John Wyatt Greenlee is known online as the Surprised Eel Historian because he holds a doctoral degree in medieval European history who specializes in discovering surprisingly novel uses of eels in the Middle Ages.
In modern times, we mostly load eels into our hovercrafts. But in medieval England, eels were a staple food that were eaten so prolifically that people often paid their rents in eels.
Most recently, Greenlee published on Twitter that specialized vessels called eel ships anchored in estuaries and ports of England, selling eels on demand. These ships were built around fish tanks that housed the eels and allowed water to flow through them.
This practice continued until at least the 1930s, when the above film was made.
Here's hoping I'm not the only one old enough to get the hovercraft reference. :)
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