Say hi to Minnie Picard, who smiles as staff and residents at St. Mary Health Care Center in Worcester, Massachusetts wished her a Happy 100th Birthday on Thursday afternoon, March 14, 2002.
I remember digitally clipping this picture when it was printed in the local paper and saving the file. How could I know Minnie’s smiling face could help tell a story about social media?
It’s been said, albeit an urban legend, that 1,000 smiles equal one wrinkle. Call me crazy but are you going to say Minnie is not a happy woman as she smiled for her centennial? Of course she was.
If only I’ll look like a masculine version of her when I turn 100.
Which leads me to the New York Times of October 16, 1908, where on page 16, there is a below-the-fold story about an importer of braided horse hair and how the federal judicial system deliberates whether horse hair should be assessed a tariff as silk or grass.
Attorneys for the importer suggest that because animal hair grows after death, horse hair should be construed as grass and be assessed 15 cents; but the prosecutor thinks horse hair, because it feels like silk, should be taxed at 60 cents.
I wish I was making this up.
I resurrect the 100-year-old story of horse hair and the centennial picture of Minnie to tell a new story. Answering a challenge by blogger Liz Strauss to tell a story in 25 words that connects us in some way, here’s my contribution on how horse hair helps explain the social web:
From Ben-Hur and Crazy Horse to cigarette boats, we equate equus with power. Listen to its “Neigh” and brand your voice. Google juice, anyone?
Oh, and I don’t know the outcome of that 1908 U.S. Court of Appeals case, but an entry on natural fiber in Wikipedia indicates horse hair is an animal fiber because of its protein.
Horsing around aside, what do you think about this? Any comments you care to add?
Or here’s one: Maybe the horse hair as natural fiber bit is the origin of the saying, “Your ass is grass!”
Photo Credit: Sean Dougherty/ Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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