Lorena Encore

If MM were still alive I suppose she would have better things to do with her time than read our blog. But if I spammed her mail hard enough if she somehow stumbled upon it, this would be the kind of comment she would leave for my Lorena post from some weeks ago.

"My dear Bugsie Mr. Otis:
"Thank you so much for your letter and the interest in 'Gone With the Wind' which prompted you and your mother to write to me. Yes, I knew that the Reverend H. D. L. Webster wrote the words of 'Lorena' but I did not know the history of the song and the circumstances under which it was written. Of course I found the information you sent me very interesting. 

"You asked if I would let you know 'how a copy of this song happened to come to my attention.' To tell the truth, I never saw a copy of 'Lorena' until last year. At that time a reader of 'Gone With the Wind' sent me a copy of it, published by the Oliver Ditson Company, Boston, Massachusetts. In my childhood I heard 'Lorena' sung by many elderly people. It was as familiar as 'Rock-a-bye Baby,' 'Dixie' and 'The Bonnie Blue Flag.' It was as great a favorite with the Confederate soldiers as 'Over There' was with the A.E.F. All the people I knew who had lived through the war and Reconstruction period were familiar with it and loved it. I included it in 'Gone With the Wind' for this reason. 

"Should you and your mother order a copy of 'Lorena,' you will discover only six verses. Perhaps your grandfather wrote only six verses but I have heard at least twenty verses sung. Perhaps poetically inclined young ladies of the sixties added other verses to his."

--excerpted from Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the Wind Letters edited by R. Harwell.

Well, there goes my childhood's theory that the lyrics were somehow connected to the story. But I love the insight into why she really chose the song. And the idea that fans had taken to doing her research for her, while probably very tiring for MM herself, is not without its humor.

The Quotable Rhett Butler: Dog in the Manger

Ooops, have I been derelict in my blogging duties last week? It looks like I've skipped on our Quotable Rhett Butler series, so we'll have to fix that today. But first I have a quiz for you. Can you name one similarity between Ashley Wilkes and Catherine Earnshaw, the heroine from Wuthering Heights? The answer, related to this week's quote, after the jump, at the end. 

And now let's turn to our eloquent hero. The line I had selected for last week came from the famous "no more babies" scene. This is Rhett's cryptic reply when Scarlett announces him that she wants separate bedrooms: 

"You like dogs, don't you, Scarlett? Do you prefer them in kennels or mangers?" --Gone with the Wind, Chapter LI

As his previous question ( "You've been to the lumber office this afternoon, haven't you?") indicates, Rhett is aware of the part Ashley Wilkes played in Scarlett's decision, and he lets her know about it by alluding to the expression "dog in a manger," which perfectly defines their situation. Well, tries to let her know, since Scarlett obviously misses the implication, but still...

I myself had to google for the expression the first time I read Gone with the Wind in English, and the fable from which it was derived struck me as quite ironically adequate to the circumstances. (Okay, so substituting Rhett for the ox and Ashley for the dog made me giggle. Did I ever claim I went above the mental age of 5?) Here's the fable: 

"A Dog looking out for its afternoon nap jumped into the Manger of an Ox and lay there cosily upon the straw. But soon the Ox, returning from its afternoon work, came up to the Manger and wanted to eat some of the straw. The Dog in a rage, being awakened from its slumber, stood up and barked at the Ox, and whenever it came near attempted to bite it. At last the Ox had to give up the hope of getting at the straw, and went away muttering: 

'Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.'"

--Aesop, Fables

Not a particularly hard to follow allusion, since the phrase "dog in a manger" was and is in common use. Even Scarlett would have probably caught it if not for her anger and disappointment at her husband's reaction (though one can wonder, what did she expect?) and the only remarkable thing about it was the extent to which Rhett kept his cool in this scene. Such a difference between the Rhett in the book, who is able to find a stinging elaborate comeback in any situation and perfectly hide his true feelings, and the Rhett in the movie, who kicks  doors and hurls glasses. (Note the depth of my hatred for that particular scene.)

What gave me a thrill, though, was to later find the  expression Rhett used in a similar jealousy/love triangle context in Wuthering Heights. See what that context is after the jump (minor spoilers if you haven't read the book).

Sunday Reading: "A Tough Little Patch of History"

We've made another addition to Our Stash of GWTW Goodies page and present it here, should you like a reading project.  It's a 2007 dissertation by Jennifer Word Dickey, Georgia State University, called "A Tough Little Patch of History": Atlanta's Marketplace for Gone with the Wind Memory. 

But don't let the word dissertation scare you- it's actually a very readable and interesting look at Atlanta's relationship to Gone with the Wind, and what the different efforts to memorialize GWTW by the Atlanta History Center, the Clayton County Welcome Center and the Margaret Mitchell House say about Atlanta's identity and the public memory of GWTW.

The link is below and you can also find it on GWTW Goodies page on the side bar. 

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/history_diss/4/  

LE: If the recommended link doesn't work for you, try this one and go from there:

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/query.cgi?field_1=lname&value_1=Dickey&field_2=fname&value_2=Jennifer&advanced=1

We're on Facebook!

And we need your help. 

See that shiny new badge in our sidebar? Yes, that's right, we've gotten ourselves a Facebook page... and a new project to go with it. 

Besides being the official Facebook page of our blog, that page will be a home for all the Gone with the Wind references we can find. We know it's been done before, but the project  fascinated us. We're always excited when we stumble across an allusion to Gone with the Wind in a movie or book, and so we wanted to create a comprehensive database, including the relevant quotes and when necessary/possible the Youtube videos to accompany them. 

We already covered the period between 1937 and 1967 with movies, plays, books, songs etc. and with your help, we hope to cover the rest. We will be sharing what we have so far twice a day on Facebook and, once we posted enough references on that page, we will create a page in our sidebar for the database.

So whether you want to share a reference you've recently found, see what we or other people shared so far, or simply stay in touch with our blog, become our fans on Facebook! 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everything-Gone-with-the-Wind/121565801229512

New Book Coming Soon

1. We love books. 
2. We love books about Gone with the Wind.   

Taking into account 1 and 2, you shouldn't be surprised that we're happy to hear there's a new one on the way. Especially since this one is a book that aims to cover an area only partially charted by the studies published so far: Gone with the Wind's road to fame. How did one novel become so successful worldwide and why does it continue to keep our attention today?

Part of the answer can be found in its publishing history and that's exactly what the upcoming Margaret Mitchell’s Gone the Wind: A Bestseller’s Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood will focus on. We think it's a topic worth exploring. If you agree, you can pre-order the book through all major booksellers, including Amazon. The book is to be released in February next year.

If you're on Twitter you can follow one of the authors here: http://twitter.com/EllenFBrown (and even if you're not on Twitter, do visit from time to time for various interesting GWTW links). And if you want to read more about her other Gone with the Wind project, here's nice blog entry for you.

Rue de la Paix

It's Rue times two today. Why? Well, the two collages below actually tie into two themes of ours this week. The first is Honeymoon Week. And, in honor of Honeymoon Week, I decided to play around on polyvore and create not one, but two Rhett and Scarlett honeymoon-themed collages for you.

What's the second theme these collages embraces? Why, none other than procrastination of course! For while I have several other more pressing GWTW things I should be working on, I of course decided to work on something rather lighthearted instead. Oh well. I hope you enjoy! 

Honeymoon in New Orleans by gwtwscrapbook on Polyvore.com

Mr. and Mrs. Butler by gwtwscrapbook on Polyvore.com

The St. Charles: A Hotel Fit for a GWTW Honeymoon

First comes the wedding, then the honeymoon. And since we already covered Scarlett's wedding day toilette, it's now officially Honeymoon Week here at How We Do Run On. On Monday, we brought you a look at some classic Creole recipes for Rhett and Scarlett to enjoy, and now we're back with more honeymoon goodness for you--in the form of a luxurious and historic New Orleans hotel where the new Mr. and Mrs. Butler could have stayed.   

The St. Charles Hotel would have been an excellent choice for our newlyweds, as it was heralded as one of the finest hotels in the United States in its heyday. And like Rhett and Scarlett too, it held its roots in the antebellum aristocracy, but embraced the modernity of the vibrant post-war South. First erected in 1834 at a cost of $700,000, the grand structure took three years to complete and featured a portico of marble columns and sweeping marble steps. But its crowning glory was its rotunda, complete with a dome 46 feet in diameter that was considered one of the most beautiful in the world. The hotel soon became the playground of the wealthy planter elite and a place for them to conduct their business affairs, earning the hotel the moniker of "The Exchange Hotel." Over the years, the hotel played host to a number of prominent guests, including Charles Dickens on his trip of America.

But the good times could not last forever. Sadly, a 1851 fire destroyed the building and its famed dome. The hotel was rebuilt within a year in the style of the original building, with one regrettable difference: the stunning dome was gone. The second version of the hotel (seen in the picture above) is the one that would have hosted Scarlett and Rhett, and they likely would have found it very well-appointed:  

"This house, which fronts on St. Charles street, and occupies about three- quarters of the large square bounded by St. Charles, Carondelet, Common and Gravier streets, is one of the handsomest hotel structures in America. Those who have traveled much assert that the front, with its massive columns, many windows and imposing cornice, is unequalled for beauty and grandeur by any in this country. The magnificent furniture, commodious rooms, and sumptuous table of the St. Charles enjoyed a wide reputation in antebellum days, which has been well maintained since the war, under the able management of Col. Robert E. Rivers."

--excerpted from The Illustrated Visitors Guide to New Orleans (1879)

The hotel later remodeled its interior in the summer and fall of 1878, and held a grand re-opening in November 1878 that showed off its "new furniture... and all the modern improvements, including a steam elevator" as described by the Illustrated Visitors Guide to New Orleans. And see? That's just in time for Scarlett and Rhett to have patched things up and taken a second honeymoon to New Orleans to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. 

Okay, my bout of starry-eyed romanticism is now over and our post draws to its end. A the third and final renovation of the St. Charles hotel took place in 1896, when its outmoded antebellum columns were scrapped for a new swanky structure built in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Unfortunately, the historic building was demolished in 1974, but its legacy as one of the most beautiful hotels in New Orleans' colorful past lives on. 

(Edited) image from Souvenir of New Orleans, "the city care forgot" (1917)