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User:Onay91/An Exile's Toast

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An Exile's Toast
Cover
The original text of An Exile's Toast
AuthorFrank Norris
Written1900
# Of Words511

"An Exile's Toast" was a short speech written by Frank Norris in 1900 in Roselle, New Jersey[1]. It was originally read by Ralph Hathorn at the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta's graduate Pig Dinner on November 20th, 1900 at the University of California. It is now traditionally read during the annual Pig Dinners of every chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. The speech is written in a fake German accent, uses arcane language, and references brothers from the Delta Xi chapter during the 1890s.

Background

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An Exile's Toast was inspired by American comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids. The two main characters of this strip, Hans and Fritz, are mischievous and rebellious. Their tomfoolery was reminiscent of the shenanigans Norris and his brothers engaged in at the Delta Xi chapter. The main characters also have dialogue in a thick German accent, which Frank Norris emulated in his speech.[2]

Frank Norris wrote An Exile's Toast to be read at the graduate Pig Dinner tradition, which had been continued by the Delta Xi chapter since its first occurrence on May 18th, 1894. The references in the speech were relevant to those in attendance at the Pig Dinner in 1900. Upon Norris' death in 1902, the celebration was dedicated to him and became a tradition of all chapters of Phi Gamma Delta during the following years.[3] While the speech was traditionally read annually the night before Thanksgiving and the Stanford University versus the University of California, Berkley football game[4], it is now read during the Pig Dinner ceremony hosted by each chapter in the spring. An Exile's Toast embodies the purpose of Pig Dinner by signifying strong camaraderie among brothers in the fraternity.[5]

While not officially documented, An Exile's Toast is sometimes modified to allude to members of a specific chapter in the present day to make the speech more relevant.[6]

History

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The story behind the pig began in 1893 during a day of activities at the University of California. The Phi Gams could not compete against Beta Theta Pi and Delta Kappa Epsilon for the involvement in campus activities, so one Phi Gam named Ralph Hathorn decided to release a pig in the middle of the activities. When the Fijis recaptured the Pig, they decided to make a meal out of it and perform a ceremony to rekindle the brotherhood and allegiance among the members of the Fraternity. Frank Norris wrote An Exile's Toast to solidify forever the meaning of that Pig Dinner.[3]

Original Text

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The original text of "An Exile's Toast" was sent to the Delta Xi chapter of Phi Gamma Delta from Roselle, New Jersey by Frank Norris. It was sent in response to the graduate chapter's invitation to attend the Pig Dinner. The speech is written in English, but has the words spelled out to emulate a German accent. There are many references to now deceased members of Phi Gamma Delta, as well as inside jokes between Frank Norris and his chapter in the speech. These allusions are explained in the Speech Footnotes section


Speech Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Dot Note" was an invitation to attend the Thanksgiving Eve dinner of the California Chapter. It was a big event of every chapter year and attended by many out of town Fijis. Learn how it started in the Origin of the Norris Pig Dinner.
  2. ^ "Der PoodIe" was the Poodle Dog restaurant on Bush and Grant avenues, San Francisco, where the dinner traditionally was held.
  3. ^ "Chimmie Vhite" was John H. White 1891, founder and headmaster of White's Preparatory School in Berkeley.
  4. ^ "Der Gibbs" referred to George Gibbs 1895, Milwaukee steel magnate, president of the company bearing his name.
  5. ^ "Mairsch"-- John Alfred March 1893, San Francisco lawyer.
  6. ^ "Hethauern"-- Ralph L. Hathorn 1893, the brother who recruited Norris, house manager, "sponsor for the original pig," and later a San Francisco lawyer.
  7. ^ "Earnie Hoentersohn"-- Ernest N. Henderson 1890, professor of philosophy at Adelphi College, mentioned in Who's Who.
  8. ^ "Wallie Every-bit"-- Wallace W. Everett, Sr. 1897, San Francisco magazine publisher and later Napa Valley fruit farmer. Both he and son Wallace W. Everett, Jr. (California 1927) were Fraternity archon councilors.
  9. ^ "Gibbons"-- Morton R. Gibbons 1895, distinguished San Francisco physician.
  10. ^ "Lunt's Hall" was a very fashionable dance hall in San Francisco. Archon Councilor Wally Everett explains that it "catered to teaching dancing to the little monsters of top society in the 1890's" and also was the location for "the highly chaperoned dances of older groups." "Shermans" refers to dances.
  11. ^ "Captain Sailfridge"-- Edward A. Selfridge Jr. 1894, listed in the 1940 Directory of Members as a lumber specialist in the U. S. Department of Commerce. In the Spanish-American War, he fought at battle of San Juan Hill as Captain of Company K, 71st New York Infantry US Volunteers; Norris was also there as a newspaper correspondent. He was also the Fraternity's section chief for the West coast when the Toast was written.
  12. ^ "Brooksie Palmer"-- J. Brooks Palmer 1892, San Francisco lawyer.
  13. ^ "Hoomphries"-- William P. Humphries 1892, San Francisco lawyer.
  14. ^ ."Pilly Shmidt and Emory"-- William H. Smith, Jr. 1898, San Francisco lawyer and his brother, Emery T. Smith, '00, distinguished World War I colonel.
  15. ^ "Chunky"-- J. Russell Selfridge 1897, a San Francisco merchant and brother of Edward A.
  16. ^ "Corbett"-- Harvey Wiley Corbett 1895, nationally known architect in New York and listed in Who's Who; had gone to Paris to study architecture at the famous Beaux Arts school.
  17. ^ "Doodles"-- Seymour Waterhouse 1895, merchant in San Jose and one time roommate of Norris. It was at the Waterhouse mine in the Sierras that Frank Norris found his principal character of the dentist in McTeague.
  18. ^ "Hooston"-- Albert J. Houston 1895, celebrated ear, nose and throat specialist in San Francisco.
  19. ^ "Rether"-- Harry F. Rethers 1892, career army officer, veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War One. Retired a brigadier general.
  20. ^ California lost to Stanford in the 1900 football contest, 5 to 0. (Cal had won the previous two years by huge margins.)

Formatted Sources

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