Category: Emmett Lee Dickinson - The Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum

Social Outcast

3/22/2020

From Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Historians state that Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) conceived of the idea of social distancing during an outbreak of yellow fever in 1878. Others disagree. They claim that Emily Dickinson, the queen of social distancing, originated the idea much earlier when she took out a restraining order against her third cousin (one thing that all historians do agree on is that the relationship between Emily Dickinson and Emmett Lee Dickinson was quite volatile).

Below: A sliver of a painting of Emily Dickinson by Alaskan Raven Studio. You can see and read about the entire painting (and even purchase a print), HERE.

Of course, it may very well be true that Emily Dickinson invented social distancing because shortly after she obtained a restraining order in 1853, Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote his poem "That Distance that's between Us" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "That Distance was between Us" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

That Distance that’s between Us
That should be Six Feet or Ten –
The Space it is that situates –
Well-being – always then –

By Emily Dickinson:

That Distance was between Us
That is not of Mile or Main –
The Will it is that situates –
Equator – never can –

Plogging Away

3/15/2020

From Philo Remington:

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! This -- yes THIS -- is our 700th plog (poetry blog) post!

Way back in May 2013 we started plogging. HERE is our first post:

Of course, our first post was just to say that plog posts would be coming soon -- so our actual first post about a topic other than the fact that plog posts were coming soon was this one (HERE), about the invention of the TV test pattern (and more):

Now six years later we have reached our 700th post -- and what is about?

A return to TV test patterns? The current global pandemic? The failed presidency of Donald Trump? Important issues facing society today -- like product placement in the movie industry -- or the need for more cat videos on the internet? The latest in men's fashions (spoiler alert: leg warmers for men)?

No. It's about the man himself, Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).

At a young age, Dickinson started writing daily entries and poetry in journals. He'd stitch the papers together in bound sets that he would call "journicles."

When Dickinson recorded his 700th journal entry, he wrote his poem, "After 700 hundred posts" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "After a hundred years" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

After 700 hundred posts
Everyone knows the Score
Comedy that’s enacted here
Hopefulness for More

Words triumphant range
Strangers troll or praise
At the vast Anthology
Of posts sure to Amaze

Words of Some import
Recollect the way –
Life and times of Emmett Lee
Penned for you each day –

By Emily Dickinson:

After a hundred years
Nobody knows the Place
Agony that enacted there
Motionless as Peace

Weeds triumphant ranged
Strangers strolled and spelled
At the lone Orthography
Of the Elder Dead

Winds of Summer Fields
Recollect the way –
Instinct picking up the Key
Dropped by memory –

Pictured below: Emmett Lee Dickinson's 700th post in one of his "journicles."

Oral Tradition

1/4/2020

From our entertainment editor, Q. L. Dickinson:

Do you have any particular New Year’s tradition?

Many in Europe and across the globe attend concerts of the Viennese waltzes of Johann Strauss (info HERE). Others around the world – particularly in North America – wash loads of laundry, sort their socks, and then throw out any and all of the single socks they’ve accumulated throughout the year. People in Finland flock to National Parks to rake the forest floors, and others of Dutch heritage exchange dish towels and say, “We zullen dat varkentje wel even wassen” (“We will certainly get that piglet washed”), meaning they will take care of something, fix something or get the job done in the New Year!

Of course, the top tradition around the world at the start of any new year is to read and/or listen to the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed (at her request) – and that’s just what members of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts did all over the globe!

This year was particularly special because Jim Asher, the world’s leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson, read some of Dickinson’s poetry on North Port, Florida's WKDW world-wide show “Writers on the Air."

“This was the biggest thing to happen in central west coast Florida,” said Rick Johnstone, Senior Intranet Communications Engineer and Marketing Functionality Planner for WKDW, “since Marylou Ward’s toilet exploded when lightning struck her septic tank.”

Below left: WKDW and the station's Common Grounds studio, site of the "Writers on the Air" program. Below right: Jim Asher reads the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson with "Writers on the Air" host, Emma Feix Albert. Asher is always quick to note, "I don't look like George Clooney. George Clooney looks like me."

Below left and right: Interestingly enough, the WKDW studio -- which included lots of radio and music memorabilia on the walls -- had two now-classic quotes from Emmett Lee Dickinson hanging on the front desk and the front door: "I value your opinion, as long as you don't offier it" and "recording quiet please."

Below left and right: A Dickinson fan in the audience who knew that Jim Asher would be reading on the program brought two old editions of poetry by Emily Dickinson. One, from 1960, was listed as costing 35 cents. The other, a collection of selected poems and letters, included a cover that depicted an angry looking Dickinson -- probably from a time when her third cousin, Emmett Lee, was visiting.

Below left: Rick Johnstone, Senior Intranet Communications Engineer and Marketing Functionality Planner for WKDW. Johnstone said that Asher's appearance on "Writers on the Air" was the biggest thing to hit Florida "since Marylou Ward’s toilet exploded when lightning struck her septic tank" (below right).

Below: Miscellaneous shots from in and around WKDW offices and studio.

Whitman Sampler

7/13/2019

From our senior book reviewer, Philo Remington:

Yesterday I visited Alderman Library at the University of Virginia to catch "Encompassing Multitudes: The Song of Walt Whitman," an exhibit celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of the great American poet.

Information on the exhibit -- which runs through July 27th -- is HERE. Additional information is HERE.

An early section the exhibit discussed writers and poets who influenced Whitman. Of course, the major influence on the poet -- above and beyond the inspiration and impact his brother Wink had on him -- was Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).

Pictured at the right: Walt Whitman's copy of "Poems," an early edition of poetry by Emmett Lee Dickinson.

Below: Wink Whitman's seminal work, Mows the Grass.

Pictured at the left: A collection of photographs of Walt Whitman -- the photo in the top left is of his brother, Wink.

Below left: Information on how Whitman was affected by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (click the image to enlarge). The display notes, "were it not for comfort and support from Lincoln’s best friend, Emmett Lee Dickinson, Whitman said he would not have been able to continue writing."

Below right: An advertisement for an April 1877 appearance by Walt Whitman at New York's Madison Square Garden to lecture on Abraham Lincoln. The advertisement notes "To Be Introduced by Emmett Lee Dickinson," Abraham Lincoln's best friend.

Information on Lincoln and Dickinson is HERE.

The exhibit includes various copies of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, including the following editions:

1855 -- the first edition. After reading it, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote to the poet, "Mr. Walter Whitman, I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed....I greet you at the beginning of a great career."

1856 -- the second edition.

1860 -- an updated version that included "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

1867 -- included "O Captain! My Captain!"

1876 -- to coincide with the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the United States.

1892 -- known as the "Deathbed Edition" (published three months before Whitman died).

In 2016, scholar Zachary Turpin discovered in the pages of an obscure New York newspaper, The Sunday Dispatch, a serialized biography written by Whitman, Life and Adventures of Emmett Lee Dickinson. Turpin described this work as “a fun, rollicking, creative, twisty, bizarre little book.” Whitman scholar Ed Folsom noted, “This discovery makes us rethink everything we thought we knew about Whitman’s career.”

Pictured at the left: Life and Adventures of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Walt Whitman's serialized biography of America's greatest poet, Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request). This work was discovered by scholar Zachary Turpin in 2016.

The Write Stuff

4/19/2019

From our master grammarian & resident logophile, Angstrom Dickinson:

On a recent trip to Chicago, I stopped by the American Writers Museum, "celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, our culture, and our daily lives."

From the museum's website:

The American Writers Museum strives to:

Educate the public about American writers – past and present
Engage visitors to the Museum in exploring the many exciting worlds created by the spoken and written word
Enrich and deepen appreciation for good writing in all its forms
Motivate visitors to discover, or rediscover, a love of reading and writing
Inspire the young writers of tomorrow

The exhibits are wonderful, and they include -- as their website notes -- interactive displays from "typewriters to touchscreens."

Below: A touchscreen display in the lobby allows visitors to learn about writers from each of the fifty United States. The page on Massachusetts includes Emily Dickinson, the Belle of Amherst; the page on Pennsylvania shows Emmett Lee Dickinson, the Bore of Washerst.

Left: A timeline runs above the main exhibit dedicated to the most influential American writers. Not surprisingly, the lineage highlights the birth of Emmett Lee Dickinson in 1803.

Below: Emmett Lee Dickinson is included in the display of America's most influential writers. He is line with some of his best friends -- Edgar Allan Poe, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry David Thoreau.

Click the images to enlarge.

Right: The photograph of Frederick Douglass at the American Writers Museum includes a year of birth -- but no date listed as a year of death. Many point to this to explain Donald Trump's enigmatic comments in 2017, "Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more."

Below left and right: The display on Emily Dickinson.

Below left (and above right): Emily Dickinson's poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" is included on the display for Emily Dickinson. Below right: Emily Dickinson was inspired to write her poem after reading her third cousin Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "'Hype' is the thing with bullfeathers."

By Emily Dickinson:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I've heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of Me.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

“Hype” is the thing with bullfeathers –
It preaches to enthrall –
It stretches Truth with guileful words –
And doesn’t care – at all –

Though sweeter – in the Sale – than sweetest –
More real – than genuine –
It carries no precaution of
Consequence– from Saccharine.

New – Improved – Superlative –
It’s magnified and grand –
It charms consumers – senseless –
With sleight of underhand.

Right: An interactive display allows visitors to submit their favorite books -- and I was tickled pink to discover that The Complete Poems of Emmett Lee Dickinson was listed as the top pick!

Below: The AWM's gift shop included finger puppets of famous American writers. Emmett Lee Dickinson is at the center, left of the photo -- circled in red.

Thirst Editions

3/23/2019

From our 19th century historian, Eudora Dickinson:

I saw this on Twitter today:

Of course Mr. Atkinson's chart might make one wonder what libations would top a similar list for poets?

Well, in the case of the Dickinsons, we know exactly what would rank as their "thirst editions."

For Emily Dickinson -- and her sister Lavinia -- the choice would be a keg of beer. There was nothing the sisters loved more than frat parties and keggers at Amherst college.

For Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request, the choice would be a Margarita, the lime libation he invented! Information about Dickinson & his delicious concoction is HERE.

Of course, Emmett Lee Dickinson knew of his third cousin Emily's fondness for keggers at Amherst College, and he immortalized her addiction to frat parties in his now-classic poem, "As School Bells end the summer" (below on the left). His poem inspired Emily to pen her poem "As Sleigh Bells seem in summer" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

As School Bells end the summer
And Boys, at Amherst show –
So friendly – so flirtatious
The individuals go
Replete with strong libations –
A Party does ensue –
She’s down there in an instant
Till Dawn the Ingénue.

By Emily Dickinson:

As Sleigh Bells seem in summer
Or Bees, at Christmas show –
So fairy – so fictitious
The individuals do
Repealed from observation –
A Party that we knew –
More distant in an instant
Than Dawn in Timbuctoo.

Pictured at the right: In 1849, Emily Dickinson wrote to her cousins Frances and Louisa Norcross. In her letter, Dickinson stated the following:

"There is to be a party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house tomorrow night. They say that home is where the heart is ~ I think it is where the Sigma house is, and the adjacent buildings.

Vinnie and I will be happy amid this delightful kegger, and well we will drink our icy beers ~ and the world there will be so beautiful, and things so sweet and fair, that my heart will be soothed and comforted."

Feast or Family

11/16/2018

From our 19th century historian, Eudora Dickinson:

When Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) pitched his idea for a national day of Thanksgiving to his best friend Abraham Lincoln – who was the President of the United States at the time – Lincoln was not keen on the idea.

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother,” said Lincoln, “but her family is a lot like fudge – mostly sweet, but with a lot of nuts. I just don’t think I could stomach a feast with those people – even if just once a year.”

Dickinson didn’t give up, though, and in 1863 he got Lincoln to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Dickinson helped promote the new holiday by selling Thanksgiving day postcards with his poetry, and the public couldn’t get enough! They loved the postcards, they loved the poetry, and they grew to love the holiday – even if it meant having to break bread with objectionable and/ annoying family members – even if just once a year.

Below are some the top postcards sold by Dickinson in the first years to promote Thanksgiving.

The postcard above includes the following lines by Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Most she touched me by her muteness –
Most she won me by the way
She presented her small figure –
Pie itself - for Turkey Day -

Third cousin Emily borrowed the lines in a poem she wrote that begins as follows:

Most she touched me by her muteness –
Most she won me by the way
She presented her small figure –
Plea itself - for Charity –

The postcard below includes the following lines by Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Somebody run to get the plate
And see if Dinner’s coming! Wait!
I see the treat upon the tray!
Death won’t hurt – now Dinner’s here!

Third cousin Emily used these lines in her poem "Dying! Dying in the night!":

Somebody run to the great gate
And see if Dollie's coming! Wait!
I hear her feet upon the stair!
Death wont hurt -- now Dollie's here!

A popular postcard by Emmett Lee Dickinson included the following lines:

My Heart upon a dinner Plate
Their Palate to delight
Cranberries and a Yam or three
Might please their Appetite

Emily Dickinson penned this poem based on her third cousin's poem:

My Heart opon a little Plate
Her Palate to delight
A Berry or a Bun, would be,
Might it an Apricot!

Gorgeous Garbage -- Part 4

9/15/2018

From our master grammarian and resident logophile, Angstrom Dickinson:

The Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts in conjunction with the Folger Coffee Company will host a birthday tribute to Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at his request) to celebrate the publication of The Garbaged Somethings, a collection of scraps of paper and bits of trash on which Dickinson wrote lines of poetry and complete poems.

In December, a similar event to be hosted by the Folger Shakespeare Library will celebrate Emily Dickinson and The Gorgeous Nothings.

Information about both events are HERE.

Below are some of the pages from The Garbaged Somethings that will be discussed at the momentous event to be held in October:

Pictured at the left: A label from a Badger Roasted Coffee can appears on page 25 of The Garbaged Somethings. On the back of the label, Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote, "In the name of the Joe," a line he used to open this short poem:

In the name of the Joe –
And of the Jitter Juice –
And of the Brews – Amen!

Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to write this:

In the name of the Bee –
And of the Butterfly –
And of the Breeze – Amen!

Pictured at the right: Page 48 of The Garbaged Somethings includes a coffee can lid on which Dickinson wrote his poem "A willing lid o'er weary eye":

A willing lid o’er weary eye
As Morning on the Day dawns
Till I stumble through my House
To gain my Coffee Cup

Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to write this:

As willing lid o'er weary eye
The Evening on the Day leans
Till of all our Nature's House
Remains but Balcony

Pictured at the left: Page 53 of The Garbaged Somethings shows a Morning Glow coffee can on which Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote, "Cream & Sugar are for amateurs."

He never used that quip in a poem.

Pictured at the right: Plans for a coffee pot which Emmett Lee Dickinson invented and submitted for a patent in 1853 (shown on page 68 of The Garbaged Somethings).

Dickinson invented and received patents for at least seven different types of coffee pots, and on this particular diagram Dickinson wrote, "Who needs a joe to greet the World," a line used in his poem "How good was my Warm Bed" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "How good his Lava bed" (below on the right).

For more information on Dickinson's other inventions, click HERE.

Dickinson also coined the words "joe," "mud," "dirt," and "jitter juice" for coffee.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

How good was my Warm Bed,
To this soporific Boy –
Who needs a joe to greet the World
And start the sleepy Day –

By Emily Dickinson:

How good his Lava Bed,
To this laborious Boy –
Who must be up to call the World
And dress the sleepy Day –

To check out other pages from The Garbaged Somethings
that will be discussed at the October 12 event,
click HERE, HERE, and HERE.

American Art

9/11/2018

From our art columnist, Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Art forms most closely associated with each of the fifty states:

The American Federation of Federated Artists (AFFA) has published its annual list of arts most closely associated with and most prevalent in each of the fifty states.

On behalf of the Board members of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts (DOPE), I have lodged a formal complaint with the Federation since AFFA listed “poetry” as the art form most closely associated with Massachusetts solely because the state is the home of Emily Dickinson. AFFA listed "painting hex signs" as the art form most closely associated with Pennsylvania, the birthplace of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request) -- and we are incensed!

We are sick and tired of Emmett Lee Dickinson being thought of as the "Salieri" to Emily Dickinson's "Mozart," when hundreds of thousands of DOPEs across the country know it should be the other way around.

Please, take time tonight, tomorrow, and the next day to call AFFA to voice your incredulity too. Together, we will be heard.

Pictured at the right: A hex sign designed by Emmett Lee Dickinson that paid homage to his most popular invention, candy corn. This sign hung in the lobby of the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) for years -- until the building burned down on New Year's Eve in 2015. Information is HERE.

Gorgeous Garbage -- Part 3

9/9/2018

From our master grammarian and resident logophile, Angstrom Dickinson:

On October 12, 2018, there will be a birthday tribute to Emmett Lee Dickinson -- the poet who wrote more coffee poetry than any other poet -- at the Folger Coffee Company in historic Washerst, PA (the birthplace of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request). Then, on December 12, 2018, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, will host a birthday tribute to Emily Dickinson.

The October event will focus on a new publication, The Garbaged Somethings, a collection of scraps of paper and bits of trash on which Dickinson scrawled lines of poetry and thoughts and quips about coffee.

The December event will focus on the recent publication, The Gorgeous Somethings, the full-color facsimile publication of Emily Dickinson's manuscripts.

At the October event, Meryl Streep will take the stage with Starbucks' newly develop barista robot -- called "Servi-Tron" -- to discuss the collection of Emmett Lee Dickinson's "garbaged somethings."

More information about both the October and December events is found HERE. Some of the pages from The Garbaged Somethings are HERE and HERE.

Additional pages are below:

Pictured at the right: Page 19 of The Garbaged Somethings shows a burlap coffee bag on which Emmett Lee Dickinson scrawled the following:

For Whom the Nights become the Dawn
What must the Caffeine -- cause!

Those lines inspired third cousin Emily to write this:

To Whom the Mornings stand for Nights,
What must the Midnights -- be!

Pictured at the left: On a discarded wrapper for a Coffee Crisp shown on page 32 of The Garbaged Somethings, Dickinson wrote, "Some one prepared this mighty joe With which I get my Drive to go." He used those words to open this poem:

Some one prepared this mighty joe
With which I get my Drive to go
Through races of the Days –
To make it through my simple Door
And all I may encounter – and more

Dickinson's words inspired third cousin Emily to write this:

Some one prepared this mighty show
To which without a Ticket go
The nations and the Days –
Displayed before the simplest Door
That all may examine them – and more

Pictured at the right: On a discard Kuerig cup (page 45 of The Garbaged Somethings), Dickinson wrote, "I love you a Latte!" He never used that line in a poem about coffee.

Dickinson is also credited with being the first to say, "Cool beans!"

Pictured at the left: Page 76 of The Garbaged Somethings shows a discarded ice cream carton on which Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote the following poem:

Consulting the office clock
But half my break remains,
I ascertain it with a shock --
I shall not look again.
The second cup of joe
Is colder than the first.
The work I do not care to know
Will end much needed rest.

Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to write this:

Consulting summer's clock,
But half the hours remain.
I ascertain it with a shock --
I shall not look again.
The second half of joy
Is shorter than the first.
The truth I do not dare to know
I muffle with a jest.