stumbling virtue

Centennial: Life in 1910

2010-01-01T14:04:52-05:00

Things to do in France in 1910.

I haven't found a citable source for this, but I'm still willing to guarantee that on January 1, 1910, someone somewhere said, "Finally! I had no idea what to call that decade. The aughts? The naughts? The zeros? 'The teens' is going to sound a lot better."

So what happened in 1910? What was life like in 1910? Enter and find out from the following categories:

Events That Happened in 1910
Famous People Born in 1910
The 1910 Census
Prices in 1910
Movies in 1910
Fashion in 1910
Sports in 1910

Enjoy--

If life as a housewife was like this, no one would work.

Events That Happened in 1910

This, of course, is only a partial list--partial in that I'm sure many other things happened in 1910, and partial because I left out things that didn't interest me. Sorry, soccer fans!

January

January 1, 1910
U.S. President William H. Taft opened the New Year by inviting the general public private citizens to visit him in the White House. He shook hands with 5,575 people.
January 3, 1910 (Monday)
The first junior high school classes in the United States began, as a new program in Berkeley, California, was started for 7th, 8th and 9th grade students, at McKinley High School and Washington High School. The idea of the "introductory high school" was conceived by educator Frank Forest Bunker.
The first injunction in favor of the Wright Brothers, against their competitors, was issued by a federal court in Buffalo, barring Glenn Curtiss from flying airplanes for profit while the patent infringement case of Wright v. Herring-Curtis was in progress. An injunction was sought by the Wrights the next day against Louis Paulhan. Curtis filed an interlocutory appeal and posted a $10,000 bond to stay the injunction.
January 5, 1910 (Wednesday)
The Montreal Canadiens played their first game, defeating the Cobalt Silver Kings, 7-6. Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde scored the first Canadiens' goal.
Hubert Latham became the first person to fly an airplane to an altitude of more than one kilometer, breaking his own world record at Mourmelon-le-Grand, France.
January 13, 1910 (Thursday)
The first radio broadcast of a live musical performance took place from New York's Metropolitan Opera, which inaugurated use of a new system set up by Lee DeForest. The one act opera "Cavalleria rusticana" was "borne by Hertzian waves over the turbulent waters of the sea to transcontinental and coastwise ships, and over the mountain peaks, amid undulating valleys of the country" with the aid of a microphone connected to a 500 watt transmitter. Wireless receivers at buildings on Park Avenue, the Metropolitan Life Building, and Times Square picked up the broadcast, as did radio sets used by ship operators and amateur radio enthusiasts.
January 20, 1910 (Thursday)
Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson was arrested for assault in New York, but released later. He would defend his title later in the year in the "Fight of the Century" against former champion James J. Jeffries.
January 24, 1910 (Monday)
At the annual meetings of baseball's major leagues, held in Pittsburgh, the National League's schedule committee tentatively approved a resolution to add another 14 games to each team's sechedule, for 168 regular season games. The American League declined to follow suit, so the NL retained a 154 game schedule for 1910, and the next 50 seasons. In 1961, the American League went to the current 162 games, followed by the NL the next year.
January 30, 1910 (Sunday)
"Uncle Wiggily", created by Howard R. Garis, made its debut in the Newark News. Stories featuring Uncle Wiggily Longears, a "rheumatic rabbit", became popular in a series of children's books, toys and other merchandise over the next 37 years. [note only I care about: my dad loves Uncle Wiggily]

February 2, 1910 (Wednesday)
Billy Gohl, the "Ghoul of Gray's Harbour", was arrested in Aberdeen, Washington for the murder of his former henchman Charley Hatberg, bringing his string of killings to an end. Gohl, a local leader in the Sailors' Union of the Pacific, was suspected in the murders of as many as 124 people whose bodies were found, and of others who had disappeared. Since Washington had recently abolished its death penalty, Gohl spent the rest of his life in prison, dying in 1927.
February 6, 1910 (Sunday)
The U.S. Navy tugboat USS Nina departed Norfolk, Virginia, bound for Boston, and disappeared along with its crew of 32.
February 8, 1910 (Tuesday)
The Boy Scouts of America was founded, after Chicago publisher William D. Boyce observed the Boy Scouts during a visit to Great Britain. Boyce incorporated the BSA in the District of Columbia. Boyce, and with the help of attorney James West, then set about merging other scout groups into the organization, which received a charter by act of Congress in 1916.
February 10, 1910 (Thursday)
Dreadnought hoax: Prince Makalin of Abyssinia and five other members of royalty were welcomed aboard the British battleship HMS Dreadnought following the receipt of a telegram from the office of the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Charles Hardinge. The prince turned out to be prankster Horace de Vere Cole, and the group included Virginia Woolf and her brother, all wearing costumes and painted faces.
Mary Mallon, the disease carrier infamously known as "Typhoid Mary", was ordered released from her confinement at the North Brother Island Hospital, when the New York City health department announced that disease carriers would no longer be held in isolation. Over the protests of health inspector George Soper, who had traced the spread of typhoid to places where Mallon worked as a cook, she was released. Mallon was returned to isolation on North Brother Island on March 27, 1915, where she remained until her death in 1938.
February 12, 1910 (Saturday)
A force of 2,000 Chinese troops, under the command of General Chao Er-Feng and led by General Chung Ying, marched into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, was forced to flee to India. A brave squadron of Tibetan soldiers, commanded by 24-year old Chensal Namgang and equipped with only 34 rifles, was able to hold off a pursuing force of 200 Chinese troops at the Tsang-po River, giving the Lama enough time to reach British officials.
February 15, 1910 (Tuesday)
The ILGWU strike against New York's shirtwaist (blouse) factories ended after almost three months. The walkout of 20,000 women began on November 23, and ended after 339 manufacturers agreed to a reduced workweek (52 hours a week rather than 56), increased wages, and union recognition.
February 17, 1910 (Thursday)
Georges Vézina, the legendary National Hockey League goaltender, helped his Chicoutimi, Quebec semi-pro hockey team upset the Montreal Canadiens in an exhibition, 11-5. The Canadiens were so impressed by the 23 year old that they quickly offered him a contract. Vezina played for Montreal for 16 seasons.
February 19, 1910 (Saturday)
Old Trafford, the stadium for Manchester United, was opened. A crowd estimated at 80,000 watched as the Red Devils lost to visiting Liverpool F.C., 4-3. Over 100 years, a roof, lighting and seats have been added and the site now seats 76,212.
February 24, 1910 (Thursday)
The "American cinephone" was unveiled at a New York press conference, showing technology that might make it possible to have sound on films. A trained cinephone operator would be able to synchronize a film's speed to a phonographic record "so that the gestures of a singer and actor apear at practically the same instant as the sound of the voice".
February 26, 1910 (Saturday)
Austria-Hungary granted most favored nation status to the United States.
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, named for General Winfield Scott, was incorporated.
Western Union created a forerunner of long distance telephone calling, with the inauguration of its new "telegraph-telephone" service, set up on a network of telephone connections between New York's Western Union Building, and local telephone company switchboards. If a phone user wanted to send a telegram from home, there was an app for that: the switchboard would, "in less than a minute" connect the caller directly to Western Union, which would then relay the message to the nearest telegraph office, which in turn would deliver the telegram or telephone the recipient, at no extra charge.
February 28, 1910 (Monday)
The last legal bare-knuckle boxing bout in the United States took place in Passaic, New Jersey, as Leo Baker and Dave Smith fought 32 rounds without gloves, with the match ending in a draw.

March 1, 1910 (Tuesday)
The deadliest avalanche in American history killed 96 people, mostly railroad passengers who had been stranded by snow since February 24. Two different Great Northern Railway trains, on their way from Spokane to Seattle, had been halted at Stevens Pass by heavy snowfall. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., a violent thunderstorm triggered the slide, which tossed the trains down into a 150-foot deep canyon.
March 5, 1910 (Saturday)
The Queen of Spades, by Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky, became the first Russian opera to be performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Conducted by Gustav Mahler, the opera was sung in German rather than Russian.
March 8, 1910 (Tuesday)
In France Madame Raymonde de Laroche was awarded pilot's license #36 by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, becoming the first woman to be authorized to fly an airplane.
March 11, 1910 (Friday)
The National Museum of Natural History, second of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., opened to the public for the first time.
March 12, 1910 (Saturday)
Film actress Florence Lawrence became "the first movie star", after movie mogul Carl Laemmle of Independent Moving Pictures (I.M.P.) announced in advertisements that he had signed the leading lady who had only been billed as "The Biograph Girl" by Biograph Studios. Until then, movie studios had a policy of not releasing the names of their players, and prohibiting distributors from revealing the information.
March 15, 1910 (Tuesday)
President Taft asked Congress to consider taking charge of islands in the Bering Sea in order to protect the seal populations there from extinction.
March 26, 1910 (Saturday)
Orville Wright began instruction of five student aviators at the first flying school, located on Washington Ferry Road in Montgomery, Alabama.

A giant among presidents, William Howard Taft starts the "president throws out the first pitch" tradition in 1910.

April 14, 1910 (Thursday)
William H. Taft began the tradition of the President of the United States throwing the ceremonial "first pitch" to open the professional baseball season. The President and Mrs. Taft attended the Washington Senators' opening day game against the Philadelphia Athletics, and Taft threw the ball from the stands to Senators' pitcher Walter Johnson. The Senators won, 3-0.
April 15, 1910 (Friday)
The 1910 United States Census was taken as more than 70,000 workers began the enumeration process. The final tally was 92,228,496.
April 19, 1910 (Tuesday)
Paul Ehrlich announced his discovery of "606" (also nicknamed the "magic bullet", the first medicine that could cure syphilis, in an address at the 1910 gathering of the Congress for Internal Medicine at Wiesbaden.
April 20, 1910 (Wednesday)
Halley's Comet reached perihelion, making its closest approach to the Sun since 1835, and was visible to the naked eye for the first time since its return to the solar system. Some viewers on the island of Curacao had been able to discern the comet in pre-dawn hours on the 19th. The comet remained visible through the rest of May as it traveled away from the solar system, not to return until 1986.
Samuel J. Scott, a 15 year old boy working in Belfast on the construction of the HMS Titanic, fell from a ladder and died of a fractured skull. He was the first of eight people who died on the Titanic prior to its wreck two years later in April 1912.
April 21, 1910 (Thursday)
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, beloved to millions of readers for his writings under the pen name Mark Twain, died at the age of 74 at his home in Redding, Connecticut. Twain, who had angina pectoris, went into a coma at 3:00 pm and was dead by 6:30. Appropriately, his last words were handwritten rather than spoken, a note to his daughter Clara: "Give me my glasses".
April 23, 1910 (Saturday)
The 1910 World's Fair was opened at Brussels by Belgium's King Albert, and operated until November.
April 27, 1910 (Wednesday)
A herd of nine elephants rampaged through Danville, Illinois after escaping from a train bringing a circus to town. Several people were injured, one seriously, and 100 houses were damaged.
April 28, 1910 (Thursday)
Louis Paulhan won a £10,000 prize from the Daily Mail by becoming the first person to fly an airplane from London to Manchester. Graham White, who was making his second attempt at the prize, took off at the same time as Paulhan.

May 1, 1910 (Sunday)
Edward VII, the 69 year old King of Great Britain and Ireland and its possessions, and Emperor of India, developed a bad cold after spending a cold and rainy weekend at his estate in Sandringham. Refusing to rest and ignoring medical advice, the popular 69 year old monarch developed bronchitis, then pneumonia, and was dead by Friday the 6th.
May 7, 1910 (Saturday)
USS Cyclops, a U.S. Navy coal hauling ship (collier), was launched. The ship would become famous in the world of the paranormal after its disappearance in 1918 while sailing, with 306 people on board, into the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.
May 11, 1910 (Wednesday)
Glacier National Park (U.S.) was established in Montana by federal law. The park has an area of 1,584 square miles, and contains 653 lakes, 175 mountains, and 26 glaciers. After attracting 4,000 visitors in its first full year as a park (1911), the park had more than 2,000,000 visitors in 2009.
May 20, 1910 (Friday)
The funeral for the late Edward VII of the United Kingdom took place in London, with the last great gathering of Europe's reigning monarchs, all on horseback. The new British King, George V, was followed in the procession by Wilhelm II of Germany, Haakon VII of Norway, George I of Greece, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Frederick VIII of Denmark, Manuel II of Portugal, and Albert I of Belgium. Present also were the heirs to the thrones of Turkey, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Romania, Montenegro, Serbia, and the United Kingdom.
May 25, 1910 (Wednesday)
Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright flew on the same plane for the first and only time, with Orville piloting, at the Huffman Prairie airfield, near Dayton. Earlier in the day, their 81-year old father, Bishop Milton Wright, went up on his first and only airplane flight, with Orville as pilot.

Leon Bakst's costume design for the Ballet Russes "Firebird."

June 1, 1910 (Wednesday)
The British Antarctic Expedition, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott on the steamer Terra Nova, departed from London with 55 people and a goal of reaching the South Pole in December.
June 3, 1910 (Friday)
The Norwegian Antarctic Expedition, led by Roald Amundsen on the steamer Fram, departed from Christiania (now Oslo) without fanfare, and no announcement until later in the year of Amundsen's intention to reach the South Pole. [sorry, you'll have to wait until next year to find out what happened to Amundsen and Scott!]
June 4, 1910 (Saturday)
Sherlock Holmes was first portrayed by an actor, with Arthur Conan Doyle's stage adaptation of the story, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" at the Adelphi Theatre in London. H.A. Saintsbury was Holmes, Claude King was Dr. Watson, and Lyn Harding was the villain, Dr. Grimesby Roylott.
A ballet adaptation of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite, Scheherazade, was first presented, by the Ballets Russes in Paris.
June 18, 1910 (Saturday)
The first "ticker tape parade" was held, as former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was welcomed back to the United States after being overseas in Africa and Europe for more than a year. The liner SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria arrived at New York City, and parades were held to welcome back the former chief executive.
Alex Smith won the U.S. Open golf tournament in an 18-hole playoff, after he, John J. McDermott, and Macdonald Smith had played the first three-way tie in the event's history.
June 19, 1910 (Sunday)
Father's Day was observed for the first time, as the result of the efforts of Mrs. John B. Dodd (Sonora Smart Dodd) to honor her late father, William Smart, and all other fathers. The city of Spokane, Washington, proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father's Day, a date that later received recognition nationwide.
June 24, 1910 (Friday)
In Paris, Igor Stravinsky's ballet, The Firebird (L'Oiseau de feu), was first performed. The ballet "made the twenty-eight year old composer famous overnight". [
The U.S. Parole Commission was creating, making it possible for the first time for persons, convicted of a federal crime, to be paroled before the end of their sentences. Prior to the passage of the law, a federal prisoner could only secure an early release by commutation or pardon by the President of the United States.

July 4
African-American boxer Jack Johnson defeats American boxer James J. Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match, sparking race riots across the United States.
July 22
A wireless telegraph sent from the S.S. Montrose results in the identification and later arrest and execution of murderer Dr. Hawley Crippen.

August 14
A fire at the World Exhibition in Brussels destroys exhibitions of Britain and France.
August 22
The Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty is signed.
August 28
Montenegro is proclaimed an independent kingdom under Nicholas I.
August 29
Emperor Sunjong of the Korean Empire abdicates and the country's monarchy is abolished.

September 1
The Vatican introduces a compulsory oath against modernism, to be taken by all priests upon ordination.

October 5
Portugal becomes a republic; King Manuel II of Portugal flees to England.
October 20
The hull of the RMS Olympic is launched at the Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast.
October 23
Vajiravudh (Rama VI) is crowned King of Siam, after the death of his father, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V).

November 7
The first air flight for the purpose of delivering commercial freight takes place in the United States of America. The flight, made by Wright Brothers pilot Philip Parmalee between Dayton, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio.
November 20
Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero proclaims the elections of 1910 null and void, and calls for an armed revolution at 6 p.m. against the illegitimate presidency/dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.
November 23
The last execution in Sweden (by guillotine) is carried out against murderer Johan Alfred Ander.

December 16
Henri Coanda makes the first short flight in a plane with a jet engine.

Famous People Born in 1910

Mae Clarke, born in 1910. She turned in some good performances in the early days of the talkies, but is unfortunately best remembered for a bad encounter with a grapefruit in "The Public Enemy."

Again, a select list based on my own interests, which means lots of performers and not many cricket players.

January 8 – Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Russian dancer (d. 1998)
January 12 – Luise Rainer, German-born actress
January 23 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist (d. 1953)
February 27 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
March 1 - David Niven, English actor (d. 1983)
March 9 – Samuel Barber, American composer (d. 1981)
March 23 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese screenwriter, producer, and director (d. 1998)
March 24 – Clyde Barrow, American outlaw (d. 1934)
April 23 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
May 23 - Scatman Crothers, American actor and musician (d. 1986), Artie Shaw, American clarinetist and bandleader (d. 2004)
May 28 – T-Bone Walker, American singer (d. 1976)
June 3 - Paulette Goddard, American actress (d. 1990)
June 11 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, scientist, photographer and researcher (d. 1997)
June 18 – E.G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)
June 22 – Peter Pears, English tenor (d. 1986)
June 23 – Jean Anouilh, French dramatist (d. 1987)
July 4 – Gloria Stuart, American actress
July 14 – William Hanna, American animator (d. 2001)
August 4 – Anita Page, American actress (d. 2008)
August 10 – Ruby Keeler, American actress and dancer (d. 1993)
August 12 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (d. 2006)
August 16 – Mae Clarke (d. 1992)
August 26 – Mother Teresa, Albanian nun and humanitarian, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
October 1 – Bonnie Parker, American outlaw (d. 1934)
October 8 – Gus Hall, American Communist Leader (d. 2000)
November 26 – Cyril Cusack, South African–born actor (d. 1993)
December 1 – Alicia Markova, English ballerina (d. 2004)
December 19 – Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986)
December 30 – Paul Bowles, American author (d. 1999)

The 1910 Census

In Berlin, there was one woman who was trained to make repairs on roofs. Check the US Census occupation reports to see if any US women did this kind of work.

1910 was a census year, so you can imagine what kinds of interesting information you can get from those records. Unfortunately, they are hundreds of pages long, so I’m not going to paste them all here. Fortunately, you can find them the 1910 census reports here.

I can’t resist sharing a little bit of info from the occupations tables, though.

In 1910, there were 39,997 dentists—38,743 were men and 1,254 were women.
There were 20,096 people who called themselves showmen—but 1,108 of the showmen were women.
There were 4,368 authors—2,310 men and 2,058 women—and 34,382 people who fell into the editor and reporter category. That one’s a little less evenly split, to say the least: 30,201 men and 4,181 women.
28,297 people said they were actors, 16,305 men and 11,992 women.
There were 11,652 veterinary surgeons...and they were all men.
Don’t worry about that gender imbalance, though—of the 1,600 fortune tellers, hypnotists, spiritualists, etc., 1,220 were female. I'd like to see the specific categories of hucksters broken out by gender, though; I'm betting men had a monopoly on the hypnotist scam.

Prices in 1910

A 1910 Waverley would set you back $2,250.

So how much money would you need to bring if you were going shopping in 1910? You can get an idea from this list of items advertised in the Morristown (NJ) Daily Record in October 1910 (info courtesy of the Morris County Public library, where I learned much more than I ever did in school).

Clothing
Boy's knee pants for school, .49/pair
Boy's shoes for school, .98/pair
Boy's suit, fancy serges, worsteds, cashmeres, 2.98/each
Girl's dress, plaids, trimmed with silk and fancy buttons, 2.00/each
Hat, Derby, .98-2.25/each
Men's coat, 4.98-60.00/each
Men's neckwear, .25-1.00/each
Men's rain coat, "rubberized," 10.00/each
Men's shirt, .95-1.50/each
Men's suit, 10.00-25.00/each
Men's trousers, 1.98-2.45/pair
Women's corset, "Reduco," 1.00-3.00/each
Women's dress, French serge, 12.75/each
Women's shoes, 2.00-8.00/pair
Women's silk waists, 1.44-2.69/each
Women's stockings, Buster Brown, 1.00/4 pairs in box
Women's suit, 22.50/each

Employment & services
Automobile salesmen, 10.00/week [trainee]; 25.00/week [experienced]
Shoe shine, .05/customer
Waitress & chambermaid, 30.00/month

Food & beverages
Apples, .19/6 qt basket
Bacon, Swift's, .20/lb
Beans, baked, White Rose, .15/no 3 can
Beef, pot roast, 12.5cents/lb
Bread, .10/3 loaves
Butter, fancy, .30/lb
Cereal, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, .09/box
Crackers, NBC, Uneeda, .10/3 boxes
Eggs, Fresh Western, .27/dozen
Flour, Christian's Best, .3.25/98 b sack
Ham, Swift's Sugar Cured Cal. Ham, .12/lb
Juice, Welch's Grape, .19/pint; .35/quart
Ketchup, .10/bottle
Lamb chops, .18/lb
Macaroni, Muellers, egg noodles, .25/3 boxes
Oats, rolled, New White, .19/6 lbs
Peaches, .15/no 3 can
Peanut brittle, .10/lb
Peanut butter, .09/jar
Root beer extract, .10/bottle
Sardines, domestic, in oil, .25/6 cans
Soup, Campbell's .25/3 cans
Tea, English Breakfast, .35/lb
Vinegar, .10/bottle

Furniture
Bed, brass, 25.00/each
Bed spread, white crochet, double size, 1.35/each
Chair, rocking, solid oak, 1.49-3.50/each
Chairs, oak frames, imperial leather, 6 piece set, 11.98/set
Rug, B. Altman & Co., 145,00-375.00/each
Table, extension, oak polished, 14.50/each
Household & seasonal goods
Blueing, .10/bottle
Coal, 5.25-6.75/ton
Cookware, enamel ware, .10-1.65/each
Feather dusters, .10-1.00/each
Flash light, 1.10-2.75/each
Flower pots, .50/3 pots
Kerosene, .50/5 gallons
Mason fruit jars, .45/pint; .50/quart size
Pail, .15-.65/each
Rakes, lawn, .35-.50/each
Range, "Ben Hur," 18.50-25.98/each
Step ladders, .50-2.00/each
Tea kettle, iron, .25-.98/each
Vacuum, Regina, pneumatic cleaner, 25.00/each
Wall brushes, .75-1.00/each
Window shades, .25-.59/each

Newspapers
Daily Record [Morristown NJ], .01/daily paper

Personal care & health
Hair tonic, Hay's, "Free sample," .10/postage
Soap, Colgate, .25/3 cakes
Toilet paper, .26/6 rolls

Real estate
Houses for sale
Morris Plains, 6 rooms, city water, 2,250.00
Morristown, 8 rooms, bath, heat, and gas, 6,000.00
Morristown, 7 rooms, bath, heat and gas, 4,200.00
Houses for rent
None listed with prices
Apartments & rooms
5 rooms, 25.00/month

Recreation & amusements
Piano, The Llwellyn, 195.00-250.00/each
Theatre, Baker [Dover], .10-.50/ticket
Theatre, Lyceum [Morristown] "Black Beauty," .25-1.00/ticket
Trunks, steamer, 3.89-18.50/each

Movies in 1910

In 1910, the Biograph Girl's name was revealed, making Florence Lawrence the "first movie star."

In the early days of film, almost every filmmaker was located in New York. In 1910, Biograph, one of the larger studios, sent one of its directors, D.W. Griffith, to California to make a film. It didn't take long to realize that there were many benefits to filming in southern California, so 1910 marked the beginning of the exodus of film production to the West Coast.

IMDb lists 2,927 films released in 1910. Some of the more interesting films were a ten minute "Alice in Wonderland," directed by Edwin S. Porter; the first film version of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," a twelve minute film directed by J. Searle Dawley; a fifteen minute adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," also directed by Dawley (cleverly released on December 23rd); "In Old California," the film Griffith made in Hollywood; "Roosevelt in Africa," a documentary made from footage shot during Theodore Roosevelt's safari in Africa.

Okay, that's scary.

Then there was "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the earliest existing film version of the L. Frank Baum book. The plot, though, doesn't particularly follow the book, but seems to include pieces of some of the other Oz books written by Baum, as well as some of the costumes, effects, and bits from a 1902 stage version. Other adaptations of Baum's Oz books followed, some of which survive, while others are completely lost. They're mostly of interest to Oz fanatics (or semi-fanatics...like me).

The 1910 "Wizard of Oz" featured Imogen the Cow instead of Toto.

Looks like they kept the melting the witch thing, though.

Fashion in 1910

McCall's magazine, August 1910.

Here's a description of some 1910 fashion trends from Rachel Franklin's "1910: A Year of Elegance and Grace."

"Perhaps one of the first places that we can see changes from the Victorian period to the early 1900's is in the undergarments. Corsets, drawers and corset covers were still used, but the desired silhouette had changed. From the healthy “S-curve” corsets of the Gibson Girls came the straighter, more column-like corsets; often these included shoulder straps, showing how closely they related to the later development of the “brassier”. Corset covers and petticoats were now one, called “combinations”, and a May, 1910 issue of “The Delineator” magazine suggests that new brides will need six of these, along with six pairs of drawers and six nightgowns, for their trousseau."

"...the newest summer style of 1910 was the Princess, and Semi-Princess seam dress. These were dresses that were either cut out of long, shaped panels (much like our Princess dresses of today) with yoked bodices, or with the side front and back panels seamed at the waist, sewn to shaped center front and back panels. Often, these new dresses were worn with soft or shaped belts to give the appearance of a skirt and bodice combination.

Princess seams were also employed in the very popular tailored jackets and “Russian blouse coats” which were worn over dresses and skirts alike. These jackets often came down below the hip and usually fastened on the left side with large buttons. The “Russian” blouse coats employed the Semi-Princess effect, with a center front panel sewn to gathered side panels. These were often constructed was asymmetrical hemlines (sometimes coming to a point at the center back) and reaching below the knee. They gave the impression of an overdress and were frequently unlined, made out of a light material for summer wear."

And here's a great description of men's fashion trends in 1910 from the "Men's Togs Catalogue," courtesy of the Costume Gallery:

"In men's clothes for Spring and Summer 1910 the pendulum of fashion swings toward conservatism, although neat novelties to suit young society, business and college men will not be retired.

Conservative dressers will wear a sack coat about 31 inches long for the form of average height, and which will follow natural form lines. Sleeves will be cut full, with a full sleeve head.

Lapels will be less broad than a year ago and have less length of roll, yet the fold will be long and narrow to balance with a fuller back, an exaggerated chest and a modified shoulder width. The back center vent will not be generally worn.

A shapelier and snappier coat one inch longer will be offered more ultra dressers. It will be fairly close-fitting, moderately flaring over the hips, and have a modified dip front. With shoulders a little wider than natural and an exaggerated chest, a truly athletic effect will be produced. Fancy cuffs and pockets are here permissible, but not so extreme in style as heretofore.

There is a noticeable tendency in favor of coats with rounding corners, slightly cutaway."

Carrying some sort of stick also appeared to be part of the day's fashion.

Now here's a scary idea: women didn't just wear lipstick but in 1910, were able to get lip color tattooed on their lips. Imagine how that could go wrong.

Sports in 1910

Football

Harvard and Pittsburgh shared the college football championship.

Your 1910 national champion Harvard Crimson.

Cycling

Octave Lapize (France) wins the 8th Tour de France

World Figure Skating Championships

World Men's Champion – Ulrich Salchow (Sweden)
World Women's Champion – Lily Kronberger (Hungary)
World Pairs Champions – Anna Hübler and Heinrich Burger (Germany)

Golf - Major tournaments

She may not have won a major, but she had a healthy glow.

British Open – James Braid
US Open – Alex Smith

Horse Racing

Kentucky Derby – Donau
Preakness Stakes – Layminster
Belmont Stakes – Sweep

Tennis

Australian Men's Singles Championship – Rodney Heath (Australia) defeats Horace Rice (Australia) 6–4 6–3 6–2

Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Anthony Wilding (New Zealand) defeats Arthur Gore (GB) 6–4 7–5 4–6 6–2
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers defeats Dora Boothby 6–2 6–2

French Men's Singles Championship – Maurice Germot defeats François Blanchy: details unknown
French Women's Singles Championship – Jeanne Matthey defeats Marguerite Broquedis: details unknown

American Men's Singles Championship – William Larned defeats Tom Bundy 6–1 5–7 6–0 6–8 6–1
American Women's Singles Championship – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman defeats Louise Hammond 6–4 6–2

Lots of things happened in the world of soccer (I know, football...), but I don’t care about that, so sorry, move on.

Baseball in 1910

Honus Wagner, Hughie Jennings, Johnny Kling, Bill Donovan, and Frank Chance shill for Gillette razors.

I do, however, care about baseball, so here are some great facts about 1910 in baseball, courtesy of Baseball Almanac.

Cy Young wins his 500th--that's 500th!-game in 1910.

In the American League...
Cleveland Indians ace Cy Young won his five-hundredth game on July 19th after beating the Washington Senators 5-4 at American League Park II.

Washington Senators second baseman Red Killefer set a Major League mark on August 27th after sacrificing four times in the first game of a Detroit Tigers doubleheader.

Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia Athletics set an American League record after stealing his eighty-first base of the season during an 8-1 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox.

On October 9, 1910, Ty Cobb stayed out of the lineup to preserve his .383 (.3833992) batting average. Nap Lajoie, who was playing in St. Louis, went eight (8) for eight (8) in a doubleheader where six (6) of his hits were bunt singles. He finished with a .384 (.3840947) batting average and rumor has it that the Browns "gave" Lajoie the singles by playing too deep. Ban Johnson investigated and found no wrong doing. The Chalmers Award was given to both players and the following season new rules with baseball writers voting were instituted.

In the National League...
The Braves and Phillies combined on April 22nd for a Major League record fewest at bats by two teams in nine innings: forty-eight (twenty-five for Boston, twenty-three for Philadelphia). The record was tied the following season, but remained unbeaten until 1964.

On August 13th, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers played in perhaps, the most evenly matched game ever. Both teams finished the 8-8 tie (called on darkness) with exactly eight runs, thirteen hits, thirty-eight at bats, five strikeouts, three walks, one hit batter, one passed ball, thirteen assists, twenty-seven putouts and two errors with two pitchers used.

Imagine the uproar if Ty Cobb was playing today and decided to sit out a game to preserve his league-leading batting average.

Spoiler! The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Baseball Almanac has an excellent write-up of the 1910 World Series, as well as box scores and attendance figures.

Your world champion Philadelphia Athletics.

A program. Come on, it's only ten cents.

The Official Score Card, sponsored by everyone.

Happy Anniversary, Part II

2009-12-25T21:31:22-05:00

Indeed.

The Best Books I Read During the 2000s

2009-12-23T23:24:00-05:00

I only started writing down the titles of each book I've read since 2006, when I started this blog, so at first I thought it wouldn't be fair to try to make a "favorites of the decade list." I can hardly remember what i did this morning, let alone remember what I read in 2002. But then I thought that maybe if I can't remember a book without checking a list, well, maybe it isn't memorable enough to make this list. So problem solved--this list only consists of books that came to mind, without checking any of my lists.

In alphabetical order by title:

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. An intense look at a man who was often his own worst enemy. One of the best biographies I've ever read.

Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America, by J. Anthony Lukas. The title pretty much says it all--it's part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, and part cultural history. Lukas manages to weave together many threads of widely varying colors, from the violent struggle of labor vs. owners in the West, to the founding of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, to the early careers of pitcher Walter Johson and Ethel Barrymore. A fascinating read.

Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold. Magicians in the early 1900s. Really, what more could I ask for?

The Echoing Green, by Joshua Prager. This book made me realize that I do not know what I thought I knew.

Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear, by Jim Steinmeyer. After reading "Carter Beats the Devil," I wanted to find out more about the history of magicians on stage. I learned a lot about how magicians do what they do, and learned a lot about what I can do to become a more effective performer as well.

In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust. I'm glad I read this book for two reasons. First, for a book of this size and with such a daunting reputation, it's a damn fun read. It often has, of all things, a very gossipy tone, and a couple of head-spinning plot twists (when I was reading it, a friend who had recently finished it asked, "Did you get to the letter yet?" I said no, wondering what she meant. Well, when I got to the letter, I knew EXACTLY what she meant). Each densely packed page contains marvels of prose; yes, sometimes it can feel overwhelming, and there definitely were some skimming moments. But more often than not, I wanted to read every word. This would be a marvelous book to read aloud to someone (until your voice gives out, somewhere in the middle of chapter one). The other reason for reading this is that it feels like a cultural get-out-of-jail card. As in, "I don't know anything about art, but I've actually read Proust." It's something not everyone gets around to, so finishing it made me feel the way I think I'd feel if I climbed some impressive mountain.

Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. The classic about the boy spy. It's easy for people today to get all caught up in Kipling's "white man's burden" attitude. But the power of his writing, and love for the places he wrote about can be felt here in his description of Kim's journeys.

Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner. Reading this book made me think it is a marvel that this country has survived some of the epic bungles of the spy agency.

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924/ Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia/ The Whisperers by Orlando Figes. As you can see, I seem to think Mr. Figes is the absolute go-to guy for Russian history. His books often cover very big events, but he brings them down to a personal level through the true stories of people who lived through these times.

River of Doubt, by Candice Millard. Why, look, it's this year's winner! But not because I just read it a few months ago, but because of Millard's thrillingly horrifying descriptions of the jungle in this story of an expedition that began with an excess of pride and nearly ended in disasters.

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography, David Michaelis. Charles M. Schulz hid his true self in plain sight--everything he ever was or wanted to be, felt, loved, or hated could be found in one of the panels of Peanuts. And what he was was a man who seemed to be almost incapable of happiness, one of the more puzzling people you will ever meet in the pages of any book.

Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer, by Tim Jeal. Henry Morton Stanley constructed his own personal history out of layers and layers of lies. Jeal somehow found the real story, and it's a good one.

Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia, by Karl Ernest Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac. The story of the battle for control of an area that refuses to be controlled. Essential reading for anyone interested in the Raj.

Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, by Sam Tanenhaus. A sympathetic, but evenhanded biography of one of the twentieth century's most uneasy figures.

And that's it--for now. I have a bad feeling I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night remembering important titles I've left out. So I apologize in advance for this list's potential expansion.

My Own Very Favorite Movies of the 2000s (Because I Know You Care)

2009-12-21T23:11:11-05:00

Many people are making end of decade lists, so I thought why shouldn't I as well? I know! I'm glad you agree.

I'm calling this list "favorite movies" because I am not claiming that they are the best of each year, just that they are the ones I liked. Of course all of this comes with a warning: there are an astonishing number of movies that I should have seen that I haven't yet, and looking at each year's lists of films released made me feel enormously guilty (shouldn't I have found time by now to see "Gosford Park?" or "28 Weeks Later?" or "Hellboy 2?"). So if you notice a year that has only one or two titles listed, that doesn't necessarily mean it was an awful year for movies--it might just mean I missed pretty much everything that year. But if a title that you would think should be on anyone's best of list is missing, that also doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't see it--I might just not have liked it that much (sorry, "Dark Knight).

So here is my collection of decade favorites, organized by year, and at the end there is my best of the best list. Questions? Problems? Disagreements? Disparaging remarks about my taste in movies? Please let me know.

2000
Best in Show
Billy Elliott
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Memento
O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2001
Millenium Actress
Mulholland Drive
Spirited Away

2002
Minority Report
Spider-Man

2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2004
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Howl's Moving Castle
Spider-Man 2

2005
Capote
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2006
Children of Men
The Illusionist
Pan's Labyrinth

2007
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Enchanted
Hot Fuzz
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

2008
In Bruges
Iron Man
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

2009*
Star Trek

*Grade this year incomplete, as I've hardly seen any movies at all. Hopefully I'll catch up soon and maybe will add a few titles from this year.

Stupid Fun Throughout the Decade: Bring It On, The Italian Job, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Red Eye, Wedding Crashers

Best of the Best
This was easier than I thought it would be. I found that there were really only a very few movies that I saw over the last ten years that really stayed with me beyond the initial viewing.

In alphabetical order:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Michael Clayton
Millenium Actress
Pan's Labyrinth
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

And my final, overall top three:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mulholland Drive
Spider-Man 2

Now all I have to do is catch up on all those movies I missed.

The 9 Best Books I Read During 2009

2009-12-19T21:04:54-05:00

The one, the only, the eagerly awaited, highly controversial, and incredibly...uninfluential 9 Best Books I Read During 2009, by me. Not a critic, not an expert, just a girl with a library card and no fear of using it.

When I went back through my book posts to look at my options for this list, I was surprised at how many books I either had little feeling for or outright bored me. This was not a banner year for my book selections by any means. To be honest, at first I had trouble coming up with more than four titles. But I did.

Here are the rules, for those of you who are new to my list (and really, how did that happen? where have you been?): this is not a list made up of books published in 2009, just the ones I read in 2009. Some are new, some are older, all are recommended for one reason or another. Titles are linked to my original write up.

9. Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art Out of Desperate Times, by Susan Quinn
A history of the Federal Theater Project, a source of fascination for anyone with an interest in the Depression, the WPA, and of course American theater. More informative than thrilling, but still always readable, Quinn's book is clear, comprehensive, and full of the stories and characters that made this venture such a rare and exciting time in theater.

8. The Murder of Helen Jewett, by Patricia Cline Cohen
Cohen's book tells the story of Helen Jewett, a prostitute who was murdered in New York City in the early nineteenth century. The murder trial that followed. The trial became the blueprint for all the sensational "trials of the century" that have since followed, and arguably gave birth to the tabloid press in America. Cohen's research is awe-inspiring--she digs through the layers of exaggeration and fiction that have covered the case over the last one hundred years, and manages to find some truths. The result is the reclamation of Helen Jewett as a person, rather than a victim in a penny dreadful.

7. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why, by Amanda Ripley
An entertaining--and helpful--look at the history of people and their behavior during disasters, and what you can do to help yourself if you are (hopefully not) ever caught in some kind of catastrophe. You wouldn't expect this book to be a page turner, but trust me, it is.

6. Dancing to the Precipice, by Caroline Moorehead
Moorehead's book details the eventful story of Lucie de La Tour du Pin, a French noble woman who came of age right before the Revolution, and spent the rest of her life alternately running from one regime and winning favor with another. Paris, Bordeaux, London, Rome, and of course, Troy, New York, were just some of the places where Lucie landed. Moorehead works off of Lucie's own memoir, but also puts it in context with plenty of background about the period; if you need a clear, thumbnail history of the French Revolution and years after, this is a great place to start (provided you don't have the version I wrote for an AP European History Exam study guide, ha ha).

5. Wedlock, by Wendy Moore
This is the harrowing story of Mary Eleanor Bowes, an 18th century English heiress--indeed, one of the wealthiest women in the country at the time--and her (almost) fatal marriage to the manipulative and abusive fortune hunter Andrew Robinson Stoney. Moore's description of Stoney's horrifying treatment of Mary--everything from starving her to beating her to blatantly flaunting his mistresses in front of her (he got the nursemaid pregnant and wanted to move her into their bedroom)--makes you marvel that she survived. And not only survived, but successfully sued for divorce in an era when that was almost impossible for women. If someone wrote a romance novel that used the story of Mary's kidnapping and escape from Stoney after she finally left him and took him to court, that author would be laughed at for being too melodramatic. Moore tells this almost unbelievable story with just the right amount of drama and coolheaded evidence.

4. The Forger's Spell, by Edward Dolnick
A book about one of the greatest art forgery scams of the twentieth century--the manufacture of a bunch of fake Vermeers by a hack Dutch artist during World War II that were sold to great museums and taken by greedy Nazi collectors. How did Han Van Meegeren fool so many people, including some of the world's best known art experts? Dolnick explains everything. The lesson is how easy it is to convince people that they are seeing one thing when the evidence so glaringly says something else. We do see what we want to see.

3. The Judgement of Paris, by Ross King
King's book mostly focuses on two artists who meet at the turning point of art in 19th century France: traditionalist Ernest Meissonier and Impressionist pioneer Edouard Manet. I know little about art, but learned a great deal from King's always entertaining book--especially about how art was as discussed and debated in France in that period as any episode of American Idol. Different times, indeed.

2. The Lost City of Z, by David Grann
Grann not only writes about Percy Fawcett, the English explorer who disappeared into the Amazon jungle in the 1920s while searching for El Dorado, but also of the multitudes of people ever since who have obsessively followed him, hoping both to find Fawcett or El Dorado--including eventually, reluctantly, the author himself. Grann does an excellent job of interweaving the stories of Fawcett, the building of his legend after his disappearance, and his own adventure in the Amazon. You won't be able to put it down--it's the kind of book that will make you miss your stop on the train. Like I did.

1. River of Doubt, by Candice Millard
I actually found this book courtesy of Mr. Grann, who referenced it in his book about Amazon adventurers (always check the bibliography of a book that you enjoy). Millard tells about Theodore Roosevelt's dangerous journey through the Brazilian rain forest, another attempt by him to quench the restlessness he felt after his early and unwanted exit from American politics. Roosevelt originally was scheduled to voyage down a known and manageable river, but when, after arriving in South Americ, he was offered the chance to navigate the unexplored Rio da Dúvida (River of Doubt), he leapt at the chance. The expedition was already living dangerously, thanks to Roosevelt's choice of a completely incompetent provisioner, who overloaded the travelers with useless, fancy goods; they were even more poorly prepared for the newer, more difficult route. There was danger, privation, and death at almost every bend of the river (Roosevelt himself nearly died from an infection). In the lengthy history of disaster expedition literature, this story stands out because so many of the problems were preventable, caused by pride and carelessness.

This book isn't just about the jaw-dropping story of the journey, though--it's also about the Amazon and the rain forest and the horrible and amazing flora and fauna that live there, rulers and survivors of their own strange world, unknowing and uncaring of us. Millard shows how the trees, plants, fish, birds, and insects all combine to make the jungle a heaving, living, seething entity, where the only thing more terrifying than the strange sounds that come from nowhere is silence itself. Millard creates this place with such color and economy that it makes me think I should just give up writing.

Honorable Mention:
The Last Duel, by James Landale
Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural, by Jim Steinmeyer
The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War, by Alexander Waugh

Previous Years' Lists
2008
2007
2006 (this is my favorite list, by the way)

Seeds of Glory

2009-12-13T16:46:20-05:00

Henry Wickham in Ceylon in 1905, with a tree grown from one of his stolen hevea seeds.

There are so many things we use everyday without a thought that once were earthshaking wonders--electricity, for example, or cars or airplanes. And of course, rubber.

Yes, humble rubber. Without rubber, electrical wires were a live danger that regularly shocked or even killed people. Without rubber, all kinds of vehicles, from bicycles to airplanes, would never have been able to handle the usage we put them through. Rubber made machinery work more smoothly and longer. Rubber was once so valuable that there were rubber barons that built palatial estates and a glittering opera house in the middle of the Brazilian jungle. The report on rubber stock prices was the most important news of the day for traders.

When the market for Brazilian rubber crashed, all this disappeared along with it. The estates and opera house were swallowed by the jungle. The rubber barons were ruined, and their Brazilian workers abandoned (in some cases for the better). This didn't happen by accident, though.

In 1876, Henry Wickham, a British adventurer, whose adventures were more often failures than successes, committed one of the great acts of biopiracy of his age. He loaded a steamer with 70,000 hevea seeds and brought them back to England, where they were planted, and the sprouts shipped around the British Empire: India, Malay, Singapore. It took almost three decades for the little plants to make an impact, but when they did, it was huge. Hevea, a Brazilian rubber plant, grew even better in Southeast Asia than it did in its native countries, where it was at risk from a number of local pests and diseases. By the beginning of the 20th century, rubber grown in outposts of the British Empire had taken over the world, effectively destroying the Brazilian rubber industry.

In The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire, Joe Jackson tells the story of Wickham, and how his one great success was a success for everyone but him. Wickham was born into a middle-class family that became genteelly poor when Henry's father died, leaving his mother to raise the children alone. When Henry came of age, he did what many poor young men in Victorian England did--set off into one of the great unknown places in the world in the hopes of making a fortune and moving up in the world, something that would be almost impossible to do in rigid, class-conscious London. Wickham went to Nicaragua, with the idea of collecting feathers from exotic birds for his mother to use on the hats she sold. Really, though, he hoped to find something that would bring him a bigger fortune and of course he hoped to sell the account of his travels; this was the period when explorers' memoirs were best-sellers.

Wickham nearly died from a fever and didn't collect enough feathers to make any money. He went back to London for a little while, then set out again, this time to Venezuela. His journey was equally disastrous, and he again came close to dying. However, he did learn something that changed his life. Someone told him about rubber trees in Brazil, so Wickham got a few workers and settled into the life of a rubber tapper, becoming one of the few white men who knew and understood the procedure. He couldn't make a living on this scale, though, and discouraged, set off to return to England. Along the way he met a British consul who convinced him that if he thought bigger and tried harder, he could make his fortune in rubber. Inspired, Wickham went back to London, quickly got engaged and married, then packed up his new wife, his mother, his sister and her husband, and brother and his new wife, and brought them back to Brazil to try to make his fortune again.

And again he met with all sorts of tribulations and failures, including a falling out with his family members, who eventually left the jungle and moved to the city of Santarem, where they set up a school in order to earn money to pay for passage back to London. Before that could happen, his mother and sister died of a fever. Wickham, however, had one of his few lucky breaks--his travel journey from his last expedition wasn't very good as a book, nor was it much of a seller. However, Wickham was an excellent artist, and his detailed drawing of the hevea plant caught the attention of the powers that be at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. They contacted him and made a deal for him to try to collect and bring hevea seeds back to London. Henry diligently collected his 70,000 seeds, but then had to get them back to London, no easy task. The Brazilian government, after biopirates smuggled the cinchona tree, the plant that was used to make quinine, out of Brazil to be planted in other parts of the world, was sensitive to the idea of people taking their products away. The 70,000 seeds added up to a huge weight that couldn't exactly be shoved into a pocket.

Rare luck struck again. Wickham found a steamer in port and the captain agreed to let him bring aboard his heavy cargo. Without warning to any of their (albeit estranged) family members or workers, Wickham and his wife had the seeds loaded onto the steamer, boarded, and sailed back to London. Once there, Wickham contacted Joseph Hooker at Kew Gardens. Hooker and the other powers that be had forgotten about Henry after not hearing from him for a while. They were more interested in others who had set off to obtain Hevea seeds, notably Robert Cross, who left England at about the same time as Wickham returned. Cross was a gardener at Kew, and therefore held in much higher regard than Wickham, who Hooker regarded as nothing more than an adventurer; indeed, a treatise Wickham wrote on the hevea plant was listed by the Royal Botanical Society as Cross's work until very recently.

The disdain for Wickham continued. Wickham hoped to get some kind of job connected to the rubber plants, perhaps to accompany the seedlings now growing at Kew to India (Wickham had advised that seedlings would travel better than seeds--this was one of the few instances in which Hooker took Wickham's advice). He didn't get that job, or any other. Hooker had tired of Wickham's constantly writing to him with ideas about other plants he had spotted in South America or instructions for how to plant the hevea seedlings once they reached southeast Asia. More importantly, Hooker considered Wickham an amateur botanist, not a trained scientist, and he had no patience with amateurs. Wickham was given his payment of 700 pounds and Hooker had nothing more to do with him. Others in the Botanical Society (notably Clement Markham) had tried to stand up for Wickham, but Hooker wasn't interested in helping him further or giving him credit. To the end of his life, Wickham thought that Hooker was his ally, not realizing that he was the one who ended his career in the rubber industry.

For the rest of his life, Wickham drifted to different parts of the world, constantly hoping to find the "next big thing," another marketable plant. His wife Violet accompanied him for twenty years. It was a difficult life; Wickham often left her to manage a plantation or estate in some isolated outpost while he chased another product. Finally it got to be too much for her and she left him, retiring to Bermuda. Wickham tried to work with a number of partners on different business ventures, but failed to find success in anything.

By the end of the 19th century, the rubber barons in Brazil were making huge fortunes. Their wealth came on the backs of the native workers who they threatened, tortured, and murdered thousands at a time. But the time for the Brazilian rubber barons was coming to an end. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the trees that grew from Wickham's seeds began to produce and the center of the rubber industry shifted to the British plantations in Asia.

Wickham was eventually rediscovered by the British. His place in building Britain into a rubber power (I know, that does sound like a backhanded compliment) was recognized and he was even knighted. He still struggled financially, though; at age eighty, down to no money, he was rescued by an eccentric American oil man who heard about his plight and sent him 5,000 pounds. But Wickham died two years later, having had little time to enjoy his fortune.

As you can see, this is a story that has a lot going for it--adventure, intrigue, money, power. Seed smuggling. Yet for some reason, I didn't love this book. This could be largely my fault--I had to read this book in little snatches, with no continuity. It took me over two weeks to get through it and it's not a long book. I just didn't have time. But whenever this happens, I also throw out the suspicion that if I had been really in love with it, I would have found time.

Jackson is a fine enough writer--his descriptions of the jungle are vivid, his account of the mistreatment of the native workers by the European rubber baron is chilling. But I felt most of the best parts of the book were all at the beginning, with the first stories of Henry's early disastrous travels. For these, Jackson had Henry's own writing to work off, but Henry stopped keeping a journal relatively, before the fateful trip where he brought his family to Brazil to go into the rubber business. His wife, Violet, did keep a journal, and her writing about the experiences is helpful and often lively. The result, though, is that the real Henry seems to recede before the book is even half over. He felt to me like a distant, unformed figure whose voice is no longer heard. A large chunk of the book deals with Henry's wanderings over the decades after he brought the hevea seeds to Britain, but without Henry as a compelling character, the stories felt a bit like filler.

Again, though, I am willing to take some of the blame for this. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had been able to read this book over a shorter period of time in bigger chunks. I would not hesitate to recommend it, and think it would be fine for people interested in 19th century explorers and business, or the history of the British Empire and semi-eminent Victorians. I, though, don't expect to remember much of it, which is a terrible thing to feel about a book.

Bloody Hell

2009-12-13T16:42:31-05:00

I'm glad to say that our production of "Titus Andronicus" opened last weekend, which means that I am DONE with it (I was just asst director, not in the cast). It's a difficult play under the best of circumstances and we never had the best of circumstances. There were a number of productions either performing or in rehearsal at the complex (that's what I'll call it now that we have two theaters), and somehow we were the one that always got shunted to the side. The Saturday before we opened we weren't even able to get into the theater because it was booked for several kids' ballet school performances of "The Nutcracker." No one told us this until three days before, so the day we should have been doing final run-throughs before tech, we spent cleaning the theater for the kids shows. Then we had all kinds of problems getting pieces for the set built--basically, the cast had to do it at the last minute, some people staying all night to work on things (uh, not me--I'm not the one you want handing a saw at 3 in the morning). When we finally got into tech, we had problems with the lighting. Arrgh.

This will never be my favorite production I've ever worked on (though I am a great admirer of the super professional cast who put up with all the problems with more grace than anyone could have asked for). I don't love the play, for starters, and I wish we had had more time to work on, well, acting. But it was a learning experience, and I'm glad I was involved. Now all we need to do is recapture the magic of some of our earlier work. Oh, and that should hopefully require a choice of material with a part for me.

End of the year coming...I will have lists coming soon! Not just end of year, but end of decade! Yikes! where have you gone, Y2Ks?