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Anita · 07-31-2013, 12:37 PM

What a beautiful sculpture. I will be driving up to see the exhibit next week.

As for his teeth, I found this article in The Southeast Missourian - Feb 11, 1975. The heading is "Lincoln Had Good Teeth". It's describes Dr. Maynard Hines's study of Lincoln's teeth. Hine is a former President of the ADA and a former Chancellor at Purdue. http://tinyurl.com/kzo2nqn

Eva Elisabeth · 07-31-2013, 03:44 PM

May I ask, is there any trick to focus the article? Even if I zoom it, it's too blurred to read it!

Anita · (This post was last modified: 07-31-2013 04:44 PM by Anita.)

(07-31-2013 03:44 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: May I ask, is there any trick to focus the article? Even if I zoom it, it's too blurred to read it!

Hi Eva-I just tried the link and it works. I'm not much of a computer expert. I will forward it to you via email. Maybe that will help.

(07-31-2013 04:12 PM)Anita Wrote:
(07-31-2013 03:44 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: May I ask, is there any trick to focus the article? Even if I zoom it, it's too blurred to read it!

Hi Eva-I just tried the link and it works. I'm not much of a computer expert. I will forward it to you via email. Maybe that will help.

Here's an easier way to see the enlarged article. Google
"Lincoln had good Teeth" and then click on the article. Let me know if it works.

Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 07-31-2013 06:28 PM by Eva Elisabeth.)

Thanks for trying to help, but it's exactly the same. Maybe my hardware is the cause?! (Just to clarify, the link works, but the article is blurred. I really can't decipher it.)

Anita · (This post was last modified: 07-31-2013 07:31 PM by Anita.)

(07-31-2013 06:25 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: Thanks for trying to help, but it's exactly the same. Maybe my hardware is the cause?! (Just to clarify, the link works, but the article is blurred. I really can't decipher it.)

There has to be a way to do this. I am working on it.

Eva, Thanks! Because of your technical problem I tried a new search that has the complete article Hine published in 1975 entitled
The Dental Problems of Abraham Lincoln.

It's in a professional mag for dentists and it's a special issue called "Dentistry and the Presidents". The entire publication is fascinating.
Now let's see if you can open this! Let me know.

http://www.cmpindustries.com/tic1975jul_small.pdf

Eva Elisabeth · 07-31-2013, 07:41 PM

Splendid, thank you so much! That's a great article! Indeed fascinating!

Liz Rosenthal · 08-01-2013, 01:34 PM

I love the article, too! I note that two different eyewitness accounts state that Lincoln had white teeth.

Gore Vidal, in his novel, Lincoln, apparently was convinced enough of Abe's white teeth to have included a reference to them. Vidal generally was pretty good on his facts, even if he sometimes attributed a statement made by Abe to Mary or a recollection of Gideon Welles to John Hay!

It seems to me, also, that, with all the contemporaries who were eager to point out how "ugly" Lincoln was (an opinion with which I disagree), or the oddness of his body or gait, they would have jumped on any opportunity to write about his teeth if they were unsightly. The fact that only one person did so, and that this one account is suspect given the claim that Lincoln's teeth were tobacco-stained, is further support for the idea that Lincoln had good teeth.

The fluoride theory is interesting. But I think that Lincoln just had an extraordinary physical constitution in general, whether you're talking about athleticism, physical strength, stamina or immunity to disease. (He also had an amazing brain!) You rarely, if ever, see any mention of Lincoln taking ill, with the most conspicuous examples being, besides his two instances of acute depression, his bout with varioloid, a minor form of smallpox. Considering that Lincoln was probably exposed to smallpox at the same time as his assistant, William Johnson, who died of the disease, I think it's pretty remarkable that Lincoln got through it as well as he did.

Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 06:27 AM by Eva Elisabeth.)

(08-01-2013 01:34 PM)Liz Rosenthal Wrote: It seems to me, also, that, with all the contemporaries who were eager to point out how "ugly" Lincoln was (an opinion with which I disagree), or the oddness of his body or gait, they would have jumped on any opportunity to write about his teeth if they were unsightly.

Liz, (I agree in disagreeing, although I disagree with Grace Bedell) - imagine what people would say today? Ragrading height and weight he conforms more to the current "ideal of beauty" (or hamdsomeness") than to that of his days....

I wonder when he bought his first toothbrush or better: who taught him oral hygiene. It's good to know he also used soap whereas (just a few years earlier) Napoleon advised his Josephine:"Home in three days - don't wash".

BTW, who originally reported the "ax story" at City Point in 1865 (when Lincoln demonstrated the strenght of his muscles by holding an ax horizontally longer than some soldiers were able to do)?

Gene C · 08-02-2013, 06:37 AM

(08-02-2013 06:20 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: Napoleon advised his Josephine:"Home in three days - don't wash".

The French are so romantic Heart

RJNorton · 08-02-2013, 06:42 AM

(08-02-2013 06:20 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: BTW, who originally reported the "ax story" at City Point in 1865 (when Lincoln demonstrated the strenght of his muscles by holding an ax horizontally longer than some soldiers were able to do)?

Hi Eva. There is information here.

I do not know if he was the first one, but the incident was reported in 1866 by Francis Carpenter in The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House (originally published as Six Months at the White House With Abraham Lincoln). The story is on p. 289 of the Bison Books edition (which is what I have).

Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 09:29 AM by Eva Elisabeth.)

Thanks, Roger, also for the link!

(08-02-2013 06:37 AM)Gene C Wrote:
(08-02-2013 06:20 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: Napoleon advised his Josephine:"Home in three days - don't wash".

The French are so romantic

Gene (I know I'll regret this) - are you romantic?

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 09:49 AM by Gene C.)

Eva, I know this crowd to well, no matter what I say, I can't win.
If I say yes, some one will comment "Ick, how often do you wash?"
If I say no, some one will comment "Ick, how often do you wash?"

So for your sake and mine, I'm going to pass on answering that.

Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 01:05 PM by Eva Elisabeth.)

Gene, I'm sorry, I just wanted to delete my comment.

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 10:25 AM by Gene C.)

No problem, I found it humorous

"If I had a flower for every time you made me laugh or smile, I'd have a garden to walk in forever."
(author unknown)

L Verge · 08-02-2013, 11:32 AM

Well, that last quote points towards your being romantic...