Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories E-Book

Cal Stewart

• Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

In "Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories," Cal Stewart presents a delightful collection of humorous tales steeped in the rural American experience at the turn of the 20th century. The book is distinguished by its unique use of dialect and personification of Midwestern life, capturing the essence of humor found in the everyday occurrences of small-town existence. Through the voice of Uncle Josh, Stewart weaves a tapestry of anecdotes that reflect the social milieu of his time, offering both entertainment and subtle social commentary while employing a genial, conversational literary style that invites readers into a charming local world. Cal Stewart, a pivotal figure in the early days of American entertainment, was known for his work as a vaudeville performer and recorded numerous phonograph records. His upbringing in a rural setting deeply influenced his writing, as he sought to encapsulate the folk culture and sentiments of his youth. Stewart's desire to create a lasting tribute to his hometown experiences fueled his storytelling and performance, ultimately leading to the creation of this beloved collection. I wholeheartedly recommend "Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories" for readers seeking to explore the rich tapestry of American folklore through humor and heart. Stewart's narratives are not only entertaining but also provide keen insights into the lives of those who navigated the cultural landscape of America in simpler times, making it a timeless read for anyone connected to the rural narrative.

Leseprobe

Cal Stewart

Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories

Published by Good Press, 2022

[email protected]

EAN 4064066245283

Table of Contents

Preface

To the Reader.

Life Sketch of Author

My Old Yaller Almanac

Uncle Josh Weathersby's Arrival in New York

Uncle Josh in Society

Uncle Josh in a Chinese Laundry

Uncle Josh in a Museum

Uncle Josh in Wall Street

Uncle Josh and the Fire Department

Uncle Josh in an Auction Room

Uncle Josh on a Fifth Ave. 'Bus

Uncle Josh in a Department Store

Uncle Josh's Comments on the Signs Seen in New York

Uncle Josh on a Street Car

My Fust Pair of Copper Toed Boots

Uncle Josh in Police Court

Uncle Josh at Coney Island

Uncle Josh at the Opera

Uncle Josh at Delmonico's

It is Fall

Si Pettingill's Brooms

Uncle Josh Plays Golf

Jim Lawson's Hogs

Uncle Josh and the Lightning Rod Agent

A Meeting of the Annanias Club

Jim Lawson's Hoss Trade

A Meeting of the School Directors

The Weekly Paper at Punkin Centre

Uncle Josh at a Camp Meeting

The Unveiling of the Organ

Uncle Josh Plays a Game of Base Ball

The Punkin Centre and Paw Paw Valley Railroad

Uncle Josh on a Bicycle

A Baptizin' at the Hickory Corners Church

Reminiscence of My Railroad Days

Uncle Josh at a Circus

Uncle Josh Invites the City Folks to Visit Him

Yosemite Jim, or a Tale of the Great White Death

Uncle Josh Weathersby's Trip to Boston

Who Marched in Sixty-One

CAL STEWART, New York, Memorial Day, 1903.

Preface

Table of Contents

To the Reader.

Table of Contents

The one particular object in writing this book is to furnish you with an occasional laugh, and the writer with an occasional dollar. If you get the laugh you have your equivalent, and the writer has his.

In Uncle Josh Weathersby you have a purely imaginary character, yet one true to life. A character chuck full of sunshine and rural simplicity. Take him as you find him, and in his experiences you will observe there is a bright side to everything.

Sincerely Yours

Cal Stewart

Life Sketch of Author

Table of Contents

THE author was born in Virginia, on a little patch of land, so poor we had to fertilize it to make brick. Our family, while having cast their fortunes with the South, was not a family ruined by the war; we did not have anything when the war commenced, and so we held our own. I secured a common school education, and at the age of twelve I left home, or rather home left me—things just petered out. I was slush cook on an Ohio River Packet; check clerk in a stave and heading camp in the knobs of Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia; I helped lay the track of the M. K. & T. R. R., and was chambermaid in a livery stable. Made my first appearance on the stage at the National Theatre in Cincinnati, Ohio, and have since then chopped cord wood, worked in a coal mine, made cross ties (and walked them), worked on a farm, taught a district school (made love to the big girls), run a threshing machine, cut bands, fed the machine and ran the engine. Have been a freight and passenger brakeman, fired and ran a locomotive; also a freight train conductor and check clerk in a freight house; worked on the section; have been a shot gun messenger for the Wells, Fargo Company. Have been with a circus, minstrels, farce comedy, burlesque and dramatic productions; have been with good shows, bad shows, medicine shows, and worse, and some shows where we had landlords singing in the chorus. Have played variety houses and vaudeville houses; have slept in a box car one night, and a swell hotel the next; have been a traveling salesman (could spin as many yarns as any of them). For the past four years have made the Uncle Josh stories for the talking machine. The Lord only knows what next!

My Old Yaller Almanac

Table of Contents

Hangin' on the Kitchen Wall I'M sort of fond of readin' one thing and another, So I've read promiscus like whatever cum my way, And many a friendly argument's cum up 'tween me and mother, 'Bout things that I'd be readin' settin' round a rainy day. Sometimes it jist seemed to me thar wa'nt no end of books, Some made fer useful readin' and some jist made fer looks; But of all the different books I've read, thar's none comes up at all To My Old Yaller Almanac, Hangin' on the Kitchen Wall. I've always liked amusement, of the good and wholesome kind, It's better than a doctor, and it elevates the mind; So, often of an evening, when the farm chores all were done, I'd join the games the boys would play, gosh how I liked the fun; And once thar wuz a minstrel troop, they showed at our Town Hall, A jolly lot of fellers, 'bout twenty of 'em all. Wall I went down to see 'em, but their jokes, I knowed 'em all, Read 'em in My Old Yaller Almanac, Hangin' on the Kitchen Wall.

Thar wuz Ezra Hoskins, Deacon Brown and a lot of us old codgers, Used to meet down at the grocery store, what wuz kept by Jason Rogers. There we'd set and argufy most every market day, Chawin' tobacker and whittlin' sticks to pass the time away; And many a knotty problem has put us on our mettle, Which we felt it wuz our duty to duly solve and settle; Then after they had said their say, who thought they knowed it all, I'd floor 'em with some facts I'd got From My Old Yaller Almanac, Hangin' on the Kitchen Wall.

It beats a regular cyclopedium, that old fashioned yeller book, And many a pleasant hour in readin' it I've took; Somehow I've never tired of lookin' through its pages, Seein' of the different things that's happened in all ages. One time I wuz elected a Justice of the Peace, To make out legal documents, a mortgage or a lease, Them tricks that lawyers have, you bet I knowed them all, Learned them in My Old Yaller Almanac, Hangin' on the Kitchen Wall.