09 June 2020

Is Paul Bunyan from Minnesota ?


Today I needed an image of Paul Bunyan; I found one on an item I wrote back in 2012, when I was taking a blogcation to have bunion surgery:
"This morning I'm on my way to the hospital for some scheduled surgery.  It's a reasonably minor procedure (which I won't go into details about)* but I certainly won't be able to spend my usual 10 hours a day at my desk, and without a working laptop, blogging will probably have to be deferred.  Time for me to catch up on reading and you to explore other blogs
*but for the curious, I've left a clue in the embedded photo.
That post generated 60 comments from readers speculating about what in the photo was relevant to my surgery.  I'll leave those enjoyable comments in place and continue now with what I found this morning re Paul Bunyan, who apparently is not totally from Minnesota.
The most famous figure in American folklore began with tall tales in 19th century logging camps. He received his first widespread public attention in Minnesota. But as his popularity grew, states around the country fought over rights to claim him as their own. 
Americans know Paul Bunyan as a supersized logger who created Minnesota’s lakes when his bootprints filled with water and dug Lake Superior as a watering trough for his giant blue ox — but also carved the Grand Canyon with his ax. But in the original lumberjack tales, he was “only” about 7 feet tall, said Michael Edmonds, author of “Out of the Northwoods: The Many Lives of Paul Bunyan.” 
The earliest reliable account Edmonds found of a logging-camp tale was from the winter of 1885-86 in — brace yourself, Minnesotans — Wisconsin. But Minnesota figures prominently in Bunyan’s journey after that. The first public record of the Bunyan tales appeared in a brief article in a Duluth paper in 1904. Ten years later, a former logger-turned-advertising manager for the Red River Lumber Co. wrote a brochure about Bunyan, further spreading his fame. The company, which moved from northern Minnesota to northern California around that time, took the woodcutting giant as its logo, emblazoning their products with his image, Edmonds said... 
During the Depression, resorts and promoters used his name to attract tourists. Finally, starting in the 1950s, Bunyan tales shifted primarily to children’s books. Bunyan grew to represent America’s vision of itself. So which state can claim him as its own? “I don’t think there’s any state that can’t,” Edmonds said.
Great photo of the current "World's Largest Talking Animated Bunyan" at the StarTribune, whence the text.

64 comments:

  1. Hope it goes ok.

    B

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  2. Yay Reading! If you haven't read Verghese's Cutting for Stone, I highly recommend it!

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  3. I hope your treatment for blue bulls goes well!

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    Replies
    1. Came here to make the same joke, so instead will hope the sex change op goes well.

      I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
      I sleep all night and I work all day.
      He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
      He sleeps all night and he works all day.

      I cut down tree, I wear high heels,
      Suspenders and a bra,
      I wish I'd been a girlie,
      Just like my dear papa

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  4. Finally getting treated for that ax wound?

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  5. Your hint was quite easy to figure out. Fortunately, those cutaneous horns are fairly easy to remove. The blue skin, on the other hand, may prove to be a little trickier to treat.

    ;-)

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    Replies
    1. What William said! The condition is called argyria.

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  6. take care Stan

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  7. You were gored by an ox?

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  8. Sending vibes for gentle healing and quick recovery ~

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  9. Praying it wasn't castration.

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  10. Patients report being quite pleased by the extreme shoulder-broadening procedure perfected by plastic surgeons. I hope your surgery goes as well as the results in the photo. :)

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  11. Fortunately, in this day and age, Plaid is easily cured with a simple removal procedure.

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  12. Classic case of "lumberjack elbow". Had that myself back in '92. Hope you're back in action soon!

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  13. I hope all goes well and you enjoy your time for reading.

    I loved all the comments! Such creative minds.

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  14. I was thinking a minor goring, as well. Much warmth on the recovery.

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  15. Your work is much appreciated, get well soon.

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  16. Best wishes for a flawless procedure and quick recovery. Here's hoping you're up and around, back at the keyboard ASAP - your loyal fans will be pining (hopefully not for the fjords!) for your return.

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  17. The power of the internet: I don't even live in the same country as you, but I can say with all honesty, you'll be missed. Get well soon.

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  18. Love the blog, thank you. Hope all goes well man.

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  19. I went to my doctors to have my bunion fixed. After surgery, I asked if another appointment would be necessary. He said, "No but if you experience any discomfort, you should callous back"

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  20. Paul Bunyan lost his shoe. Is that a bunion or Bunyan sticking out of his sock?
    youtube.com/watch?v=L5UaFmE_z4Y

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  21. Good luck! I guess you do deserve some time off, but you will be missed!

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  22. If you get tired of all our jokes, you may have to put your foot down.
    . . . carefully :D

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  23. I hope you got a good midwife to help you deliver your Babe.

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  24. Oh you poor bastard, I had my axe removed five years ago and not a day goes by that I don't miss it.

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  25. Ankle gout? Wouldn't wish it on anyone- Good luck!

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  26. I knew I had to read these comments...and I wasn't disappointed!

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    1. This!

      I was looking into surgery for the same thing almost two years ago. Then I found Vibram Five Finger shoes. I've gotta say its helped a ton, but they are not "fixed". I'm not in near as much pain as I used to be.

      Good luck and a speedy recovery!

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  27. The embedded photo of the "Curling Capital" of the US tells us the circumstance, but not the nature of your injury. Stricken by a curling stone? Fateful run-in with a broom? Trampled by the crowd at a Bonspiel??

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    Replies
    1. I'm delighted/surprised to find a reader familiar with that aspect of Bemidji. Pete Fenson is a friend of a friend, but not an acquaintance.

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  28. Take care and hopefully all goes well.

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  29. What, you type with your feet? How dare you abandon us?!
    Hope it goes well :) I am more entertained by the other comments than I ever could have hoped.

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  30. Just make sure they don't do a curiousectomy on you.

    Get well quickly! And thoroughly.

    Steve

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  31. It only hurts when I laugh, so I was absolutely ap-Paul-ed to read all these comments, and I'll ax you to stop now. I'm doing fine, enjoying my "blog-cation" and am reading Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again and Mann's 1491.

    Back next week for sure.

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  32. There's a Paul & Babe webcam! How awesome is that!

    http://www.bemidji.org/pages/ChamberWebcams

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  33. Be glad when you're back.

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  34. All those foot and ax jokes reminded me of this old limerick:

    There once was a farmer named Moe
    Who cut off his only big toe.
    He said with amaze,
    "I've been waiting for days
    To see if a new one will grow!"

    Take care!

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  35. I'm behind in my ty wiki, but a loyal fan who's sending her wishes for a speedy recovery.

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  36. I wish you a speedy recovery and return to us asap!

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  37. Hah! So many of you were taken in by the obvious ruse on the left side of the photo. Bunion surgery indeed. The real clue is on the right. Our intrepid blogger friend is obviously going in for a chronic case of blue balls.

    Take care and hurry back. And don't forget to apply plenty of ice and think pure thoughts.

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    Replies
    1. But Babe doesn't have them...

      http://www.sfjohnson.com/acad/gallery/sattbemlakepics/aroundlakepics/physbem67.jpg

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    2. Someone probably stole Babe's testicles. Happens in Australia all the time. Honest! See / listen to
      http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2010/s2880059.htm
      or go to http://www.bigthings.com.au/b.htm and look up "Rockhampton" ...

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    3. Interesting. So I just tried Googling "stolen testicles" - it retrieves some bizarre results.

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  38. Thought you may enjoy this pic that is unrelated to "Bunyan". Hope your feet feel better soon!
    http://io9.com/5896431/this-is-not-a-caterpillar

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    Replies
    1. Thank you anonymous. Able to dangle feet longer, so back pretty soon.

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    2. Anonymous, that photo is just a joy. I actually saw it as a caterpillar at first, and the sudden resolution of the illusion into the reality was absolutely delightful.

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  39. M'Stan, please have (minor) surgery again soon. These comments were a welcome load of belly laughs.

    Seriously, glad you're on the mend, look forward to your return.

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  40. Hope everything went well and you are recovering comfortably. My mornings are incomplete without your blogs!

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  41. Good to hear you're well and will soon return!

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  42. Hope you're not going in for axe-removal surgery.

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    1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/SagU807SYEI/AAAAAAAAFag/MK5e2Y3udpc/s1600-h/ax+not+in+head.jpg

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    2. Looks like another vacation at the Overlook Hotel. That must be a novel by Jack Torrance laying beside her.

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  43. Look, just because you don't like Trump doesn't mean that you need to have an operation to make your hands larger. Seriously. You're already retired, I doubt you plan to run for office, so this is just a vanity operation--purely cosmetic.

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  44. Let me add that instead of having surgery to make your legs shorter, why not just buy longer pants?

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