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April 25, 2008
Love, Adrienne: Poetry Friday
Remember Grant,
Remember Lee,
The heck with them,
Remember me.
-from Yours Till Niagara Falls: A Collection of Autograph Verses by Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Marjorie Bauernschmidt
When I was in South Dakota last month, we stayed near a town called Freeman and wound up attending Freeman’s biggest event of the year, Schmeckfest, which takes place on the Freeman Academy campus. The campus is kind of huge and includes several historical museum-type buildings, including the Deckert House. The most interesting thing about the house was the attic, where, right out on a dresser, they have a couple of really old autograph books. I read through them both even though they were falling apart (and belong in a climate-controlled environment). It’s interesting to contemplate what these people’s lives might have been like when they were writing pithy rhymes and signing their names, what their lives may have become.
I have a soft spot for autograph rhymes. We have two older collections of them in the Children’s Room at WPL, Remember Me When this You See (1961) and Yours Till Niagara Falls (1950), both by Lillian Morrison and illustrated by Marjorie Bauernschmidt. Autograph rhymes are like jumprope rhymes and hand-clap rhymes and cheers. The rhymes get passed through generations, changing, developing variations. Autograph rhymes have mostly died out, and Morrison’s delightful books hardly ever circulate. It’s a shame. Take this rhyme, also from Yours Till Niagara Falls:
Two little boys late one night
Tried to get to Harvard on the end of a kite.
The kite string broke
And down they all fell.
Instead of going to Harvard
They went to _______.
Now don’t get exited
And don’t go pale.
Instead of going to Harvard,
They went to Yale.
Aside from being pretty funny, this is some kind of relative of the Girl Scout song “Three Little Angels.” Don’t you want to run out and trace how that happened? I do. Morrison’s rhymes are a piece of history; they speak of a time and a place. I could see them used in a classroom. If a teacher wanted to get a second grade class practicing their handwriting and writing in general, he or she could bring books like this in, have the kids create autograph books, and send them out to the playground with some nice colored Flairs. Aside from the world’s most painless writing lesson, kids would be picking up a little American history, a little sociology, and creating something worth saving. Heck, some of the rhymes are even concrete poems. These books should circulate more. They’re both on my Never Get Rid of This List.
[Trish has the roundup today over at The Miss Rumphius Effect.]
Posted by adrienne at April 25, 2008 07:14 AM
Comments
SO great!
Posted by: Kelly Fineman at April 25, 2008 10:35 PM
I'm sure glad the only thing they didn't want us to touch on that dresser was that brush or whatever the thing was the sign was on...
Posted by: jp at April 26, 2008 12:46 PM
Thanks, Kelly!
Jason, Like anyone was going to pay attention to that sign.
Posted by: adrienne at April 26, 2008 05:58 PM