Looking over informal national days, I was intrigued. What was this all about? In my research, the celebration started in the 1930’s to highlight Samual Clements, affectionally known by his pen name, Mark Twain.
At the age of 29, he was fired by another newspaper to find himself broke and at a loss for a vocation. He visited a friend in Angel Camp, CA ,to see if he could get enough gold to pay his depts, instead he wrote the story, “The Jumping Frog of Calaverus County”. The story that made him a national and later an internationally known wirter and humorist.
The story of a simplistic owner of a jumping frog and the vagabond that tricked the owner into a wager and swindled him
The colorful characters and the antics of the gold rush was what the public craved. Clements retold stories he heard at the mining camp but with his own unique humor and style.
In Calaveris County there is a four day celebration ending with a frog junping contest. People dress up as the mining charactories and even Mark Twain himself.
We all could use a good laugh. To read the story click on the link below. Jump to it!
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Frog Jumping
Look for a lean frog.
One with long legs.
Hold out a fly to tempt him.
I wager he will do fine.
Just keep people away.
carolaspot@aol.com
copyright May 13, 2021
traveling up and down the blind highway 