OCTOBER 12th
BELOW: TWEETS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ABOUT EMMETT LEE DICKINSON
Click the images to enlarge.
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Below is information from previous ELD B-Day celebrations:
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Celebrate the 210th birthday of Emmett Lee Dickinson with the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) this October 12th |
The first 5,000 visitors to the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard)
today receive a complimentary annual pass to the museum which is good for a year.
today receive a complimentary annual pass to the museum which is good for a year.
A favorite event on Dickinson's birthday is the early morning swim in Dickinson Lake. In the picture below on the left, the Emmett Lee Dickinson Applied Research & Education Center is shown in the background.
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WORDSTOCK:One of the biggest years in ELD birthday celebrations was 1968 when the Wordstock Poetry Festival was held on Gus Yaxmar's 600-acre corn field in Washerst. The festival set the stage for Woodstock which copied the Wordstock format the following year.
Referred to as a "Libran Exposition," Wordstock is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of poetry. Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 50 Moments That Changed Prose and Poetry.
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EMMETT LEE DICKINSON LOOK-ALIKES:
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Pictured below: Last year's winner of the Emmett Lee Dickinson look-alike contest, Raynor Schein from Sheboygan, WI.
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Pictured below: A vintage postcard shows contestants for a past Emmett Lee Dickinson Look-Alike contest getting ready for the annual look-alike competition.
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BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS:
Did you know that various birthday traditions are associated with the birthday of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request?
First, candles on a birthday cake started with Emmett Lee Dickinson. Early in the 1800s, it was customary to place the shoes of a birthday boy or girl atop a birthday cake that marked any birthday decade (10, 20, 30, etc.). However, on his 10th birthday, Emmett Lee's oldest sister, Qwerty Anne Dickinson placed candles around Dickinson's shoes on the cake because his shoes smelled so bad. On his 20th birthday, Qwerty Anne refused to use Dickinson's shoes on his cake, and she just used two candles instead. That started the tradition of placing candles on a cake.
Pictured below on the left: Dickinson's nephew, Qwerty Anne's son Barwolf presents Dickinson's cake for his 20th birthday.
First, candles on a birthday cake started with Emmett Lee Dickinson. Early in the 1800s, it was customary to place the shoes of a birthday boy or girl atop a birthday cake that marked any birthday decade (10, 20, 30, etc.). However, on his 10th birthday, Emmett Lee's oldest sister, Qwerty Anne Dickinson placed candles around Dickinson's shoes on the cake because his shoes smelled so bad. On his 20th birthday, Qwerty Anne refused to use Dickinson's shoes on his cake, and she just used two candles instead. That started the tradition of placing candles on a cake.
Pictured below on the left: Dickinson's nephew, Qwerty Anne's son Barwolf presents Dickinson's cake for his 20th birthday.
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Emmett Lee Dickinson's Uncle Hobart started the practice of having clowns at children's birthday parties . He often appeared as "Gurgles the Clown. Pictured at the right: Dickinson's Uncle Hobart as "Gurgles the Clown." Pictured at the far right: Hobart Dickinson's daughter "Withypoll Dickinson dressed as a clown at a birthday celebration for Emmett Lee Dickinson. |
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Another popular tradition on Emmett Lee Dickinson's birthday: Hospital attendants deliver books of Emmett Lee Dickinson's poetry to patients via the "Dickinson Dolly," a book mobile invented by Tekla Von Binge, the granddaughter of Emmett Lee Dickinson's Uncle Morag and Aunt Walburga. |
FOR THE COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS IN WASHERST, CLICK HERE.
All things Emmett Lee Dickinson (poetry, museum stuff, Washerst facts and figures, etc.) © 2013 & 2014 by Jim Asher
