Bailey - The Coach in the Forest - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

As https://www.history.com/ so aptly put it, "For being the year’s shortest month, February sure comes chock-full of holidays and major events. Between Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Groundhog Day, Black History Month, the Super Bowl, and sometimes Lunar New Year and Ramadan, there’s plenty to celebrate." That quote also gives a variety of their coverage to explore. As if that wasn't enough they also have The Surprising History of February.

I was all prepared, since this will be the Lunar Year of the Horse, to tell a horse story, but several of these holiday happen right now, including February 17 is also the day for a "Rare ‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse to Ignite Skies on Feb. 17 as Moon Falls Short of Covering the Sun. Astronomers refer to this phenomenon as an annular eclipse, a name derived from the Latin word annulus, meaning ring.   Because the path of annularity lies almost entirely over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, opportunities to see the full ring in person will be extremely limited. Only Antarctic researchers and extreme travelers are likely to witness it firsthand while millions in South America and southern Africa will see a partial eclipse, and even livestream coverage may be difficult due to the region’s harsh conditions.

Since so few will be able to see that Solar Eclipse I decided to hunt for a story that combined two holidays since there's no way to cover everything this February. 

With the America 250 celebration begun, I decided to go to this story of George Washington traveling to the temporary capital in Philadelphia. The role of the horse in the story is relatively minor. 

Washington by John Trumbull - 1790

The story is from Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. I'm not surprised as she was a great storyteller with many books, some of which include holidays. I haven't ever included any from Friendly Tales before. Bailey talks about the stories in this book as being for a new developmental stage. "At first he is ego-centric, interested in himself alone, but there comes a stage in the development of every child when it is necessary to help him to find a community ideal, to sacrifice the infant personality and merge himself in a social whole. Children should be led as soon as possible to feel that they live, not alone, but in the lives of others. Each child needs to feel that he has a friend, a neighbor, a social group in school, a town, a country." This certainly manages that.

 

 I tried to find facts about the coach being given by the King of France, but was unsuccessful. I did find  "Did George Washington ever meet the King Louis XVI of France".

So whatever holiday you feel like celebrating, this is a story that can be used beyond February 16, 2026.

************* 

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 20^th century. My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy discovering them.

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates 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 regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

See the sidebar for other Public Domain story resources I recommend on the page “Public Domain Story Resources."