Froggie Went a Courtin'

 I thought I’d write about some family treasures that I have. My brothers and I have items that came from our great grandparents’ home on Linsley Avenue in my hometown, Meriden, Connecticut.

My great grandfather, Samuel Clinton Lewis, was born a few years before the beginning of the Civil War. His father, George Hallam Lewis, volunteered to join the 15th Connecticut Regiment in the summer of 1862.  After the Battle of Fredericksburg he died in a hospital in Washington D.C. in February, 1863, leaving his wife a widow with four children.

Samuel grew up in Meriden, and worked with the William Rogers Company which made silver plated Britannia ware. He was granted patents for the design of casket handles.  For several years in the early 1880’s he worked for a casket maker in Cincinnati, Ohio, moving his family back to Meriden in the mid 1880’s. He established a mill and began the manufacture of furniture and Victorian trim for houses. His mill was near the former site of the Mills Apartments which were demolished several years ago.

Sam Lewis and his wife Mamie raised a large family of seven children including my grandmother, Alice Lewis, my father’s mother. My father remembered his grandparents as having a keen sense of humor.

So, the artifact that I write about today is evidence of that sense of humor. It’s a majolica humidor in the shape of a frog playing a mandolin. The family story is that the family bought it for Sam, filled with tobacco. Apparently he enjoyed the tobacco but also enjoyed the majolica frog so it stayed with them.

The frog isn't very large, about seven inches high. It isn't worth very much since it was broken into pieces a number of years ago. It's valuable to me and my family as a treasured piece, though.

The later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw a proliferation of tobacco jars such as this. Many companies in Great Britain and the Continent made them. This particular one may have been made by a company in Austria, what is now the Czech Republic.  There were other figures such as the frog to the right and the bulldog and frog below.

The image of a singing frog appears a lot in Victorian era popular art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are two examples. To the left is a German postcard with two frogs singing and dancing. To the right is a French postcard with a frog in female dress singing to her beloved.

In the Victorian era it was common to anthropomorphize animals--that is, to portray them wearing human clothing and engaging in human activities. Greeting cards were often the medium for such images which were almost always humorous.

Frogs in particular were often the subject of such images because of their singing. Although this traditional folk song doesn't specifically refer to singing, it's always a favorite:

Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride, uh-huh
Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousie’s door
Gave three loud raps, and a very big roar, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

He said, “Miss Mouse, will you marry me? uh-huh
He said, “Miss Mouse, will you marry me? uh-huh
He said, “Miss Mouse, will you marry me?
And oh so happy we will be, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

 Singing is what frogs are known for. John Burroughs, the American naturalist and author, wrote:

Have you heard the blinking toad
Sing his solo by the river
When April nights are soft and warm,
And spring is all a-quiver?
If there are jewels in his head,
His wits they often muddle,—
His mate full often lays her eggs
Into a drying puddle.

John Burroughs 

Get Your Portrait on a Stamp 1860's Style!

The first friction matches were invented in 1826. by John Walker, an English chemist and apothecary. They quickly caught on in the United States as an easy way to light lamps fueled by whale oil, which were much more reliable and neater than candles. Different chemicals were used to provide a surface that would catch fire when struck along a rough surface.

White phosphorus was commonly used in matches during much of the 19th century but it posed a danger because of a tendency to ignite when exposed to air. The discovery of red phosphorus (which is actually white phosphorus that has degraded) in the 1850's provided an alternative but white phosphorus continued to be used for much of the 19th century.

White phosphorus posed health risks for employees at match factories. In 1888 the London match girls strike raised awareness of the health risks to women working in match factories.

American entrepreneurs, looking to make a profit from the need for matches, invested in the industry and the race was on.

Matches were one of the proprietary products taxed by the Federal government, along with patent medicines, playing cards, and legal documents. Because of the proliferation of match manufacturers the government allowed for proprietary stamps to be designed and produced by manufacturers with the official approval of designs.

In typical grandiose 19th century style manufacturers of matches put their engraved portraits on the proprietary stamps to mimic U.S. postal stamps. The heroic portrait stamps of match manufacturers, posing as if they were U.S. presidents or war heroes, creates a small but colorful subset of U.S. postal history. They took advantage of the tax requirement and turned it into a way to enhance their advertising. Below is a sampling of these stamps.

E. K Smith used Benjamin Franklin's portrait with his own name!

1923: The Rise of Fascism, Economic Collapse and Hyperinflation in Germany

 At the end of World War I in 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and in November 1918 a new republic was established in Weimar  it was not the capital but historians generally refer to it as the Weimar Republic  one of the biggest challenges the new government faced was organizing its gargantuan war debt. The debt was burdened further because the Kaiser's government had released the mark from the gold standard, making it free floating. The government also decided to entirely fund the war effort by borrowing. By the end of the war the war debt came to 156 billion marks. To add to Germany's financial woes the war reparations due in 1921, totaling 112 billion marks. The Weimar government tried to finance this debt by buying international currency at any price, accelerating the beginning inflation. In 1918 the value of the mark had fallen to 7.9 marks per dollar. By the beginning of 1922 it was at 320 marks per dollar.

A loaf of bread in Berlin that cost about 160 marks at the end of 1922 cost 200,000,000,000 marks by late 1923. By late 1923 the dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 marks.  

It is not difficult to imagine the devastation this wrought. Unemployment soared and families found themselves destitute with their savings wiped out. Employers would pay their employees several times a day so that they could go out and buy food before the price escalated later in the day.

On November 16, 1923 the government stabilized the situation by issuing the new Rentenmark, dropping twelve zeros off prices to create a new base. The hyperinflation was over. However, the old marks continued to circulate, but offered no competition to the new Rentenmark.

Stamps from 1922 show the developing crisis

The first inflationary overprint from 1923

Stamps from an early 1923 series showing there was some time for anticipation.

As 1923 progressed and inflation got worse there was no time to create new designs and the government resorted to overprinting on any old stock that was available.

 

Stamps from later in 1923 had new designs but values kept going up.

“Milliarden” means “billion” in German

A letter mailed late in 1923 illustrates the depth of the crisis.

Taking into account several stamps that are missing, it cost 176,000,000M to mail this letter.

By November, 1923 the crisis had come under control

In mid-1923 it cost 100,000 to buy this one stamp!

The implications of this crisis still impact the world today. During this time political unrest and economic desperation in Weimar Germany provided an opportunity for a new political party, the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, to flex its muscle. An unknown political operative and the leader of the party, Adolph Hitler, staged an attempted coup in a beer hall in Munich in August, 1923. In the short term all he succeeded in doing was firing a pistol into the ceiling of the hall and gaining national attention, and he was sentenced to four years in prison, during which time he began his political manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his release he published his book and set about the task of making his party the majority party in the Reichstag, the German Parliament.

You wouldn't think that overstamped postage stamps and valueless paper money could impact us a century later, but in this case they do. The economic collapse of 1923 in Germany led to the rise of the monster to the left.

The Empty Chair, Part 2A: The Allure of Prosperity

 I'm putting up  this installment on my gr. gr. gr. grandfather Partrick Lewis' trip to Iowa (then Wisconsin Territory) in 1837 because it provides some additional perspective on what motivated people to move west. A primary source for this post will be A New Guide for Emigrants to the West (1836) by Rev. John Mason Peck. Peck originally published A Guide for Emigrants to the West in 1831 but published the expanded edition in 1836 to include the new Wisconsin Territory that was rapidly growing. At the time of publication Burlington had a population of seven hundred.

Peck describes the allure of the West in his preface:

...such are its admirable facilities for commerce by its numerous navigable rivers, and its lines of canals, some of which are finished, and many others commenced or projected,—such the richness of its soil, and the variety of its productions,—such the genial nature of its climate,—the enterprise of its population,—and the influence it must soon wield in directing the destinies of the whole United States, as to render the great West an object of the deepest interest to the American patriot. To the philanthropist and christian, the character and manners,—the institutions, literature and religion of so wide a portion of our country, whose mighty energies are soon to exert a controlling influence over the character of the whole nation, and in some measure, of the world, are not less matters of momentous concern. (p. v1)

In this long passage Peck outlines a number of reasons why he saw great potential for settlement in the West. This is a long excerpt but well worth the read. Bear in mind that Peck shared the commonly held view that the native peoples of the region were wild and uncivilized, and that the best thing that could be done for them was to relocate them in Western style communities, and teach them English and the Protestant faith. The implications of this laid the foundations for an attitude of genocide and the theft of territorial land on an industrial scale:

1. That the most perfect security is now enjoyed by all emigrants, both for their families and property.

By the wise and beneficent arrangement of government, the Indian tribes have nearly all removed to the Territory specially allotted for their occupancy west of Missouri and Arkansas. The grand error committed in past times in relation to the Indians, and which has been the source of incalculable evils to both races, has been the want of definite, fixed and permanent lines of demarcation betwixt them. It will be seen under the proper head, that a system of measures is now in operation that will not only preserve peace between the frontier settlements and the Indian tribes, but that to a great extent, they are becoming initiated into the habits of civilized life. There is now no more danger to the population of these states and territories from Indian depredations, than to the people of the Atlantic states.

2. The increased facilities of emigration, and the advantage of sure and certain markets [Pg 50]for every species of production, furnishes a second reason why population will increase in the western Valley beyond any former period.

Before the purchase of Louisiana, the western people had no outlet for their produce, and the chief mode of obtaining every description of merchandize,—even salt and iron,—was by the slow and expensive method of transportation by wagons and pack-horses, across almost impassible mountains and extremely difficult roads. Now, every convenience and luxury of life is carried with comparative ease, to every town and settlement throughout the Valley, and every species of produce is sent off in various directions, to every port on earth if necessary. And these facilities are multiplying and increasing every hour: Turnpike roads, rail roads, canals, and steamboat navigation have already provided such facilities for removing from the Atlantic to the Western States, that no family desirous of removing, need hesitate or make a single inquiry as to facilities of getting to this country.

The Mississippi River at Burlington, Iowa

3. The facilities of trade and intercourse between the different sections of the Valley, are now superior to most countries on earth, and are increasing every year. And no country on earth admits of such indefinite improvement either by land or water. More than twenty thousand miles of actual steamboat navigation, with several hundred miles of canal navigation, constructed or commenced, attest the truth of this statement. The first [Pg 51]steamboat on the western waters was built at Pittsburg in 1811, and not more than seven or eight had been built, when the writer emigrated to this country in 1817. At this period, (January 1836,) there are several hundred boats on the western waters, and some of the largest size. In 1817, about twenty barges, averaging about one hundred tons each, performed the whole commercial business of transporting merchandize from New Orleans to Louisville and Cincinnati. Each performed one trip, going and returning within the year. About 150 keel boats performed the business on the Upper Ohio to Pittsburg. These averaged about 30 tons each, and were employed one month in making the voyage from Louisville to Pittsburg. Three days, or three days and a half is now the usual time occupied by the steam packets between the two places, and from seven to twelve days between Louisville and New Orleans. Four days is the time of passing from the former place to St. Louis.

4. A fourth reason why population will increase in future in a greater ratio than the past is derived from the increase of population in the Atlantic states, and the greater desire for removal to the west. At the close of the revolutionary war the population of the whole Union but little exceeded two millions. Vast tracts of wilderness then existed in the old states, which have since been subdued, and from whence thousands of enterprising citizens are pressing their way into the Great Valley. [Pg 52]Two thirds of the territory of New York, large portions of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, an extensive district in middle Pennsylvania, to say nothing of wide regions in the southern states, were comprised in this wilderness. These extensive regions have become populous, and are sending out vast numbers of emigrants to the west. Europe is in commotion, and the emigration to North America, in 1832, reached 200,000, a due proportion of which settle in the Western Valley.

5. A fifth reason will be founded upon the immense amount of land for the occupancy of an indefinite number of emigrants, much of which will not cost the purchaser over one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Without giving the extravagant estimates that have been made by many writers of the wide and uninhabitable desert between the Indian Territory west of Missouri and Arkansas, and the Rocky mountains, nor swampy and frozen regions at the heads of the Mississippi river, and around lake Superior, I will merely exhibit the amount of lands admitting of immediate settlement and cultivation, within the boundaries of the new States and organized Territories.  (pp. 49-52)

 The promise of flat, fertile land, deep topsoil, and no stony soil must have been impossible to resist. Peck's paean to the arable land sings:

Probably there is no portion of the globe, of equal extent, that contains as much of soil fit for cultivation, and which is capable of sustaining and supplying with all the necessaries and conveniences, and most of the luxuries of life, so dense a population as this great Valley. Deducting one third of its surface for water and desert, which is a very liberal allowance, and there remains 866,667 square miles, or 554,666,880 acres of arable land. (p. 15)

In addition to arable land Peck described the region's wealth in minerals such as iron, copper, lead, and coal, and huge stands of native woods. He predicted that tens of millions could eventually populate the region.

The prospect of inexpensive land ($1.25/acre, $40 in 2023) drew much interest. By the 1830's much of New England had been cultivated for two centuries. Generation after generation of families divided up estates to the point that it was sometimes difficult to operate a farm on a single uninterrupted tract of land. To have a farm of many acres of open land that was easy to cultivate would draw many, including my ancestor.