Something New

[Eva Elisabeth]

Once you get the book, you can solve this riddle on the forum: How did someone describe Mr. Lincoln's method of eating an apple? Very different from what most of us do...

I haven't received the book yet, but in Donald's "Herndon" which I'm currently about to finish (excellent book IMO!!!), I came across the following quote from a letter Herndon wrote to Isaac Arnold on Oct. 24, 1883: "Mr. Lincoln was exceedingly fond of apples and fruits generally -: he ate apples peculiarly - he clasped his finger - fore finger, and his thumb around the Equatorial part of the apple - the stem end being toward his mouth: he never peeled apples - peaches - pears &c." (HA, I never do either! The rest is indeed peculiar!!!)

[LincolnToddFan]

I've read a couple of places that describe AL having large, white, straight teeth....quite rare for those days. Maybe he had a good set of teeth because he didn't use tobacco, and had pretty moderate dietary habits. I've always wished there was a photo of him smiling in a way that we could see his teeth. But the only known photo of Lincoln with even a slight smile was the one taken shortly before his death, with his hands blurry from movement as the lens was snapped.

In fact, I can't think of any photo from Victorian times where the subject is smiling....

[RJNorton]

Lincoln mentioned his teeth at least one time in a letter. This quote is from a letter Lincoln wrote to Mary Speed (Joshua Speed's half sister) on September 27, 1841:

"Do you remember my going to the city while I was in Kentucky, to have a tooth extracted, and making a failure of it? Well, that same old tooth got to paining me so much, that about a week since I had it torn out, bringing with it a bit of the jawbone; the consequence of which is that my mouth is now so sore that I can neither talk, nor eat. I am litterally ``subsisting on savoury remembrances''---that is, being unable to eat, I am living upon the remembrance of the delicious dishes of peaches and cream we used to have at your house."

[L Verge]

Once you get the book, you can solve this riddle on the forum: How did someone describe Mr. Lincoln's method of eating an apple? Very different from what most of us do...

I haven't received the book yet, but in Donald's "Herndon" which I'm currently about to finish (excellent book IMO!!!), I came across the following quote from a letter Herndon wrote to Isaac Arnold on Oct. 24, 1883: "Mr. Lincoln was exceedingly fond of apples and fruits generally -: he ate apples peculiarly - he clasped his finger - fore finger, and his thumb around the Equatorial part of the apple - the stem end being toward his mouth: he never peeled apples - peaches - pears &c." (HA, I never do either! The rest is indeed peculiar!!!)

That is pretty much the way it is described in the AL In The Kitchen Book.

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Has there ever been a description of Lincoln's hands as to size, texture, large knuckles, etc.?

On a side note, but related to food, have y'all seen the new Burger King commercial where they are changing the $5 bill? The Lincoln photo is now holding two BK burgers.

[LincolnToddFan]

Lincoln mentioned his teeth at least one time in a letter. This quote is from a letter Lincoln wrote to Mary Speed (Joshua Speed's half sister) on September 27, 1841:

"Do you remember my going to the city while I was in Kentucky, to have a tooth extracted, and making a failure of it? Well, that same old tooth got to paining me so much, that about a week since I had it torn out, bringing with it a bit of the jawbone; the consequence of which is that my mouth is now so sore that I can neither talk, nor eat. I am litterally ``subsisting on savoury remembrances''---that is, being unable to eat, I am living upon the remembrance of the delicious dishes of peaches and cream we used to have at your house."

Oh God...!! My jaw began to ache just from reading this, Roger...yikes!

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Once you get the book, you can solve this riddle on the forum: How did someone describe Mr. Lincoln's method of eating an apple? Very different from what most of us do...

I haven't received the book yet, but in Donald's "Herndon" which I'm currently about to finish (excellent book IMO!!!), I came across the following quote from a letter Herndon wrote to Isaac Arnold on Oct. 24, 1883: "Mr. Lincoln was exceedingly fond of apples and fruits generally -: he ate apples peculiarly - he clasped his finger - fore finger, and his thumb around the Equatorial part of the apple - the stem end being toward his mouth: he never peeled apples - peaches - pears &c." (HA, I never do either! The rest is indeed peculiar!!!)

That is pretty much the way it is described in the AL In The Kitchen Book.

---

Has there ever been a description of Lincoln's hands as to size, texture, large knuckles, etc.?

On a side note, but related to food, have y'all seen the new Burger King commercial where they are changing the $5 bill? The Lincoln photo is now holding two BK burgers.

AL's enormous hands are clearly visible in the famous series of photos taken by Alexander Gardner toward the end of the war. In one of the photos his hands are blurry but you can still see that his mitts were almost freakishly large, with very prominent veins.

He also had a plaster cast of his hands made just before he left Springfield for Washington. His right hand was noticeably swollen from having shaken so many hands in the previous days and weeks.

[RJNorton]

This description mentions hands and teeth and much, much more. I think it's one of the more unique descriptions of Lincoln. Written in 1861, the author was an English journalist named Edward Dicey.

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"To say he is ugly is nothing; to add that his figure is grotesque is to convey no adequate impression. Fancy a man well over six feet high, and thin in proportion, with long bony arms and legs which somehow always seem to be in the way; with great rugged furrowed hands, which grasp you like a vise when shaking yours; with a long, scraggly neck, and a chest too narrow for the great arms at his side. Add to this figure a head, cocoanut shaped and somewhat too small for such a stature, covered with rough, uncombed hair that stands out in every direction at once; a face furrowed, wrinkled, and indented as though it had been scarred by vitriol; a high, narrow forehead, sunk beneath bushy eyebrows; two bright, somewhat dreamy eyes that seem to gaze through you without looking at you; .... a close- set, thin-lipped stern mouth, with two rows of large white teeth, and a nose and ears which have been taken by mistake from a head twice the size. Clothe this figure, then, in a long, tight, badly-fitting suit of black. . . . Add to all this an air of strength, physical as well as moral, and a strange look of dignity . . . and you have the impression left on me by Abraham Lincoln."

[Eva Elisabeth]

I was just thinking of another "teeth account" by Daniel Green Burner (from Sandburg's Prairie Years):
"I have seen Lincoln place a cup of water between his heels, and then folding his arms, bend his tall form backward until he could grip the edge of the cup between his teeth and then straighten himself up, without spilling the water."
That would not only require strong teeth, would it?

[LincolnToddFan]

Hi Eva...that not only sounds physically impossible but confusing, I can't even visualize something like that.

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This description mentions hands and teeth and much, much more. I think it's one of the more unique descriptions of Lincoln. Written in 1861, the author was an English journalist named Edward Dicey.

****************************************

"To say he is ugly is nothing; to add that his figure is grotesque is to convey no adequate impression. Fancy a man well over six feet high, and thin in proportion, with long bony arms and legs which somehow always seem to be in the way; with great rugged furrowed hands, which grasp you like a vise when shaking yours; with a long, scraggly neck, and a chest too narrow for the great arms at his side. Add to this figure a head, cocoanut shaped and somewhat too small for such a stature, covered with rough, uncombed hair that stands out in every direction at once; a face furrowed, wrinkled, and indented as though it had been scarred by vitriol; a high, narrow forehead, sunk beneath bushy eyebrows; two bright, somewhat dreamy eyes that seem to gaze through you without looking at you; .... a close- set, thin-lipped stern mouth, with two rows of large white teeth, and a nose and ears which have been taken by mistake from a head twice the size. Clothe this figure, then, in a long, tight, badly-fitting suit of black. . . . Add to all this an air of strength, physical as well as moral, and a strange look of dignity . . . and you have the impression left on me by Abraham Lincoln."

Thanks Roger-

That certainly sounds like the description of an ugly man, but honestly I have never thought AL was ugly. Certainly he was an unusual looking guy. His face is unlike any other human face I've ever seen. It would have been fascinating to have seen him in person.

The statement that he had "dreamy" eyes that gazed past and through you is one I've often seen to describe his eyes. Interestingly, strange far away looking eyes is a classic trait description for those born under the astrological sign of Aquarius, which of course Lincoln was.

[Linda Anderson]

I was just thinking of another "teeth account" by Daniel Green Burner (from Sandburg's Prairie Years):
"I have seen Lincoln place a cup of water between his heels, and then folding his arms, bend his tall form backward until he could grip the edge of the cup between his teeth and then straighten himself up, without spilling the water."
That would not only require strong teeth, would it?

This is the best photo I can find that approximates Lincoln's feat.

[LincolnToddFan]

OH. MY. GOD....wow!! Thanks Linda!

[Eva Elisabeth]

This was my imagination of how it (would have) worked:
   

[RJNorton]

Although Dennis Hanks is often not regarded as a very trustworthy source - for what's worth - he does indicate Lincoln had significant lower limb flexibility. With respect to when he wrestled Lincoln in his youth he said Lincoln "could bring me down by throwin' his leg over my shoulder."

[Linda Anderson]

This was my imagination of how it (would have) worked:

Thanks, Eva. I'm wondering how Lincoln got back up again. He must have had very strong core muscles as well as being very flexible.

[LincolnToddFan]

I've read somewhere that he was double jointed. And that in the WH he would occasionally bend forks and spoons in two to amuse his dinner guests when they asked. The only other person I've heard of that could do that was Czar Alexander III of Russia.

[RJNorton]

He must have had very strong core muscles as well as being very flexible.

Here's another quote from Burner:

"Lincoln was the strongest man I ever knew. In the grocery I often saw him pick up a forty-four-gallon barrel of whisky, place it on the counter, and then lower it on the other side."