While shopping at an antique store in Illinois, I came across a very charming old book. Called Bird Center Cartoons. It is further described as “A Chronicle of Social Happenings at Bird Center, Illinois.” It was by John T. McCutcheon, a long-time writer for the Chicago Tribune and Pulitzer Prize winner too. This book has a publisher’s date of 1904, way before MY time. Actually, you’ll find some of the comics are timeless.
An early page tells me that these “cartoons concern the social doings and adventures of the following people” and numerous names, descriptions and titles follow.
One of the illustrations shows the Fourth of July Lawn Fete. I know it has been a long time since men dressed in suits and ladies in long gowns and hats at any of our local celebrations. But the gent reading a historical decree, children running about and older people reminiscing still take place.
The section called “The Church Bazaar” was really a chuckle. We see all sorts of booths set up, from selling “fancy work slippers”, to a grab bag tent and also a booth with a Fortune Teller! Near the back is another one that is jam packed with people – they are voting for “the most beautiful young lady and the homeliest man – 5 cents a vote.”
Throughout the book they refer to “The Mysterious Stranger”, first spotted at Mr. Peter’s Lawn Party. He has evidently helped out Captain Fry by paying off his mortgage but no one has been able to identify him. He is mentioned throughout the book, including the Baby Show, Football Game, and various parties. But not until the very end do we learn who he is! (And you will have to wait to the end of this article to find out!)
At one of the Grand Social Functions, thrown by Mrs. Riley Withersby, we find another delightful scene. There is a spotted dog growling at a bear-skin rug, a black manservant bringing food, and a young man using a stereoscope to view those two-sided pictures.
Two of the funniest sections are the “Arrival of the Ninth Little Walpole” and the next chapter showing a community wide “contest” to name the baby! When that did not work, they went to the newspaper, the Argosy, and its readers to come up with a suitable name. I read and re-read the next chapters, but had no luck in finding out what the final determination was. But in a paragraph under the heading of “Return of the Travelers” (nifty train scene), I see the results. “We selected the name Timothy Withersby Walpole announced Rev. Walpole – Timothy after my old college president and Withersby after a lady whom all Bird Center delights to honor and love.” Later in the paragraph I learned that because Mrs. Withersby was so delighted by the name, she deposited $1,000 in the bank for the baby. Gee, that worked out swell. Hope the kid held onto it since $1,000 in 1904 was a huge amount!
This is a large, delightful book, with loads of illustrations and references to social events such as engagements, marriages, births, a visit from a cousin from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, even mention of a new suit ordered by a local dignitary. Newsworthy in a small town back then.
Well, you’ve been waiting to learn the Mysterious Stranger’s identify, right? It turns out that he was Col. Calhoun Peyton, a Confederate Soldier, who had survived many military skirmishes, a battle with Geronimo, and the battle of the Battle of Appomattox. He tells the anxious crowd that he was “shot to pieces” at Gettysburg and a Yankee soldier stopped to give him water and ask if he wanted to send any message home. His response was “You’re a Yankee and I hate you but you are a noble man just the same. Take this old sword to my mother, it was my father’s in the Mexican war and my grandfather’s in the war of 1812. Tell her that it has honored the name of Peyton to the last.” That Yankee soldier was Captain Roscoe Fry and he lived up to his promise. Col. Peyton somehow survived and had been searching for Capt. Fry to thank him. He found him in financial distress and came to his aid. “Bird Center is agog over the event If you get a chance to read this book, please do so. It has been an enjoyable “look back” at simpler times with fantastic illustrations and marvelous narrative. A good place to shop for older books would be antique stores and malls. I am sure you’ll be delighted, as I was to find these treasures.
