The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess. Year 1. 1912.

 

In honor of Thornton W. Burgess's 150th birthday, I've uploaded a collection of his newspaper stories from February 5 to December 31, 1912, the first year of the "Little Stories for Bedtime" feature. I've also included illustrations, when available (they are of mixed quality) and some annotations, particularly with respect to places these stories were republished.

Many of these stories will be familiar to readers of his books but many will be brand new. Publishing them in their original order also means restoring the original continuity, which would effectively last until story 15,000 in 1960. The numbering and dating of these stories are best guesses. It is possible that there are missing stories, and I've included one such candidate (unnumbered) in the collection. 

At any rate, I will continue this publication project, aiming for one release a month, during the TWB 150th celebration. 

[UPDATE: I've uploaded an expanded and corrected edition of the 1912 book that includes three new appendices, a revised introduction, and an index. And spell-checked.]

The Collected Writings of Thornton W. Burgess, 1895-1911

In anticipation of the 150th anniversary of Thornton W. Burgess's birth coming later this January, I've put together this volume which assembles all the writing he did (that I could find) from the beginning of his career right up until he became a household name in 1912. Nearly 700 pages, uploaded to archive.org as a pdf. Here's the link: The Collected Writings of Thornton W. Burgess, 1895-1911. Consider this the first edition.

Dowhan's bibliography was my main finding guide but I was able to find a number of texts that he didn't list, both by stumbling upon them during digital searches and via a scrapbook in the TWB archives in the Massachusetts Historical Society. I've also included uncredited work in the American Agriculturist that is very likely to be the work of Burgess while he was "Young Folks' Editor" for that publication. 

Note that a handful of items included reveal an uncritical reproduction of ethnic and racial stereotypes. And Burgess's celebration of hunting and trapping (always within the framework of "true sportsmanship") may be shocking to readers who see him as an eternal "friend of the animals." See the Bob White poem from the Springfield Homestead below.

At any rate, I've brought back the blog. Big plans ahead as part of a larger TWB celebration in 2024!

New Burgess Biography: Nature's Ambassador by Christie Lowrance

I am pleased to announce the publication of Christie Lowrance's new biography of Thornton W. Burgess. It is the first truly comprehensive Burgess biography. (Even TWB's own Now I Remember is more a series of memoirs than a true life story).

A careful reader of this blog and other existing accounts of his life will already have the broad outline of TWB's work and its significance. (Indeed, this blog is acknowledged (and recommended) as a useful resource [Thanks, Christie!]). Lowrance's special contribution (beyond putting everything in a cohesive package) is more access to Burgess the man (she draws extensively from his journals and correspondence) and more evidence about his legacy (she interviewed dozens of people [including me], some of whom knew TWB personally). I think she makes a compelling case that Thornton W. Burgess deserves more credit than he currently receives for influencing our relationship with the natural world.

At any rate, it is highly recommended and available through the Burgess Society website.

New Page: Burgess Bedtime Story posts

To make it easier for future readers to make it through the 50-plus Burgess Bedtime Story posts, I have constructed an index page. Readers, of course, can already navigate from year to year simply by following the "older post" and "newer post" links at the bottom of each post. Nevertheless, I thought it might be useful for readers looking for a particular year to have a full linked list. The page does not include posts that are about things other than the stories themselves.

Online sources for Burgess newspaper stories

I've provided some of this information in a previous post but I thought it might be useful for some readers who might be inspired to track down some of the actual stories I've written about.

Google News Archives is the best free source, and so that's what I'll focus on.

The dates in parentheses indicate the years of the paper in the Google collection overall. The second pair of dates is the approximate starting and stopping point for Burgess stories. You will have to search the issues individually to find the stories, though by the 1930s they were usually run on the comics page.

Note that the Google collections are sometimes spotty with entire quarters occasionally missing. It usually works to move between the Lewiston Daily Sun and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. When both collections have holes at the same time, I usually had to move to a pay site to get the missing issues.

Milwaukee Journal (1884-1995) February 9, 1915-April 28, 1926

The Lewiston Daily Sun (1890-1989) April 4, 1921- November 10, 1943/ Dec 11. 43-October 21, 1961

The Deseret News (1832-2003) 1918/June 21, 1921-July 31, 1933

Youngstown Vindicator (1807-1984) July 6, 1921-January 16, 1932.

The Border Cities [Windsor, ON] Star (1918-1952) May 11, 1922 to June 4, 1925

Quebec Daily Telegraph (1812-1925) April 10, 1922-October 15, 1924

Pittsburgh Press (1819-1992) August 22, 1927-April 25, 1931.

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix (1851-1967) January 2, 1929-1965

Warsaw Times-Union (1949-1977) March 16, 1953-December 29, 1955. 

Edmonton Journal (1913-1986) May 1, 1953-May 31, 1955

Eugene Register-Guard (1867-2008) September 5, 1955-May 4, 1961.

Modular Story-telling

One of the things that first surprised me when I started investigating Thornton Burgess's newspaper stories was how modular they were, each a little unit that could stand alone or be combined with other units in a variety of ways. The first Bedtime Stories books, far from being reprints of continuous narratives from the newspaper serial, were very often composites of stories originally told months, sometimes years apart. These modular stories were only lightly edited for use in the books, if at all.

This modularity reached a whole new level when it came to the Burgess books published in the 1940s. Take, for example, At the Smiling Pool, which pieced together stories originally published from 1926 to 1943, sometimes, as in the case of "Peeper's Adventures", piecing together stories from many years apart to make a single chapter, or, as in the case of "Grandfather Frog's World," switching a story out of its original order in the continuity.

Below is the complete list of At the Smiling Pool chapters and the date of their original newspaper publication.

1. The Voice of Spring [March 30, April 1, 1942]
2. Peter Stops a Chorus [April 2-3, 1937]
3. Peeper's Adventures [April 9, 1926; May 7, 1934]
4. The Happy Trio [May 8-9, 1934]
5. The Smiling Pool Philosopher [June 7-8, 1934]
6. Grandfather Frog's World [September 11, 1940; August 15, 1935]
7. Taddy the Tadpole [May 24-25, 1937]
8. Taddy Meets his Father [May 26-28, 1937]
9. The Reward of Patience [September 7 and 9, 1940]
10. Little Mr. Know-it-all [September 12-14, 1940]
11. Jerry Muskrat is Envious [August 13-14, 1935]
12. Prickly Porky Seeks a Change [August 18-19, 1942]
13. An Honorable Retreat [June 21-23, 1939]
14. An Anxious Morning [May 31 to June 1, 1934]
15. Lessons in Living [June 2-4, 1934]
16. Greedy Touslehead [June 5-6, 1934]
17. Blacky's Chagrin [August 23-24, 1940]
18. Blacky Finds a Way [August 26-27, 1940]
19. Friendly Neighbors [May 7-8, 1940]
20. Mrs. Little Friend is Upset [May 10-11, 1937]
21. Surprising Babies [May 12-13, 1937]
22. Mrs. Slippery Slim [November 15-16, 1939]
23. A Happy Farewell [November 17-18, 1939]
24. Peter Makes a New Acquaintance [May 16-17, 1929]
25. A Secret is Kept [May 22-24, 1929]
26 The Happy Family [May 25 and 27, 1929]
27. The Water Sprites [May 28 and 29, 1929]
28. A Matter of Opinion [September 16 and 17, 1943]

Burgess Bedtime Stories 1960

The Stories

January 1 to January 8. Old Man Coyote tries to get beavers and grouse but fails. Little Joe Otter leaves fish for him to eat.

January 9. Tommy Tit isn't afraid of Jack Frost.

January 11 to January 16. Peter Rabbit finds himself too far from the Old Briar Patch and is almost caught by Whitey the Snowy Owl. Luckily Terror the Goshawk gets in the way and Peter makes it safely to a bramble-tangle. Peter decides he is getting old and will follow Jumper the Hare's advice to stay in the Old Briar Patch from now on.

Notes

The end of 48 years of Burgess Bedtime Stories was relatively abrupt with closure coming in a mere two stories. On January 15, Peter Rabbit, breathing hard from a race with Whitey the Snowy Owl that Peter almost lost, began to worry.

"I guess I'm getting old," thought Peter. "That Owl nearly caught me. I didn't dodge him as well as I used to. If this bramble-tangle had been any farther away I guess I would never had made it. I don't think I'll come over here [Green Forest] anymore..." 

"Somehow I don't feel just the way I used to. I can't run as fast as I once could. I think I can, but when I try to I find I can't. If I should meet Reddy Fox out on the Green Meadows I'm afraid I couldn't get back to the dear Old Briar Patch as I have so many times before. My legs are not what they used to be. No, sir, my legs are not what they used to be. When a fellow's legs play out it's time to stay at home. It isn't that I want to stay at home, because I don't. I like to get about and see what is going on. That is what legs are for." For a long time Peter continued to worry. 

[In his 1960 Life profile Burgess's only complaint about aging was the state of his legs.] January 16, Jumper the Hare came along and helped Peter make a final decision.

"If your legs really are not what they used to be, and you can't dodge as you used to dodge, there is only one thing for you to do," said Jumper. 

"I suppose, you mean, stay in the Old Briar Patch," said Peter. 

"That's just what I mean," replied Jumper. "Hasn't Mrs. Peter told you that?" 

"More times than I can remember," replied Peter. "She hardly ever leaves it."

Moreover there was an ethical reason why Peter should stay put:

"...If as you say, you are getting old, it is time to stop taking chances. You had better get back to the dear Old Briar-patch and stay there. You will save yourself a lot of trouble and danger, and perhaps save some other people, too. If it hadn't been for your being over here, Whitey the Snowy Owl and Terror the Goshawk would not have had a fight. And Terror wouldn't have lost two tail feathers." 

"I don't care if he did. I'm glad of it," said Peter. "Those two don't belong down here anyway." 

"But they are here. You don't want to forget that, Peter. They are here, but not over in the dear Old Briar-Patch," declared Jumper. 

And that was the end. It appears that there was supposed to be at least one more story. Previewed for the following Monday was "Peter's Last Race." And indeed, in the story above Peter had not yet returned to the Old Briar Patch, he was still in the bramble-tangle. He would need to make one more race in order to get there. But as far as I can tell that story was never published. One would assume Burgess intended for Peter to arrive safely but one wonders, given Burgess's trend toward naturalism, whether Peter might have illustrated the principle that animals in the wild rarely die of old age...

On Monday January 18, instead of "Peter's Last Race," there was a story from January 7, 1935, titled "A family gathering." It was run under the heading, "Nature Stories" (Burgess's preferred title for his series since the mid 1930s) and ran without an accompanying Harrison Cady illustration. For the rest of 1960, newspapers carrying Burgess stories continued the 1935 repeats. The series continued in repeats, primarily from the 1930s, until 1965. Burgess himself would die in June of that year.