Today is the birthday of Virginia Cary Hudson (b.1894, d.1954)
I was never sure whether Virginia Cary Hudson actually wrote these humorous essays when she was only ten years old, or whether that was the fictional framework for a series of rather insightful (for a ten year old) essays that manage to make me laugh even when I read them over again at my ripe old age of 59.
Wikipedia says of Ms. Hudson’s age and authorship:
“As a 10-year-old in Versailles, Kentucky, she wrote a series of charming essays that were kept in a scrapbook by her mother, Jessie Gregory Hudson. Her daughter Virginia Cleveland Mayne copied the essays in the spring of 1952 before a disastrous attic fire destroyed the originals in October 1952. Virginia succeeded in publishing the essays with the Macmillan Company as O Ye Jigs and Juleps! The book reached the New York Times Bestseller List for 66 weeks and sold over a million copies.”
I really find it hard to believe that these chapters are the unedited work of a ten year old girl.
Here’s a sample, the first chapter called “Sacraments”, read by Terri Lackey:
I found a brand-new looking paperback copy of O Ye Jigs and Juleps at the used bookstore, and since my old copy is bedraggled and torn, I thought I’d bring it home for my library. This edition is illustrated by Karla Kuskin, the prolific children’s author, poet, and illustrator of one of my favorite picture books,
A few quotes to brighten your day:
“Etiquette is what you are doing and saying when people are looking and listening. What you are thinking is your business.”
“I asked Mrs. Harris when we were plaiting rags for her kitchen rug what good Marco Polo would ever do me, and Mrs. Harris said education gave you satisfaction, but I had rather be ignorant and have fun than be educated and have satisfaction.”
“Most of the things you get, somebody dies so you can get it, but you have to die your own self to get Everlasting Life.”
“When you stroll you never hurry back, because if you had anything to do, you wouldn’t be strolling in the first place.”
“O ye Sun and Moon, oh ye beans and roses, oh ye jigs and juleps, Bless ye the Lord, Praise Him and Magnify Him Forever.”
The Jigs and Juleps Girl! Virginia Cary Hudson: Her Life and Writings by (grandaughter) Beverly Kienzie was self-published last year (2016). I suppose I could read it to find out for sure if young Ms. Hudson was as precocious as these essays make her out to be.
I am reading the book now, and almost done. It is unbelievable that these are unedited stories from a 10-year-old. Example: Pg 43 of my edition does a gender play on words for the names “Henry” and “Billie”. Only, the author is smart enough to spell “Billie” with the feminine form, while pretending it’s a boy’s name. Good writing, but fictional framework. Example 2: The benedictions at the end of each chapter are awfully literate. So methinks. If this really is the work of a ten year old, let’s find out what she ate! Glad I found your blog, as I was beginning to think I was the only one to notice he high-end literacy for this 10-year-old girl.