Search
About Me
- Pete
- New Jersey
- Since my first trip to Gettysburg as a young boy, I've been captivated by History. I get it from my mom. Although she passed away when I was just 13, she still had an influence on me. All our family vacations were stitched around some historical site. So, history geeks are in my blood. I'm a graphic designer by profession and a semi-amateur painter. I love to explore history through my paintbrush. I've also done living history to get a first hand feel for "what it was like". Looking at history through the eyes of the common man (or woman) and understanding the personal, human drama is really the spice that flavors the historical stew!
Me at the Winslow Homer Studio
Posters, Prints and Stuff
My Website
Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz
search the web!
Other Interesting Links
Amazon Affiliate
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Eating Crow, Passing the Buck and Talking Turkey
I painted this study of negative space after reading a review of Ralph Keyes lastest book, I Love It When You Talk Retro, Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech. Mr. Keyes' previous book was the inspiration for a previous post of mine on quotes and mis-qoutes. So many sayings and expressions that we use today can be traced back to the far reaches of history. Illustrated here is "Eating Crow". We all know what it means, but where did it come from? Most likely, it came from a mid 19th century joke that went like this: If you get stuck out in the wilderness do these 3 things; 1. catch a crow 2. boil the crow for a week with one of your boots 3. eat the boot. That might sound like a Henny Youngman joke, but I don't think he went that far back! Another story has a British and American soldier from the War of 1812 forcing each other to eat a crow that the American shot. Frankly, it makes no sense to me and smacks of urban legend. Better check out Snopes.com for that one!
Harry Truman stopped the buck at his desk, but how did we start "passing the buck" to begin with? Keyes offers up an explanation featuring gambling out on the frontier. A buck knife was passed around to mark the dealer of each hand. If the cards dealt were questionable, the dealer used the knife to defend himself. If you didn't care to take a chance on getting sliced up like deli turkey, you would chose not to deal and thus, "pass the buck (knife)".
Speaking of turkey, let's talk....Evidently, "talking turkey" derived from an old saw that had an Indian and a White Man hunting together. At the end of each trip they divided up the game and the Indian always ended up with all the crows (and, presumably, was "eating crow"), while the white dude claimed all the turkeys. That is, until our Indian got fed up and finally started to "talk turkey" with Mr. PaleFace.
Ok, so before you go off half cocked, let me give you some scuttlebutt. This isn't the most scholarly history you will read, but if you are curious about the origin of American slang, I'm afraid it's hobson's choice for you. If you have trouble making small talk at cocktail parties a book like this might just be right up your alley.
Alright, alright. I'll stop now. Enjoy!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Man's best friend
Folks, meet Baron. He's our 7 month old Field Spaniel. Baron is a gem of a dog. He's lovable, mellow, goofy and has an infectious personality. On Saturday, March 28th Baron was hit by a car up in Maine where I was visiting my sister. The day before, I had attended the funeral of one of my college roommates. I consider both to be good friends. I almost said goodbye to two good friends on consecutive days.
Fortunately, through the wonderful service provided by the Portland Animal Emergency Clinic, Baron survived. The long term effects are not yet clear, but right now he's at home and getting stronger everyday. I'm no animal rights wacko, nor do I mean to imply that the loss of a dog is akin to the loss of a human, but to me, a friend is a friend. I've been tormented by thoughts of how this could have been avoided and, how it could have been much, much worse. I don't see canines as show dogs, hunting dogs, working dogs or guard dogs. For me, it's simple. Baron is my buddy.
Not everyone sees it that way. I have a friend who grew up in rural Arizona and he's a bit flummoxed by the lengths we easterners will go for our pets. I totally get this. Throughout history, man has had many different relationships with dogs. Most people think we picked dogs because we found them useful. Another theory suggests that they picked us...because WE could be useful. I subscribe to that theory.
Most people have never heard of a field spaniel. Some think that they are the original "spaniel" which spawned all the other breeds (Brittany, Springer, Water, Cocker, etc.). It's most likely that they were simply very big Cocker Spaniels. Apparently, they were bred into a very grotesque configuration which nobody wanted and were nearly extinct. In the early twentieth century, breeders worked on bringing back the more pleasing features of the breed. They definitely succeeded, but the breed is still far from popular. That's fine with me. He's my little secret.
In my own personal history, I've had some wonderful canine companions. They have given me some great stories through the years. There was Winslow, who looked like a lamb and never got over the loss of my mother; Charlie, who used to meet me at the train station (by himself) every evening, and Sam, who warded off depression and was my ambassador to a new life (and many, many other stories). When he was a pup, he fell through the ice on a pond chasing a duck. I fished him out to the applause of on-lookers. And that was only the start.
Rick, my old college buddy, gave me some great stories too. The night we proved too slick for the Selinsgrove cops, or when we decided to collect street signs or that ridiculous 4o+ year old 4 wood he kept (and used) in his golf bag. To protect the innocent, I can't mention the other stories.
Life is about stories. Stories come from friends...whether they be old college room mates or new dog buddies. And stories are what make history.
So I guess that's why I like history. It's the stories. Jimmy Buffet once said, "we do it for the stories we can tell." Amen Jimmy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)