The Guinness book of world records, 1998.

“We had a copy of the Guinness Book, I think we probably got it as a Christmas gift one year, and maybe your dad lifted it from his school library. He brought it home.”

“No, no, Uncle John's bathroom reader definitely trumped it for sure, but I was still very much a fan of the Guinness Book of World Records for sure. Do you remember some of those pictures from the classic edition?”

“Anyway, that's what we're talking about, is this great book that is still going strong at about a million copies a year. We’re going to talk all about the Guinness Book right now.”

“Yeah, let's, but before we do, Chuck, let's give a shout out to listener Mallorie Stafford, who's the one who suggested that we do an episode on the Guinness Book of World Records. Yeah, okay, so yes, let's go back, Chuck, way back to the 1940s.”

“And this was before he was a knight, I believe he was knighting probably because of his work with the Guinness Book of World Records. That has to be a guess here at this point, but I think it's a pretty safe bet, although a completely superfluous and unnecessary one.”

“So if you've ever wondered if the Guinness Book of World Records is actually connected to the Guinness beer company, my friend, yes, they absolutely are. The guy who was the managing director of Guinness Son and Company Limited, the Guinness beer company, was also the guy responsible for coming up with the Guinness Book of World Records.”

“The guy who was the managing director of Guinness Son and Company Limited, the Guinness beer company, was also the guy responsible for coming up with the Guinness Book of World Records. That's right, it was a Guinness product.”

“If people, next time you're in a bar and someone orders a Guinness, just say, 'Hey, you know the Guinness Book of World Records started out because of the Guinness beer.' And if they say no, you just smash their face on the bar, dump that Guinness all over their head.”

“Yeah, that was the origin of the Guinness Book of World Records, that missed shot, that golden plover. Had it not lived, maybe this whole thing would have never happened.”

“That was the original idea for the Guinness Book of World Records, and it's a genius idea. Yeah, and just fun.”

“And now you have an actual waterproof covered book that they're giving out with that Guinness name on it, it's pretty brilliant. Yeah, so Hugh Beaver though was not one, Hugh Beaver.”

“That's right, they formed their own company based in London called Guinness Superlatives, and they spent about four months just sourcing what would go in the book. It took about a year to get the first edition out, but they spent about four months just sending, you know this is 1954, so they're sending letters to experts, they're sending letters”

“So the Guinness Book of World Records long had this reputation for like being just accurate and correct, like they really did their research and they really double-checked, and the people that they were citing and polling and going to were experts in their field and not even crackpot experts in their field like the fly guy. The fly guy?”

“People love that kind of thing, they created the internet in book form before anyone even thought of the internet or computers! Yeah, totally!”

“And there was a famous quote from Norris, who was apparently like the heart and soul of the book, Norris was he said that, 'Ours is the kind of book maiden ants give to their nieces,' basically saying like we can't have smut in there! Probably the word that Norris would have used with 'smut.'”

“Okay, so there's like a horrible twist to all of this, um, suddenly that happened 25 years after the first book came out, like they've been churning out editions every year, multiple editions a year, and so in the midst of all this, Ross and Norris are just still doing their job, but they've gotten kind of wealthy along the”

“He was a kid just like us who was sort of obsessed with this book, and in the late 1970s, he was like, 'All right, here's my deal: I want to get in that book more than anyone else.' He does things like jumping jacks, the farthest distance trekked while balancing a bike on his chin, and hula hooping underwater.”

“If you want to know more about Guinness World Records, then friends, there are some great ones out there that you can delight and amuse yourself and your friends with; just go all over the internet or, even better, go buy a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records, which comes out every year. Since I said it comes”

“Yeah, let's, well you know what we get to do now in our typical two-episode procession, the way that is Stuff You Should Know, is we get to wash the stank of Unit 731 off of us by talking about a very fun thing, which is the Guinness Book of World Records, or the Guinness World Records. I feel like”

“They own Peterbilt, they own the Great Wolf Lodges, they own Associated Grocers, they own everything including the Guinness Book of World Records, as well as Ripley Entertainment! And so over time they've kind of added to what the Guinness World Records does, it's the reason one of the reasons why you don't say the Guinness Book of World Records”

“But only 4,000 records are put into the book every year, and a lot of those are like classics, like I think at least half are like classic ones that have been in there for years and years and years that people just want to see that weren't necessarily broken, you know, in the past year. Yeah, I tried to”

“So out of 50,000 people, you have a very, very slim chance of making it in that book if that's what you're after. And that's kind of what everyone's goal is, you want to be in the book, you do, because that's the thing.”

“And that's kind of what everyone's goal is, you want to be in the book, you do, because that's the thing. Even if you um set a record, you're not necessarily going to be in the book, like you said, there's actually a slim chance of being in the book even if you break a record.”

“Even if you um set a record, you're not necessarily going to be in the book, like you said, there's actually a slim chance of being in the book even if you break a record. The thing you can definitely uh be guaranteed to get is a certificate saying that you are the official record holder and you'll be in”

“What we're talking about is the Guinness Book of World Records not just surviving, but actually thriving in the internet age. That is just amazing that it's not just some brand that's on its last leg; it still sells a million books a year.”