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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that flips through the pages of history to

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Speaker 1: deliver old news in a new way. I'm Gay Bluesier

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Speaker 1: and in this episode we're talking about the origins of

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Speaker 1: Pippi Longstocking, the strongest girl in the world. The day

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Speaker 1: was March. Finding herself bedridden after slipping on ice, Astrid

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Speaker 1: Lindgren began writing the beloved children's classic Pippi Longstocking. Lindgren

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Speaker 1: went on to write more than seventy books for young readers,

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Speaker 1: but she's best known for her nine year old, freckle faced,

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Speaker 1: red haired heroin. The first book to feature the character

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Speaker 1: was published in Eden and in the United States five

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Speaker 1: years later. It was so well received that Lindgren later

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Speaker 1: wrote two more chapter books starring the character, as well

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Speaker 1: as several short stories and picture books. Peppy long Stocking

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Speaker 1: and its sequels have sold millions of copies worldwide and

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Speaker 1: have been translated into nearly a hundred languages, more than

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Speaker 1: any other Swedish author to date. The lasting appeal of

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Speaker 1: the books is largely due to how rebellious and subversive

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Speaker 1: they feel, especially when compared to other children's literature of

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Speaker 1: the era. For example, the first book begins as follows.

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Speaker 1: Way out at the end of a tiny little town

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Speaker 1: was an old, overgrown garden, And in the garden was

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Speaker 1: an old house. And in the house lived Pippi Longstocking.

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Speaker 1: She was nine years old, and she lived there all alone.

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Speaker 1: She had no mother or father, which was actually quite nice,

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Speaker 1: because it meant that no one could tell her that

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Speaker 1: she had to go to bed just when she was

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Speaker 1: having the most fun, and no one could make her

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Speaker 1: take cod liver oil when she felt like eating candy instead.

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Speaker 1: That sense of freedom, being able to call your own shots,

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Speaker 1: extended to every facet of Pippy's identity, including her full name,

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Speaker 1: which according to her was pipe Latta, Delicatessa, window Shade, Mackerel,

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Speaker 1: mint Ephraim's daughter long Stocking. Her Ramshackle cottage, the Villa

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Speaker 1: Villa Coola, was bright yellow, with a blue door and

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Speaker 1: shutters in a fiery red roof that matched her trademark pigtails.

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Speaker 1: She lived there happily with her spotted horse out on

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Speaker 1: the verandah and her pet monkey, Mr Nilsson for company.

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Speaker 1: She also had two best friends, Anica and Tommy, who

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Speaker 1: sometimes came over to play with their wild neighbor. Every day.

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Speaker 1: Pippy wore mismatched stockings and oversized black shoes that stuck

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Speaker 1: out twice as long as her feet. She ate whole

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Speaker 1: chocolate cakes and one sitting and slept upside down with

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Speaker 1: her feet resting on her pillow. She was also self

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Speaker 1: sufficient thanks to a suitcase full of gold pieces left

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Speaker 1: behind by her sailor father before he was lost at sea.

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Speaker 1: Oh and she had superhuman strength too, so if bullies

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Speaker 1: ever gave her trouble, she could simply toss them up

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Speaker 1: into a birch tree where they couldn't bother anyone. In

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Speaker 1: other words, Peppy Longstocking was the embodiment of many children's

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Speaker 1: fondest wishes and many adults too. She lived, spoke, dressed,

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Speaker 1: and ate. However, she pleased completely free from social rules

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Speaker 1: and conventions. But as unpredictable and independent as she was,

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Speaker 1: Pippy didn't invent herself on her own. She was actually

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Speaker 1: the co creation of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren and her

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Speaker 1: own seven year old daughter Karen. Astrid had loved to

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Speaker 1: read as a child, particularly books with female leads such

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Speaker 1: a Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Anne of Green Gables.

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Speaker 1: As an adult, she worked as a secretary at the

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Speaker 1: Royal Automobile Club in Stockholm, where she eventually married her manager,

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Speaker 1: Stir Lindgren in one. A few years later, the couple

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Speaker 1: had a daughter together, Karen. The young girl had inherited

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Speaker 1: her mother's love of stories and demanded a new one

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Speaker 1: every night at bedtime. One night in ninety one, Karen

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Speaker 1: was sick in bed with pneumonia and in desperate need

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Speaker 1: of a fresh adventure to distract herself. By that point,

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Speaker 1: Astrid was out of ideas, so she asked Karen, what

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Speaker 1: should I tell? Without missing a beat, The seven year

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Speaker 1: old responded, tell about Pippi Longstroump or long Stocking. She

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Speaker 1: had invented the name on the spot, but delivered it

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Speaker 1: matter of factly, as if the character was already a

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Speaker 1: household name. Her mother later recounted how she had played

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Speaker 1: along that night, saying quote, I didn't ask her who

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Speaker 1: Pippy long Stocking was. I just began the story, and

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Speaker 1: since it was a strange name, it turned out to

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Speaker 1: be a strange girl as well. For the next several years,

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Speaker 1: Astrid continued making up new stories about Pippy to entertain

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Speaker 1: Karen and her various friends and cousins. But it wasn't

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Speaker 1: until she was laid up in bed herself that the

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Speaker 1: aspiring author finally put Pippy down on paper. On an

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Speaker 1: early spring day in March nineteen forty four, Astrid fell

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Speaker 1: on some ice, twisted her ankle, and had to spend

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Speaker 1: the next several weeks recovering in bed. To keep herself occupied,

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Speaker 1: she decided to finally write down some of the stories

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Speaker 1: she had been telling Karen. The girl's tenth birthday was

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Speaker 1: fast approaching in May, and her mother thought a handmade

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Speaker 1: collection of her favorite bedtime stories would make the perfect gift.

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Speaker 1: To make the writing process as simple and easy as possible,

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Speaker 1: Astrid drafted her manuscript with nothing but a pen and

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Speaker 1: pat at. She also wrote in stenographer's shorthand, a working

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Speaker 1: method she had learned as an administrative assistant. It made

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Speaker 1: the task of writing while lying down much more comfortable,

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Speaker 1: So comfortable, in fact, that the author continued to write

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Speaker 1: her rough drafts in shorthand for the rest of her career,

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Speaker 1: often while in bed. Astrid finished the Pippy chapter book

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Speaker 1: in time for Carn's birthday, and then later that year

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Speaker 1: she worked up the courage to submit it to Sweden's

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Speaker 1: largest book publisher. She was nervous about what they might

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Speaker 1: think of the book's subject matter, a rude, headstrong girl

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Speaker 1: who never went to school and answered to no one.

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Speaker 1: She was also a little worried about how the book

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Speaker 1: might reflect on her as a mother. To that end,

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Speaker 1: she reportedly sent the manuscript along with a letter signed

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Speaker 1: in the hope that you won't notify the child welfare committee. Ultimately,

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Speaker 1: the publisher did not call child welfare, but it did

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Speaker 1: reject the manuscript. It The concern was that the writing

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Speaker 1: was too advanced and that the character of Pippi Longstocking

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Speaker 1: might be a bad influence on children. Astrid had anticipated

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Speaker 1: that response, but she didn't agree with it. Instead, she believed,

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Speaker 1: as she once put it, quote, give the children love,

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Speaker 1: more love, and still more love, and the common sense

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Speaker 1: will come by itself. So despite the initial rejection, she

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Speaker 1: still hoped that another publisher might see things her way.

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Speaker 1: She reworked the manuscript a little over the next few months,

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Speaker 1: and in she submitted it again, this time to a

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Speaker 1: writing contest held by a different publisher. When the results

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Speaker 1: were announced, Pippi Longstocking took first place. And Astrid Lindgren

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Speaker 1: claimed the prize of a publishing contract. The book hit

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Speaker 1: shelves in Sweden later that year and became an instant

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Speaker 1: favorite of kids nationwide. It sold more than three hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand cops beast in its first five years on the market,

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Speaker 1: and later became so widely embraced that it's remained in

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Speaker 1: print ever since. In the years that followed, Astrid had

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Speaker 1: a long and varied career, writing dozens more children's books,

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Speaker 1: including detective stories, adventure stories, standalone fantasy novels, and even

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Speaker 1: some realistic fiction. But Pippi Longstocking remained her favorite character,

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Speaker 1: and the kids of the world felt just as strongly

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Speaker 1: about her, although the same couldn't always be said for

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Speaker 1: some of their parents. Despite occasional objections to Pippy's irreverency,

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Speaker 1: her adventures have continued to be published and enjoyed around

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Speaker 1: the world for nearly eighty years. They've also been adapted

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Speaker 1: numerous times for film and television, and there's even a

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Speaker 1: theme park in Sweden devoted to Pippy and her friends.

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Speaker 1: It's called Astrid Lindgren's World, and it looks awesome. As

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Speaker 1: for the author herself, she made a good deal of

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Speaker 1: money from her books and various licensing deals, but tellingly,

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Speaker 1: she continued to live in the modest apartment in Stockholm,

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Speaker 1: where she and her daughter had first conjured Pippi Longstocking.

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Speaker 1: She also used her celebrity to help affect political change

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Speaker 1: in Sweden. She successfully lobbied for legislation on issues such

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Speaker 1: as tax reform, the welfare of farm animals, and children's rights.

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Speaker 1: This work further endeared her to the Swedish public, so

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Speaker 1: much so that the author was later voted Swede of

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Speaker 1: the Century in nineteen ninety nine. As you might expect,

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Speaker 1: Astrid Lindgren received several awards for her writing, including the

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Speaker 1: Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for Pippi Longstocking in nineteen seventy three,

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Speaker 1: the Hans Christian Anderson Medal in nineteen fifty eight, in

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Speaker 1: the International Book Award from UNESCO in nineteen ninety three.

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Speaker 1: She also received recognition for her humanitarian efforts, including the

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Speaker 1: Right Livelihood Honorary Award in nineteen ninety four, which many

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Speaker 1: considered comparable to a Nobel Prize. The award was given

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Speaker 1: in honor of both Linggren's animal rights campaign and for

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Speaker 1: her lifelong dedication to the rights of children. Readers have

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Speaker 1: long noticed a sense of melancholy that underlies much of

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Speaker 1: Lindgren's writing, even in stories as lively and brash as

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Speaker 1: Pippi Longstocking. In her fiction and in her real life,

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Speaker 1: the author was a champion of children who often felt lonely, outcast,

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Speaker 1: or overlooked. These awards and tributes say a lot about

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Speaker 1: the quality of Astrid Lindgren's work and the content of

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Speaker 1: her character. But I think the honor that speaks the

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Speaker 1: loudest was a note she received later in life from

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Speaker 1: a total stranger. According to Astrid, the anonymous woman came

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Speaker 1: up to her and, without saying a word, pressed a

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Speaker 1: crumpled piece of paper into her hand and darted away.

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Speaker 1: The note was a single sentence. It said, thanks for

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Speaker 1: brightening up a gloomy childhood. It was a personal message,

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Speaker 1: but the sentiment surely holds true for countless other readers, past, present,

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Speaker 1: and future. I'm Gay Bluesier and hopefully you now know

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Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

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Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us

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Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at T D I HC Show,

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Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free

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Speaker 1: to send them my way at this day at I

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Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing

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Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you

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Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another day in History class