No’th Ca’lina With Berton Braley

As I was shelving broadsides the other day, I noticed the item above. Something about it sounded very familiar. After running it by a coworker, we both realized that another coworker had blogged about it in the past: Flivvering.

Just who was Berton Braley? Well, I have to admit that I didn’t know. The only entry in our biographical clippings was the postcard above. The only entries in the NC Collection’s catalog were for different editions of the same poem. What to do next? Well, I hate to admit it, but I turned to Wikipedia…and it didn’t fail me. You can read more about Braley here.

3 thoughts on “No’th Ca’lina With Berton Braley”

  1. The poem’s mention of owning a “lizzie” reminds me of a cheer my mama says was performed by cheerleaders at Rock Springs School in Denver, NC during the early 1940s:

    Step on the starter and crank ol’ lizzie.
    Come on team and let’s get busy!
    Rah! Rah! Rah!

    Yes, I can do the corresponding arm and leg movements thanks to having seen my mama ‘perform’ this cheer throughout my childhood.

  2. You will not believe this, but I ran across a clipping of this ages ago, and have been looking for it for years. Obviously I should have called you.

    The couplet combining the hookworm and jazz really gives this a special place in the annals of, um, literature.

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