.- Thank you. - Thank you.- Have a good day.

0:24:10 > 0:24:12Oooh. It's melting quickly.

0:24:15 > 0:24:16Mmm!

0:24:16 > 0:24:20Wow, that is so rich. Lots of butter.

0:24:20 > 0:24:21But I love the crunchiness...

0:24:23 > 0:24:25..of the pecans.

0:24:38 > 0:24:40I'm bidding Milwaukee farewell

0:24:40 > 0:24:43and following my Appleton's 30 miles south.

0:24:56 > 0:25:01The book tells me that the tracks run along the west shore of Lake Michigan

0:25:01 > 0:25:03through a rich farming region.

0:25:04 > 0:25:08Farmers played a vital role in 19th-century urbanisation

0:25:08 > 0:25:11and industrialisation.

0:25:11 > 0:25:15I'm heading for Racine, Wisconsin, the second city of the state,

0:25:15 > 0:25:17pleasantly situated on a plateau

0:25:17 > 0:25:20projecting about five miles into the lake.

0:25:20 > 0:25:26Manufactures are the chief source of the city's prosperity.

0:25:26 > 0:25:29Today's researchers will produce a combined harvest

0:25:29 > 0:25:32of mechanisation and agriculture.

0:25:47 > 0:25:49TRAIN HORN BLARES

0:25:51 > 0:25:54I'm on the case of a man who knew how to sort

0:25:54 > 0:25:56the wheat from the chaff.

0:26:02 > 0:26:07Case IH Agriculture is now a global brand.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11Marketing manager Juliann Ulbrich knows how the story began.

0:26:12 > 0:26:14Juliann, hi.

0:26:14 > 0:26:16- Hi.- I'm Michael.

0:26:16 > 0:26:19- Nice to meet you. - What a wonderful place this is.

0:26:19 > 0:26:22What an extraordinary collection of historic artefacts.

0:26:22 > 0:26:27Now, your founder had the wonderful name Jerome Increase Case.

0:26:27 > 0:26:29- Tell me about him.- Yeah.

0:26:29 > 0:26:32So we often call him JI Case for short

0:26:32 > 0:26:36and he was actually born in New York state.

0:26:36 > 0:26:38He was a very bright young man

0:26:38 > 0:26:43and saw a lot of opportunity to make the farmers' life a lot easier.

0:26:43 > 0:26:48And so, in 1842, JI Case headed west to Wisconsin,

0:26:48 > 0:26:52the perfect place to turn his ideas into big business.

0:26:52 > 0:26:57The Midwest at that time was the big breadbasket of the United States

0:26:57 > 0:27:00and where industry meets agriculture.

0:27:00 > 0:27:05Right here, you have the Great Lakes, rail hubs,

0:27:05 > 0:27:09so that you can transport both equipment

0:27:09 > 0:27:14and the grain that you needed to feed the large population out east.

0:27:14 > 0:27:18This looks like the oldest piece in your collection. Tell me about that.

0:27:18 > 0:27:21Yeah, so this is a threshing machine from the 1860s.

0:27:21 > 0:27:26It beats the wheat to separate the straw from the grain.

0:27:26 > 0:27:29Before you had this machine, how was that process undertaken?

0:27:29 > 0:27:34You would have farmers doing this by hand with flails, beating the grain.

0:27:34 > 0:27:37This was a huge improvement.

0:27:37 > 0:27:40In the 1840s, when JI Case started the business,

0:27:40 > 0:27:44about three quarters of the American population was involved in farming.

0:27:44 > 0:27:47It was extremely labour-intensive.

0:27:47 > 0:27:51But the threshing machine and other mechanisation,

0:27:51 > 0:27:56it greatly reduced the number of people that had to be tied to the land.

0:27:56 > 0:28:01So, by the 1870s, it was only about half of the population.

0:28:01 > 0:28:05The Industrial Revolution was largely enabled by the advances in

0:28:05 > 0:28:09agriculture and mechanisation on the farms.

0:28:10 > 0:28:12At the time of my guidebook,

0:28:12 > 0:28:14JI Case's company was growing

0:28:14 > 0:28:18and diversifying into all manner of farm equipment.

0:28:19 > 0:28:23And some of their world-famous tractors are still made here

0:28:23 > 0:28:27in Racine at the rate of roughly one every 20 minutes.

0:28:28 > 0:28:33Jerome Increase Case was probably aptly named because

0:28:33 > 0:28:35the business has mushroomed,

0:28:35 > 0:28:39not only in the size of the production line,

0:28:39 > 0:28:41but in the size of the vehicles.

0:28:41 > 0:28:44Just look at these jumbo tractors!

0:28:47 > 0:28:49Plant manager Nate Burgers

0:28:49 > 0:28:54has agreed to let me test drive a brand-new, six-cylinder,

0:28:54 > 0:28:57280 horsepower tractor.

0:28:57 > 0:28:59All right, so this is the final product here,

0:28:59 > 0:29:01so let me show you how to get inside this.

0:29:01 > 0:29:03Feel free to step right up there.

0:29:04 > 0:29:07I'm in.

0:29:07 > 0:29:10- All right.- Lovely, comfortable machine, actually.

0:29:11 > 0:29:13ENGINE STARTS

0:29:13 > 0:29:15Perfect.

0:29:25 > 0:29:26And a little bit of gas.

0:29:26 > 0:29:29- Yeah.- Can I put a little bit of gas? - Go ahead, get it going.

0:29:33 > 0:29:37The latest Magnum tractor rolls off the line,

0:29:37 > 0:29:40a tribute to Jerome Increase Case.

0:30:05 > 0:30:09I'm leaving Wisconsin this morning, bound for Illinois.

0:30:09 > 0:30:13Thrilled to be on my way to one of America's greatest cities.

0:30:13 > 0:30:15Chicago.

0:30:40 > 0:30:41According to Appleton's,

0:30:41 > 0:30:46"Chicago ranks next in commercial importance to New York among

0:30:46 > 0:30:48"the cities of the United States."

0:30:48 > 0:30:52I suspect that Chicago would resent the comparison.

0:30:52 > 0:30:56In any case, its response is constant renewal.

0:30:56 > 0:31:01New buildings and attractions appear at a dizzying rate,

0:31:01 > 0:31:04and it defies any city to match its energy.

0:31:06 > 0:31:08- MAN OVER TANNOY: - Ladies and gentlemen,

0:31:08 > 0:31:10in just a moment our next stop will be our final stop -

0:31:10 > 0:31:12Union Station, downtown Chicago.

0:31:14 > 0:31:16By the time of my guidebook,

0:31:16 > 0:31:20Chicago had emerged as the Midwest's major metropolis...

0:31:20 > 0:31:23Thank you.

0:31:23 > 0:31:26..and North America's greatest railroad centre.

0:31:31 > 0:31:34Today, Chicago's Union Station is still at the heart

0:31:34 > 0:31:38the United States's passenger rail system.

0:31:44 > 0:31:48Appleton's remarks that "the Union depot in Chicago is

0:31:48 > 0:31:51"one of the largest and finest in the country."

0:31:51 > 0:31:53Even so, it wasn't big enough.

0:31:53 > 0:31:56And this extraordinary Parthenon of the railways had to be

0:31:56 > 0:31:59constructed at the beginning of the 20th century.

0:31:59 > 0:32:03What I get here, more than in any other American railway station,

0:32:03 > 0:32:06is that sense that you can travel the length and the breadth

0:32:06 > 0:32:08of the continent by train.

0:32:08 > 0:32:13There are services from here to New York, to Washington, to San Antonio

0:32:13 > 0:32:18in Texas, to Seattle in Washington state, and to Los Angeles -

0:32:18 > 0:32:22on trains called Hiawatha, Empire Builder,

0:32:22 > 0:32:25Southwest Chief and California Zephyr.

0:32:25 > 0:32:28Pure railway nostalgia.

0:32:38 > 0:32:40I feel a special excitement when I'm coming to one of

0:32:40 > 0:32:44the world's great conurbations - "my kind of town"!

0:32:52 > 0:32:54Arriving in Chicago today,

0:32:54 > 0:32:59it's impossible not to be awed by its forest of high-rise buildings.

0:32:59 > 0:33:02This city has been an architectural innovator for

0:33:02 > 0:33:05the last 130 years.

0:33:11 > 0:33:14I'm navigating the Chicago River to admire

0:33:14 > 0:33:17the city's most striking structures,

0:33:17 > 0:33:21and I am boarding with architecture expert Jen Masengarb.

0:33:21 > 0:33:23Hello.

0:33:24 > 0:33:27Looking forward to this. After you, Jen.

0:33:36 > 0:33:40The modern skyscraper was born here in 1885

0:33:40 > 0:33:44when a metal-framed, ten-storey building was completed.

0:33:44 > 0:33:46It's no longer standing,

0:33:46 > 0:33:49but there's plenty left for architecture buffs.

0:33:52 > 0:33:55I suppose the best way to see Chicago's architecture is from the water.

0:33:55 > 0:33:59It is. The Chicago River is that sort of lifeblood of the city.

0:33:59 > 0:34:02Dominating us now seems to be a lot of glass-sided towers,

0:34:02 > 0:34:04highly reflective.

0:34:04 > 0:34:06This seems to be the big fashion these days.

0:34:06 > 0:34:09Even within that, though, you can see different eras in different ways

0:34:09 > 0:34:12that the glass was treated or different materials.

0:34:12 > 0:34:13One very beautiful thing about

0:34:13 > 0:34:17the amount of glass that has been used in the last few decades

0:34:17 > 0:34:21is that so much of the city is then reflected in those buildings.

0:34:21 > 0:34:26And as you pass by, you get this kaleidoscope of the buildings,

0:34:26 > 0:34:29they are all moving as you are moving.

0:34:29 > 0:34:33Yeah. One of the earliest buildings to do that is 333 West Wacker.

0:34:33 > 0:34:35For many Chicagoans, it's their favourite.

0:34:35 > 0:34:37Isn't that beautiful?

0:34:37 > 0:34:41One of the sounds of the cities is the trains.

0:34:41 > 0:34:43And that sound echoes all along the river.

0:34:43 > 0:34:46Union Station is right behind these skyscrapers

0:34:46 > 0:34:49and what you see underneath here are the train tracks

0:34:49 > 0:34:52with skyscrapers built on top of them

0:34:52 > 0:34:55because Chicago developed something called air rights.

0:34:55 > 0:34:59That you can actually buy the air of your neighbour's property

0:34:59 > 0:35:02and build something on top of them next door.

0:35:02 > 0:35:07It seems that the city has remained a playground for architects

0:35:07 > 0:35:09to experiment, to innovate.

0:35:09 > 0:35:13Mostly the architecture we are seeing along the river is from the 20th century

0:35:13 > 0:35:17because the land along the river is precious and what happens often is

0:35:17 > 0:35:22that the buildings are demolished to build something larger and something taller.

0:35:22 > 0:35:26A skyscraper is a building designed to make the land pay.

0:35:26 > 0:35:29In the 19th century, as today,

0:35:29 > 0:35:32the high cost of land drove lofty ideas.

0:35:32 > 0:35:37The first skyscrapers were built to cope with Chicago's growing labour force

0:35:37 > 0:35:40as job-seekers piled into the city.

0:35:40 > 0:35:43Thank you for suggesting Federal Plaza because we see here

0:35:43 > 0:35:47- a range of Chicago architecture from different vintages.- Yes.

0:35:47 > 0:35:50This lovely building behind us. Tell me about that.

0:35:50 > 0:35:53This is the Marquette Building. It was designed in 1894.

0:35:53 > 0:35:55The Marquette Building is kind of the epitome,

0:35:55 > 0:35:58a classic early Chicago skyscraper.

0:35:58 > 0:36:01About 18 to 20 stories, is kind of the typical height.

0:36:01 > 0:36:02And when you look at it,

0:36:02 > 0:36:04the Marquette Building draws our eye up.

0:36:04 > 0:36:08This is a new thought. How does the building meet the sky?

0:36:08 > 0:36:09So this generation of architects,

0:36:09 > 0:36:12they were really sort of thinking about that crown.

0:36:12 > 0:36:15Some borrowing from ancient Greece and Rome,

0:36:15 > 0:36:17some stripped of that,

0:36:17 > 0:36:21some borrowing more of kind of medieval detail.

0:36:21 > 0:36:24Was Chicago a suitable place to build tall buildings?

0:36:24 > 0:36:27I think Chicago is probably the worst place to build a skyscraper

0:36:27 > 0:36:30because Chicago has incredibly poor soil.

0:36:30 > 0:36:32It's like a clay mixture almost.

0:36:32 > 0:36:36The New York Times in 1891 likened it to a jelly cake.

0:36:36 > 0:36:40And so all the attempts through the 1880s and into the 1890s

0:36:40 > 0:36:43are to try to make the walls thinner

0:36:43 > 0:36:46and make the building lighter so that it doesn't sink so much

0:36:46 > 0:36:49- into our really poor soil. - That is absolutely extraordinary.

0:36:49 > 0:36:53I mean, look at Chicago now. It's absolutely dominated by skyscrapers.

0:37:01 > 0:37:03In the late 19th century,

0:37:03 > 0:37:06Chicago's skyscrapers were impressive feats of engineering

0:37:06 > 0:37:10that expressed the city's triumph over calamity.

0:37:11 > 0:37:14Appleton's tells me that in October 1871,

0:37:14 > 0:37:21"Chicago was the scene of one of the most destructive conflagrations in history.

0:37:21 > 0:37:24"The flames swept with resistless fury.

0:37:24 > 0:37:29"The total area destroyed was nearly 3.5 square miles."

0:37:29 > 0:37:33This water tower was one of the few buildings to survive.

0:37:33 > 0:37:35My Appleton's tells me

0:37:35 > 0:37:39the fire originated in a small barn in DeKoven Street.

0:37:40 > 0:37:44Today the city's fire academy, on that same site,

0:37:44 > 0:37:47is a working memorial to the tragedy.

0:37:47 > 0:37:48Jerry.

0:37:48 > 0:37:52I am meeting Chicago firefighter Jerry Medina.

0:37:52 > 0:37:57Jerry, my Appleton's guidebook gives a description of the fire of 1871

0:37:57 > 0:37:59of total destruction.

0:37:59 > 0:38:0298,000 homeless, 17,000 buildings destroyed.

0:38:02 > 0:38:04- Is that accurate? - Yes, very accurate.

0:38:04 > 0:38:07Sadly, unfortunately, 300 people also died as a result of that fire.

0:38:07 > 0:38:10How was it possible for a fire to do so much damage, do you think?

0:38:10 > 0:38:12Basically the fire was out of control.

0:38:12 > 0:38:15Back then everything was made of wood,

0:38:15 > 0:38:17plus there was no rain for several days.

0:38:17 > 0:38:19Everything was ready to burn.

0:38:23 > 0:38:27Whirlwinds of flame, known as fire devils,

0:38:27 > 0:38:30spread the blaze and the terror ever further.

0:38:32 > 0:38:33How long did it take to put out?

0:38:33 > 0:38:35It took about three days.

0:38:35 > 0:38:37The fire actually had to burn itself out.

0:38:37 > 0:38:39The flames eventually abated,

0:38:39 > 0:38:42leaving a city smouldering with anger.

0:38:43 > 0:38:46Rumours about how the fire began flew like cinders,

0:38:46 > 0:38:50settling on Irish immigrant Catherine O'Leary.

0:38:50 > 0:38:52It was said that as she milked her cow in the barn,

0:38:52 > 0:38:54it kicked over a lantern,

0:38:54 > 0:38:59but historians have since suggested that her neighbour could have been to blame.

0:38:59 > 0:39:01As recently as about 15, 20 years ago,

0:39:01 > 0:39:04Mrs O'Leary was found to not to be the actual cause of the fire.

0:39:04 > 0:39:06Poor Mrs O'Leary.

0:39:06 > 0:39:10The fire was a very long time ago, but is it still, as it were,

0:39:10 > 0:39:12part of the culture and heritage of the city?

0:39:12 > 0:39:15You can ask a child about what happened in 1871 in Chicago?

0:39:15 > 0:39:18Right away, the first thing they will tell you -

0:39:18 > 0:39:19the Great Chicago Fire.

0:39:19 > 0:39:22So it is a huge, huge part of our history.

0:39:24 > 0:39:29Today the city is guarded by the largest fire department in the Midwest.

0:39:29 > 0:39:34Its firefighters respond to half a million emergency calls a year.

0:39:34 > 0:39:38Lieutenant Brett Snow is showing me what it takes

0:39:38 > 0:39:40to become one of Chicago's finest.

0:39:40 > 0:39:42Ready to rock and roll.

0:39:44 > 0:39:45- OK.- All right.

0:39:45 > 0:39:47Into the kneeling position.

0:39:47 > 0:39:50- Into the kneeling position. There we go.- This is kind of like...

0:39:50 > 0:39:53- using a firearm, almost, isn't it? - Yeah.- OK.

0:39:59 > 0:40:01The hose is under enormous pressure.

0:40:01 > 0:40:04I'm having to use great force just to keep it under control.

0:40:04 > 0:40:07I've got to imagine what it would be like to do this in a blaze

0:40:07 > 0:40:09or a terrible emergency,

0:40:09 > 0:40:11and think that guys from Chicago

0:40:11 > 0:40:14and all over do this every day of their lives.

0:40:14 > 0:40:16Wow! Certainly feeling the pressure, Brett,

0:40:16 > 0:40:19- it must be quite tiring, this? - Yeah, it sure is.

0:40:19 > 0:40:22If you are not holding it correctly it can really wear you out fast.

0:40:22 > 0:40:25I can see that. I'm getting tired just doing this.

0:40:25 > 0:40:26Yeah, yeah.

0:40:26 > 0:40:31And for this hose there's roughly 175 gallons in a minute coming out.

0:40:33 > 0:40:35- Let's hope that deals with the fire. - Yeah.

0:40:37 > 0:40:38- Very nice.- Thank you, Brett.

0:40:38 > 0:40:42- I tell you what, I had a great time. - Thank you.- You did great.

0:40:47 > 0:40:53No fire hose can dampen my enthusiasm for the Chicago skyline.

0:40:53 > 0:40:57To see it at its best, I'm making my way to the Willis Tower,

0:40:57 > 0:41:00still widely known by its former name - Sears Tower.

0:41:02 > 0:41:06For a generation, this was the tallest building in the world.

0:41:06 > 0:41:08- WOMAN OVER SPEAKER: - More than 24 feet per second.

0:41:08 > 0:41:10Eiffel Tower.

0:41:10 > 0:41:13The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

0:41:13 > 0:41:191,250 feet and the Empire State Building of New York.

0:41:19 > 0:41:23103 floors, 1,350 feet in one minute.

0:41:33 > 0:41:36HE LAUGHS

0:41:45 > 0:41:48Chicago at sunset.

0:41:48 > 0:41:51Surely one of the world's most stunning cities.

0:42:20 > 0:42:24One of the most iconic sights in Chicago is

0:42:24 > 0:42:26the elevated railway - or L.

0:42:26 > 0:42:28They must have saved money,

0:42:28 > 0:42:30instead of going underground they build

0:42:30 > 0:42:33the railway at first-floor level. Boy, is it noisy.

0:42:39 > 0:42:43The earliest sections of the Chicago L date back to 1892,

0:42:43 > 0:42:47making this the second-oldest metro system in the United States.

0:42:51 > 0:42:54As railroads fanned out across the United States,

0:42:54 > 0:42:57they helped to create a shared culture.

0:42:57 > 0:43:00And one pastime soon emerged as the nation's favourite.

0:43:00 > 0:43:04- MAN OVER SPEAKER:- Let's play ball.

0:43:04 > 0:43:05Baseball.

0:43:09 > 0:43:12To investigate the national game,

0:43:12 > 0:43:16I'm going to strike out to Joliet, Illinois, base myself there,

0:43:16 > 0:43:19although it's not exactly on my home run.

0:43:25 > 0:43:29Today baseball is a multibillion dollar industry.

0:43:29 > 0:43:33But around the time of my guidebook, it was in need of reform.

0:43:34 > 0:43:36At the home of the Joliet Slammers,

0:43:36 > 0:43:39I'm hearing how the modern game was born

0:43:39 > 0:43:42with baseball historian David Shiner.

0:43:42 > 0:43:46David, do you have any theory as to why in the United States

0:43:46 > 0:43:49it's baseball that takes over rather than, say, a game like cricket?

0:43:49 > 0:43:53Well, you know, Michael, it's seen as an American home-grown game

0:43:53 > 0:43:57and it's in the American psyche. It goes the deepest, historically.

0:43:57 > 0:44:01Baseball was a game that you could play with any amount of people

0:44:01 > 0:44:03at any time, on any kind of a field.

0:44:03 > 0:44:06A sport that was easily taken onto the frontier,

0:44:06 > 0:44:09you just needed a piece of wood and a ball, and there you go.

0:44:09 > 0:44:11MICHAEL CHUCKLES

0:44:11 > 0:44:14The first written rules for baseball date from the 1840s

0:44:14 > 0:44:19and the first professional club was established in 1869.

0:44:19 > 0:44:22Places like Chicago were no longer frontier towns,

0:44:22 > 0:44:24but busy industrial cities.

0:44:24 > 0:44:26As the game became professional,

0:44:26 > 0:44:29it became more of a game for immigrants,

0:44:29 > 0:44:32a game for people from all walks of life.

0:44:32 > 0:44:34Frankly, there were a lot more ruffians than gentlemen when

0:44:34 > 0:44:36the game became professional,

0:44:36 > 0:44:38and that lasted all through the 19th century.

0:44:38 > 0:44:40What could be done about the fact that

0:44:40 > 0:44:43it was becoming a bit of a rough and tumble game?

0:44:43 > 0:44:46Well, it had a lot of negative side effects.

0:44:46 > 0:44:49People being beaten up, a lot of gambling, a lot of roughness.

0:44:49 > 0:44:51So in 1876,

0:44:51 > 0:44:53the first league of clubs was founded

0:44:53 > 0:44:56and that was by a Chicago businessmen named William Hulbert.

0:44:56 > 0:44:58He started the notion that

0:44:58 > 0:45:01owners needed to pay for their clubs to be in the league,

0:45:01 > 0:45:04that there would be penalties if they didn't play their games

0:45:04 > 0:45:06in a fair way, and that the players, similarly,

0:45:06 > 0:45:09could be fined or suspended or even expelled from the game.

0:45:09 > 0:45:12And that was very controversial,

0:45:12 > 0:45:14but it led to the structure of the National League

0:45:14 > 0:45:16that still exists 140 years later,

0:45:16 > 0:45:18so I think he has to be given a lot of credit.

0:45:18 > 0:45:22On my travels in Europe, I found that cricket and soccer, football,

0:45:22 > 0:45:24were very much stimulated by the railways.

0:45:24 > 0:45:27- Was that true of baseball? - Absolutely, Michael.

0:45:27 > 0:45:30The railroads were vital to the spread of baseball.

0:45:30 > 0:45:32When you have a team having to go from Baltimore to Chicago,

0:45:32 > 0:45:35nearly 1,000 miles, the railroads are essential.

0:45:35 > 0:45:38People who played amateur ball liked to watch professionals

0:45:38 > 0:45:42so it became a spectator sport as well as a participant sport.

0:45:42 > 0:45:45In fact, by the time of the National League, often teams would

0:45:45 > 0:45:48schedule their games around when the trains arrived.

0:45:49 > 0:45:54I'm better suited to being a spectator than a participant,

0:45:54 > 0:45:56but I'm game for a go.

0:46:01 > 0:46:05- Hello, Kevin.- Hello.- I'm Michael. Sorry to interrupt you.

0:46:05 > 0:46:08- It's all right.- You're a pitcher, aren't you?- Yes, I am.

0:46:08 > 0:46:11I've never pitched in my life. Where does one start?

0:46:11 > 0:46:14Where does one start? We start at the mound.

0:46:14 > 0:46:16OK, let's go to the mound.

0:46:16 > 0:46:19This right here is called the rubber.

0:46:19 > 0:46:23So, once you toe the rubber, and you come to your set position, most

0:46:23 > 0:46:29pitchers lift their front knee to about a 90 degree angle right here.

0:46:29 > 0:46:30And then you go...

0:46:33 > 0:46:35Right.

0:46:36 > 0:46:38- Ooh. Thank you very much.- Yup.

0:46:38 > 0:46:40Fingers should just slide right in there.

0:46:45 > 0:46:47On, no, that didn't quite work.

0:46:47 > 0:46:50Need to throw it a good deal harder than that.

0:46:50 > 0:46:52Oh, God.

0:46:54 > 0:46:56Go ahead and aim for the batter, Michael...

0:47:09 > 0:47:10MICHAEL LAUGHS

0:47:10 > 0:47:13I don't think pitching is for me, somehow.

0:47:13 > 0:47:16I'm hoping for more luck stepping up to the plate with coach

0:47:16 > 0:47:18Ryan Clavenna.

0:47:18 > 0:47:19So how do I hold the bat?

0:47:19 > 0:47:21Well, you are a right-handed batter,

0:47:21 > 0:47:23so you're going to want to put your left-hand at the bottom of the bat

0:47:23 > 0:47:26and your right-hand on top of there. You want to get them close together.

0:47:26 > 0:47:29If there is any separation it is harder to swing the bat.

0:47:29 > 0:47:31You want to start with the bat on your right shoulder.

0:47:31 > 0:47:33- On my right shoulder.- And then as he's throwing the ball,

0:47:33 > 0:47:35- then you are going to start swinging.- OK.

0:47:41 > 0:47:43Oh!

0:47:45 > 0:47:47Oh! There we go.

0:47:47 > 0:47:50You're looking like a natural already.

0:47:57 > 0:48:00Enough humiliation. I'm out of here.

0:48:07 > 0:48:10After that mediocre performance,

0:48:10 > 0:48:12back in downtown Chicago,

0:48:12 > 0:48:15I was hardly expecting to see my name in lights!

0:48:20 > 0:48:25Number 99, it's time to dine. Number 98. Thank you, ma'am.

0:48:25 > 0:48:3099. 106. 108, there's no more wait, the food tastes great!

0:48:32 > 0:48:33Hello, sir. Welcome to Portillo's.

0:48:33 > 0:48:35Thank you very much. I'm on a pilgrimage.

0:48:35 > 0:48:37Portillo is my name.

0:48:37 > 0:48:40- Oh, congratulations.- Yeah, I feel I've come to my spiritual home.

0:48:40 > 0:48:43OK, good. Well, welcome. We're glad to have you.

0:48:43 > 0:48:46Tell me, what should I eat on my first occasion?

0:48:46 > 0:48:47- Italian beef sandwich. - That sounds good.

0:48:47 > 0:48:49- Yes, OK.- You can do that with peppers.

0:48:49 > 0:48:51So we have hot peppers or sweet peppers.

0:48:51 > 0:48:52- Hot peppers.- Hot peppers, OK.

0:48:52 > 0:48:55Would you like any cheese on that? Mozzarella or cheddar?

0:48:55 > 0:48:56- Mozzarella.- Mozzarella, OK.

0:48:56 > 0:48:58- Thank you.- Any French fries with that?

0:48:58 > 0:49:01- We have got fries with cheese.- No, I think that will be quite enough.

0:49:01 > 0:49:02- Thank you. Thank you very much.- OK.

0:49:02 > 0:49:05So, the founder was called Portillo?

0:49:05 > 0:49:07Yes, Dick Portillo.

0:49:07 > 0:49:09Wow! And how did he start out?

0:49:09 > 0:49:12In 1963 in a trailer, with no running water.

0:49:12 > 0:49:13How amazing.

0:49:13 > 0:49:18221, your order it out, done! 221.

0:49:18 > 0:49:22I see that when they're calling the orders, the girls are making rhymes,

0:49:22 > 0:49:24like you do in bingo in Britain.

0:49:24 > 0:49:27That's exactly what we do. Do you want to give it a shot?

0:49:27 > 0:49:28I'd love to. Thank you very much indeed.

0:49:28 > 0:49:31You are a Portillo, no problem. We'll give it a go.

0:49:33 > 0:49:36Can I get a short steak and a chocolate shake?

0:49:36 > 0:49:38258, your train's never late.

0:49:38 > 0:49:41258, your train's never late!

0:49:41 > 0:49:44256, the train to the sticks!

0:49:44 > 0:49:46Hi, how are you?

0:49:46 > 0:49:48You enjoy that now.

0:49:48 > 0:49:52247, train to heaven.

0:49:52 > 0:49:55283, in the land of the free.

0:49:56 > 0:49:58283.

0:50:05 > 0:50:07HE CHUCKLES

0:50:07 > 0:50:10Look at this understated little number.

0:50:15 > 0:50:20It's good. Italian beef in a restaurant with a Spanish name.

0:50:20 > 0:50:22It's fundamentally American.

0:50:47 > 0:50:51At the time of my Appleton's guidebook, Chicago's architects

0:50:51 > 0:50:54were not the only ones with celestial aspirations.

0:50:58 > 0:51:02Religious fervour swept mid-19th century North America.

0:51:02 > 0:51:04In the fast-growing cities,

0:51:04 > 0:51:08there were mass conversions and congregations in the thousands.

0:51:09 > 0:51:11Here in Chicago,

0:51:11 > 0:51:14this Christian evangelism was led by two men

0:51:14 > 0:51:18who played a starring role in the heavenly revival.

0:51:18 > 0:51:20The guidebook tells me that

0:51:20 > 0:51:22"the Great Tabernacle on Munro Street,

0:51:22 > 0:51:25"where Messrs Moody and Sankey held their meetings,

0:51:25 > 0:51:30"will see 10,000 persons and is used for sacred concerts

0:51:30 > 0:51:32"and other religious gatherings."

0:51:32 > 0:51:37This more modern church, even today, bears the name of Dwight Moody.

0:51:37 > 0:51:39And in the words of the psalm,

0:51:39 > 0:51:44I will "enter into his gates with thanksgiving."

0:51:44 > 0:51:48CHOIR SINGS

0:51:48 > 0:51:50# O Jesus is the rock in a weary land

0:51:50 > 0:51:53# O Jesus is the rock in a weary land

0:51:53 > 0:51:59# A shelter in the time of storm. #

0:51:59 > 0:52:02The tradition of sacred concerts is clearly alive

0:52:02 > 0:52:06and stomping at the Moody Church.

0:52:06 > 0:52:11CHOIR SINGS

0:52:13 > 0:52:18To discover how music helped to make Moody and Sankey household names,

0:52:18 > 0:52:21I'm meeting church member Daniel Favero.

0:52:21 > 0:52:25CHOIR SINGS

0:52:45 > 0:52:47Choir, that was really beautiful.

0:52:47 > 0:52:50May I say an enormous thank you to you?

0:52:50 > 0:52:52That was magnificent.

0:52:52 > 0:52:57Daniel, I have come here in pursuit of Messrs Moody and Sankey.

0:52:57 > 0:52:59Who were these gentlemen?

0:52:59 > 0:53:02On the vernacular of the day, 1880,

0:53:02 > 0:53:04they were called workers in souls.

0:53:04 > 0:53:07They were polar opposites in personality and background.

0:53:07 > 0:53:12DL Moody was uneducated, he grew up in rural western Massachusetts.

0:53:12 > 0:53:16Ira Sankey was the son of a bank president in Philadelphia.

0:53:16 > 0:53:19How did two such diverse people meet?

0:53:19 > 0:53:23They were both delegates to a YMCA meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana

0:53:23 > 0:53:26in 1870, and there was a lull in the meeting.

0:53:26 > 0:53:28DL Moody was sort of unconventional -

0:53:28 > 0:53:29he hated it when it got boring,

0:53:29 > 0:53:31and he said that suddenly a man stood up

0:53:31 > 0:53:33and started singing, and that was Ira Sankey.

0:53:33 > 0:53:36So DL Moody ran up to him afterwards and he said,

0:53:36 > 0:53:39"Come join my ministry in Chicago."

0:53:39 > 0:53:42What sort of ministry had Moody had until then, then?

0:53:42 > 0:53:45Well, he actually started as a Sunday school teacher

0:53:45 > 0:53:48in the neighbourhood of Chicago called Little Hell.

0:53:48 > 0:53:51It was a very rough neighbourhood. They called it Little Hell,

0:53:51 > 0:53:54they said, because there is nothing there but bad men and worse women.

0:53:56 > 0:53:58Moody hoped that Sankey's music

0:53:58 > 0:54:01could help him to reach into Chicago's slums.

0:54:03 > 0:54:06He believed that to save the inner-city poor,

0:54:06 > 0:54:08the message must be accessible.

0:54:10 > 0:54:13DL Moody would speak extemporaneously,

0:54:13 > 0:54:16he would relate to the audience, but he was very unorthodox.

0:54:16 > 0:54:18He would not even preach with notes.

0:54:18 > 0:54:19He said, "If I can't keep it in my head,

0:54:19 > 0:54:22"I can't expect them to keep it in their head."

0:54:22 > 0:54:25Is it fair to think of this as being the start of that

0:54:25 > 0:54:27particular brand of American evangelism

0:54:27 > 0:54:30- that's known across the world? - I think so.

0:54:30 > 0:54:35In the past, there had been large groups of evangelistic meetings, if you will,

0:54:35 > 0:54:37but it was never planned the way these were.

0:54:37 > 0:54:39You know, with a large auditorium,

0:54:39 > 0:54:42have trained people to pray with people and they walk the aisle,

0:54:42 > 0:54:45have contemporary worship music.

0:54:45 > 0:54:47All these things were innovations of DL Moody.

0:54:50 > 0:54:52A British traveller following my guidebook

0:54:52 > 0:54:56might well have already experienced Moody and Sankey's evangelism.

0:54:57 > 0:54:59In 1873,

0:54:59 > 0:55:03the pair crossed the Atlantic on an international mission.

0:55:03 > 0:55:06They were travelling from church to church throughout England, Wales,

0:55:06 > 0:55:08- Scotland and Ireland. - By train, I hope?

0:55:08 > 0:55:10By train. They passed out flyers, saying,

0:55:10 > 0:55:12"Come hear DL Moody preach the gospel,

0:55:12 > 0:55:15"and come hear Ira Sankey sing the gospel."

0:55:15 > 0:55:18It started very small, but it grew very quickly.

0:55:18 > 0:55:22And by the time they got back to London after their two-year circuit,

0:55:22 > 0:55:23in the last seven months,

0:55:23 > 0:55:26over two million people came to hear him preach.

0:55:26 > 0:55:28Extraordinary.

0:55:28 > 0:55:31Moody and Sankey's British tour offered them both celebrity

0:55:31 > 0:55:34and inspiration.

0:55:34 > 0:55:37On a railway journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh,

0:55:37 > 0:55:39Sankey spotted a poem in the newspaper

0:55:39 > 0:55:42which sparked perhaps his best-loved hymn.

0:55:42 > 0:55:44The Ninety And Nine.

0:55:44 > 0:55:49# There were ninety and nine that safely lay

0:55:49 > 0:55:53# In the shelter of the fold

0:55:53 > 0:55:58# But one was out on the hills away

0:55:58 > 0:56:03# Far off from the gates of gold

0:56:03 > 0:56:08# Away on the mountains wild and bare

0:56:08 > 0:56:16# Away from the tender Shepherd's care

0:56:18 > 0:56:23# But all through the mountains, thunder-riven

0:56:23 > 0:56:27# And up from the rocky steep

0:56:27 > 0:56:32# There arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven,

0:56:32 > 0:56:36# "Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"

0:56:36 > 0:56:41# And the angels echoed around the throne

0:56:41 > 0:56:46# "Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"

0:56:46 > 0:56:54# "Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!" #

0:57:00 > 0:57:05I found Milwaukee impressive, and it's made a major impact

0:57:05 > 0:57:09on America with agricultural machinery and motorcycles -

0:57:09 > 0:57:12and on the world, with the development of the typewriter.

0:57:12 > 0:57:16Despite that, when I arrived in Chicago, I was aware

0:57:16 > 0:57:19of the throbbing power of a metropolis.

0:57:19 > 0:57:23This city shrugged off a major conflagration

0:57:23 > 0:57:26and architecturally reached for the sky.

0:57:26 > 0:57:31Its expansion upwards and outwards continues apace.

0:57:31 > 0:57:35Its opulence shimmers from its glass-sided buildings,

0:57:35 > 0:57:37reflected in Lake Michigan.

0:57:37 > 0:57:42It stands proud and tall at the crossroads of America.

0:57:45 > 0:57:50Next time, I gravitate to the ultimate marshalling yard...

0:57:50 > 0:57:53So I call this the economy of motion.

0:57:53 > 0:57:55..recreate the original brownie...

0:57:55 > 0:57:57That is wicked!

0:57:57 > 0:57:58Well done, Chef.

0:57:58 > 0:58:02..discover the solution to the city's pollution...

0:58:02 > 0:58:04Imagine when you have 30,000 cubic feet per second

0:58:04 > 0:58:08of sewage coming out into here. It will be beautiful.

0:58:08 > 0:58:10A great image.

0:58:10 > 0:58:12..and get my hands on the hooter.

0:58:12 > 0:58:16People often talk about the smell of steam locomotives.

0:58:16 > 0:58:19What about the sound of them?

0:58:19 > 0:58:22HOOTER