1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and I'm Holly Fry. When I 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: was a kid growing up in North Carolina, anytime we 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: had an Oh Henry short story to read an English class, 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: which was definitely more than once, the teacher would point 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: out that he was from Greensboro. I didn't live in Greensboro, 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: but that was not too too far from where we lived, 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: so it was just this kind of point of pride. 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: So I was totally surprised recently when I stumbled over 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,319 Speaker 1: a passing reference to Oh Henry. I think it might 12 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: have been while I was researching the Joshua Slocum episode, 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: Like it was just something that came about randomly while 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: researching something else, this passing reference to how Oh Henry 15 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: at that time had just gotten back from Honduras, where 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: he had fled to avoid prosecution for embezzlement, and I 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: was like, excuse me, what, Oh Henry did? What? Now? 18 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: My English teachers never said anything about this. So since 19 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: one of Oh Henry's most famous short stories is Gift 20 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: of the Magi, which is all about Christmas, and gift 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: giving during hard times, and he also wrote some other 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: lesser known Christmas stories as well. I thought that he 23 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: might make an interesting addition to our Winter holiday catalog 24 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: this year. Oh Henry was born William Sydney Porter on 25 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: September sixty two in Greensboro, North Carolina, just a couple 26 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: of years before the end of the U. S. Civil War. 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: His parents, Algernon Sydney and Mary Virginia Swain. Porter spelled 28 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: his middle name Sydney s I d N E. Why, 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: and he changed the eye to a hy later in 30 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: his life. In eighteen sixty five, William's mother died of tuberculosis, 31 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: and his newborn baby brother also died not long after that. 32 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: And this seems to have just really deeply affected Algernon Porter. 33 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: I mean, that's not surprising, but this effect on him 34 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: was really profound. He was a doctor, but in the 35 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: years after this happened, he started to really struggle with 36 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: alcohol abuse, and he spent more and more of his 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: time not practicing medicine but trying to invent things, including 38 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: a perpetual motion machine that he seemed absolutely sure that 39 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: he could get working. People described this as just a 40 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: true fixation as Aldrenon's medical practice crumbled, william and his 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: older brother were placed in the care of their grandmother, 42 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: Ruth Porter and their aunt, Evelina Porter. Evelina was known 43 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: as Lena, and she ran a small school called Miss Lena's. 44 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: Williams started attending this school in eighteen sixty seven, and 45 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: although he was an avid reader, his time at his 46 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: aunt's school would be his only formal education. He left 47 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: at fifteen to start working so he could help support 48 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: the family. In eighteen seventy nine, he got a job 49 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: at his uncle's drug store, W. C. Portering Company, and 50 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: he started out as a bookkeeper, but over time he 51 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: started getting experience in the pharmacy. In eighteen eighty one, 52 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: he became part of the first group of druggists to 53 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: be licensed by the state of North Carolina after the 54 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: state passed its first law requiring licensure. In addition to 55 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: his work at the pharmacy, Porter used his time at 56 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: the drug store to observe people and to hear and 57 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: tell stories, and he developed a reputation as a practical joker. 58 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: He also drew cartoons and caricatures and started writing short 59 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: vignettes about the people he met at the store. He 60 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: also developed a chronic cough, and given that his mother 61 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: and brother had both died of tuberculosis, people started to 62 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: worry about his health. In eight eight two, Dr James Hall, 63 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: one of the regulars at the store, invited Porter to 64 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: accompany the Hall family to Texas, where they bought a ranch. 65 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: The idea was that the Texas climate might be better 66 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: for his lungs. Porter spent the next couple of years 67 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: working on a sheep ranch in Catulla, Texas, but ranch 68 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: life was a little too remote for him, so in 69 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four he moved to Austin, where he worked 70 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: at a series of assorted jobs, including another stint as 71 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: a pharmacist, that time at Morley drug Store. In his 72 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: free time, he joined the Hill City Quartet, where he 73 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: sang as a tenor and he learned Spanish and reportedly 74 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: memorized a dictionary. In eighteen eighty five, then twenty three 75 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 1: year old Porter met seventeen year old athel Sts Roach. 76 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: Two years later, in July of eighteen eighty seven, they eloped. 77 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: Also in eighteen eighty seven, Porter put his drawing skills 78 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: to work as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office. 79 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty eight, his wife gave birth to a 80 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: baby boy, who sadly died as a newborn. The Porters 81 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: had a daughter named Margaret about a year later, but 82 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: Porter's presence in their lives was a little erratic. He 83 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: had spent his first years in Austin as a bachelor, 84 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: and after becoming a husband and a father, he still 85 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: seemed to want to spend his time carousing and socializing. 86 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: He said that this worked as inspiration for his writing. 87 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: He also started making his own absinthe uh new time 88 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: travel destinations included the absent part for Holly as a 89 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: holiday treat, hooray a gift for me. In one Porter 90 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: got a job at the first National Bank of Austin 91 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: when the family moved into the home that would eventually 92 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: become the O. Henry Museum. He had kept writing and 93 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: drawing during all of this In he started his own 94 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: publication called The Rolling Stone. This paper satirized local people 95 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: in events, and it became pretty popular with more than 96 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,239 Speaker 1: one thousand subscribers when Austin's population was only about fifteen 97 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: thousand people. But Porter could not get it to turn 98 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: a profit and it folded within a year. Also in 99 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: Federal Bank Examiner B. F. Gray inspected the books at 100 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: First National Bank of Austin and found some problems, including 101 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: discrepancies totaling more than four thousand, seven hundred dollars. Porter's 102 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: work as a teller made him the prime suspect. In general, 103 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: the way that the bank was handling money was incredibly sloppy. 104 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: Often no one balanced the books at the end of 105 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: the day. Bank officers liked to lend themselves money from 106 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: the registers, sometimes leaving an IOU but sometimes not, and 107 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: random people would fill in for the tellers when they 108 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: were at lunch or on another break. So with all 109 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,799 Speaker 1: of that in mind, at first a grand jury found 110 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: that there just wasn't enough evidence to indict anybody, but 111 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: Gray pushed for additional scrutiny at the bank that led 112 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: to the discovery of other suspicious transactions and another thousand 113 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: or so dollars of missing funds. After that discovery, William 114 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: Sidney Porter was indicted for embezzling. By this point, though 115 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: he had already resigned from the position at the bank, 116 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: he had not been worked in there for several months, 117 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: and he had moved to Houston after being offered a 118 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: job at the Houston Post. Porter's trial date was set 119 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: for July seven, and on July six, he boarded a 120 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: train bound for Austin, but he only made about fifty 121 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: miles of that journey. In Hampstead, Texas, he left the 122 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: train and instead boarded another one bound for New Orleans, Louisiana. 123 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: If Porter ever explained to anybody what he was thinking 124 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: or why he decided to jump bail, they kept that 125 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: information to themselves. Given how haphazard the bank's bookkeeping had been, 126 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: There's been some suggestion that he probably would have been 127 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: acquitted if he had stood trial in like he was 128 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: supposed to. It's possible that he was afraid that the 129 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: bank's management was going to make him into a scapegoat, 130 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: or that he was just in crisis mode and really 131 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: not thinking clearly. Really, though, this whole stretch of his 132 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: story gets pretty murky, and we'll talk about that after 133 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: we pause for a sponsor break. At some point after 134 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: getting to New Orleans, William Sidney Porter boarded a ship 135 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: bound for Hunduras, possibly because Honduras had no extradition treaty 136 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: with the United States. According to al Jennings, when Porter 137 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,119 Speaker 1: got to under US, he stayed in the US consulate 138 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: in tru Hillo, which is on the country's northeastern coast. 139 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: You can't exactly call Jennings a reliable source, though he 140 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: had been an attorney in Oklahoma. Before he and his 141 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: brother Frank decided they would become outlaws. They tried to 142 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: rob trains, which they were not particularly good at. At 143 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: one point, they tried to dynamite open a safe, but 144 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: instead blew the baggage car and everything in it to smithereens. 145 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: I feel like there are a number of those stories 146 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: in the train robbing era of the United States in particular. Yeah, 147 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: as I was writing that, I was like, have we 148 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: talked about this train robbing on the show? Because it 149 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: sounds very familiar. Yes. Eventually they made their way to 150 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: Central America, according to the book that Jennings published in 151 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: two which was called Through the Shadows with Oh Henry 152 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: Porter and the Jennings brothers met in Trhio, and then 153 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: they got involved in a Fourth of July shoot out 154 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: the next day, and then they had to flee by 155 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: boat before taking a wandering trek to San Francisco by 156 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 1: way of Mexico City. At one point in this book, 157 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: Jennings describes a plan to rob a bank in San 158 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,839 Speaker 1: Antonio so that he can afford to buy a ranch. 159 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: He insists that Porter has quote neither recklessness nor the 160 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,839 Speaker 1: sang fuad of a lawbreaker, but tries to get him 161 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: involved anyway. After firing jennings gun into the ground by accident, 162 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: Porter says, quote, I think I would be a hindrance 163 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: on this financial undertaking. When Jennings suggests that Porter might 164 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: just hold the horses while everyone else robs the bank, 165 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: Porter says he doesn't think that he could even do that, 166 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: and soon the men part ways. That's all a little 167 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 1: far fetched, especially since Porter headed for New Orleans on 168 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,719 Speaker 1: July six, meaning that he could not have already been 169 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: in Honduras for that July fourth gunfight. Porter had been 170 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: on the run for about six months when he got 171 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: word that his wife was seriously ill. She had started 172 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: business school with the hope of being able to support 173 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: herself and their daughter, but she had tuberculosis like so 174 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 1: many other people in the story, and it suddenly got 175 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: much worse. Porter decided to return to the United States, 176 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: knowing that when he did, he would have to stand trial. 177 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: Federal Prosecutor R. U. Culberson seems to have viewed Porter 178 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: with some sympathy. Initially, Culburson hadn't thought the case against 179 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: him was even worth pursuing, but Gray had been insistent 180 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,719 Speaker 1: about it. Culberson allowed the court proceedings to be postponed 181 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: until after Ethel Porter's death on July seven, at the 182 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 1: age of twenty nine. Porter's trial started on February. The 183 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: original charges had been narrowed down to three. They covered 184 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,559 Speaker 1: an amount of money just shy of six hundred dollars. 185 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: On February seventeenth, the jury found Porter guilty on all 186 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: three counts. There is still some debate about all of this, though, 187 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: as we said earlier, the bank's bookkeeping was frankly a mess. 188 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: One of the charges was related to a transaction that 189 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: had happened on November twelve, which was months after Porter 190 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: left the bank and moved to Houston. Documentation of the 191 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: trial itself is also sketchy, but Porter reportedly seemed detached 192 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: from the whole thing and barely even participated in his 193 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: own defense. Yeah, in this place in time, it was 194 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: not common to just fully transcribe the entire trial, so 195 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: there's no transcript of it. But that's how he's been described. 196 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: So interpretations of all this run along kind of a 197 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: big spectrum. At one end, Porter embezzled from the bank, 198 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: possibly to try to get money to fund the Rolling Stone, 199 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,680 Speaker 1: and then his trial was handled fairly. Then at the 200 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,320 Speaker 1: other end, either he took the blame for other bank 201 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: employees actions, or he was doing the same things that 202 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: they were doing, but it was the only one who 203 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: got charged with a crime because of it. One of 204 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: his friends, John Maxie, later said he thought that Porter 205 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: did take the money but intended to pay it back, 206 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,439 Speaker 1: just like everybody else at the bank who kept helping 207 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: themselves to unofficial loans. I just can't even imagine. Yeah, 208 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: if you work at a bank today, you definitely cannot 209 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: just take some money over the out of the till 210 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: and leave a little note there. I just need this overnight. 211 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: I swear I'm gonna bring it back tomorrow outside of court. 212 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: Porter maintained his innocence in a letter to his mother. 213 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote, I am absolutely innocent of wrongdoing in 214 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: that bank matter. I care not so much for the 215 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: opinion of the general public, but I would have a 216 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: few of my friends still believe there is good in me. 217 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: In a letter to J. L. Watson, business manager at 218 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: the Houston Post, he said, quote, I want to state 219 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: to you that the charges against me are not only unfounded, 220 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: but are I think the work of spite as well. 221 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: Porter was sentenced to five years in prison, and he 222 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: started his incarceration at Ohio State Penitentiary on. He was 223 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: profoundly ashamed about this. He desperately wanted to shield his daughter, Margaret, 224 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: who at the time was eight years old, from the 225 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: truth about what had happened. He got his mother in 226 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: law to agree to send Margaret to live on a 227 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: relative's farm in Tennessee, to like just keep her out 228 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: of the public eye and away from gossip. He was 229 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: nearly despondent when his sentence started, and he used his 230 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: letters to Margaret as a way to try to keep 231 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: himself going. Also incarcerated with him was Dunt Dun dune 232 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: Al Jennings, who had been sentenced to life in prison 233 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: in conjunction with the train robbery that we talked about earlier. 234 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: Later on, he would be pardoned by President Theodore Roosevelt. 235 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: Whether jennings account of their earlier time together is true, 236 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: it does seem that they were friends while incarcerated. Theo 237 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: Henry story holding up a train starts with a note 238 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: that it's the words of an outlaw in the Southwest, 239 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: which was probably Al Jennings. Both Porter and Jennings described 240 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: conditions at the prison as deeply inhumane, and letters to 241 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: his in laws, Porter wrote about outbreaks of typhus, measles, 242 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: and tuberculosis, as well as frequent suicides among the incarcerated men. 243 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: He also described overcrowding, frequent beatings, and rancid and rotten food. 244 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: At the same time, Porter was treated relatively leniently, becoming 245 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: the overnight pharmacist at the prisons hospital. He was also 246 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 1: credited with saving the warden's life after he was given 247 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: an accidental overdose of Fowler Solution, which was an arsenic 248 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: compound that was used as a general tonic. Porter reportedly 249 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: mixed something in the pharmacy that acted as an antidote. 250 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: If I had to guess, I would say it was charcoal. Eventually, 251 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: Porter was given a clerical position working for the prison steward, 252 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: which allowed him to leave the prison unaccompanied and to 253 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: be housed outside of it. He and other men in 254 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: similar situations formed what they called the Recluse Club. I 255 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: should have just asked you about the arsenic antidote, because 256 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: I forgot that You've just been working on an entire 257 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: podcast about poisoners, which is like arsenic poison so gradual. 258 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: While he was incarcerated, Porter got onto a better emotional 259 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: footing and he started to write more. He always used 260 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: a pen name, and then he passed his stories through 261 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: a series of intermediaries before they were sent into publishers 262 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: to try to conceal his identity and his connection to 263 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: the prison. This was when he published under the name 264 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: oh Henry for the first time. That was Whistling Dick's 265 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: Christmas Stocking, which appeared under that byline in McClure's. At first, 266 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: Porter was using several pen names, and it's not clear 267 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: why he eventually stuck with Oh Henry, or even where 268 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: that name came from. Biographers cite all kinds of possibilities. 269 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: Maybe it came from the United States Dispensary, which listed 270 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: a French pharmacist named Etienne Ossian Henry Are. Or maybe 271 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: the family had a cat named Henry and they would 272 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: call it by saying, oh Henry. Yeah. You can find 273 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 1: many biographers authoritatively and confidently saying completely different contradictory stories. 274 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: I feel like that cat one, and I want to 275 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: be like, I hope you're wearing comfortable shoes, because that 276 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: seems like a long walk. Porter was released from prison 277 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: with time off for good behavior on July nine, o one. 278 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: He was too ashamed to go back to Texas, so 279 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: he went to Pittsburgh. That's where his mother in law 280 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: had moved with his daughter. He stayed with them for 281 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: a while and he got a job at a newspaper, 282 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: but eventually he moved into a boarding house. Although he 283 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 1: said this was because he had to keep erratic hours 284 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,439 Speaker 1: for his job and he didn't want to disturb everybody, 285 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: it also just seems like he wanted some space. He 286 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: impresses me as a man that just like just didn't 287 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: really want to be tied down. Ever, I think family 288 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: life probably did not agree with his disposition. Uh. In 289 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: the spring of nineteen o two, Porter moved to New 290 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: York City, and when he got there, he started going 291 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: by Oh Henry all the time, not just as a byeline. 292 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: And we'll talk about that a little bit more after 293 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: we have a sponsor break. Oh Henry loved New York City. 294 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: He seemed endlessly curious about its neighborhoods and the people 295 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 1: who lived in them. He loved to talk to people 296 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: about their lives, with those conversations informing his short stories, 297 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: and as has always been the case, he loved to socialize, 298 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: especially with women. One of his favorite pastimes was to 299 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: meet a young women working in a shop somewhere, treat 300 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: her to dinner, and then find out all about her life, 301 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: with tidbits of those lives making their way into his writing. 302 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: For his first couple of years in New York, most 303 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: of oh Henry's stories were mostly set in the Southwest 304 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: and Central America. His novel Cabbages and Kings came out 305 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen o four, although he described it not as 306 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 1: a novel but as quote a few of my South 307 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: American stories strung on a read. Cabbages and Kings is 308 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: set in a fictitious country called the Republic of Anchuria, 309 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: but it is very clearly based on his time in Honduras. 310 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: Before long, though New York City became a major focus 311 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,719 Speaker 1: of oh Henry's writing. In nineteen o five and nineteen 312 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: o six, he wrote more than a hundred and ten 313 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: news stories and about nine percent of them were set 314 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: in New York. That is more than two stories a week, 315 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,440 Speaker 1: and at some points, Oh, Henry's output went even beyond that. 316 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen o three, he signed a contract with The 317 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: New York World to write a story every week for 318 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars each. This contract was not exclusive, though, 319 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: and he wrote for other publications, including Harper's, Ainslie's, and McClure's. 320 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: At some points he was writing a short story every 321 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: single day, and these were not necessarily all day projects. 322 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: The Gift of the Magi, which is probably his most 323 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: famous work today, reportedly went from idea to finished work 324 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: in about two hours because he forgot that he hit 325 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: a need to write a Christmas story for the New 326 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: York Sunday World. Yeah. I love it that speed, though, 327 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: I mean, that's a lot of writing. It's so much. 328 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: I mean, short stories are not easy necessarily to write. 329 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: They were for him. Uh. That speed that he put 330 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: to great use for a long time started to decline 331 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: by seven though, as he developed serrhosis and diabetes. On 332 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: November twenty of that year, at the age of forty five. 333 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: He also got married again to thirty nine year old 334 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: Sarah Lindsay Coleman, They had known each other in North Carolina, 335 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 1: and Sarah's mother had written to tell her that her 336 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: old friend will had been making a living as a 337 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: writer in New York. They reconnected through letters, and after 338 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: they married, Sarah moved to New York to be with him. 339 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: He had really tried to keep anyone from finding out 340 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: that short story writer oh Henry and Convicted and besler 341 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: William Sidney Porter were the same person, including his daughter Margaret, 342 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: who apparently only found out about all of this after 343 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: his death, But he told Sarah the entire story before 344 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: they got married. Was marriage had some ups and downs, 345 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: though Sarah kept trying to get him to give up 346 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: some of his drinking and carousing so that he could 347 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: she hoped, live a longer and healthier life. Eventually, though, 348 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: she became disillusioned enough with this that she went back 349 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: to western North Carolina. As his health deteriorated, she convinced 350 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: him to travel there for several months in nineteen ten, 351 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: and while he spent some time in a sanitarium, he 352 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: just found like the Asheville and surrounding area atmosphere to 353 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 1: be way too quiet. He missed the bustle of New York, 354 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: and he did not stay in North Carolina for long. 355 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,719 Speaker 1: Oh Henry died of cirrhosis complicated by diabetes and an 356 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: enlarged heart on June five, nineteen ten, at the age 357 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: of forty seven. Sarah had heard that he was seriously 358 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: ill and had been on her way to New York 359 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: when he died. His last words were reportedly said to 360 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: the night nurse after she turned off the lights in 361 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: his room. Turn on the light, I'm afraid to go 362 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: home in the dark. Sarah brought his body back to 363 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: North Carolina, where he was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville. 364 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: When his daughter, Margaret died of tuberculosis in she was 365 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 1: cremated and her ashes were buried at his feet. Oh 366 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 1: Henry had been prolific and widely read, but it was 367 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: really after his death at his popularity skyrocketed. His fame 368 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,640 Speaker 1: spread internationally during World War One as American soldiers took 369 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: his work to Europe. As one reviewer described it, quote, 370 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: oh Henry was our greatest literary discovery during the war. 371 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 1: He was medicinal. He distracted us from intolerable things. His 372 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: name is as familiar as Kipling, Conan Doyle, or Jacobs. 373 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: That's just in case she did not know W. W. Jacob's, 374 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: author of the short story The Monkey's Paw. Yeah, I 375 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,200 Speaker 1: felt like Kipling and Conan Doyle are still well known 376 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: enough to not need to clarify, but not necessarily Jacob's 377 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: Jacob's merits and merits in a side. Oh Henry's stories 378 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: were published as collections, and one soldier described how anytime 379 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: someone got one in a package from home, it would 380 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: be torn into its component story so that several people 381 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,679 Speaker 1: could read at once. Porter's skill was also recognized by 382 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 1: other writers. J. M. Barry wrote a letter to Sarah 383 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: Coleman Porter that read, in part quote, I have just 384 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: been reading some of your late husband's books and I'm captivated. 385 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: If I had discovered him before his death, I should 386 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: have considered a trip to the United States well worthwhile 387 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: to make his acquaintance. As for why his works were 388 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: so popular, Oh Henry playbood language, writing short stories that 389 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: packed in a lot of irony, dark humor, wit, and 390 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,360 Speaker 1: word play. Most of the time, all of this came 391 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: together in some kind of twist ending brought about by 392 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: a coincidence or crossed wires or a missed connection. This 393 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: kind of ending became synonymous with oh Henry. Often, the 394 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: main characters were working people, poor people, vagabonds, people down 395 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: on their luck, people that readers, especially white readers, often 396 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: identified with His entry in the Dictionary of American Biography 397 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: dating back to the thirties describes it this way, quote 398 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: His stories do not indicate a preference for great virtues 399 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: or high intelligence or distinguished persons. They do not show 400 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: him preferring wit to dulness, beauty to plainness, industry to idleness, 401 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: intensity to casual nous. Anybody can be the hero of 402 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: a no Henry episode, provided the right events happened to him. 403 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: Nobody reading the stories ever felt shut out from the 404 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,880 Speaker 1: world in which they happen. Though the plots may be fantastic, 405 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: they are no more so than the little miracles which 406 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 1: most men and women hope or fear will occur to them. 407 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: The characters are familiar and simple. They live, love, work, play, 408 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,480 Speaker 1: and die with nothing demanded of them except to be 409 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: decent and kind. The rest is accident, so it's not 410 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: entirely accurate to say that nobody has ever felt shut 411 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: out from oh Henry's stories, Though some of those stories 412 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: hold up today and those that don't probably would not 413 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: have raised eyebrows among most white readers when they were written. 414 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: But many oh Henry stories uncritically incorporate racist characters, language, 415 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: or stereotypes, and some of it's just casually thrown in 416 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: in a way that doesn't have any bearing on the 417 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: actual story. One of his most well known stories today 418 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: is Ransom of Red Chief, which among other things, uses 419 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: the N word as part of the description for a rock. 420 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: The Red Chief reference to the title is a little 421 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: boy whose behavior is like a truly extreme version of 422 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: Dennis the Menace, whose manner of quote playing Indian is 423 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: also heavily stereotyped. Yeah, we definitely read Ransom of Red 424 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 1: Chief in school, and when I reread it working on 425 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: this episode, I was like, WHOA, I did not remember 426 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: the in word being in this in school, which might 427 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,400 Speaker 1: have been expurgated from what we read. But anyway, Oh 428 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: Henry's depiction of women could also be troubling at best. 429 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: For example, the story a Harlem Tragedy, which was written 430 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 1: to be comedic romanticized, is a physically abusive marriage, with 431 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,400 Speaker 1: one of the characters forlornly wondering why her husband does 432 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: not love her enough to beat her. And this is 433 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: also a case where the setting of this story has 434 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: different connotations now than it would have back when he 435 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 1: wrote it. When oh Henry died in only about ten 436 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 1: percent of Harlem's population was black, but within a decade 437 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: that was shifting dramatically with the Harlem Renaissance, which was 438 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: also known as the New Negro movement, stretching through the 439 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties and thirties. By the nineteen forties, oh henry 440 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 1: short stories were really starting to fall out of favor. 441 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 1: This wasn't so much about changing attitudes related to the 442 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: issues we just discussed, though, It was really more about 443 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: changing literary conventions and tastes. Critics started describing his writing 444 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: as formulaic and overly discursive and embellished, writing him off 445 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: as only inconsequential works of light humor ment for popular appeal. 446 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: Oh Henry's legacy has continued though. In ninety two, five 447 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,119 Speaker 1: of his short stories were filmed and released as a 448 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 1: film called Oh Henry's Full House. The stories were The 449 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: Cop and the Anthem, The Clarion Call, The Last Leaf, 450 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,200 Speaker 1: The Ransom of Red Chief, and The Gift of the Magi. 451 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 1: The Cisco Kid who is a character created by oh 452 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,360 Speaker 1: Henry also made his way into a number of television 453 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 1: shows and movies. There are also schools named after him 454 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: and several of the places where he lived, as well 455 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: as the oh Henry Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina, and 456 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: oh Henry's in Asheville, which is North Carolina's oldest gay bar. 457 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: The pen O Henry Prize as an annual award for 458 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: the best English language short stories published in the US 459 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: or Canada. The Oh Henry Candy Bar, if you're wondering, 460 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,640 Speaker 1: is apparently not related to the writer Oh Henry at all, 461 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: and has similarly incredibly mysterious name origins about who decided 462 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 1: to name it that and why. There have also been 463 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: various attempts to have oh Henry posthumously pardoned. None of 464 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: those have been granted. So I picked this topic for December, 465 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 1: like I said up at the top of the show, 466 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: because of Oh Henry's Christmas stories, and we have not 467 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: really talked about them. So heads up, we're about to 468 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: spoil the endings of some hundred plus year old short stories. 469 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: Spoiler alert. I think the window is closed at that point. 470 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: You don't have to worry. But as we mentioned earlier. 471 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking was the first story published under 472 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,719 Speaker 1: the name Oh Henry, and in it professional tramp and 473 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: expert whistler with sling. Dick is trying to make his 474 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: way through a town that arrests vagrance on site, and 475 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: after a stern warning from a police officer whose German 476 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: accent rendered as text is very hard to reach, Dick 477 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: picks up a stocking that falls from a parcel in 478 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: a passing wagon. Yeah, and the story Oh Henry does 479 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: the same thing that I talked about not enjoying bram 480 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: Stoker doing right, I think in our Dracula or our 481 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: bram Stoker behind the scenes. So then Dick happens upon 482 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: some other itinerant people that he knows they are planning 483 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: to rob a house. Dick refuses to get involved with 484 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: this plan and tries to leave, but they are afraid 485 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: he is going to blow their cover, so they force 486 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: him to stay there at their camp until the job 487 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: is done. Inside the house, a young girl is sad 488 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: that one of her newly bought stockings has gone missing. 489 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: She needed to hang to by the fire, one for 490 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: Santa and one from Monsieur Bombay. Who she describes as 491 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,479 Speaker 1: a witch gentleman who will give you a Christmas payment 492 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: for all the words you've said good or ill. I 493 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: think I like Monsieur Pombay very much, Yes, um I. 494 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: As far as I know, Monsieur Pombay is not an 495 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: actual piece of Cajun folklore, but is someone made up 496 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: for this story, at least based on what I was 497 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: able to track down. So just then she is expressing 498 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: her sadness about all this, there is a crash and 499 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: it is her missing stocking with a rock stuffed down 500 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: in the toe, and the rock has a note of 501 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: warning wrapped around it written by Whistling Dick, and then 502 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: hurled through the window from out in the field. The 503 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: would be thieves are arrested and Whistling Dick is thanked 504 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: with a hot Christmas Eve meal and a night in 505 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: a warm bed, before slipping out the window the next morning, 506 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: just in time to hop on the next train in 507 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: a chaparral Christmas gift, which is the grittiest of these stories. 508 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: Rosie McMullen had courted two men, Madison Lane and Johnny McRoy. 509 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: She chose Madison and they married on Christmas Day, but 510 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 1: Johnny showed up at the wedding and tried to shoot 511 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,719 Speaker 1: up the place, yelling a number of threats, including quote, 512 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: I'll give you a Christmas present. Years later, Johnny mccroy 513 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: has become known as the Freeo Kid, and he is 514 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: the region's most feared outlaw. It is Christmas time and 515 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: Rosita is worried, as she is every year, that he 516 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: is coming for revenge, but everything goes okay. Her husband 517 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: surprises her dressed up as Santa. The next morning, everyone 518 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: learned that a local sheep herder shot the free O 519 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: Kid dead in the night, and that at the time 520 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: he was running through the field dressed as Santa Christmas 521 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: by Injunction is about a prospector named Cherokee. There's really 522 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 1: nothing in the story to indicate whether he is indigenous 523 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: or whether that is just his name or his nickname. 524 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: Cherokee had struck gold near the mining town of Yellowhammer. 525 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: When that pocket was mined out, he moved north and 526 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: he struck a vein so rich that he was able 527 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: to buy toys for all of the children of yellow 528 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: Hammer for Christmas, except there aren't any children in yellow Hammer. 529 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,960 Speaker 1: After hearing about this play him, Yellowhammer's residents go all 530 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 1: over the surrounding area trying to find some kids. Of course, 531 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: parents are not really inclined to send their kids away 532 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 1: with strange miners for Christmas, so the townspeople wind up 533 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: with just Bobby, a cigarette smoking, skeptical ten year old 534 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: from Granite Junction whose mother seems flat out exhausted. Cherokee 535 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: gets to yellow Hammer with all these presents and is 536 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 1: disappointed to find only this one sullen boy, and also 537 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: kind of embarrassed that it hadn't occurred to him that 538 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: the town did not have any children. But during his 539 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: conversation with Bobby, it becomes clear that Cherokee, by surprise 540 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: to everyone involved, is Bobby's father. The story ends with 541 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: the two of them riding off together, with Cherokee saying, quote, 542 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: half past nine, we'll hit the junction plumb on time 543 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: with Christmas day? Are you cold? Sit closer? Son? And then, 544 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 1: of course there is the most famous the Gift of 545 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: the Magi. Della has only a dollar and eighty seven 546 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 1: cents to buy her husband Jim at Christmas present, so 547 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: she decides to sell her most prized possession, her beautiful 548 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: long hair, and this earns her enough money to buy 549 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: a simple but elegant chain to go a Jim's prized possession, 550 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: a gold watch that has been passed down through his family. 551 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: When she opens her gift from him, it is a 552 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,280 Speaker 1: set of jeweled hair combs, which she had been admiring 553 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: in a shop window for so long but just couldn't afford. 554 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: Jim got the money to buy the combs, of course, 555 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: by selling his gold watch. Oh Henry ends this story 556 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: this way. Quote The Magi, as you know, were wise men, 557 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the newborn christ child. 558 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: They were the first to give Christmas gifts. Being wise, 559 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: their gifts were doubtless wise ones. And here I've told 560 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: you the story of two children who were not wise. 561 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 1: Each sold the most valuable thing he owned in order 562 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: to buy a gift for the other. But let me 563 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: speak a last word to the wise of these days. 564 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most 565 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,359 Speaker 1: wise of all who give and receive gifts, such as 566 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: they are the most wise everywhere. They are the wise ones. 567 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: They are the Magi, that is, Oh Henry, do you 568 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: also have a little bit of listener mail, hi do? 569 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 1: This is from Vaughn. This is about quite a quite 570 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,279 Speaker 1: an older episode. Vaughn says, Hi, Tracy and Holly. First, 571 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: I want to thank you for being an amazing resource 572 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 1: for those history lovers like myself. Your podcast has been 573 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,360 Speaker 1: a lifesaver, not only during the last eight months, but 574 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: during the many years before, on commutes, workouts, and the 575 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: regular three mile walk between my place and my partner's apartment. 576 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,959 Speaker 1: Note I got him into the podcast. I wanted to 577 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: let you know that over the last few months, inspired 578 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,720 Speaker 1: by the podcast, I have tried to trace the travels 579 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 1: of iban Batuta with food. After we realized travel was 580 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,359 Speaker 1: out of the question this year, I thought, well, there 581 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: is one way to see and experience the world. So 582 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: after some digging, I found several maps that seemed to 583 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 1: trace his journey and cobbled together a list of countries 584 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: or regions because as we know, the current borders are 585 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: sometimes not accurate from the time of his travel. And 586 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: for the last four months or so, I have made 587 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: dishes from about twenty seven countries for my boyfriend and me. 588 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,680 Speaker 1: I even did a little game on Instagram, posting photos 589 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:27,959 Speaker 1: of the dish and where it was from, and asked 590 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: people to guess what historical figures we were trying to 591 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,879 Speaker 1: travel with only one person figured it out. It has 592 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: been a joy, though not for our waistelines. Thank you 593 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 1: so much for this inspiration slash coping mechanism. If you 594 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,840 Speaker 1: would like, I do have a spreadsheet with each country 595 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: dish and recipe, along with notes, because even living in 596 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: a pretty diverse city like San Francisco, it was hard 597 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,920 Speaker 1: to find everything needed and I had to improvise a 598 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: few times. Lastly attached as a pick of my boyfriend 599 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: and I on our first big trip together to Athens 600 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: last year. It was so cool to get back and 601 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,760 Speaker 1: within a few months here your series on the Elgin Marvel's. 602 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: Thanks again, and I hope you both are staying safe 603 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 1: and well. Vaughn, Thank you so much, Vaughn. Um. We've 604 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: gotten a lot of lovely emails lately, and I found 605 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 1: the whole idea of making a like a food tour 606 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: for yourself while also not traveling because of the ongoing pandemic. 607 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:29,399 Speaker 1: I found that to be quite lovely. Alley like, yes, 608 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:33,919 Speaker 1: please do send us all of those marvelous notes. Um Oh, 609 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 1: and this picture of them is wonderful. Thank you so much. 610 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: This is great. It warmed my Heart. Thank you again 611 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:47,440 Speaker 1: Vaughn for sending this note. Um It, it reminds me 612 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,839 Speaker 1: Holly you you recently did a whole endeavor to cook 613 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:55,399 Speaker 1: every recipe in the Star Wars Galaxy's Age cookbook, which 614 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: I followed along. So delicious. So yeah, I I love 615 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 1: a little cooking challenge anyway. So that's um yeah. When 616 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: I say it's right up my alley, I mean it. 617 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: So thank you again, Von. Thank you to everyone who 618 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,880 Speaker 1: has sent to so many lovely emails lately. If you 619 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,799 Speaker 1: would like to email us about this or anither podcasts 620 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,280 Speaker 1: were at History podcast at iHeart radio dot com. We're 621 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: all over social media app Missed in History. That's where 622 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, interest in Instagram. To be honest, 623 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: we haven't been great about updating any of these things lately, 624 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 1: but they're there. You can also subscribe to our show 625 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,800 Speaker 1: on I heart radio app and Apple podcasts and anywhere 626 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: else to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 627 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,839 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. 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