Carl Sandburg and Lincoln

[Joe Di Cola]

Joe: Love your Sandburg story! Would it be too much to ask of you to take a picture of his signature in the book and post it for us in the Forum? Any more to add about meeting him? Any one else in our Forum ever meet Sandburg? Every once in awhile I go to YouTube and watch that segment of Sandburg on the old What's My Line TV show. The respect that he was apparently given is so precious. He certainly seemed to be having fun on the show. If you haven't seen it-its a lot of fun just watching it.

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Bill,
I added a pic of the autographed flyleaf to the bottom of your posting. I notice that if you click on it you can get a larger image. Let me know if this worked.

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Rob,

Sandburg asked me my name and how I came to be interested in Lincoln. He was very gracious and wished me the best. That was about it.

[Rogerm]

I once saw a parody of Carl Sandburg on the old Garry Moore Show. Derword Kerby wore a sandburg-like wig, and his character had the name of "Carl Sandbag." For anybody who might be sensitive, I do not mean this as an insult to the memory of the great poet.

[RJNorton]

Joe, it works just fine!

[Rob Wick]

Actually, Rogerm, I'd love to see that. I imagine Sandburg might have got a laugh from it (or not, as he could be prickly at times).

Yep, Joe, that's the man's signature alright.

Best
Rob

[HerbS]

Joe-Thanks for sharing HISTORY!

[LincolnMan]

Joe: Thanking for posting the picture of the Sandburg signature. It came out fine when I clicked on it!He had a very unique signature it seems to me. That had to be one of your highlights of your life!

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Rogerm: I wonder if that parody of Sandburg is on Youtube?

[Rogerm]

I don't know, Bill. I am guessing that the parody I saw took place around 1965 or 1966.

[LincolnMan]

I just searched Youtube for that "Carl Sandbag" skit on the Garry Moore show and came up with nothing.

[Joe Di Cola]

Bill,

It was definitely a major event for me. I loved Sandburg's poetry, his manner, and his biography of Lincoln. The first Lincoln book I ever purchased for myself was the one-volume edition when it came out in 1954--a first edition and it still has its dust jacket. It cost me a whole $7.50 and I thought it would take forever to save up the money! ( A lot of money in 1954.)

[LincolnMan]

Joe: I see you also read Civil War Times. That is your comment as found in the Letters & Opinion section?

[Joe Di Cola]

Bill, I have been reading it since it started in the 60s and have most of the issues, except for a few accidentally tossed in various moves. The early ones were all black and white and not on slick paper either. That is my comment.

[Rob Wick]

After some research, I found at least two episodes of the Garry Moore show featuring Durward Kirby as Carl Sandburg. The first aired on January 8, 1963. It was the show's 5th season and its 15th episode of that season. That was the show's second version (1958-1964). The first version was from 1950 to 1958.

During the show's third incarnation (1966-1967) Kirby did it again because I also found an article in the Monday, November 28, 1966 edition of the Hendersonville, N.C., Times-News newspaper. In Mead Parce's column this appeared:

"Carl Sandburg, Flat Rock's famed poet and Lincoln biographer (and newspaperman) was the subject of a skit on the Garry Moore Show last night.
Durward Kirby played Sandburg reading some of his poetry.
Kirby, an excellent actor in addition to a great straight man, won cheers for the bit."

I don't think any clips are available.

An interesting note about Durward Kirby. When the Bullwinkle show was on the air, they had a series of episodes involving a hat that when worn made the wearer the smartest person in the world. They called it the...wait for it...Kirward Derby. Kirby considered suing Bullwinkle producer Jay Ward, who reportedly offered to pay Kirby to do so (for the publicity) but Kirby decided against it because of the publicity it would generate.

[Thomas Thorne]

One of the particulars about Sandburg's Lincoln that would have driven his critics crazy would be his story of Nancy Hanks reading the Bible to little Abe when Sandburg included a copy of a document in which he acknowledged she made her mark.

One of the aspects of the academic jealousy toward Sandburg was the fact his Lincoln books were gargantuan best sellers.
Tom

[Rob Wick]

Tom,

You are absolutely correct regarding the Nancy Hanks issue. What also bedeviled some was Nancy singing a song to Abraham that hadn't been written yet. I have to believe that didn't really bother Sandburg much because he was going for a scene in The Prairie Years rather than writing a monograph.

As for the books, in my article in the Journal of Illinois History on Sandburg and Randall, I compared the publishing history of The Prairie Years to Randall's Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln. Randall had to pay to get his book published, and it never (as far as I can tell) sold out. Sandburg sold 48,000 copies in the first year alone. Yeah, I agree that there was some jealousy there.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

Rob: I read in Harry Golden's book 0n Sandburg that The Prairie Years started off as a children's book?