On Ana’s history test (fourth grade, open book) …
Martha and William Smith started a _____________ business on Long Island.
a. tanning
b. whaling
c. lumber
Best wishes,
Jerry
I don’t know who those people are. I made a 4 on the AP US History exam, though. 
c. Lumber (I have a 1 in 3 chance of being right, which is better than the odds of filling a straight.)
I’ll answer A. They did live in the Hamptons, didn’t they?
Were people into tanning 'way back then? What about fad diets? Nail salons?
Soaking cow hides in stale urin, perhaps, is what tanning means here? Brine works, too, I think.
We may never know.
The correct answer is whaling.
When I have more time, I’ll do some research into the history of tanning salons and see if I can find any references to them operating in colonial America. If I find any, perhaps I can help Ana write them up to take to school for extra credit.
Best wishes,
Jerry
C’mon you guys, Jerry’s inadvertently yankin’ yer chain. His daughter is in the FOURTH grade. That means she is studying her STATE’s history, not US history. It’s undoubtedly part of the NY state history curriculum.. i bet everybody with a 4th grader from the Chiff community around the 50 could ask a stumper that out-of-staters couldn’t answer.
Do you know what Chief Marin was famous for?? Nyuk. Yeah, beyond the usual yuk-fest…
Actually, the joke’s on me …
I read the choices and figured the first answer was a throwaway. It wasn’t until Bloom pointed out that tanning meant something different two centuries ago that I realized it was a serious choice.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Show off…I only got a 3. But I DID get a 4 on my English AP 
Don’t feel bad. I only got six hours of humanities credit out of it. Still had to take world history. 
A reading of “Moby Dick” is highly recommended.
Tedious in places but worth the effort.
Slan,
D.
Well, you Merkuns are really disappointing. Even illiterate me got this one correct. Have none of you heard of the Martha and William Smith Collection of Early American Whaling Songs? 
djm
Been there, done that at least 3 times. Terrific book. I’m taking it on our vacation this weekend: I figure reading it on the deck of a ship ought to add even more to Moby’s appeal 
I knew that, but figgered mental images of early Euro Americans in tanning beds was funnier.
I have always liked Chapter 30: The pipe
Check this out, especially if you’re a Moby Dick fan:
http://www.amazon.com/Ahabs-Wife-Sena-Jeter-Naslund/dp/0688177859
A terrific novel, from the point of view of the very briefly mentioned wife that Ahab left behind.
I didn’t have state history in 4th grade. We just used standard social studies books. We did a unit on Oklahoma history in 1st grade, and a semester of it was required in high school. I seem to recall there was lots of talk about Stand Watie.
Yep. Chief Marin led a formidable resistance against the Spanish.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head though.