NPR on The Making of Gone with the Wind . . . .

NPR has a brief overview of the "Making of Gone with the Wind" an exhibit at the Harry Ransom at the University of Texas in Austin, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the film.  They include tidbits about how the African-American community fought to keep the N-word out of the film, and the controversy over the casting of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara.  

Book and Library Trivia

After finding this photo of Margaret Mitchell surrounded by foreign editions of  Gone with the Wind, I became curious about how many languages the novel was published in.  It is published in 75 different languages, and over 30 million copies in print.

John Marsh donated the typewriter and Margaret's book collection to the Atlanta Public Library. Margaret was a regular user and huge supporter of libraries.   The Margaret Mitchell Collection is located in Special Collections on the 5th floor of the Atlanta-Fulton Library System at the Central Library and Library System Headquarters at One Margaret Mitchell Square in Atlanta, GA.   According to a June 1st, 2011 USA Today article" Classic Novel Gone with the Wind Turns 75 " by Craig Wilson, the Pequot Library in Connecticut has parts of the original manuscript, but this could not be verified in their Special Collections Introduction and Guide.   It would be interesting to see parts of the original manuscript, but even better would be to read the parts left-out.

After e-mailing the Pequot Library, I received the following response from the Special Collections Librarian, "We do have typewritten pages of the last 3 chapters of Gone With the Wind. When they are not on display, they are locked up and not available. "

Atlanta's Rhett Butler. . .

An article in Like the Dew: A Journal of Southern Culture and Politics claims that Richard Peters, one of Atlanta's founders and a former railroad man who built a blockade company during the Civil War as the man behind Rhett Butler.  Atlanta's Rhett Butler draws parallels between Butler and Peters, as well as George Trenholm.   E. Lee Spence wrote a book, Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The Real Rhett Bultler and Other Revelations claiming Trenholm was the inspiration for Rhett Butler.   As a character, Butler was younger then both men when he ran the blockade, and an outcast in most of Southern society.  Both Peters and Trenholm were wealthy, married and had families before the Civil War started, and merely used the war as a new way to diversify their holdings.  It's a short, but interesting little article.

Though neither man meets the dashing description of Rhett Butler, and neither has the moustache or full lips.

Richard Peters in 1848

George Trenholm during the Civil War.

Rhett at West Point. . .

Personally, I always wondered how old Rhett Butler was when he started at West Point, and when he was expelled from said military institute.  An internet search, revealed this gem Institutional Survival: Evolution of the Admissions Process During the United States Military Academy's First Century by CPT Jeffrey S. Buchanan, LTC C. McKenna and MAJ H. Raugh.   This paper states that in 1839, Congress raised the minimum age for new cadets to 16.

At the end of the novel, Rhett states he is 45 in 1873, which means he was born in late 1827 or sometime in 1828.   Based on that, he probably started in at West Point in 1844.   West Point is a four year institution and when he served in the Confederate Army, Rhett was placed in the artillery.   Due to his military knowledge, he probably finished at least 2 or more years of his education.   "Everyone knew in detail how he had been expelled from West Point for drunkenness and 'something about women'.  That terrific scandal concerning the Charleston girl he had compromised and the brother he had killed was public property. . . . that his father, a charming old gentleman with an iron will and a ramrod for a backbone, had cast him out without a penny when he was twenty and even stricken his name from the family Bible.  After that he had wandered to California in the gold rush of 1849 and thence to South America and Cuba, and reports of his activities were none to savory" (p.153).  There seemed to be sometime from his expulsion from the academy to his expulsion from his home.

For more information on antebellum West Point History Net has a good article, Life at West Point of Future Professional American Civil War Officers that is not very long, but describes life as a plebe, courses of studies, and the fact the Academy mostly focused on turning out engineers and scientist to help build the nation.

Also, How Do We Run On: A Gone With The Wind Scrapbook has an excellent post on West Point education in the 1840's, and a wonderful comment on real students who were expelled-Edgar Allan Poe being one of those students.

Contraception during the Victorian/Civil War era

Scarlett learned about abortion through Mamie Bart, but she didn't learn about contraception, or perhaps she wouldn't be so quick to kick Rhett out of her bed.  One presumes, Rhett knew about contraception, but chose not to share this information with his wife.  It's something I always wondered about. Here are some links to contraception during the mid-nineteenth century.

Percy Skuy, a former President of Ortho, had one of the largest collections of contraception old and new in the world.  His collection is housed at Case Western University, who in turned made some webpages on the history of contraception, including soldiers in the Civil War.  Only Union soldiers are mentioned.  There is also a page on Condoms and Sponges, both of which were available during the 1800's.

Contraception: Civil War Style provides another overview of contraception options in the 1800s.

Charles Knowlton wrote one of the early works on population control,  Fruits of Philosophy , which included information on contraception, though the efficacy of the options seem questionable.

Planned Parenthood has a great paper A History of Birth Control Methods, which cites sources and provides information on a variety of methods old and new.

A little Rhett Comic to share. . .

I feel it also needs : Good with Kids, Divine Dancer, Will Kiss You till You Faint, Wealthy, and Will Spoil You, but that might require more controllers.

The Great Charleston Fire of 1861

So in searching the net about Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War, I was surprised to learn that in December of 1861 there was a great fire that destroyed a 1/3 of the city.  Monuments, landmarks, and historical colonial homes were burned, and thousands left homeless.    Here are some links with information on this event.


The Post and Courier-Charleston at War: Charleston Beaten Down by Great Fire

Smithsonian Magazine.com-The Destruction of Charleston in the Civil War

The Civil War Gazette has an actual article from Harper's Weekly

Seven Score and Ten Year Ago-December 12th, 1861