1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tray C. B. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Over 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: the years, we've talked about various influences on Christmas as 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: a holiday, particularly in the US and the UK. So 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: we've talked about Charles Dickens, a Christmas Carol, the poem, 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: a visit from St. Nicholas, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: Joel Roberts, point set namesake of the point Stia, Nora 9 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: Ads tradition of tracking Santa's progress on Christmas Eve, and 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: then most recently, our episode on how the Nutcracker Ballet 11 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: became a Christmas Times staple. Another Christmas influence might come 12 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: to mind more in connection with Halloween, because it's Washington Irving, 13 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: author of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which became part 14 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: of Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad in 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine and absolutely truly terrified me when I 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: was a child. We will talk about Irving's work and 17 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: his Christmas influence today, including his influence of Charles Dickens. 18 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: Washington Irving did most of his Christmas related writing pretty 19 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: early in his career, but we're gonna save the most 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: detailed discussion of it for the last third of the 21 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: episode after our second sponsor break. Also, if you listen 22 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: to this show with anybody who's going to be just 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: truly eagerly awaiting Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, that part 24 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: of the episode might be something to just say for later, like, 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: maybe listen to it yourself first before foisting it on 26 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: any young years. Sounds like a great plan always. Washington 27 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: Irving was born on April third, three in New York City. 28 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: That is the same year that the Treaty of Paris 29 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: formally ended the Revolutionary War, so he was growing up 30 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: as the United States was establishing itself as an independent nation. 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: Washington Irving was named after George Washington, and he also 32 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: attended George Washington's inauguration in New York City just after 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: he turned six. Irving was the youngest of William and 34 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: Sarah Irving's eleven children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. 35 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: Both of them had emigrated to North America. Sarah had 36 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: come from Cornwall, England, and William from the Orkney Islands. Scotland. 37 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: William was a church deacon as well as being a 38 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: hardware dealer and a merchant. In seventeen, when he was fourteen, 39 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: Washington's parents sent him to Tarrytown on the Hudson River, 40 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: not far from Sleepy Hollow, to try to protect him 41 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: from a devastating outbreak of yellow fever in New York City. 42 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: He fell in love with the area, wandering around and 43 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: exploring and learning the folklore and heritage of its residents, 44 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: many of whom were Dutch immigrants and their descendants. The 45 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: young Washington Irving seems to have been really doated on 46 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: as the baby of the family. His father insisted that 47 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: all of his young brothers go to college, but Washington 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: was described as kind of a dreamer and lax when 49 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: it came to his studies, so rather than attending college 50 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: like his brothers, he started a law apprenticeship at the 51 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: age of fifteen. First he was a thought law office 52 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: of Henry Masterson and then with former New York Attorney 53 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: General Josiah Ogden Hoffman. Irving was chronically ill, and in 54 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: eighteen o four he went to Europe with the hope 55 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: of improving his health. He stayed there until eighteen oh six. 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: Then when he got back to the US, he was 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: admitted to the New York Bar reportedly, though just barely. 58 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: He just barely got past that exam. After he returned 59 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: to the US, Irving started a satirical periodical with his 60 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: brother William and their friend James Kirk Paulding. Paul Ding 61 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: also went on to become a writer in his own 62 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: right and later served as a Secretary of the Navy 63 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: under Martin van Buren. They called their periodical Selma Gundi 64 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: or The whim Whams and Opinions of Launcelot langstaff Esquay. 65 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: It published about twenty issues in eighteen o seven and 66 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: eighteen o eight. This periodical has been described as the 67 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: mad magazine of its day, and it lampooned a number 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: of targets, but a lot of its focus was on 69 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: the political and social life of New York City. The 70 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: use of Gotham as a nickname for New York City 71 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: was coined in its pages. This picked up the name 72 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: from the story The Wise Men of Gotham, in which 73 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: the villagers of Gotham Nottinghamshire, fame incompetence in order to 74 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,919 Speaker 1: get out of a visit from King John, so this 75 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: nickname of Gotham not meant to be flattering. Don't tell 76 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: batman um. In eighteen o eight, Irving became engaged to 77 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: Matilda Hoffman, daughter of his law mentor Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 78 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: and about a year later he gave up any pretense 79 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: of practicing law. In eighteen o nine, Irving published a 80 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: fictional history of the Dutch colonization of New York called 81 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: A History of New York Work from the Beginning of 82 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: the World to the end of the Dutch Dynasty. This 83 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: was narrated by and written under the pen name of 84 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:13,119 Speaker 1: Diedrich Knickerbocker. That's one of many pseudonyms that Irving used 85 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: for different purposes during his career, and one of the 86 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: many names that he also seems to have picked up 87 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: from somebody that he knew. Thanks to this book, Knickerbocker 88 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: became a nickname for New Yorkers of Dutch ancestry, and 89 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: then a nickname for New Yorkers more generally. The New 90 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: York Knicks, if you're not aware, is short for the Knickerbockers. 91 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: Knickerbockers are also baggy trousers that usually stopped just below 92 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: the knee and are gathered and fastened there with a 93 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: button or a buckle. This seems to trace back to 94 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,119 Speaker 1: Irving's work as well, and two illustrations in the book 95 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: that featured Dutch Men in baggy knee breaches. A History 96 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: of New York was another satire. It parodied Samuel L. 97 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: Mitchell's The Picture of New York or The Travelers Guide 98 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:01,119 Speaker 1: through the Commercial Metropolis of the United States. But while 99 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: it was fictional and comedic, it still drew from real 100 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: people and places that Irving had known while living in 101 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 1: New York's Hudson Valley. Irving led up to the publication 102 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: of this book with something of a pr hoax. He 103 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: posted a series of notices about a missing historian named 104 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: Diedrich Knickerbocker, establishing the name and reputation of this fictitious 105 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: person before the book hit the stands. The same year 106 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: that A History of New York was published, Irving's fiance, Matilda, 107 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: died of tuberculosis that happened in April eighteen o nine, 108 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: and she really seems to have been the love of 109 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: his life, and Irving's writing about her is full of loss. 110 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: He later wrote in his journal quote she died in 111 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 1: the flower of her youth and of mind. But she 112 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: has lived for me ever since. In all womankind, I 113 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: see her in their eyes, and it is the remembrance 114 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: of her that has given a tender interest in my 115 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: eyes to everything that bears the name of woman. At 116 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: another point, he wrote, vote for years, I could not 117 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,479 Speaker 1: talk on the subject of this hopeless regret. I could 118 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: not even mention her name. But her image was continually 119 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: before me, and I dreamt of her incessantly. It doesn't 120 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: seem like Irving wrote a lot over the next few years. 121 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: He moved to Washington, D C. In eighteen eleven to 122 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: work as a lobbyist protecting the interests of his family's 123 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: merchant business. During the War of eighteen twelve, after Britain 124 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: invaded Washington, D c. And set fire to the Capitol 125 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: and the White House and other major buildings, Irving enlisted 126 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: in the army. He served as an aide de camp 127 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: to Governor Daniel Tompkins until the war ended in February 128 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifteen. After the war was over, Irving went 129 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: back to Europe. His family had an import export business 130 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: called P and E. Irving the war had been really 131 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: hard on most of these types of businesses, but Irving's 132 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: brothers had also made a series of missteps in their 133 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: efforts to recover. After the war was over, Irving went 134 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: to London to try to help them save the business, 135 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: some thing he really felt was just hopeless from the start. 136 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: In the end he was right. The business could not 137 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: be saved, and bankruptcy proceedings started in eighteen eighteen Washington. 138 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: Irving had been something of a silent partner in this business. 139 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: He had been earning an income from it without being 140 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: expected to really do any work, but this bankruptcy meant 141 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: that income was gone. Poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott, 142 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: who had become one of Irving's friends and colleagues, encouraged 143 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: him to try to make a living as a writer, 144 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: and we will talk more about that after a sponsor break. 145 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: While living in Europe Washington, Irving wrote the Sketch Book 146 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: of Jeffrey crayon gent This was largely a series of 147 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,079 Speaker 1: sketches of English life based on what he had experienced 148 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: while living there, and it also contained three short stories, 149 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: Rip van Winkle, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Specter Bridegroom. 150 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: Although the sketch book was published under the pseudonym of 151 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Crayon. Both Rip van Winkle, about a man who 152 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: goes off to the mountains to escape his stereotypically shrewish 153 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: wife and sleeps for twenty years, and the legend of 154 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: Sleepy Hollow, about superstitious school teacher Ichabod Crane and his 155 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: flight from the Headless Horsemen, are attributed to Diedrich Niggerbocker. 156 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,679 Speaker 1: The two stories are set in Dutch communities in New York, 157 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: but both are rooted in German folklore. The sketch book 158 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: also contained five essays about Christmas in England, and we'll 159 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,719 Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about that later. Although many 160 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: of the other pieces describe Irving's experiences in England, two 161 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,199 Speaker 1: of them are focused on indigenous communities in North America, 162 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: their Traits of Indian Character, and Philip of poconok It. 163 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: The first is a general discussion of North America's indigenous peoples, 164 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 1: especially in New England, and the second is the narrative 165 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: of King Philip's War, which took place in the sixteen 166 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: seventies and which we have covered on the show before. 167 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: In terms of Irving's racial attitudes, both of these writings 168 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,959 Speaker 1: are just a tangle traits of Indian character. For example, 169 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: starts off by saying that quote it has been the 170 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: lot of the unfortunate Aborigines of America in the early 171 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: periods of colonization to be doubly wronged by the white men. 172 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: They have been dispossessed of their hereditary possessions by mercenary 173 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: and frequently wanton warfare, and their characters have been produced 174 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: by bigoted and interested writers. The colonists often treated them 175 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: like beasts of the forest, and the author has endeavored 176 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: to justify him in his outrages. The former found it 177 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: easier to exterminate than to civilize, the latter, to vilify 178 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: than to discriminate. The appellations of savage and pagan were 179 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: deemed sufficient to sanction the hostilities of both, and thus 180 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,119 Speaker 1: the poor wanderers of the forest were persecuted and defamed, 181 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: not because they were guilty, but because they were ignorant. 182 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: Irving's criticisms of Europeans treatment of indigenous people in North America, 183 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: particularly during the colonial period, are very pointed and often 184 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: perceptive and astute, but then threaded through that are racist 185 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 1: language and stereotypes. Both reflecting the language that was commonly 186 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,199 Speaker 1: used at the time and reflecting Irving's own paternalistic attitudes. 187 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: Sometimes it is almost whiplash inducing to read. Like I 188 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: was trying to find a quote to read as an example, 189 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: and I was like, man, I just don't even want 190 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: to repeat this insulting part on the show for the 191 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: sake of illustration. Irving's descriptions of the state of things 192 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: as he was writing are also obliviously optimistic at best. 193 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: While he acknowledges that the same prejudices against indigenous people's 194 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: all still exist, he frames the federal government's relationship to 195 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: them is basically fine. Now here's a quote. American government 196 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: too has wisely and humanely exerted itself to inculcate a 197 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: friendly and forbearing spirit towards them, and to protect them 198 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: from fraud and injustice. That's whiplashy in and of itself. 199 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: So Philip of Poconoca is similarly striking. Irving's treatment of Medicom, 200 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: who English colonists called King Philip, has been described as 201 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: groundbreaking and even radical, because it was way way more 202 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: sympathetic to Medicom and to the Wampanog Confederacy than the 203 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: historical sources that he would have been using for his research. 204 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: His approach was probably influenced by the idea of the 205 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: noble savage, which had come to prominence among Europeans in 206 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century and beyond. But his treatment of medicom 207 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: seems to really go beyond that and into a more 208 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: nuanced view of the war than would really be expected, 209 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: with a lot more empathy towards the Wampanog and more 210 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: acknowledgement of all the context that was involved. And we 211 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: should also take a moment here to say that Irving's 212 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: writing really too People of African descent is similarly tangled. 213 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 1: When Irving was growing up, New York City was at 214 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: the heart of the largest slaveholding region of the North, 215 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: and it had an established community of free black people 216 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: as well. The Dutch communities that Irving was so fond 217 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: of in the Hudson Valley were also home to both 218 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: enslaved and free black people, who were known as the 219 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: Black Dutch, which is one of several meanings that term 220 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: has carried. Irving clearly thought their folklore and traditions were 221 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: as worthy of documentation as those of white people, and 222 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: he wrote about holidays like Pinkster, which was celebrated by 223 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,599 Speaker 1: the black community and grew out of Dutch celebrations surrounding Pentecost, 224 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: But at the same time, Irving wrote about black people 225 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: in a negatively stereotyped and sometimes even fetishizing way. Irving 226 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: had essays from the sketch book printed in the US 227 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: at about the same time as the whole collection was 228 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: coming out in the UK to try to protect himself 229 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: and his profits from plagiarists. Its contents were printed on 230 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: both sides of the Atlantic between eighteen nineteen and eighteen 231 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 1: twenty three. Was generally well received, especially the short stories, 232 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: with later critics describing Irving as the first American short 233 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: story writer. It also sold well enough that he was 234 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: able to support himself. In eighteen twenty two, Irving was 235 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: paid one thousand guineas to write a sequel, Bracebridge Hall 236 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: or the Humorists, a medley also under the Jeoffrey Crayons pseudonym. 237 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: Then Tales of a Traveler followed in eighteen twenty four. 238 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: Tales of a Traveler contains another story attributed to Knickerbocker, 239 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: and that is The Devil and Tom Walker. Critics mostly 240 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: panned Tales of a traveler, and Irving seems to have 241 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: stopped writing for a while. He remained in Europe, though, 242 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: and Alexander Hill Everett, the U S. Minister to Spain, 243 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: invited him to Madrid. Spain had just released archival documents 244 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: on its colonization of the Americas, and Everett wanted Irving 245 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: to translate them for American use. Irving may have started 246 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: out following that instruction, but soon he was using these 247 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: documents not to translate them, but to do research on 248 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: his own work. The result was a History of the 249 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, which was published in 250 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: This was a fictionalized biography of Columbus, sometimes described as 251 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: a romantic biography. This work is extremely favorable in its 252 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: embellish treatment of Columbus, making him almost a mythic figure. 253 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: The book also put forth the fiction that one of 254 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: the reasons for columbus voyage was to prove that the 255 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: world was not flat, an idea that has persisted until today, 256 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: even though people around the world have known the planet 257 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: was roughly spherical for literally thousands of years. Other work 258 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: related to Spain followed the Columbus biography, including a chronicle 259 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: of the conquest of Granada from the manuscripts of Fray 260 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: Antonio Agapita, that being yet another pseudonym. The This work 261 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: is described as having a quote comically biased narrator. Irving 262 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: had to leave Spain in eighteen twenty nine after he 263 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: was appointed secretary to the American Legation in London. He 264 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: worked at the American Embassy in London until eighteen thirty two, 265 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: and then finally returned to the United States. Irving had 266 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: become famous while he was away, and he returned to 267 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: find that New York City had grown tremendously in his absence. 268 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: In the fall of eighteen thirty two, Irving joined Henry 269 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: Levitt Ellsworth on an expedition to what's now Missouri, Oklahoma, 270 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: and Arkansas. President Andrew Jackson had tasked Ellsworth with inspecting 271 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: land that was going to be used for the forced 272 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: relocation of indigenous peoples under the Indian Removal Act of 273 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty This relocation later became known as the Trail 274 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: of Tears, and it forced tens of thousands of Indigenous 275 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: people to leave their homes and moved west, including citizens 276 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole Creek, and Cherokee Nations and others. 277 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: Irving was invited to accompany this expedition, and he saw 278 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,959 Speaker 1: it as quote an opportunity of seeing the remnants of 279 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: those great Indian tribes which are now about to disappear 280 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: as independent nations or to be amalgamated under some new 281 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: form of government. While on this expedition, Irving visited Stalk 282 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: leader black Hawk, who at the time was imprisoned for 283 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: his role in the black Hawk War, which had taken 284 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: place earlier in eighteen thirty two. In a letter to 285 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: a sister, Irving said of this meeting, quote, I find 286 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: it extremely difficult, even when so near the seat of action, 287 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: to get at the right story of these feuds between 288 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: the White and the Red man, and my sympathies go 289 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,959 Speaker 1: strongly with the latter. At the same time, though, Irving 290 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,479 Speaker 1: does not seem particularly critical of Jackson's removal policy, and 291 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: that was something that directly led to the deaths of 292 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,880 Speaker 1: thousands of people, loss of ancestral homelands, and the total 293 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: upheaval of families and social structures. Irving wrote several books 294 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: drawn from this experience, including Tour on the Prairies, which 295 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: came out in eighteen thirty five, Enterprise Beyond the Rocky 296 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: Mountains in eighteen thirty six, and Adventures in the Far 297 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: West in eighteen thirty seven. As these books were published, 298 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: Irving was living at Sunnyside, which was a farm not 299 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: far from Terrytown that he bought in eighteen thirty five, 300 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: and he probably would have been content to live out 301 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: the rest of his days there. But in eighteen forty two, 302 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: President John Tyler appointed Irving as Minister to Spain. He 303 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 1: had been recommended by Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, 304 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: who was a fan of Irving's writing and also knew 305 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: of his earlier time and experiences in Spain. This is 306 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: the precarious time for Spain and for the United States 307 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: relations with it. Queen Isabella the Second was only twelve 308 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: and there were multiple factions wrestling for control of the 309 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 1: Spanish government. Meanwhile, the United States was in the process 310 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: of annexing Texas, which would ultimately lead it to war 311 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: with Mexico, and that was something that the United States 312 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: really wanted Spain to stay out of, meaning they wanted 313 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,680 Speaker 1: Irving to make sure that Spain just stayed stayed put. 314 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: Unsurprisingly Washington, Irving found this position extremely stressful and it 315 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: aggravated various chronic health conditions. But he held out until 316 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: James K. Polk took office, and then he resigned when 317 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: it just didn't seem like Polk was going to name 318 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: a replacement anytime soon. Irving was back at home in Sunnyside. 319 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: In he published The Life of Mohammed and Mohammed and 320 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: his Successors in eighteen fifty These were books that he 321 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,400 Speaker 1: had started working on while living in Spain. This has 322 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: been described as the first sympathetic biography of the prophet 323 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: Mohammed to be published in North America. I haven't personally 324 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: read it. I did read articles about it by Muslim people, 325 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: and that was the description was that they found a 326 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,719 Speaker 1: treatment of Mohammed to be generally sympathetic and that that 327 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: was groundbreaking given the time. Irving spent most of his 328 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: last years working on a biography of George Washington that 329 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: was published in five volumes between eighteen fifty five and 330 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine. This is both a favorable treatment of 331 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: Washington and one that humanized him, focusing primarily on his 332 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: military career and his personal life. Irving experienced a series 333 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: of illnesses as he was finishing this biography, his his 334 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: health has described as declining throughout the whole process. He 335 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: died on November eighteen fifty nine at the age of 336 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: seventy six, after having had a heart attack in his 337 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 1: bedroom at Sunnyside. Washington Irving is considered to be the 338 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: first American man of letters. His work also helped establish 339 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 1: American literature as worthwhile in its own right, rather than 340 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: simply being a minor offshoot of British literature. Because some 341 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,199 Speaker 1: of his work has preserved Dutch oral traditions in the 342 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: Hudson Valley region, he has also been described as the 343 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: first folklorist in the US. His home in Terrytown still 344 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: stands today, and it is a National Historic Landmark. After 345 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: a sponsor break, we will get into Washington Irving's contributions 346 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: to the Christmas holiday, including his connections to Jolly Old St. Nick, 347 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: especially around November and December. Christmas can seem so ubiquitous 348 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: in the United States that it feels almost like it 349 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: must have always been this way. But when Washington Irving 350 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: was growing up, Christmas really wasn't established as a holiday, 351 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 1: especially not as a holiday that involved lots of feasting 352 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: and merriment and presents and songs. Puritans in New England 353 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 1: outlawed Christmas in sixteen fifty nine, and that followed a 354 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,959 Speaker 1: series of laws that had been passed in England starting 355 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: in the sixteen forties. These laws in England had designated 356 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: the Christmas season as a time for fasting and humiliation 357 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: that effectively outlawed Christmas celebrations in England until the restoration 358 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: of Charles the Second in sixteen sixty. By the time 359 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,200 Speaker 1: Irving was born, laws outlining Christmas in the British colonies 360 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: had been repealed, but many denominations and sects still viewed 361 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: it with a lot of suspicion. In many places, Christmas 362 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: was a day for hard work and penitence, not for revelry. 363 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: This led to strife between denominations that opposed Christmas and 364 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: those like Anglicans, who were more likely to celebrate it. 365 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: Dutch colonists in the Hudson River Valley had brought the 366 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: tradition of center class or St. Nicholas, who brought presents 367 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: to good children on St. Nicholas Day or December six. 368 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: Irving mentioned St. Nicholas more than forty times in his 369 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: History of New York, This includes attributing Dutch colonists decision 370 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,239 Speaker 1: to settle on Manhattan to St. Nicholas. Irving relates the 371 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: tale in which Olaf and Cortland has a dream in 372 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: which quote St. Nick List came riding over the tops 373 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,959 Speaker 1: of the trees and that self same wagon, wherein he 374 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: brings his yearly presence to children. In this dream, St. 375 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: Nicholas smokes a pipe, with the smoke from his pipe, 376 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,920 Speaker 1: assuming quote a variety of marvelous forms. Those forms include palaces, domes, 377 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: and spires, and then quote, when St. Nicholas had smoked 378 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: his pipe, he twisted it in his hat band, and 379 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,719 Speaker 1: laying his finger beside his nose, gave the astonished Van 380 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: Cortland a very significant look. Then, mounting his wagon, he 381 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 1: returned over the tree tops and disappeared. The History of 382 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: New York came out in eighteen o nine, but this 383 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: passage seems to have been added in an eighteen twelve edition. 384 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 1: It may have been an inspiration for the poem A 385 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: Visit from St. Nicholas, which is the poem that begins 386 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,720 Speaker 1: tow was the Night before Christmas and all through the house. 387 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: That poem was first published in eighteen twenty three. This 388 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: poem is often attributed to Clement Clark Moore, who was 389 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 1: ends with Washington Irving, which really makes it seem like 390 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: the poem's pipe in the Flying Sleigh and St Nick 391 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: laying a finger aside his nose, that might all have 392 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: been inspired by Washington Irving. However, there is a competing 393 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: claim that Major Henry Livingston Jr. Is the person who 394 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: wrote this poem and that that happened all the way 395 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: back in eighteen o eight. And if that's the case, 396 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: obviously Washington Irving could not have been the person who 397 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: inspired it because it was already written when his book 398 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,679 Speaker 1: came out. We talked about this authorship dispute in our 399 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,880 Speaker 1: Christmas Triple Feature, and that is going to be our 400 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic on December. So, as we said earlier, Washington 401 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: irving sketchbook contained five essays based on a Christmas he 402 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: spent in England. They are titled Christmas the Stage Coach, 403 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:51,680 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the Christmas Dinner. So Christmas 404 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: celebrations returned to England far more speedily than they did 405 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: in North America, and Christmas contains some general observations about 406 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: the holl in England. Here's a sample quote of all 407 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: the old festivals. However, that of Christmas awakens the strongest 408 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone of solemn 409 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality and lifts 410 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: the spirit to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment. 411 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: The services of the church about this season are extremely 412 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 1: tender and inspiring. They dwell and the beautiful story of 413 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: the origin of our faith and the pastoral scenes that 414 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: accompanied its announcement. They gradually increase in fervor and pathos 415 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: during the season of advent, until they break forth in 416 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: full jubilee on the morning that brought peace and goodwill 417 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: to men. I do not know a grander effect of 418 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: music on the moral feelings than to hear the full 419 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: choir and the appealing organ performing a Christmas anthem in 420 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 1: a cathedral and filling every part of the vast pile 421 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: with triumphant harmony. He also repeatedly stresses the idea that 422 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:03,679 Speaker 1: this is a time to be happy and merry. He 423 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,959 Speaker 1: talks about being a stranger, no friends around him. Quote, 424 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: Yet I feel the influence of the season beaming into 425 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,880 Speaker 1: my soul from the happy looks of those around me. 426 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: He goes on to say, quote, he who can turn 427 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 1: churlishly away from contemplating the felicity of his fellow beings, 428 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: and can sit down, darkling and repining in his loneliness 429 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: when all around is joyful, may have his moments of 430 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: strong excitement and selfish gratification, but he wants the genial 431 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a merry Christmas. 432 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,159 Speaker 1: In the stage Coach, Irving describes traveling by coach on 433 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: a tour of Yorkshire on the day before Christmas and 434 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: seeing other passengers, all bound for holiday visits with laden 435 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 1: with hampers full of delicious foods. He winds up at 436 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: an end that's quote decorated here and there with a 437 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,199 Speaker 1: Christmas green. He runs into a friend who invites him 438 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: to stay for a few days, staying with friends being 439 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: better than having Christmas dinner alone at an inn. So 440 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: for Christmas Eve, Irving winds up at the brace Bridges estate. 441 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,880 Speaker 1: He hears lots of merriment coming from the servants quarters. 442 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: They are playing lots of games, some of which sound 443 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,880 Speaker 1: familiar today and some which do not. Quote here, we're 444 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: kept up the old games of hoodman, blind shoe, the 445 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple 446 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: and snapdragon. The Yule clog and Christmas candle were regularly burnt, 447 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 1: and the mistletoe with its white berries hung up to 448 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids. A footnote 449 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: explains that young men get to kiss young women under 450 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: the mistletoe, removing a berry from the sprig each time, 451 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: and when the berries are gone, quote, the privilege ceases. 452 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 1: Irving describes the Yule clog, which is an enormous log 453 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: burned during the holiday, with a bit of its saved 454 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: to light the next year's log, as well as a 455 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: range of superstitions associated with it. He also talks about 456 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: Christmas candles being wreathed in greens, and lots of singing 457 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: and dancing in general gaiety. His Christmas Day account begins 458 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: with the household's children going door to door through the 459 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 1: house singing a Christmas carol to wake everyone up. Then 460 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: there are family prayers, followed by another carol, and then 461 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: a church service later in the day and distribution of beef, 462 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,679 Speaker 1: bread and ale to the poor. On arrival at the 463 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: church Irving writes, quote, on reaching the church board, we 464 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: found the parson rebuking the gray headed sexton for having 465 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: used mistletoe among the greens with which the church was decorated. 466 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 1: It was he observed an unholy plant, profaned by having 467 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: been used by the druids and their mystic ceremonies, And 468 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: though it might be innocently employed in the festive ornamenting 469 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: of halls and kitchens, yet it had been deemed by 470 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: the fathers of the church as unhallowed and totally unfit 471 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: for sacred purposes. In Christmas dinner, Irving is at first 472 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: perplexed when a pig's head is brought out on a platter, 473 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,719 Speaker 1: until his host explains that it's meant to represent a 474 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: boar's head, something that had traditionally been served at Christmas 475 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: in earlier years, including at the Oxford College that he 476 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: had attended. The families Christmas dinner also includes turkey, pheasant pie, 477 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: and a wastle bowl. After dinner, the family gathers for 478 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: the telling of Christmas ghost stories and a quote Christmas 479 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: mummery or masking. This has another footnote quote maskings or 480 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: mummories were favorite sports at Christmas and old times, and 481 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: the wardrobes at halls and manor houses were often laid 482 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: under contribution to furnished dresses and fantastic disguising. I strongly 483 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: suspect Master Simons who have taken the idea of his 484 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: from Ben Johnson's Mask of Christmas to someone living in 485 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: the US today, where Christmas can feel like a giant 486 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: commercial juggernaut. None of this really sounds all that dramatic, 487 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: more like a quaint, old fashioned Blish Christmas. But again, 488 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: the holiday really wasn't established in much of the US 489 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: at that point. Irving's writing about it comes across as 490 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: somewhat nostalgic, emphasizing that he thinks these kinds of traditions 491 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: should be preserved. Then, as we said earlier, the Sketchbook 492 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: was really popular, so Irving's fond descriptions of this English 493 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: holiday spread across his reading audience in the US, and 494 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: it also had an impact on another writer whose work 495 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: has been credited with influencing the way Christmas has thought 496 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: about and celebrated, and that is Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens 497 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: was kind of a Washington Irving super fan. The Sketch 498 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: Book was published when he was about eight, and he 499 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: read it over and over. It is likely that Dickens 500 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: named his own sketches by Boss after irving sketchbook, and 501 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: the sketchbook influenced Dickens eighteen thirty five a Christmas Dinner, 502 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: as well as Christmas scenes in Pickwick Papers in eighteen 503 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: thirty six. Irving wrote to Dickens in eighteen forty one 504 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: complimenting him on his work, and dickens reply is effusive. 505 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: Here is a sample quote. I have been so accustomed 506 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: to associate you with my pleasantest and happiest thoughts, and 507 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: with my leisure hours, that I rush at once into 508 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: full confidence with you, and fall, as it were, naturally, 509 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: and by the very laws of gravity, into your open arms. 510 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: Questions come thronging to my pen, as to the lips 511 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: of people who meet after long hoping to do so. 512 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: I don't know what to say first, or what to 513 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: leave unsaid, and am constantly disposed to break off and 514 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: tell you again how glad I am this moment has arrived. 515 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: I don't know if Charles Dickens meant this to sound 516 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: a little suggestive. It's very romantic. It is extremely romantic. 517 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: Irving and Dickens exchanged flattering letters back and forth until 518 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: meeting during Dickens's tour of the US in eighteen forty two. 519 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty three, Dickens published a Christmas Carol, again 520 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: influenced by Irving and whose influence on Christmas time we 521 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: have previously discussed on the show. Their friendship might not 522 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: have lasted beyond that tour, though if they corresponded after 523 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: Irving left for that appointment as Minister to Spain. Those 524 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: letters have not survived. And there's also a second hand 525 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: report that Irving had found Dickens to be quote outrageously vulgar. Regardless, 526 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: Christmas became more of an established and public holiday in 527 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: the US over the course of the nineteenth century, and 528 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: it became a federal holiday in the US on June seventy. 529 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: And that's a bit about Washington Irving and his influence 530 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: on the Christmas season, on the season of holiday cheer 531 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 1: and greenery. And I feel like, um, he to have 532 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: an aneurysm if he walked into like a big box 533 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: store and saw like the assault of Christmas everything, which 534 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: I'm not complaining about, by the way, but to him 535 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,720 Speaker 1: it would feel that way. I bet so Go's a 536 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,239 Speaker 1: male I do. I have listener mail from Caitlin. Caitlin says, Hi, 537 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy, I belong to the camp of oh 538 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: More Nursery Rhymes. Uh. This was obviously written after our 539 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: six Impossible episodes Nursery Rhymes Part two. I had three 540 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,880 Speaker 1: connected thoughts from the most recent edition. First, I love 541 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: the idea that the long Mother Hubbard was the author, 542 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: building off an existing skeleton. Second, little kids are creepy 543 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: and morbid and love songs about me, him and murder. 544 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: Anytime I sing anything remotely violent with my preschool class, 545 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: their eyes light up and they miime along with lee. 546 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: Little bunny Foo Foo getting bopped on the head as 547 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: a particular favorite. Third, and this ties together with one 548 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: and two. When I was in third or fourth grade, 549 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: we did a unit on poetry and Red Shell Silverstein. 550 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,959 Speaker 1: Our teacher challenged us to add averse to his poem Sick, 551 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: figuring that the rhyming couplets and subject matter of not 552 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: wanting to go to school would be a hit. And 553 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,800 Speaker 1: the poem Little Peggy and Mackay lists all her eggs 554 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: and pains and ailments and insists she's too sick. For 555 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: school until being told it's Saturday, at which point she 556 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,759 Speaker 1: scampers off to play. I definitely remember this poem from 557 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: my chart. Caitlin goes on to say I loved this assignment. 558 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: I was a weird and morbid kid who loved learning 559 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: about illnesses and medical procedures and strange diseases. And I 560 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: added several more verses subjecting peggy ants who plague, rickets, 561 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: broken toes, and smallpox with illustrations to match. I have 562 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: no idea what my teacher thought, but boy, howdy would 563 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: I love to go back in time and ask this 564 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 1: is say no wonder a poem about animal vampireism and 565 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: murder has been such a historic faith. Thank y'all for 566 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 1: all the work you do bringing episodes to our ears. Caitlin, 567 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 1: thank you Caitlin for this email. First an update, I 568 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:02,439 Speaker 1: did visit my parents over Thanksgiving. I asked my mom 569 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,360 Speaker 1: if she remembered what this book was that had something 570 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 1: that she read to me, followed by who killed cock Rob? 571 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,760 Speaker 1: And she did not remember. Um and I did dig 572 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: through some dusty spaces of their house, as well as 573 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,920 Speaker 1: some dusty spaces of my house where things have been 574 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: transported from their house. Obviously I have not successfully found 575 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: this cock Robin book. However, after we recorded that episode 576 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 1: and did q A on it, I started thinking about 577 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: Grimm's fairy Tales and how many of them are incredibly violent, 578 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,600 Speaker 1: and I was like, are people gonna think I don't 579 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,919 Speaker 1: I've never heard about Grim's fairy tales? Are we gonna 580 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: get like a lot of Grimm's fairy I have? I 581 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: have complete collections of Grimm's fairy Tales, and I have 582 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: the Junior per Tree t shirt that I wear. That's 583 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:55,560 Speaker 1: a story that involves cannibalism. Um So anyway, yes, uh, 584 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: there's a lot of weird, violent, morbid stuff and a 585 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: lot of kids literature rum but bringing up Shell Silverstein 586 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,799 Speaker 1: in this email, I wanted to read it just so 587 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: I can talk about Shell Silverstein's other book, Uncle Shelby's 588 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: a b Z book, Yes, my favorite, which I just 589 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: showed to Holly. I pulled it off of my off 590 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: of my shelf downstairs. This contains material that was originally 591 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: published in Playboy, and wow, it's um it's a It's 592 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,800 Speaker 1: a book that I really love. I was trying to 593 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,399 Speaker 1: figure out if there was some little snippet for it. 594 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: I will read I is for ink, just because I 595 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: turned to randomly. I love this one. I is for inc. 596 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 1: Inc is black and wet, inc is fun. What can 597 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: you do with ink? What rhymes with ink? And then 598 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 1: it says d r dash dash dash um. This one 599 00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: is also has has qus for quarantine. Isn't this a 600 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: big word? Do you know what this word means? It 601 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:06,240 Speaker 1: means come in kids free ice cream? Uh So, anyway, 602 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: I just I think my favorite is B is for baby. 603 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,160 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, where it's like I'm gonna misquote it, but 604 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: it's like the baby is pig, the baby is little, 605 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: and mommy loves the baby more than she loves you, 606 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: and it's so dark and wondrous. That's the gist of it. Um. Anyway, 607 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,439 Speaker 1: if if you if the only shell Silverstein, you've ever 608 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:34,239 Speaker 1: experienced our things like where the sidewalk ins and um 609 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: and the giving tree. They had to when they reprinted 610 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:39,839 Speaker 1: this book, they had to put a little thing on 611 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: the front noting that it was for adults only, Yes, 612 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: because people were confused. Anyway, Thank you so much, Caitlin 613 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: for sharing this with us and for making me remember 614 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: that I have this copy of Dr Shelby saby Z 615 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: book on the shell and giving me the opportunity to 616 00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 1: update everyone on No. I still am not sure what 617 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: that Who Killed cock Robin book was for my childhood. 618 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: The mysteries continue. If you have ideas, feel free to 619 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: send them in if you'd like to send us an email. 620 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,919 Speaker 1: We're at History Podcast at i heeart radio dot com 621 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 1: and we're all over social media at miss in History, 622 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:19,040 Speaker 1: so you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, and 623 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the I heart 624 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 1: radio app anywhere else you like to get your podcasts. 625 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,040 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 626 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,280 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 627 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,640 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 628 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.