When England in 1848 invented stamps, my feelings were decidedly anti-English...

Is Mark Twain everywhere or is it just me? On Saturday, the U.S. Postal Service is unveiling a new Mark Twain stamp in Hannibal, Missouri. I can’t decide if Mark Twain would like his face on a stamp. On one hand, I think he liked pictures of himself. He once ordered 1,500 copies of one picture because he looked good in it! On the other hand, he may not like to be on a stamp because the price of stamps are so expensive. In 1907, he met with the British Postmaster General to lower the cost of sending mail from the US to Great Britain to 2 cents but I also can’t tell if he was joking! I'll have to save the stamp questions for Hannibal but until then support the USPS and buy his stamp!

There is something good and motherly about Washington, the grand old benevolent National Asylum for the helpless.

Back home! I am sad this part of my journey ended but getting more excited to head out west next month! It has been awesome walking the streets Twain traveled and seeing the places he lived. His life in New York City was the start of his career and towards the end of his life when he was a beloved American icon.  Hartford was the place he found the most happiness being a family man and writing the novels that are so important to us today. This week has given me more insight into his life and I can’t wait to learn more!

This trip would not have been half as educational and fun if I didn’t have Angela to travel with me! Adventure and travel are always better with a best friend! I learned so much more when I had Angela and Jill to discuss the interesting parts of the walking tour and when Angela asked random questions to the guides at the Mark Twain House. If you were wondering, the banisters in Mark Twain’s house would not pass building codes today because they are too short and you could fall over them. The architect of the house designed them short on purpose because it looked better. You can all thank Angela for getting that little nugget of architectural history!

Thank you New York City, Hartford, Angela and Jill!

Mark Twain in today’s news!

Is Jon Stewart today's Twain?

When I wrote my proposal, one of my ideas to implement Twain in the classroom was to compare what Jon Stewart does every night to Twain’s quips about the government and political leaders. On Sunday, Stewart was invited to be a guest on “Fox News Sunday” and the conversation turned to whether Stewart’s higher goal was to be like Edward R. Murrow or Mark Twain - a journalist or comedian. He answered Mark Twain. Chris Wallace’s response was that Mark Twain did wield political influence. I do not know enough details on Twain and politics to say that Twain’s words did or did not influence government on a local or national level but I have not read anything to suggest he aspired to be in government or even play a major role in politics. I do know he had a lot of opinions on the government, politics and political leaders!

On government:

The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two.

On politics:

An honest man in politics shines more there than he would elsewhere.

The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.

On Roosevelt:

We are insane, each in our own way, and with insanity goes irresponsibility. Theodore the man is sane; in fairness we ought to keep in mind that Theodore, as statesman and politician, is insane and irresponsible.

If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.

So Hartford…um…its a city. I will not elaborate on the positives or negatives of the place where Samuel Clemens had the happiest years of his life or the birthplace of my namesake, Katharine Hepburn. I will only say when Angela and I went looking for a place to have lunch there were no signs of life. Nothing was open and we didn’t see one person walking around. I was pretty sure the rapture had taken place and we were the only ones left behind. It was really creepy!

Mark Twain’s house was AMAZING! The architecture, the wrap around porch, the balconies, everything was just interesting and beautiful. Clemens wanted the exterior bricks to be painted a black and orange pattern throughout the house and it was different but it worked. You couldn’t take photos inside the house but picture heavy mahogany everywhere, ornate upholstery, Steinway piano, large and detailed fireplaces and in most rooms stenciled pattern wall treatments. The house had a lot of the families’ original furniture including Sam and Livy’s bed. The bed had angels carved in the woodwork in both the headboard and footboard. The Clemens’ slept at the footboard so the angels could look down on them. In the library there was a massive floor to ceiling fireplace mantel, which Clemens first saw in a castle in Scotland, decided he wanted it and had it sent to Hartford. It is no wonder they went broke in part decorating this house.

Overall, I think the coolest part of being at the Mark Twain house was it really transported you back in time. It was so easy to imagine Twain in the billiards room, writing at his desk or sitting on the front porch smoking a cigar.

I am a Connecticut Yankee by adoption.

We made it to Hartford in one piece! I had one slight hiccup on the train ride up. I left my copy of Roughing It, sent to me by the wonderful people in Hannibal, on the train continuing on to Boston when I got off  New Haven. Thankfully after running through two train cars like a crazy person, I was able to find my book and make it back on to the train bound to Hartford.

The lesson learned here is I need to be more organized when traveling. To other lesson I learned this weekend was I need to wear my glasses when taking pictures. After looking through all the pictures I have taken, at least half are blurry and most of them are off center. I'm basically horrible at picture taking. Hopefully with my new glasses agenda I will have better pictures to share with everyone!

Make your mark in New York and you are a made man.

The Mark Twain walking tour was great! We started in the middle of Soho and ended up in Greenwich Village looking at buildings that use to be publishing houses, hotels, bars and houses relating to Twain. I am exhausted! The tour is led by Peter Salwen, a complete Twainiac. He told many great stories that I will not do justice by trying to repeat but if you are in New York I highly recommend taking his tour.  After the tour, Angela, Jill and I were rehashing our favorite stories and all agreed the one that needed to be told was Twain and 5th Avenue.

Mark Twain liked to walk the streets of Manhattan. During his time of wearing all white he would leave his house at the base of 5th Avenue near Washington Square Park and walk as far north as Central Park. He purposely timed his southbound return with the exit times of the various church services along 5th Avenue, so everyone could see the stylish author walking down the street.

Let us have peace.

For the Non-Twainiacs reading my blog, you may be wondering why I chose to include Grant’s tomb on my itinerary in New York. The short answer is Ulysses S. Grant was Clemens’s idol. After all my reading, Grant is the only person who left Clemens speechless and totally star-struck. During one of their first meetings, after a few awkward moments of silence Clemens finally said, “Mr. President, I am embarrassed… are you?” The most quoted man in history had nothing to say!

Clemens is also responsible for ensuring that Grant’s family was not left penniless after his death by publishing Grant’s memoirs. When Grant died there was a question of whether he should be buried in Washington instead of New York and this was Clemens response:

“We should select a grave which will not merely be in the right place now but will still be in the right place 500 years from now. How does Washington promise as to that? You only have to hit it in one place to kill it…But as long as American civilization lasts New York will last” 

The memorial was much bigger than what I was expecting! Being from Washington, it looks like everything in and around the mall but in New York it looked much more picturesque. Visiting the memorial was a nice peaceful way to start the day, but now I am off again for my Mark Twain walking tour in lower Manhattan!

*This information can be found on pages 286 and 504 of Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers.

Happy 70th Mark Twain...in the future!

Although Twain’s birthday doesn’t fall till November, we decided to go to Delmonico’s in the Financial District to celebrate Twain! Mark Twain celebrated his 70th birthday here. While the restaurant has done many renovations it still has the feel of an old time restaurant. The people here were super accommodating and we enjoyed a few drinks in honor of Twain.

 

Also on our trip to Lower Manhattan, we took the subway over to Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn Heights is the home of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims. Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, a pivotal person in Twain’s life, was the preacher there. Beecher organized the trip to the Holy Land, which Twain ended up going on. Mark Twain eventually wrote Innocents Abroad based on this trip and met his future wife because she was the sister of one of the passengers on the trip. Mark Twain also spoke here.  Unfortunately we were unable to visit the church. I seriously never knew churches were not open to the public all the time. I blame this on Rome! In Rome every church is open to the public but probably just to show off. Even though we weren’t able to visit the church, we were able to walk through Brooklyn Heights, which Twain walked at one time.

Henry Ward Beecher. The sculptor also did Mount Rushmore.

“On Sunday February 3, with the thermometer “at 180 degrees below zero I should judge”, Sam boarded a ferryboat that bumped through the ice floes of the East River and walked stiff-legged into the plump, plain-brick Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, to hear a sermon by the Reverend Mr. Beecher.”*

Fun Fact - Other superstars who spoke at Plymouth include Clara Barton, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Greeley and William Thackery.

*This information can be found on page 181 of Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers. 

What is a mark twain?

Mark Twain was originally born Samuel Clemens. The pen name Mark Twain was first used by Clemens in a letter to the Territorial Enterprise on February 3, 1863. A ‘mark twain’ is a nautical term he used during his time on the Mississippi River and it means a depth of 12 feet.  During the course of my blog, I will go back and forth between Clemens and Twain because Mark Twain was just his pen name and in everyday life he was Samuel Clemens.

POP QUIZ

What other pen names did Samuel Clemens use before settling on Mark Twain?

a)    Rambler
b)    Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass
c)    Josh
d)    W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab
e)    All of the above

The answer is e! Thankfully he chose Mark Twain because I never would have been able to spell W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab correctly all summer!

*This information can be found on pages 1, 117-118 of Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers.

Supposing is good but finding out is better.

Mark Twain was a typesetter, riverboat captain, prospector, journalist, novelist, satirist, and inventor. At one point Mark Twain was among the most famous men in America and his influence reverberates to this day: his stories are our stories.

This summer I will travel to the landmarks of significance to Twain’s life and work. For my trip, I will begin in the east from before “lighting out to the territories”, as Twain said, and heading west. While its safe to say these places have changed since Mark Twain’s time, I have a feeling much of the culture, beauty and humor he found in these places still exist today.

FOR EXAMPLE!

Mark Twain on Washington, DC:

My doctor told me that if I wanted my three score and 10, I must go to bed early, keep out of social excitements, and behave myself. You can't do that in Washington. Nobody does.
- Quoted in interview in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Here is my summer itinerary with the books I’ve read in preparation for my journey and the tours, places and sights I plan to see while in these towns.  If you know of somewhere else great I should visit in these places, please tell me!

June 16th New York City and Hartford, Connecticut
Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers
Walking tour of Twain’s New York, The Mark Twain House and Museum, Grant’s Tomb

July 24th Hannibal, Missouri
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, workshop on Mark Twain, sightseeing the locations that inspired his books

July 29th Salt Lake City, Utah and Virginia City, Nevada
Roughing It by Mark Twain
Echo Canyon, Green River, Offices of the Territorial Enterprise, Lake Tahoe

I will be updating my blog from where I am so you too can experience Twain this summer and in between my trips I will entertain you with fun facts, stories and quotes that amuse me from Mark Twain’s life. I look forward to sharing this adventure with you!

...nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people. - Mark Twain