I recently read Nuggets of Knowledge by George W. Stimpson, first published in 1928. It is a compendium of hundreds of commonly asked questions and well researched brief answers. I got this cloth-bound hardback — a “Pathfinder Edition” — at a church sale, and it came with a vintage silk Bible-quote bookmark. Yes, some small fraction of the questions are Biblical.
Two particular types of questions in this book fascinate me most. First, the questions to which we now have better answers, because of the subsequent 80 years of thorough research and documentation. Back in 1928, there was only one galaxy (the milky way), continents were static in relation to each other, germ theory was beginning to catch on in the popular consciousness, and that British beer company had not yet compiled an authoritative list of World Records.
Secondly, there are the numerous questions that were obviously couched in terms that everybody knew, but I’d never heard of. For example: “What was the occasion of the remark made by the governor of North Carolina to the governor of South Carolina?” From reading the answer about interstate negotiations about slavery before the onset of the war between the states, the remark alluded to was, “It’s a long time between drinks.” Okay. Now remember that the 18th amendment to our constitution was in force at the time this was written. I infer that one might have commonly alluded to the remark by said Governor to imply that one hadn’t been to the bootlegger in a while.
Also, many questions were about details of The World War. You know, the last war ever, the War to End All Wars. It ended less than 10 years before. The Civil War was as current and familiar as WWII is now, radio was becoming popular, most neighborhoods had a phone, and movie houses were introducing air conditioning. Talkies were still in the future.
Reading this book feels like time travel.
I’ve read several biographies that crossed that era: Groucho Marx, Isaac Asimov, Albert Einstein, Sam Clemens, and so on. The best way for me to relate to history is to read accounts by people who lived slices of the times. Nuggets of Knowledge has much meta-information that shows the attitudes and ideology of the 1920’s in America. The New Yorker Cartoons collection also shows a nice behind-the-scenes slice of the 20th. century.
Other questions seem to be of the “duh” variety, like “How is Roosevelt Pronounced?” Again, remember that most people only know the name from newspaper articles. Hearing the names of prominent men on the radio was not yet common. The author of the book wrote to the former president’s nephew, a former candidate for Vice President himself, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His answer is quoted in the book.
How about “Do horsehairs turn into snakes?” Again, germ theory is new stuff. Most people have little clue about genetics or biogenesis. So this silly question is seriously answered.
“Where do elephants go to die?” Most people still believed there must be a vast elephant graveyard in unexplored Africa. Remember that we are back in the age of Commander McBragg, over a decade before Indiana Jones. The answer tries to debunk the legend in a rare full-page answer full of biological education.
On everyone’s mind, “How did bootlegger originate?” Sellers of firewater to red indians a generation earlier hid it from the Government Agents in flasks hidden in their long-legged riding boots.
I could go on, and on, and on. But I won’t, for now
