1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is the second 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: part of our two parter on artist and author Wanda Gog. 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: In part one, we talked about her formative years and 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: her financial struggles as she tried to finish her education, 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,479 Speaker 1: get to art school, and support her mother and six 8 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: siblings after her father's death when she was just a teenager. 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: We're gonna pick up right where we left off, so 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: if you haven't listened to the first episode, you should 11 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 1: probably go back and do that, or this won't really 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: make all that much sense or have all that much gravity. 13 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: So we mentioned at the end of part one that 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: Wanda had published an essay called a Hotbed of Feminists. 15 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: That's kind of where part one ends. And this was 16 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: published in the periodical The Nation, And while it was 17 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: obviously about the Gog household, the family's aim in this 18 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: piece was changed to merr and it shares the story 19 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: of growing up in a family of almost all girls. 20 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: It opens with quote the smell of olive oil and 21 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: mama in bed. This combination always meant a new baby 22 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: in our family. It was one girl after another, which 23 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: pleased me greatly, for I considered boys not only unesthetic, 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: but extremely unnecessary creatures. It offers insight into the growing 25 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: up years of the household, noting, quote, my mother, who 26 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: was a natural iconoclast, arranged our hair in unusual ways, 27 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: refused to burden us with starch clothes, and considered shoes 28 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: and stockings unnecessary in hot weather. Sundays included. It also 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: shares what it was like for Wanda growing up in 30 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: a non religious home, noting that when her classmates asked 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: her what denomination they were, she just told them they 32 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: were nothing, which led said classmates to tell Wanda her 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: family was unfit for heaven. When she asked her father 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: about it, he tells her quote, nobody knows what will 35 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,279 Speaker 1: happen to us. Just do the best you know how, 36 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: and everything will be all right. This essay also shares 37 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: the details of the really difficult times the family faced 38 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: immediately after Anton's death. It mentions how the final year 39 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: of her father's life was stressful because he couldn't work, 40 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: and that while her mother had been told to take 41 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: in washing to make ends meet. Afterwards quote. But mother, 42 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: after the strain of the past year, was too weary 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: and ill to even do her own housework, and I 44 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: could see that the few dollars I would earn as 45 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: a clerk in the village store would never solve our problem. Besides, 46 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: I was needed at home to help with the housework 47 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: and to take care of the baby. This I did, 48 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: and by drawing place cards and writing children's stories, which 49 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: I illustrated, I earned about as much as the store 50 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: job would have brought. There followed years of struggle for us. 51 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 2: All this essay they may or may not have led 52 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 2: to the next big accomplishment in her life. Some versions 53 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 2: of Wanda Gog's life story say that a woman named 54 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 2: Ernestine Evans read this essay and was inspired to reach 55 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 2: out to Wanda. Other accounts say that Evans attended an 56 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 2: early nineteen twenty eight exhibition of Gog's work and there 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 2: became interested in her. It's also possible that she saw 58 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 2: the article and then sought out the exhibition. Still other 59 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 2: versions say that Evans was a socialist and recognized Wanda's 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 2: socialist values and wanted to elevate them. But regardless of 61 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 2: how Evans found Gog and loved her work and was 62 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 2: in a position to offer her a project that would 63 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 2: become a significant part of her legacy. Ernestine Evans was 64 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 2: an editor at Coward McCann Publishing, and she offered Wanda 65 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 2: a contract to create a children's book. Wanda actually had 66 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: a kid's book that she had been working on since 67 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 2: at least nineteen twenty. Partner Earle had even helped her 68 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: shop it around to publishers, but no one had wanted it. 69 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 2: For the next several months. After meeting Evans, Wanda worked 70 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 2: on the manuscript and illustrations, and it was published before 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 2: the end of nineteen twenty eight. That book, Millions of Cats, 72 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 2: was groundbreaking in a number of ways. The layout of 73 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 2: the book was very unique for its time. This was 74 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 2: a period when children's book illustrations were not typically laid 75 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 2: out in a way that integrated them with the text. 76 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 2: There was usually text and story on one page and 77 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 2: an illustration on the facing page, but Gog's illustrations flow 78 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 2: from page to page in concert with the lettering, and 79 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 2: the story features an elderly couple who want a kiddie, 80 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 2: but when the husband ventures out to find a beautiful cat, 81 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 2: he cannot choose just one and ends up leading millions 82 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 2: of cats home without thinking about the resources it will 83 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 2: take to care for them. They do things along the way, 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 2: like they all want to drink water, and if each 85 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 2: of them has one lap, they empty out a lake, 86 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 2: and they all want to eat. And if they each 87 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 2: eat a blade of grass from a hill, the hill 88 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 2: is left barren, et cetera. Spoiler alert jump twenty seconds 89 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 2: ahead if you don't want to know. The cats all 90 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 2: eat each other, except for one skinny straggler who becomes 91 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 2: the couple's beloved pet. One of the most alluring aspects 92 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 2: of God's Book for Children, present right here from the 93 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 2: beginning and Millions of Cats, is that the stories are 94 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 2: actually kind of dark, obviously from that synopsis. In this way, 95 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 2: they harken back to the oldest fairy tales, and they're 96 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 2: often ghoulish twists. This is generally attributed to the cultural 97 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 2: tone of her family's background and her upbringing. She would 98 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 2: have been told stories as a child that came from 99 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 2: her parents' bohemian folklore, rather than the more sanitized, hyper 100 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 2: positive and cheery children's stories that had become popular in 101 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 2: the US in the early nineteen hundreds. This reflected in 102 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 2: her own account of her early years, written in nineteen 103 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: forty quote, I was born in this country, but often 104 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 2: feel as though I had spent my early years in Europe. 105 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 2: My father was born in Bohemia, as were my mother's parents. 106 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: My birthplace, New All, Minnesota, was settled by Middle Europeans, 107 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: and I grew up in an atmosphere of old World 108 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 2: customs and legends, of Bavarian and Bohemian folk songs of 109 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 2: German Markin and turnver inactivities. I spoke no English until 110 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 2: I went to school. 111 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: Millions of Cats is, despite those weird circumstances of the 112 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: de Newment, incredibly charming with its repeated refrain of cats here, 113 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: cats there, cats and kittens everywhere, hundreds of cats, thousands 114 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. And 115 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: if you want to hear that read in the best 116 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: possible way, there is a version of it that's read 117 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: by James Earl Jones, and I highly recommend it. Wanda 118 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: was a cat lover herself, although she only had two cats, 119 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 1: not millions, which was named Snoopy, which is so cute, 120 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: and she used her own cats as models to create 121 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: the drawings of the hordes of Cats in the books. 122 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: We'll talk about the success of Millions of Cats and 123 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: what the book meant to Wanda in just a moment, 124 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: but first we will pause for a sponsor break. Millions 125 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: of Cats was hugely popular right out of the gate. 126 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: It had sold ten thousand copies by January of nineteen 127 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: twenty nine, and another five thousand by the end of February, 128 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: and it just kept going. Its success offered Gog her 129 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: first taste of real money and lasting financial stability, and 130 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: that book is still in print almost one hundred years later, 131 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: making it the longest running illustrated book in print in 132 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: the US. Millions of Cats was an accidental insurance policy 133 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,559 Speaker 1: for economic uncertainty. The royalties from this and later book 134 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: projects provided Gog with a dependable income even throughout the Depression. 135 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: Though the first thirty eight years of her life had 136 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: involved a lot of financial difficulty, Millions of Cats really 137 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: ended all that very quickly, and it also won her 138 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: a Newberry Award. Writing for Minnesota History Magazine in nineteen 139 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: seventy five, Richard W. Cox noted quote when Wanda took 140 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: her manuscript of Millions of Cats to publishers in nineteen 141 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: twenty seven. Little did she suspect the significance of this 142 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: moment to herself or American art. Millions of Cats became 143 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: the prototype for the picture book, defined as one in 144 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: which a single artist conceives, writes, illustrates, and supervises the 145 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: printing of the whole book project. Her success in the 146 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: children's book field should not have come as a surprise, 147 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: as her upbringing and later training left her peculiarly prepared 148 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: for the new genre. Telling, reading, writing, and illustrating stories 149 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: was a major pastime in the Goog home, and Wanda 150 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: proved to be more imaginative here than the other children. 151 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: Wanda may have been the most imaginative of her siblings, 152 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: but she was not the only one with artistic talent, 153 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: and she involved her family in the project. Her brother, 154 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: Howard lettered the book. This was in service to its quality. 155 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: Coward McCann had a letterer do the work, and Wanda 156 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: had rejected it, so then she had her brother do 157 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: it instead, and he would letter everything she worked on 158 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: going forward. Millions of Cats, as we said, made Wanda money, 159 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: and it also made her famous. She was suddenly put 160 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: in a position of having to do interviews and have appearances, 161 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,959 Speaker 1: but the success for her was all about putting her 162 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: in the more important position of being able to make 163 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: art for art's sake. Everything in her life was in 164 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: service to her art, and she was adamant that the 165 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: priority was always going to be art. Coward McCann and 166 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: other publishers were eager to make deals for more books 167 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: with her signature style, but her business decisions were always 168 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: guided by the question of whether it would enable her 169 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: to make the art she wanted to make, Like basically, 170 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: how much can I make on this project and how 171 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: long can I then just go to my studio and 172 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: paint the stuff I want to make. Everyone knew Wanda 173 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: because of millions of cats, but to her this book 174 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: was just a tool to sustain her true calling. She 175 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: also had a lot of offers to illustrate children's books 176 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: written by other people, and that was always a hard pass, 177 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: with one sort of odd exception. 178 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 2: That was in nineteen twenty nine when she illustrated Michael 179 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 2: Wigglesworth's The Day of Doom that was not the work 180 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 2: of a contemporary author. It was originally published in sixteen 181 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 2: sixty two. Wigglesworth was a Puritan minister and the book 182 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 2: describes the day of judgment. It's fairly dark, so it 183 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 2: was sort of up Wanda's ali. She took imagery from 184 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 2: New England to gravestones for the art in the book. 185 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 2: Many of Gog's most well known works have sort of 186 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 2: long stories in how they develop over time, for example, 187 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 2: jumping forward for a moment. In nineteen forty one, she 188 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 2: produced a lithograph called Macy's Stairway, and this shows a 189 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 2: fairly pedestrian view of an industrial style stairway illustrated in 190 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 2: Gog's moody, almost cartoonish way, showing the coiled up emergency 191 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 2: fire hose on one of the landings and the mounted 192 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 2: handrail along the exterior edge of the stair with a 193 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 2: glimpse of the heavier wooden mules and balusters on the 194 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 2: other side of the stair. But she started working on 195 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 2: this image eleven years earlier. She apparently loved Macy's department store. 196 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 2: She often shopped there, and she spent an afternoon there 197 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 2: drawing in January of nineteen twenty nine, and then that 198 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 2: drawing was refined to a finish drawing and then was 199 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 2: made into an etching. She was not very happy with 200 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 2: the etching, and then it wasn't until eleven years later 201 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 2: that she was ready to revisit this image for its 202 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 2: lithographic form, which is essentially a copy of that original 203 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,559 Speaker 2: finished drawing. Later, in nineteen twenty nine, gog published her 204 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 2: second book with Coward McCann, The Funny Thing. The story 205 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 2: is about a man named Bobo who serves the birds 206 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 2: and rabbits and mice beautiful food that he prepares, until 207 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 2: one day a very strange creature shows up. That quote 208 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 2: looked something like a dog and a little like a giraffe, 209 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 2: and from the top of its head to the tip 210 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 2: of its tail there was a row of beautiful blue points. 211 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 2: This creature is the Funny Thing. It calls itself an 212 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 2: ammal and tells Bobo that it doesn't want his cheeses 213 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 2: and puddings because he eats dolls. This distresses Bobo so 214 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 2: much because he cannot bear the thought of children losing 215 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 2: their dolls in this way. So he comes up with 216 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 2: a way to feed the Funny Thing something else. So, 217 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 2: in spite of this dock market crash, people seem to 218 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 2: have money to buy the Funny Thing, because it, like 219 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 2: millions of Cats, was very popular Gog found herself once 220 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 2: again requested all kinds of appearances and interviews. She also 221 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 2: had a book tour during which she visited her family, 222 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 2: including her sister Stella, who was at that point married 223 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 2: with a child, and she visited her grandparents. These visits 224 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,839 Speaker 2: were very inspirational for Gog, and she produced a series 225 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 2: of lithographs that captured scenes from her family's living spaces, 226 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 2: including Grandma's parlor. One of the hallmarks of Gog's work 227 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 2: is this sense that the lines used to create the 228 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 2: images are moving or vibrating slightly, and Grandma's parlor is 229 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 2: a perfect example of that. What is essentially a static 230 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 2: scene showing part of a Victorian looking couch, a bureau, 231 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 2: and a small side table that sits in front of 232 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 2: a window with long curtains feels very much like there's 233 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:50,199 Speaker 2: movement in the room. It's a really interesting and unique illusion, 234 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 2: particularly because the style of the art is not realistic, 235 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 2: so it's kind of like looking into a slightly cartoonish 236 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 2: parallel dimension. During the nineteen twenties, Gog and Earl Humphries 237 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 2: spent a lot of time at a rented place out 238 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,960 Speaker 2: in the New Jersey Country they called tumble timbers. The 239 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 2: rural life that Wanda loved, which came with few amenities, 240 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 2: would not have been possible if Earle had not been 241 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 2: willing to handle a lot of the heavy labor aspects 242 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 2: of life on a farm. He kept the firewood chopped 243 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 2: and ready, made sure they had food, and tended the 244 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 2: gardens that Wanda loved so much. His willingness to do 245 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 2: the farm's heavy labor made it possible for Wanda to 246 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 2: work on her art without having to concern herself with 247 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 2: the day to day chores. But there was tension in 248 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 2: this relationship. Earl cheated on Wanda at the end of 249 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 2: the nineteen twenties, and Wanda reciprocated by also cheating. The 250 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 2: pair decided at that point to have what basically sounds 251 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 2: like an open relationship, although they called it vacation. Admittedly, 252 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 2: the parlance of an open relationship did not exists then, right, right, 253 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 2: So it makes sense that they're like, we're on vacation 254 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 2: from our regular Yeah. Yeah, there were no pollocules at 255 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 2: this point. 256 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 1: No. 257 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 2: Wanda eventually began an affair with Karl Zigrisser avwaya Gallery, 258 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 2: as he had long made it clear that he was 259 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 2: interested in her once they started their sexual relationship, though 260 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 2: it seems to have gone pretty awkwardly. It was an 261 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 2: on again, off again kind of situation over several years, 262 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 2: and it seems like it just sort of found a 263 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 2: feeling kind of forced. 264 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. Wanda also saw other people once she was on vacation. 265 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: She felt very free to flirt and see whoever she wanted. 266 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: Like when she went to visit New York, she would 267 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: often have dates and have brief romantic dalliances with people there. 268 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: Wanda and Earl moved away from their home at Tumble 269 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: Timbers in nineteen thirty and they first moved to a 270 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: place in West Cornwall, Connecticut that was owned by a friend, 271 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: and there she worked on her book Snippy and Snappy, 272 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: which is about two sibling field my mind and a 273 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: wild adventure that they go on when the ball of 274 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: yarn that they love gets picked up by a little 275 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: girl and they follow that little girl home. During the 276 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: years leading up to the nineteen thirties, Wanda had moved 277 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: a lot. While she spent spring and summer in the country, 278 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: she was often back in New York for the entire winter, 279 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: and she was tiring of the inconsistency of just picking 280 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: up and moving every few months. She wanted a more 281 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: permanent and stable home and not to be maintaining two residences. 282 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: She had reached a point in her career that she 283 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: had the money to start looking for her own property, 284 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: so in June of nineteen thirty one, she purchased a 285 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: farm in Milford, New Jersey. When she purchased it, the house, 286 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: which sat on a pretty sizable acreage of land, was 287 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: not updated, but Wanda and Earl renovated it. They added 288 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: indoor plumbing. Her brother Howard did some of the renovation 289 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: work on the house. Wanda also had a separate studio 290 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: space built on the property away from the house. She 291 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: called All Creation at the name that eventually came to 292 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: be used for the entire farm. Once she was settled 293 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: in a place that felt truly her own, Gog once 294 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 1: again found her groove as an artist, and she produced 295 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: a lot of lithographs and multiple books. Her lithographic work 296 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: during this period showed an embrace of nature and a 297 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: move away from representing city life, instead focusing on landscapes 298 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 1: and still lifes. She was working at the time on 299 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: what would become the ABC Bunny for Coward McCann. When 300 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: her artistic interest was drawn elsewhere, she started working on 301 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: an illustrated version of her favorite book, Henry David Throse Walden. 302 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: This was initially something she wanted to submit to a 303 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,239 Speaker 1: book contest, but although she put in a load of 304 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: work to prepare it, at the last minute she changed 305 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: her mind and didn't submit it because she felt that 306 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: this would only get a limited run if it actually 307 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: won the contest, and she wanted it to a wider audience. 308 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: But oddly she never seemed to pursue it any further. 309 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: It was never published. Meanwhile, the Great Depression had caused 310 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: her income from selling her fine art to slow to 311 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: just about nothing, so she went back to The ABC Bunny, 312 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,959 Speaker 1: which was published in nineteen thirty three. The ABC Bunny 313 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: isn't solely an ABC book. It has a narrative structure, 314 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: with each letter representing the next event in the bunny's story. 315 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: Like her other books, her brother Howard lettered this one, 316 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: and her sister Flavia also wrote a song for it, 317 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: which is included in score format at the beginning of 318 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: the book. Coming up, we'll talk about the last years 319 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: of Wandagg's life, starting with a sabbatical that she took 320 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: to just paint and draw whatever she liked. We'll talk 321 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: about how that worked out after we hear from the 322 00:18:49,280 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep the show going. After the publication of 323 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,439 Speaker 1: The ABC Bunny, Gog felt like she had earned some 324 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: time to once again focus solely on her own art. 325 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: But once she had that time, she was not feeling 326 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: especially inspired, so she eventually went back to working on 327 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: another book, and that became Gone Is Gone, or The 328 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: Story of a Man who wanted to do housework. And 329 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: in this story, a man named Fritzel is convinced that 330 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,439 Speaker 1: he works harder in the fields than his wife, Lisi 331 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: works taking care of the house and the animals and 332 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 1: the baby, So the pair decide to switch places for 333 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: a day. Some rather frightening things happen in this book. 334 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: We've already mentioned that Wanda Gog's art style in her 335 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: book style is a little dark. Fritzel almost kills the 336 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 1: family's cow by accident, for example, and at the end 337 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: of the day he begs his wife to please take 338 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: back the housework so he can go back to the fields. 339 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: Lisy did great in the fields, by the way, throughout 340 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: these early years, at all creation when she was working, 341 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 1: initially on sabbatical and then on this book. Gog's diaries 342 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: show a new maturity where she's very reflective about her 343 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 1: work and less prone to the sweeping generalizations about artistic 344 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: gifts that she made in her younger years. She evolved 345 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: her view of the artist's job as including the need 346 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,120 Speaker 1: to cultivate their own work and be judicious about creative 347 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: choices instead of only following every muse that pops up. 348 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 2: Her next two book projects were adaptations. She published her 349 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 2: version of Grim's fairy tales Tales from Grim, which she 350 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 2: rewrote and illustrated, in nineteen thirty six, and in nineteen 351 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 2: thirty eight she published snow White in the Seven Dwarfs. 352 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 2: That was the year after Walt Disney released his film 353 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 2: version of snow White, and the Gog version serves as 354 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 2: sort of a counter to it, an alternative version. In 355 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,439 Speaker 2: Gog's telling of the story, the queen turns literally green 356 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 2: with envy when the mirror tells her that snow White 357 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 2: is more beautiful, and when the Prince finds snow White 358 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 2: in an eternal slumber and a casket in the wood, 359 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 2: he does not kiss her back to life. He decides 360 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 2: to carry the princess back to the castle, and she's 361 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,679 Speaker 2: jostled on the journey, with a piece of apple lodged 362 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 2: in her throat being dislodged that leads to her awakening. 363 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: There are interpretations of Wanda Gog's literature for children that 364 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: see it as an expression of Wanda's larger worldview. Richard Cox, 365 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: once again, writing for Minnesota History in nineteen seventy five, 366 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: notes quote the cat battle in Millions of Cats may 367 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: reflect her revulsion against the destruction caused by World War One. 368 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: Peasants abound in nearly all her stories, and Wanda's regard 369 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: for the peasant class was almost legendary. Her seven dwarfs 370 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: are frugal, hard working, sensible men, not Disney's famous likable 371 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: comic fools who anxiously stumble around the forest cottage awaiting 372 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 1: snow White's next kiss. Wanda spoke of peasants in the 373 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: sense of all honest workers trying to maintain their integrity 374 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: amidst the pressures of the industrial Western world. The picture 375 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: book proved to be a good way for her to 376 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: serve humanity and to vindicate herself from earlier accusations of elitism. 377 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: And being out of touch with ordinary human beings. She 378 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: also revealed in her children's books the strength and dignity 379 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: of women like Wanda herself. Females in her books assert 380 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: their opinions and make decisions. They suffer the same sins 381 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,479 Speaker 1: of pride, vanity, and greed as men. One is. Artwork 382 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: in these books, over which she had complete editorial control, 383 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: is whimsical, but it's not simplistic. Gog refused to apply 384 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: lesser standards to her work for children's picture books than 385 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: she would to any fine art lithograph she made. 386 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 2: Coward McCann remained eager to leverage Gog's popularity and had 387 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 2: been suggesting that she write about her unconventional upbringing. This 388 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 2: led her to revisit her journals from her early life, 389 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 2: and in nineteen forty Gog published the diaries she had 390 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 2: kept from the ages of fifteen to twenty three, basically 391 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 2: the period of time between when her father died and 392 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 2: when her mother died. She wrote in the opening to it, quote, 393 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 2: I had often wondered how I would feel upon rereading them, 394 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 2: and had even speculated about it in my diary. At times, 395 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 2: I found that I was able to regard my youthful outpourings, 396 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 2: while with a natural interest and hence not complete detachment, 397 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 2: still with considerable objectivity. True, all the usual juvenilities were 398 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 2: still there, the slang and silliness, the girlish gush and crush, 399 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 2: the introspection, the agonizing over love, the youthful arrogance and trigidity. 400 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 2: But recognizing these traits as typical of the various age 401 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 2: groups of which I was successively a part, I saw 402 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 2: myself as only one of many going through the normal 403 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 2: phases of adolescence. 404 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, people were very interested in this book, of course. 405 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: I will say. She also did edit those diary entries 406 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: a good bit, including the name change that we mentioned 407 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: earlier in talking about her. Through the years, Wanda and 408 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: Earle had stayed together, although they had continued to have 409 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,679 Speaker 1: their vacation periods where they were free to see other people, 410 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: and they definitely did. And then on August twenty seventh, 411 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, they married rather suddenly. And this sounds 412 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: pretty romantic, and there may have been an element of 413 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: romance to it, but this move was actually catalyzed by 414 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: a work issue for Earl. So because it was wartime, 415 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: Humphries was working in a war job. He was working 416 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: in a machine shop, and he had organized the workers 417 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:39,439 Speaker 1: there into a union. The shop managers threatened to fire Earle, 418 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: but their reason had nothing to do with his unionization, 419 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: even though it really did. The reason that they gave 420 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: was that he was living in sin with a woman 421 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: who was not his wife. So Wanda and Earl fixed 422 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: that lickety split, and Wanda became a bride at the 423 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: age of fifty. Wanda was having some health issues at 424 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: this point. She'd gone to various doctors and they'd all 425 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: told her that she just needed rest. Problem that still 426 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: exists today when women go to the doctor. Wanda felt 427 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: she was having menopause related problems, but the doctors told 428 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: her she was too young for that. In some cases, 429 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: they were reportedly shocked when she told them she was 430 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,479 Speaker 1: almost fifty. She was very petite and thin for her 431 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: whole life, and a lot of times that made her 432 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: seem a lot younger than she really was. She was 433 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: mistaken for a teenager well into her adult life, but 434 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: none of that addressed why she felt terrible a lot 435 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: of the time. Yeah, there are some references in her 436 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: diary where you can tell she's talking about not feeling great, 437 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,320 Speaker 1: and it reads as being almost tentative to actually write 438 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: down what she's experiencing because it seems a little scary. 439 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: By nineteen forty four, though, Wanda was often complaining of 440 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: shortness of breath, and it was bad enough that she 441 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: could not work on her art, which for her was 442 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: like not being able to breathe, and then just day 443 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: to day things like brushing her teeth became simply too 444 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: much for her. At this point, she had started staying 445 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: exclusively in an apartment that she had gotten in New 446 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: York because the winters at all Creation were too cold 447 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: and traveling between the two was too arduous. Finally, in 448 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,120 Speaker 1: February of nineteen forty five, she was admitted to Doctor's 449 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: Hospital for exploratory surgery, and the resulting news was very bad. 450 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: Wanda had lung cancer and had months to live. This 451 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: news was not given to Wanda, but to Earle and 452 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: Earl and Wanda's brother, Howard discussed the matter and decided 453 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: not to tell Wanda or her sisters. This is how 454 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: it was often handled at the time. I'm not excusing it, 455 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: but that's like how it was often handled at the time. Yes, 456 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: Wanda still had treatments and her diary entries indicate that 457 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,159 Speaker 1: she figured out from those treatments that she must have 458 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,719 Speaker 1: had one or more malignant growths, and she knew she 459 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: was only getting worse. Earle did everything he could to 460 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: make Wanda's life as comfortable as possible. They spent time 461 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,120 Speaker 1: in Milford when she felt well enough, and he drove 462 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: her to Florida for a vacation in the spring of 463 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five. After they got back to New York 464 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: and then to New Jersey, she oversaw the planting of 465 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: her annual vegetable garden and worked on another project, more 466 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: Tales from Grimm for Coward McCann. In late June of 467 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, Wanda rapidly declined and was admitted to 468 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:35,400 Speaker 1: Doctor's hospital once again. She died there on June twenty seventh. 469 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: Today you can visit the new Olm House, designed by 470 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: Anton Goog, that Wanda and her siblings grew up in 471 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: if you happen to be visiting Minnesota. It is open 472 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: regular hours June to October and then by appointment throughout 473 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: the rest of the year. So if that's something you 474 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: want to do, highly recommend you check out their website. 475 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: So that you get all the details before you show 476 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 1: up and find out maybe you couldn't go in. But 477 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: that is Wanda Gog. I have so much behind the 478 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: scenes stuff to talk about for her, and in the 479 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: meantime I have a little bit a listener mail. This 480 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,360 Speaker 1: is a listener mail about one of my favorite topics 481 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: of recent past, spite houses. This is from our listener Lily, 482 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: who writes, Hello, lovely ladies. Your podcast has been one 483 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: of my favorites for years, so firstly, thank you for 484 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: all your good work and wonderful and interesting content. I 485 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: got especially excited about your episode on spite houses, which 486 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: is just a hilarious concept to me. In December twenty 487 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: twenty two to March twenty twenty three, I had the 488 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 1: opportunity to work and live in Lebanon, and towards the 489 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: end of my time there I learned about Abasa translated 490 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: to English the Grudge. This is the thinnest building in 491 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: Beirut and was the result of feuding brothers arguing about 492 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: how to share the property their father had left them. 493 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: I was so fortunate to have a friend in Beirut 494 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: who took me there so I could see the building 495 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: and the stunningly beautiful view that the one brother wanted 496 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: to block from the other. Looking for wered to hear 497 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: about hopefully more spite houses around the world and all 498 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: other things you come up with. I've attached photos I 499 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: took of the grudge and also a few of my 500 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: little fur ball, Wilma Waffle. She's a ten year old, 501 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: cuddly and very gracious lady from a little island on 502 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: the Arctic Circle right off the coast of Norway, Trena, 503 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 1: and she lives to lay on the floor for a 504 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: big belly rub. She also loves smelly shoes and bird watching. 505 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: You know, I had a cat that was very obsessed 506 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 1: with smelly shoes and we used to discuss that he 507 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: looked like he was huffin' when he got in there. 508 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: She is adorable, by the way. I want to rub 509 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: that tummy so much. And I love the grudge. I mean, 510 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: I don't love it, but I love it. It's one 511 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: that did come up when I was looking at spite 512 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: houses online, but it's a little newer, and also I 513 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: didn't have a ton of info on it. But it 514 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: is a very very narrow house that has been built 515 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: to block a beautiful view from another house, because that's 516 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: a number of spite houses come about that way. I'm 517 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: just laughing about spite houses now. 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