Treehouse Trivia

July 2008

He Was Honest Abe From the Beginning

When Abraham Lincoln was 24 years old he was appointed postmaster of New Salem, IL. He served the post for three years, from 1833 to 1836. The United States Official Register lists A. Lincoln as receiving $55.70 in 1835 in compensation for his duties at New Salem. In addition to his pay, there were perks: he could send letters for free and have one newspaper delivered free of charge. Mail arrived at the post office once a week and when customers didn’t come to collect, Lincoln would personally deliver their mail, which he carried in his hat.

Abraham Lincoln 01.wmf Eventually, the office in New Salem was closed and Lincoln moved to Springfield. When Lincoln left the New Salem post office, he took with him a balance of between $16 and $18 that he had collected from customers for mailing various items. At the time, Lincoln was pressed financially. So when a postal agent came to collect the money, a good friend of Lincoln’s was worried that he may have had to dip into the funds to survive and would not be able to hand the money over. When the agent arrived, Lincoln walked calmly to his boarding house and rummaged through a big trunk, returning to the agent with an old blue sock in hand. The sock contained exactly the amount, to the cent, that was due and was still in the identical coinage Lincoln had received from the customers and recorded in the log.

Corrigan Chose the "Wrong Way"

Douglas Corrigan gained fame in 1938 when he took off from a Brooklyn airport, ostensibly for Los Angeles, and landed 28 hours later in Dublin, Ireland instead. Since then, the enthusiastic aviator has been known to Americans as "Wrong Way Corrigan" and has become part of popular culture. His nickname is still a household phrase used when someone makes a silly mistake. However, it seems there was a little more to Corrigan’s story than the tale he hawked till the end of his life. Planetoon 008.wmf

A skilled and experienced pilot, Corrigan had applied many times to be allowed to fly to Ireland. The American aviation authorities turned him down every time, deeming his plane unworthy of making such a flight. They had a point: the plane was old and rickety and jury-rigged together with parts from a lot of other planes. What’s more, Corrigan had installed five extra fuel tanks for the long flight, completely blocking his forward view when flying. Bailing wire secured the cabin door as well as other parts of the plane.

When he landed in Ireland, Corrigan said he had merely made a wrong turn. He acted surprised that he was in Dublin and told airport authorities that he had meant to fly to California, though it was reported that he could barely contain the twinkle in his eye as he gave a wink and a nod to bystanders. The American public loved the brash recklessness of the young pilot. He became an instant folk hero, was given a ticker tape parade that more than 1 million people attended, and was asked to endorse products, such as a watch that ran backward. Americans embraced the young man who thumbed his nose at authority and did what he wanted to do.

Corrigan usually answered questions about whether his flight was really a mistake with a "That’s my story and I’m sticking to it" statement, but it often seemed to interviewers that he was suppressing joy at getting away with something. His fans adored him and often sent him small gifts. During his lifetime, Wrong Way Corrigan received hundreds and hundreds of compasses.

Water the Bloom of Creativity

Watering Flowers 02.wmf Advertising genius Alex Osborn integrated creativity with everything he did every day. Considered the "father of brainstorming," a term he helped coin in 1939,Osborn devoted his life to promoting and teaching creative thinking. The fiercest enemy of creativity, he believed, was criticism: "Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated."

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