Best character from a U.S. tall tale

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I do not know about those from other countries but plz to share!

Poll Results

OptionVotes
John Henry 10
Babe the Blue Ox 7
Paul Bunyan 6
Johnny Appleseed 4
Big Annie 3
Davy Crockett 1
Mike Fink 1
Alfred Bulltop Stormalong 0
Molly Pitcher 0
Joe Magarac 0
Aylett C. (Strap) Buckner 0
Febold Feboldson 0
Pecos Bill 0
Tony Beaver0


Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:04 (seventeen years ago)

For me it's between John Henry (tragic tale & good metaphor), Paul Bunyan or his ox (hilarious bcz they are GIANT), and Johnny Appleseed (I am related sort-of to John Chapman!).

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:05 (seventeen years ago)

My favorite Paul Bunyan story is about his flapjack griddle. Dude needed so many giant flapjacks on his giant griddle; he got his PUNY ORDINARY MORTAL lumberjacks to wear skates with GIANT BRICKS OF BUTTER on them to skate around on the griddle so the flapjacks would not stick.

Flapjacks!!!

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:06 (seventeen years ago)

This Big Annie?

http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/calumets-big-annie/

dan m, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:07 (seventeen years ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett

gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:08 (seventeen years ago)

Blue Ox vs Johnny Appleseed

gabbneb, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:09 (seventeen years ago)

wash his clothes in a frying pan

sexyDancer, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:13 (seventeen years ago)

Big Joe Mufferaw!

pauls00, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:14 (seventeen years ago)

i am quite fond of both john henry and johnny appleseed - many of these i dont know - but did u know johnny applessed was planting the apple trees not for delicious wholesome apple eating but for making boozy cider with! you see when you plant an appleseed 9 times out of ten youll get an unpalatable sour apple tree - but any apples are good for cider! yay johnny appleseed! go!

jhøshea, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:16 (seventeen years ago)

were these tall tales concocted in some Federal Bureau for Inventing American Culture? or did people actually tell them beforehand? I mean, it's not like Americans were hanging around the midwest for 500 years passing down stories or something.

bart_stanberg, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:17 (seventeen years ago)

can we have a moratorium on troll-y sockpuppets plz

jhøshea, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:20 (seventeen years ago)

How is that a troll? It's a friggin question dude. This board is obsessed with this shit; it goes into a frenzied panic the second anyone shows any sign of life

bart_stanberg, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:21 (seventeen years ago)

We could tell you, bart stanberg, if that is in fact your real name, but then you would have to be killed by us. Please submit all requests for information in triplicate to the Bureaucratic Office of the FBIAC at #2 Red Tape Ave. Include SASE for mailing your sorry ass back to you.

Laurel, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:24 (seventeen years ago)

THIS

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:25 (seventeen years ago)

Man if you were a lumberjack why the fuck not would you want to make up the world's epicest lumberjack? These things can happen anytime!

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:25 (seventeen years ago)

And remember: we never had this conversation.

Laurel, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:25 (seventeen years ago)

If it's the same Big Annie, then she was a real person.

dan m, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:25 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah, so were Davy Crockett and Johnny Appleseed (who was kind of a religious nutso).

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:26 (seventeen years ago)

REMEMMER A ALAMO

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:26 (seventeen years ago)

giant fucking blue ox guys

sleep, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:27 (seventeen years ago)

He grew so big that 42 axe handles plus a plug of tobacco could fit between his eyes and it took a murder of crows a whole day to fly from one horn to the other.

sleep, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:27 (seventeen years ago)

So glad I separated him & big Paul/.

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:27 (seventeen years ago)

In the first Toy Story, the baddie kid has a poster for a band called something like "BIG PAUL AND HIS ROCKING BLUE OX."

Abbott, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:28 (seventeen years ago)

name awesomeness splits my vote between "Alfred Bulltop Stormalong" and "Febold Feboldson"

John Justen, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:36 (seventeen years ago)

Reminds me of being in the Cub Scouts and having that manual that detailed all sorts of Americana. or the Weblows or whatever that was

bart_stanberg, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:38 (seventeen years ago)

-={ BLUE OX KREW }=-

Viceroy, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:40 (seventeen years ago)

Febold Febolson was a Swedish man who lived on the prairie . Febold didn't want people to leave because he was afraid he would die of loneliness. One day Febold got a good idea that made him do a little dance. He ordered 1,000 goldfish from Peru. He put them in the only lake on the prarie. And when a couple of wagons rode by and he jumped out of some bushes and shouted gold. So the people stayed with Febold until they got to hot. The people almost left, but Febold said, "I will make it rain." So he built a huge bonfire. The bonfire evaporated all the water and it started to rain. The problem was the water wasn't hitting the ground because the air was so hot. So Febold got some frogs but they wouldn't croak. So Febold got one to croak and they all started to croak. Then they had another problem they couldn't plant their crops. So Febold showed them a trick and they lived with Febold.

T✧✧@K✧✧.E✧✧ is that you?

kingkongvsgodzilla, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 16:43 (seventeen years ago)

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill the thread with my stupid post. It was a good thread! Revive, dammit!

kingkongvsgodzilla, Thursday, 17 April 2008 00:00 (seventeen years ago)

Dude no that was the best post! Did a first grader write that?

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 02:50 (seventeen years ago)

john henry. but i loved the disney cartoons of paul bunyan, pecos bill, johnny appleseed. somehow every elementary school teacher i had found a way to kill an afternoon with those. (they usually threw in rip van winkle and the legend of sleepy hollow too.)

missing from list: casey jones.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 17 April 2008 03:01 (seventeen years ago)

Paul Bunyan was created by an advertising copywriter. I represent for Mike Fink, tobacco chewer and flatboatman. Half alligator, half man and half tornado.

Aimless, Thursday, 17 April 2008 03:21 (seventeen years ago)

john henry bonham

mookieproof, Thursday, 17 April 2008 03:46 (seventeen years ago)

isn't "tony beaver" the dude in a handful of dust?

J.D., Thursday, 17 April 2008 04:10 (seventeen years ago)

Johnny Appleseed was a spreader of invasive non-local plant species.

Maltodextrin, Thursday, 17 April 2008 07:11 (seventeen years ago)

I loved Disney's Johnny Appleseed, mainly because his guardian angel was batshit (IIRC).

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:19 (seventeen years ago)

Maltodextrin, did his apple trees actually cause damage to area ecosystems? I am not doubting you, I am curious!

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:20 (seventeen years ago)

Dude no that was the best post! Did a first grader write that?

-- Abbott, Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

Sadly, it was a teacher. Check the reading comprehension quiz.

http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312323/ffsum.htm

kingkongvsgodzilla, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

What is fog?

* clouds
* snakes
* bears

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:23 (seventeen years ago)

Febold is broad what?

* shouldered
* chinned
* backed

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:23 (seventeen years ago)

You have found the teacher website of WOW and WHOA and WTF!

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:24 (seventeen years ago)

What is fog?

* clouds
* snakes
* bears

lol

sleep, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:25 (seventeen years ago)

After Paul logged all the North Woods he planted more trees. He and babe retired. Their is a lot of stories about Paul and Babe.

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:26 (seventeen years ago)

5. Why did the animals trust Johnny?

* they wanted to eat his apples
* they could sense his gentleness
* they would wanted to go west with him1889

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:27 (seventeen years ago)

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind

Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind was very strong. She could throw a crocodile many miles. She saved Davy Crockets life when his head was stuck in a tree. Sally once had an encounter with a bear. Later in life Sally married Davy Crocket and lived happily ever after with him.

AND the 'Comprehension Quiz':

1. What did Sally do when Mike Fink tried to get her?

* She punched him away
* She locked him up
* She put him in jail

2. Who dose Sally marry?

* Mike Fink
* Gorge W. Bush
* Davy Crocket

3. How dose Sally save Davy?

* She caught him when he fell out of a tree
* She split a tree in half
* She saved him from drowning

4. How did Sally trick the bear?

* She gave him honey
* She asked him to dance
* She threw him out the door

5. What did Sally use to split the tree?

* rattle snakes
* rope
* an ax

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:28 (seventeen years ago)

THOSE LAST TWO QUESTIONS ARE SIMPLY UNANSWERABLE I FAIL TALL TALES UNIT

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:28 (seventeen years ago)

so is the first one who is mike fink???

sleep, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:31 (seventeen years ago)

John Henry prob has the most awesome songs written about him, but it's pretty hard to fuck with a big goddamned blue ox.

will, Thursday, 17 April 2008 15:41 (seventeen years ago)

tall tales vs. faux-klore

cutty, Thursday, 17 April 2008 17:01 (seventeen years ago)

John Henry:

http://www.starnet-database.com/dbase_deo/profiles/steel/steel.JPG

Jordan, Thursday, 17 April 2008 17:05 (seventeen years ago)

vs Babe:

http://www.monkmancomics.com/snaps/babe.jpg

Jordan, Thursday, 17 April 2008 17:06 (seventeen years ago)

xxxpost to Abbott: No, I was joking about Johnny Appleseed. But if you went around the country indiscriminately spreading seeds today, someone would probably try to stop you.

Maltodextrin, Thursday, 17 April 2008 17:38 (seventeen years ago)

Someone planted pot seeds all over the Boise State campus. My friend was a gardener and she said she cried with each one she had to pull up and throw away.

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 18:16 (seventeen years ago)

a gardener who worked gardening for the gardening crew of Boise State

Abbott, Thursday, 17 April 2008 18:16 (seventeen years ago)

Maybe that's why they chose blue Astroturf for their football field.

Maltodextrin, Thursday, 17 April 2008 19:38 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ILX System, Monday, 21 April 2008 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

There is not a single mention of Davy Crockett's hat in the wikipedis article.

S-, Monday, 21 April 2008 23:41 (seventeen years ago)

Where's Mose the Bowery B'hoy?

Bill Magill, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 15:08 (seventeen years ago)

When I think of Molly Pitcher, the first thing that comes to mind is the NJ Turnpike rest area named after her. So it's funny that her Wikipedia article also mentions the rest area.

Maltodextrin, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 18:49 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 23:01 (seventeen years ago)

Catsupdude OTM re: Treasure Mountain

Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 00:46 (seventeen years ago)

Its weird, I know all about Paul Bunyan and the Ox thanks to gorram World Book encyclopedias I read as a kid. Its a bit of a worry how steeped in US culture I was in the 70s, I knew all about the west coast 70s oil and water crises and whatnot but fuck if I knew anythign about Dreamtime stories or who the prime minister was before Malcolm Fraser.

Didn't know John Henry was a tall tale though, I thought it was a TMBG album :/

Trayce, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 01:05 (seventeen years ago)

wtf @ zero pecos bill votes

have you people no hearts

bernard snowy, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 04:09 (seventeen years ago)

I mean the man RODE a goddamn TORNADO!

bernard snowy, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 04:10 (seventeen years ago)

Why you no vote for Pecos?

Abbott, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 04:12 (seventeen years ago)

I am thinking that illiterate teacher may have upped the Big Annie vote.

Abbott, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 04:13 (seventeen years ago)


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