Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
In honor of Presidents’ Day, CBS Sunday Morning made a visit to the home of Millard Fillmore, the Thirteenth President of the United States, in East Aurora, New York (near Buffalo). In this segment, Mo Rocca asks whether President Fillmore is underrated as a president. Note that even Fillmore’s biographer does not like the former president. Check it out.
Who is the most underrated president? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
On February 15 in 1903, the first Teddy bears appeared in a toy store window. The name for the bears was inspired by the man who was the president of the United States.
Morris Michtom, who owned a toy store, had written a letter to President Theodore Roosevelt asking permission to use the name “Teddy” for his bears. The president gave his approval. Other toy makers soon followed Michtom’s lead in naming stuffed bears, leading to the popular Teddy bear.
The stories of the details about the event that inspired Michtom’s letter vary somewhat. But it is clear that Michtom got the idea from President Roosevelt’s encounter with a bear. While hunting in Mississippi in 1902, President Roosevelt, who would later found the Bull Moose Party, showed mercy to a bear.
Some stories today claim the bear was a cub tied to a tree, but it more likely was an old bear. Either way, the incident illustrated another side of Roosevelt. Political cartoonists portrayed the event by illustrating a cub, showing the tough Roosevelt as a softy at heart.
The most famous song about Teddy bears was released more than five decades later in 1957. That year, a rock icon showed his softer Teddy bear side.
Elvis Presley sang “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” in the movie Loving You (1957), his second film and his first in color. The song went to number one on the charts that year.
Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe wrote “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” but part of the inspiration for the song came indirectly from an insect. Wikipedia and other sources report that the song’s roots go back to a traditional blues song, “Boll Weevil.”
In “Boll Weevil,” a boll weevil talks to a farmer, threatening the cotton crop while looking for a home. The song has been around since at least the 1920s, and it may have its origins in Roosevelt’s time.
One of the most famous early recordings of “The Boll Weevil” was by Lead Belly in the 1930s.
Can you hear “Teddy Bear” in Lead Belly’s song? If not, listen to singer-songwriter Brook Benton‘s version of “The Boll Weevil Song,” which became a hit in 1961.
Now you hear it, don’t you? And now you know, how a bull moose, a bear, and a beetle helped give Elvis Presley a hit song.
Cartoon by by Clifford Berryman via public domain. What are your favorite songs about bears and bugs? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, country singer Marty Brown has completed the final touches on the video for his new post-America’s-Got-Talent single. So, whether or not you are driving night and day to bring someone pretty flowers, check out the video for the love song “Whatever Makes You Smile,” which features the Glasgow Fire Department (and Brown’s real-life wife Shellie Brown near the end).
Official Marty Brown “Whatever Makes You Smile” 24 Hour Fan Preview from Kevin Smith Productions & FIlms on Vimeo.
What is your favorite Marty Brown video? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Comic legend Sid Caesar has passed away at the age of 91. After growing up in Yonkers, New York, Caesar went on to be one of the early pioneers of the new medium of television with his shows Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour in the 1950s. To a younger generation who do not get to see black and white shows repeated on television, those variety shows may seem to be from another world. But one can still see the genius and the way Caesar helped pave with way for shows we enjoy today. And much of his work is still funny, such as a clip with Caesar and Imogene Coca going to a health food restaurant (with waiter Carl Reiner). Check out some of their work on YouTube. RIP.
What is your favorite memory of Sid Caesar? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
As we celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12, check out this video of “Every Known Photograph of Abraham Lincoln.” While there has been a few discoveries of additional photos since this video was made — including a possible young Lincoln photo from a few years ago and another photo in 2013, it still is a cool collection of almost all of the known photographs. Check it out.
Photo via Library of Congress.
What is your favorite photo of Abraham Lincoln? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
