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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Bigham - Little Wee Pumpkin's Thanksgiving - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

Went looking for a Thanksgiving story at the back of my mind.  Mother Goose was in my mind and so I first checked Frank Baum (yes, of the Wizard of Oz stories).  Looked at his  Mother Goose in Prose.  That wasn't it.  Fortunately I have a great catalog program, AZZ Cardfile.  It started long ago as a free Windows application and when it was phased out I was delighted to find this flexible program.  I use it to keep track of my storytelling library, indexing it to help me find my stories.  Back on June 19th I posted Tommy Tinker's Charm String from Madge Bigham's very creative Mother Goose Village.  Chose that story as a follow-up to Baum's Tom the Piper's Son, but would have loved to post today's story.  I've enjoyed telling it in the past.

Don't let the overly cute "Wee" in the title turn you off.  It's a good story that might benefit from updating the name of the pumpkin in the title to something a bit less likely to draw unintended snickers.  That's my personal opinion.  With or without that change, I hope you enjoy the tale.











































Bet you thought the time for Jack-O-Lanterns was over.  They can be more fun than flowers at a hospital bed.
May all be well with you and all you love and may there be many reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, I've returned to involvement in projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.  

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Cowles - Bread of Gold - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

Julia Darrow Cowles proved to be an interesting resource, so I tried to see what I could learn about her.  With this I've done two blog posts with stories from her work.  I already completed the first, and this second article includes what little information I could find on her.  She was among those in the late 19th and early 20th century who led that period's storytelling revival.  Personally I'm downloading to an eReader a book of hers, The Art of Storytelling, with Nearly Half a Hundred Stories.  It's great for an eReader as she indexes her stories and does an excellent job of making them accessible to young listeners.  It's just the sort of resource I love when telling on the road, especially in a foreign country, where a theme can pop up and I want to find related stories.  She was a bit more thorough in her own notation of sources than typically found in many anthologies of the era.

I especially thank a fellow librarian and lover of children's literature, Barbara Begin Campbell, at Oakland University's School of Education for checking her own copy of the original edition of Junior Book of Authors!  It saved me trying to find a library in the false hope she might just be mentioned.  (A slight UPDATE here: Google Books is online with that book and it is searchable.  The recent court decision about Google Books providing a research service that doesn't jeopardize copyright is proving true.)  Mrs. Cowles nearly anonymous passing is a perfect example of how important it is to preserve the Public Domain as our cultural heritage.  There's a tiny bit in the paragraph below I was able to find with some online detective work on my part.  It is probably all anybody but her own possible descendants might know. 

The best I could learn online about Julia Darrow Cowles is she was also known as Mrs. Frances Dana Cowles: (January 6, 1862 - September 6, 1919), was from Canada, had a Connecticut ancestor, was probably Baptist (see pages 16 - 18 for a list of all her books in A Baptist Bibliography :  Being a Register of Printed Material By and About Baptists; Including Works Written Against the Baptists edited by Edward C. Starr, Curator of the American Baptist Historical Society), and she also was "a member of a well-known Minneapolis literary family" according to "The Heimatbrief", the newsletter magazine of the German-Bohemian Society, September 2003.   Since only a fraction of her books are currently online, I would hope more are added to the various digital archives.

Here's a tasty story of some bread that won't make good Thanksgiving stuffing or other eating.



 
I love Cowles telling us this comes from Slav Tales, translated by Emily J. Harding, even noting the publisher.  Not typical.  This slender 124 page volume includes several more from Slav Tales, along with many Tibetan and Gypsy stories -- not the usual sources, and an assortment of other tales.
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This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, I've returned to involvement in projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.  

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Cowles (Schoolcraft) - How the Seasons Came to Be - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

First a bit of a story from this storyteller.

On April 15, 2000 I went to a sale at the home of a local used bookseller.  She had other locations where she sold at antique malls, but her basement was a treasure trove from which she also sold.  She was moving to a new home, so I eagerly went to her sale.  Can't recall offhand what books I bought that day, but definitely remember buying this mug

It was by Edward Gorey -- if you're a fan, as I am, you probably recognized it being by him.  Perhaps the name doesn't ring a bell, but if you've watched his wonderful animated introduction to the PBS series, Mystery!, then you've seen his style in action.  He didn't do the animation, Derek Lamb did that, but it's definitely based on his art.  I fell in love with him through his delightfully macabre illustration of children's books and went on to prowl his other books and artwork.
Wikipedia rightfully compares him to Charles Addams (another favorite of mine!) and says he's "an iconic figure in the Goth subculture."  I'm no Goth, but greatly enjoy both author/illustrators.

The reverse side of the mug says
Not all of that is visible and it needs to be seen: So Many Books - So Little Time.  That certainly is appropriate for this bibliomaniac.  My publishing Public Domain works from my own library makes that obvious.  What I didn't know until later that day was Edward Gorey died that very day at age 75.

So Many Books So Little Time 

How true.  It's part of the reason why I consider Keeping the Public in Public Domain important.  I started this series while on sabbatical this past year.  That project, Elder Stories, is still something I hope to continue along with my storytelling as it shows ways to maintain communication and offer a social event for patients with Dementia and Alzheimer's and their caregivers.  Both the Public Domain work here and Elder Stories fit the Edward Gorey motto.  At the same time I've now returned to my professional storytelling, combining it with a very full life beyond work.  As a result this month revealed the schedule for this blog and Keeping the Public in Public Domain needs adjusting.  To maintain the level of research I consider appropriate, it will appear at least monthly, often more -- as may be seen in last month's multiple postings expanding the topic of Victorian Christmas, including the October appropriate idea of "scary ghost stories" which are a part of that Victorian celebration.  Sorry I can't predict it more closely.  Lately I've been living a quote attributed to, of all people, Woody Allen: If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.

Here's November's entry in Keeping the Public in Public Domain.  It came from a children's anthology, Indian Nature Myths, edited by Julia Darrow Cowles.  Ms. Cowles is best known for her 4 works of historical fiction at The Baldwin Project (Our Little Macedonian Cousin of Long Ago, and similarly Roman, Athenian, and Spartan), but she also has the fascinating The Art of Storytelling, with Nearly Half a Hundred Stories.  It's worth downloading.  Great for an eReader as she indexes her stories and does an excellent job of making them accessible to young listeners.  It's that reason why I'm including her version of a tale you should also read and compare in Henry Rowe Schoolcraft'sThe Myth of Hiawatha, and Other Oral Legends..., or at least this specific story, "Ojeeg Annung or The Summer-Maker".  After Cowles' story I'll point to the difference in the two versions and why it makes the story a bit more "accessible to young listeners."









































































Go also to the version recorded by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft of "Ojeeg Annung or The Summer-Maker" and see how Cowles omits concepts such as Manitos.  While worth exploring in the Anishinaabe or Ojibwe culture, it is a complex issue requiring a great deal of explanation beyond sharing the main ideas of the story.  This does NOT mean Schoolcraft shouldn't be used.  He tried faithfully to preserve the stories from the People of the Three Fires, the Anishinaabe.  I'll say more about him later when I present his work.  Cowles, to her credit and unlike too many public domain editors, at least names each Native American nation rather than just lump it under "Indian."  While she doesn't list her sources, like Schoolcraft, trying to find the original sources for the stories she includes become so much easier if you know how to find standard works of folklore for the nations named. 

The cover of Folklore of the North American Indians -- a woodcut from Once Upon a Totem by Christie Harris, illustrated by John Frazer Mills, based upon the Native American art of the Pacific Northwest
November is Native American Heritage Month.  Combining this month's research with the Keeping the Public in Public Domain series, I want to recommend a reference for finding those solid works of Native American folktales.  The Library of Congress in 1969 published Folklore of the North American Indians; An Annotated Bibliography compiled by Judith C. Ullom.  The sensitivity behind choosing the best material is shown in its criteria: (1) statement of sources and faithfulness to them, (2) a true reflection of Indian cosmology, and (3) a written style that retains the spirit and poetry of the Indian's native manner of telling.  If there is any flaw in the book, it's that it is unable to look beyond 1969.  The book is out of print and has never been updated.  The good news is the work can be found online thanks to Scholars Archive @ OSU (Oregon State University), so it still is in print electronically.

This has been a combined post of both types of posts here -- a bit of research (normally more) and Public Domain stories.  May we all remember the contributions of the Native Americans, our own First Nations, the original spirit of Thanksgiving, including how the national holiday began with the declaration by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 recognizing the celebration of 1621 and, as our seasons settle into Winter, may the gift of Ojeeg return to the land of the Anishinaabe.

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Once again a slightly revised series statement of purpose:
This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, I've returned to involvement in projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.  

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Cory - Billy Bunny Series - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

Today's Keeping the Public in Public Domain has an idea for storytellers or puppeteers looking for a way to build a program wrapped around one character.  I've escaped from fables (see end of this post for more information) and this year's look Victorian Christmas that took the second half of October.

When I was still creating storytelling programs at one library I found it was easy to do a continuing story where each week I told a new adventure about one character -- I would have a puppet for the character, but that's optional.  Books that offer episodic stories where each chapter has a stand-alone adventure about one character were perfect for this.  The era covered by Public Domain had many such books and even series following characters.  I should have included Cuffy Bear when I came to Arthur Scott Bailey on my shelves as that was the first of a series about Cuffy and also the first of such books I have. 

David Cory had many series because he syndicated children's stories for the daily WZJ radio show in Newark, New Jersey.  A collection of his correspondence, some manuscripts, and memorabilia is housed at the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries.  Their description of his work says, "He came to writing after a twenty-year career as a stockbroker, beginning with stories invented for his children."  Project Gutenberg currently has 14 of his books including four series:

 Three of the Puss-In-Boots, Jr. series
Three of the Little Jack Rabbit series
and
 
 one from the Little Indian series.
Project Gutenberg has three from the series LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPY LAND (no cover given)  and 
The Jumble Book,  a book that doesn't seem to be a series book, but has a variety of animal stories.

My own series book is from the Billy Bunny Books of the 1920s.  Project Gutenberg currently has two.  Mine is yet a third book:

(Notice some of those other titles in the series) 

 

 

 

 



















































The leaves are still enough on the trees, as I write this, giving some of Michigan's autumn beauty.  As a result I'm choosing these two stories that include Jack Frost and the second tale includes a bit of nature facts.

You will notice the mention at the beginning and end of each story tying it to the story just told or about to be told.  The song includes a word guaranteed to make today's children snicker, "gay."  It would be reasonable to avoid the distraction by changing the wording from "and gay" to "today" unless you want to spend time before the story discussing the term.  The vocabulary of older works sometimes requires you to make such decisions. 



















































































Actually we're jumping to another story.  By the way, talking about changes and decisions, I might decide to remove some of the personification of those who aren't animals.  Examples of this are the character, Mr. Happy Sun, changing it to "the happy sun" and "his" to "its" and similarly handle Willy Wind if I don't think it hurts Cory's work.  Mother Nature is there, too.  Shades of Thornton Burgess and Old Mother West Wind!  Puppeteers especially need to consider the number of characters used.






















































































If you're curious about that Luckymobile Uncle Lucky drove, go to this article from March 26, 2009 in the blog, Lady, That's My Skull to see it.
The blog's author, who writes under the name of Sleestak, was able to find several volumes of the series.  Sleestak seems to enjoy the art of Hugh Spencer more than the stories and shows several more illustrations from Billy Bunny and Daddy Fox, (available from Project Gutenberg) including a Billy Bunny doll worth watching for at antique stores. 

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At the beginning of today's article I mentioned Frederic Taber Cooper's An Argosy of Fables.  Prior to spending the second half of October looking at Victorian Christmas celebrations, starting on September 21, 2013, I made several posts from Argosy's Book One, Classical Fables, and Book Two, Oriental Fables, although I stopped in that section without including Armenian and Turkish Fables.  I'm a big fan of Turkish folktales about Nasreddin Hodja, so those fables could provide short additional material to balance out a program.  Book Three is called Modern Fables (remember the book was published in 1921) and covers English, French, Spanish, Russian (all by Krilov except one from that prolific author, Anonymous), German, and Polish (all by Krasicki) fables.  Book Four is titled "Kraal and Wigwam Fables" looking at fables from various areas of Africa and various Native American tales Cooper calls fables.  The good news is the sources of the Native American material is better identified than in many Public Domain books.  Unfortunately many of the other sources may be difficult to track down, especially when Cooper was referring to sources in another language or in something other than a book.  His work as editor, however, produces generally tellable stories.

If you consider that fables are the wisdom of the past and other cultures, the book is an excellent overview of a major type of story.  The same organization that brings us the Wikipedia does us a great service with its Wikisource placing the book online.
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This is my slightly revised series statement of purpose:
This is part of a series of weekly posting of stories under the category, "Keeping the Public in Public Domain."  The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated.  I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20th century.  I hope you enjoy discovering new stories. 

At the same time, I'm returning to involvement in projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my normal monthly posting of a research project here.  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my monthly postings as often as I can manage it.