User:Tripodero/Paul Bunyan

[[:File:Bunyan McBride.jpg|thumb|350px|Illustration of Paul Bunyan and Babe by Angus McBride for Finding Out (1966).]] Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack in American folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors and is customarily accompanied by his blue ox, Babe. Paul Bunyan was first brought to public attention by freelance agent William B. Laughead (1882-1958) in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company. He has been the subject of various literary works, ballads, and stage productions; additionally, his likeness is prominently featured in numerous, gigantic statues across North America.

Early references

General consensus has it that Paul Bunyan tales were first spread in the oral tradition of lumberjacks before appearing in print. While some argue to the contrary (SEE "Disputed authenticity"), parallels in early printings suggest that at least a handful of Bunyan yarns hold a common origin in folklore. The earliest recorded reference of Paul Bunyan is an uncredited 1904 editorial which recounts:

“His pet joke and the one with which the green horn at the camp is sure to be tried, consists of a series of imaginative tales about the year Paul Bunyan lumbered in North Dakota. The great Paul is represented as getting out countless millions of timber in the year of the "blue snow." The men's shanty in his camp covered a half section, and the mess camp was a stupendous affair. The range on which an army of cookees prepared the beans and "red horse" was so long that when the cook wanted to grease it up for the purpose of baking the wheat cakes in the morning, they strapped two large hams to his feet and started him running up and down a half mile of black glistening stove top.” - Anonymous, “Caught on the Run” (Duluth News Tribune, Aug. 4, 1904)

Each of these elements: logging the Dakotas, a giant camp, the winter of the blue snow, and stove skating reoccur in latter accounts. All four anecdotes are mirrored in J.E. Rockwell's "Some Lumberjack Myths" six years later and James MacGillivray wrote on the subject of stove skating in "The Round River Drive" appearing in The American Lumberman, 1910. The American Lumberman would also follow up with a few, sporadic editorials such as "Paul Bunyan's Oxen," "In Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty," and "Chronicle of Life and Works of Mr. Paul Bunyan." But it was Rockwell's earlier story that was one of the only ones' to allude to Paul Bunyan's Goliath-like stature and introduce his big, blue ox; prior to Laughead's addition to the Paul Bunyan saga. (Although W.D. Harrigan did refer to a giant albeit pink ox in "Paul Bunyan's Oxen" circa 1914.) Consistent in all accounts Paul Bunyan is praise as a woodsman of great physical strength and matchless skill.

Laughead Pamphlet

William B. Laughead, an independent adman utilized Paul Bunyan in a series of campaigns for the Red River Lumber Company. His first endeavor a pamphlet entitled, "Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of Westwood, California" resulted in a flop. It wasn't until "Tales about Paul Bunyan. Vol. II." appeared that brought Paul Bunyan to public attention. Embellishing older exploits and adding some of his own, Laughead's revamped Paul Bunyan wasn't entirely faithful to the original folktales. This has lead to significant criticism regarding the validity of Paul Bunyan as a genuine folkloric character. Nevertheless, the Laughead are regarded as one of the most popular collections, often appearing in a single, unabridged volume entitled, "Paul Bunyan and hid Blue Ox." While previous texts height Bunyan roughly at Bibilical proportions (7ft-9ft), Laughead portrays him as towering over the landscape, reminiscent of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Stewart and Watt Papers

Contemporaneously, K. Bernice Stewart, a coed studying at the University of Wisconsin, was working to gather Paul Bunyan stories from woodsman in the Midwest. Through a series of interviews Stewart was able to make a scholarly anthology of original anecdotes. These were published as "Legends of Paul Bunyan, Lumberjack" in Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters and coauthored by her English professor, Homer A. Watt. The research relates traditional narratives, some in multiple versions, and goes on to conclude that many probably existed in some part before they were set to revolve around Bunyan as a central character.

Stewart's follows her analysis that Paul Bunyan belongs to a class of traveler's tales

“Bunyan was a powerful giant, seven feet tall and with a stride of seven feet. He was famous throughout the lumbering districts for his great physical strength.”

K. Bernice Stewart, "Legends of Paul Bunyan, Lumberjack"

Debated authenticity

Authors Richard Dorson, Carleton C. Ames, Marshall Fitwick, and others cite Paul Bunyan tales as an example of "fakelore", or a literary invention passed off as an older folktale. Holding that Paul Bunyan, specifically Bunyan as a giant with a blue ox sidekick, was purposely elaborated in the 1914 ad campaign. While the Laughead pamphlet is credited with setting about Paul Bunyan's rise as a nationally recognized figure. Preceding citations (See Early References) signify that Paul Bunyan did hold a firm place in oral tradition prior to the 1914 advertising campaign. Below is a comparison chart between early Paul Bunyan references, the Stewart and Watt papers, and the Laughead advertisement.

Overlap of Early Paul Bunyan Pritings

	Duluth News	Rockwell	MacGillivray	Harrigan	Stewart & Watt	Laughead
Stove Skating	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Pea Soup Lake	N	Y ¹	Y	N	Y	Y
Giant Camp	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y
Gigantism	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y ³
Winter of the Blue Snow	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y
Blue Ox	N	Y	N	Y ²	Y	Y
Logging the Dakotas	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y
Creating Geography	N	N	N	N	N	Y

1.) In Rockwell's version it was beans and not peas that were spilled in the lake.
2.) In Harrigan's account Paul Bunyon [sic] is relayed to have a pink ox named, "Old Baugh."
3.) Rather than simply being really tall, Paul Bunyan's height is increased beyond all possible human capacity.

See also

• Paul Bunyan (operetta)
• John Henry (folklore)
• Fearsome critters
• Tall tale