Arkansas Traveler (folklore)

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The Arkansas Traveller on his weary way (an advertisement from 1900 for ham) The Arkansas traveller on his weary way finds comfort in Chas. Counselman & Co's Royal Hams.jpg
The Arkansas Traveller on his weary way (an advertisement from 1900 for ham)
U. S. Air Force's Lockheed P-38 (October 1944) named the 'Arkansas Traveler' at Clastres Airfield, France Lockheed P38 'Arkansas Traveler' at Clastres Airfield, France in October 1944.jpg
U. S. Air Force's Lockheed P-38 (October 1944) named the 'Arkansas Traveler' at Clastres Airfield, France

The Arkansas Traveler, or Arkansas Traveller, is a figure of American folklore and popular culture from the first half of the 19th-century. [1] [2] [3] The character is said to have originated with Sandford C. Faulkner. [1]

Contents

It has had a widespread impact on culture as the namesake of newspapers, radio and television shows, a baseball team, a fruit variety, and an honorary title awarded by the governor of the state of Arkansas. [4] The character has also been perceived as a discriminatory stereotype of 'hillbillies' and has been heavily criticized.

Origins

The tale is said to have originated with Sandford C. Faulkner (1806–1874) a Kentucky-born raconteur, fiddler, and planter. [2] [5] [6] [7] He owned a plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas. [1] Faulkner's tale about 'Arkansas Traveler' influenced the creation of Mose Case's mid-19th century folk song "Arkansas Traveler," has since become the official state historic song of Arkansas since 1987. [8]

Story

There are numerous variations of the story; supposedly it was an event that occurred on the campaign trail in Arkansas in 1840 to Sandford C. Faulkner. A well-dressed traveler on horseback, the Arkansas Traveler, meets a fiddle-playing settler (sometimes described as a squatter) and the traveler asks for a place to sleep in his humble home. [1] The settler initially rejects him, pointing out the cramped conditions and his poverty, and continues to try in vain to play a melody on the fiddle. The traveler then plays a whole tune on the settler's fiddle, whereupon the settler enthusiastically offers him board and lodging. [9]

Influence and legacy

Fine art

Edward Payson Washburn was one of the best-known artists in Arkansas during the Antebellum-era. He painted "Arkansas Traveler" in 1856 based on the story he heard from Faulkner. [10] [11] The painting went on to inspire a series of prints, in 1859, Leopold Grozelier created a lithograph of the Washburn painting; and in 1870, Currier and Ives created two lithographs of the Washburn painting. [12] [13]

Vaudeville stage

"The Arkansas Traveler" was a popular comedy sketch on the vaudeville circuit. [2] It revolved around the encounter of a (usually lost) traveling city person with a local, wise-cracking fiddle player. Various jokes at the expense of the "city slicker" were interspersed with instrumental versions of the song. In many versions, the city person is also a fiddle player, and as the sketch progresses, eventually learns the tune and plays along with the country bumpkin.

Music

An phonograph cylinder recording of the song survives, from around 1890. [2] The contemporary singer Michelle Shocked includes a vaudeville-style version of "Arkansas Traveler" on her 1992 album of the same name. [14] Jerry Garcia and David Grisman also do a version on their 1993 album Not for Kids Only . [15]

Film

"The Arkansas Traveler" was frequently featured in animated cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s, most prolifically by Carl Stalling in music he composed for the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes series. [16] It usually was played, sloppily, when a yokel, hillbilly, or "country bumpkin" character would appear on screen. A slow version of the "Bringing home a baby bumble-bee" version is sung by Beaky Buzzard in the short The Bashful Buzzard . [17]

The popularity and joyfulness of "The Arkansas Traveler" was attested to in the 1932 Academy Award-winning Laurel and Hardy short, The Music Box . In this film, the boys labored to haul a player piano up a long flight of stairs and into a house through a bedroom window. Near the conclusion of their adventure, as they are starting to clean up the mess surrounding the newly installed piano, Stan and Ollie play a roll of "Patriotic Melodies". They dance with much grace and amusement to "The Arkansas Traveler", followed briefly by "Dixie". Marvin Hatley, who composed Laurel and Hardy's "Cuckoo" theme song, was the pianist for this sequence; the player piano was not real.

Arkansas Traveler award

The Arkansas Traveler Award, is an honorary title bestowed by the state on notable individuals who, through their actions serve as goodwill ambassadors for the state of Arkansas in the United States. [18]

Reception

Arkansas Traveler tale has been subject to criticism, and the tale has changed over the years. Some Arkansans have been embarrassed by the tale, because of the stereotypes of ignorant people living in the backwoods, and of 'hillbillies'. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas</span> U.S. state

Arkansas is a landlocked state in the South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Its name derives from the Osage language, and refers to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillbilly</span> Stereotype of some rural Americans

Hillbilly is a term for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, the term spread northward and westward with them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Pope County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 63,381. The county seat is Russellville. The county was formed on November 2, 1829, from a portion of Crawford County and named for John Pope, the third governor of the Arkansas Territory. Pope County was the nineteenth county formed. The county's borders changed eighteen times in the 19th century with the creation of new counties and adjustments between counties. The current boundaries were set on March 8, 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faulkner County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Faulkner County is located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 123,498, making it the fifth most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat and largest city is Conway. Faulkner County was created on April 12, 1873, one of nine counties formed during Reconstruction, and is named for Sandford C. Faulkner, better known as Sandy Faulkner, a popular figure in the state at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cephas Washburn</span> American missionary

Cephas Washburn was a Christian missionary and educator who worked with the Cherokee of northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. He later worked to establish churches in Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Washburn</span> American painter

Edward Payson Washburn also known as Edward Payson Washbourne, was an American painter. He was the son of Christian missionary Cephas Washburn. He is best known for his painting, The Arkansas Traveller (1856). During the Antebellum era, he was one of the most notable painters in the state of Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandford C. Faulkner</span> American planter, raconteur and fiddler (1803–1874)

Sandford C. Faulkner, better known as Sandy Faulkner, was an American planter, raconteur and fiddler who personified the mid-19th century folk song "Arkansas Traveler," for which he received writing credit. It has since gone on to become the official state historic song of Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Holly Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Arkansas, United States

Mount Holly Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in the Quapaw Quarter area of downtown Little Rock in the U.S. state of Arkansas, and is the burial place for numerous Arkansans of note. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and has been nicknamed "The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas".

Arkansas Traveler or Arkansas Traveller may refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Burns (humorist)</span> American musical comedian (1890–1956)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Arkansas Traveler (song)</span> 1863 folk song by Mose Case

"The Arkansas Traveler" is an American folk song first published by Mose Case, a humorist and guitarist from New York, in 1863. The song was based on the composition "The Arkansas Traveller" by Sandford C. Faulkner and is the Arkansas official historic song.

Felix Ives Batson was a prominent American lawyer and politician from Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Arkansas</span>

The history of Arkansas began millennia ago when humans first crossed into North America. Many tribes used Arkansas as their hunting lands but the main tribe was the Quapaw, who settled in the Arkansas River delta upon moving south from Illinois. Early French explorers gave the territory its name, a corruption of Akansea, which is a phonetic spelling from the Illinois language word for the Quapaw. This phonetic heritage explains why "Arkansas" is pronounced so differently than the U.S. state of "Kansas" even though they share the same spelling.

Métis fiddle is the style that the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern United States have developed to play the violin, solo and in folk ensembles. It is marked by the percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment. The Metis people are a poly-ethnic post-contact Indigenous peoples. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s", where the Metis community adopted the instrument into their culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Arkansas</span> Overview of the culture of Arkansas (USA)

The culture of Arkansas is a subculture of the Southern United States that has come from blending heavy amounts of various European settlers' cultures with the cultures of African slaves and Native Americans. Southern culture remains prominent in the rural Arkansas delta and south Arkansas. The Ozark Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains retain their historical mount. Arkansans share a history with the other southern states that includes the institution of slavery, the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws and segregation, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement.

The Bob Burns Show was an American old-time radio comedy program that starred comedian Bob Burns. The program derived from a character Burns performed for five years on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall entitled "The Arkansas Traveler".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Traveler (honorary title)</span>

The Arkansas Traveler is an honorary title bestowed on notable individuals who, through their actions, serve as goodwill ambassadors for the US state of Arkansas. A certificate is signed by the governor, secretary of state and the recipient's sponsor, and given to the honoree during a ceremony attended by the signers.

Archibald Hamilton Rutherford was a public official, state legislator, and Treasurer of Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Kennedy McCord</span> American folklorist

May Anderson Kennedy McCord was an American newspaper columnist and radio personality based in Missouri, known as "Queen of the Hillbillies" and "First Lady of the Ozarks". Her writings and programs often focused on local legends, recipes, songs, and ghost stories. In 2022 a compilation of her writings was published by the University of Arkansas Press.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pope, William F. (1895). Early Days in Arkansas: Being for the Most Part the Personal Recollections of an Old Settler. F. W. Allsopp. pp. 230–233. ISBN   978-0-89308-071-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Arkansas History: The Story of the Arkansas Traveler". Arkansas Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  3. "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  4. Brown, Sarah (1987). ""The Arkansas Traveller:" Southwest Humor on Canvas". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 46 (4): 348–375. doi:10.2307/40025957. ISSN   0004-1823. JSTOR   40025957.
  5. "Death of Col. S. C. Faulkner". Daily Arkansas Gazette . August 5, 1874. Retrieved 2023-04-25 via Newspapers.com.
  6. Ross, Margaret Smith (1955). "Sandford C. Faulkner". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 14 (4): 301–314. ISSN   0004-1823. JSTOR   40027531.
  7. 1 2 Maraniss, David (1992-07-02). "In The Shoes of the Arkansas Traveler". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  8. Bluestein, Gene (1962). ""The Arkansas Traveler" and the Strategy of American Humor". Western Folklore. 21 (3): 153–160. doi:10.2307/1496953. ISSN   0043-373X. JSTOR   1496953.
  9. Hudgins, Mary D. (Summer 1971). "Arkansas Traveler: A Multi-Parented Wayfarer". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 30 (2): 145–160. doi:10.2307/40038074. JSTOR   40038074.
  10. Dillard, Tom; Reed, Roy (2010-04-01). Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans. University of Arkansas Press. p. 145. ISBN   978-1-55728-927-8.
  11. "Things of the past". Arkansas Online. 2015-06-21. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  12. Mercer, H. C. (March 1896). "On the Track of the Arkansas Traveller". Century Magazine. 5: 707–712.
  13. Brown, Sarah (Winter 1987). "The Arkansas Traveller: Southwest Humor on Canvas". Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 46 (4): 348–375. doi:10.2307/40025957. JSTOR   40025957.
  14. Caughie, Pamela L. (1999). Passing and Pedagogy: The Dynamics of Responsibility. University of Illinois Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN   978-0-252-06770-9.
  15. "'This Record Belongs To ...' introduces kids to the joys of music on vinyl, complete with turntable". Los Angeles Times . 2015-12-12. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  16. Animation Magazine. Animation Magazine. October 1994. p. 75.
  17. Friedwald, Will; Beck, Jerry (1981). The Warner Brothers Cartoons. Scarecrow Press. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-8108-1396-0.
  18. Rhodes, Sonny (2016-07-01). "Historical Gems: History of the Arkansas Traveler". AY Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-26.

Further reading