Mark Twain

We've all heard of the guy, right?  You probably know he's that guy who wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  You might even know that Mark Twain is a pen name for Samuel Clemens. 

I myself have read the condensed versions of both previously mentioned books, seen the Wishbone episodes, and watched the movie Tom and Huck featuring Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Brad Renfro.  I however was not aware that there were four books written about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn along with at least three more unfinished books.  I happened to buy one of the three yesterday!

The unfinished manuscript for Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians was published in Life Magazine in 1968.  Then college student Lee Nelson read the story.  Then in 2002, while watching a PBS documentary on Mark Twain, he remembered the long forgotten story.  Nelson decided to finish Twain's book...and that is what I bought. 

Nelson chose to leave Twain's work as is, even though it was an unedited rough draft and wrote the book's middle and ending in a style to match Twain's writings.  I'm excited to read the book!  I think it will be interesting to see how the Twain's and Nelson's writing fits together to tell one story.

Wow...It's Been Forever

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I have a youTube show.  I've been super busy with that and some new opportunities that came my way...hopefully now that things are starting to settle down I can focus more on this blog. 

The way I get inspired for blogging about history is by coming across a random fact (whether in a book, movie, or conversation) then I look up said fact to learn more about it.  If it's something I find interesting I share it.

Since I've been so busy the majority of the reading I've been doing is audio books...juvenile audio books at that.  I think reading (or listening) to a book is fantastic, no matter what type of book it is...but these books have had nothing to spark my curious mind. 

Yesterday, Jeremiah and I went to Borders for their going out of business discounts and I found an interesting looking book and it has inspired a new blog post! (I'll write it in just a moment.)

History of Silver Dollar City

I mentioned my love for Silver Dollar City in my blog introduction.  I was fortunate enough to get to go several times a year from 1996 to 2009 (except 1 year).  I think it's safe to say Silver Dollar City was the first love of my life!

If it wasn't for SDC I would have zero interest in music.  I would not be as interested in photography.  Nor would I have as much love for history.  In other words Silver Dollar City has made me who I am. 

Today I was looking up some info about Disneyland which lead into some research pertaining to SDC and I came across THIS page.  It's a great timeline detailing the history of not only SDC but of the land it sits on...all the way back to the Osage tribe.  It's really neat to see how much the park has changed, even in just the 15 years I've known it. 


Silver Dollar City calls it's employees citizens.  I'd like to think that I'm an honorary citizen of the City.

Television Time Capsules

In case you're wondering... no, I haven't forgotten about this blog.  I've been busy with work, life, Whitney Sews, and other things. 

This afternoon I was watching the Lawrence Welk Show on OETA like I do every week.  I love how the show is a time capsule of fashion, music, beauty, and etiquette!  I don't think there is a single modern show that can be compared to the Lawrence Welk show in any way.

Another show I used to watch every week was the Ed Sullivan Show.  The reruns came on every Saturday night after Lawrence Welk for several years.  It exposed me to tons of singers, bands, comedians, and acts from the past.  The show hasn't been aired on OETA in the past few years, so I was excited when I saw a promo last week for AugustFest. They are bringing Ed Sullivan back, at least for Festival! 

Coca Cola Girls

I checked a book out of the library last week called Coca-Cola Girls- An Advertising Art History.  It's stuffed full of beautiful photos of vintage Coca-Cola advertisements with the 'Coca-Cola girls'.  I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

In the meantime I wanted to share some of the vintage ads.  Here's several made for overseas advertising.

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Coca-Cola has done some ad campaigns lately mixing vintage with modern.  Here's an example of a Cola-Cola ad with Taylor Swift dressed to look like a Coca-Cola girl.

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Another thing they have done is using the actual vintage ads to digitally create a 're-mix'. 

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I think this is a fun way to integrate history with modern advertising techniques.  I can't wait to see what else they come out with!

Never Give Up

I've been reading the biography of Pearl Carter Scott (the Chickasaw aviator I mentioned last week) non-stop for the past two days.  I've already seen the movie about her life...so I know about Pearl.  However this is just another reminder to myself of why I love [auto]biographies so much.  They contain little nuggets of extra info that not even a mini-series worth of movies could cover.

For example- the movie told about Pearl's father, George, going blind as a teen.  While harvesting broom corn (used to make broom bristles until synthetic brooms came about) the dust got in his and his two brother's eyes.  However the movie didn't mention that it wasn't the dust that cause George and one brother to become permanently blind...it was the eye drops the doctor put in.  The drops caused their eyes to bleed and lose sight.  The other brother hid while the doctor was at the house and his eyesight recovered.

This could seem unimportant to most, but if this event had not occurred Pearl would never have become an aviator.  Let alone the first licensed Chickasaw pilot or the youngest. 

Pearl was 12 years old when famous aviator Wiley Post landed in the field next to her house.  A quick connection was made between Wiley and George because of Wiley's blindness in one eye and George's in both.  George became Wiley's first passenger and Pearl his second after her expressed interest in flying.  It was that very moment Pearl realized flying was for her!

If things had been different when George was young and he hadn't lost his sight, that day in 1927 would have gone much differently for Wiley, George, and Pearl.

Another thing Pearl learned from her father's blindness is the phrase Never Give Up (the title of the biography).  George was a firm believer that anyone could do anything they wanted if they would never give up and put in some hard work.  Pearl went on to live her life by that motto.

That was a rambling road of thoughts...but I learn a long time ago to just keep running with my thoughts when they take off.  It's just crazy how one seemingly tragic event can become a positive thing in so many lives!  Well I'm headed back to my reading :)

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One-of-a-Kind Wedding

Just came across a really interesting post about a wedding dress made in 1947.  Sounds pretty run of the mill until you find out the dress was made using the parachute that saved the groom's life during WWII.

Here's the story-

This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved Maj. Claude Hensinger during World War II. In August 1944, Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan, when their engine caught fire. The crew was forced to bail out. Suffering from only minor injuries, Hensinger used the parachute as a pillow and blanket as he waited to be rescued. He kept the parachute that had saved his life. He later proposed to his girlfriend Ruth in 1947, offering her the material for a gown.
Ruth wanted to create a dress similar to one in the movie Gone with the Wind. She hired a local seamstress, Hilda Buck, to make the bodice and veil. Ruth made the skirt herself; she pulled up the strings on the parachute so that the dress would be shorter in the front and have a train in the back. The couple married July 19, 1947.  The dress was also worn by the their daughter and by their son's bride before being gifted to the Smithsonian.

Talk about a dress a mother would want to pass down!

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