Details

Title

Samantha at Saratoga

Sub Title

or "Flirtin' with Fashion"

Author

Holley, Marietta. (Josiah Allen's Wife)

Publisher

Hubbard Bros.

Collection

L.M. Montgomery Institute.

Donor

Donated by Emily Woster.

Note

Marietta Holley (1836-1926) was an American humorist who published dozens of stories and novels in her lifetime. She particularly enjoyed writing "dialect sketches" that poked fun at hapless characters and their often ignorant stumbles through life, all written in varying degrees of (real or imagined) dialects. Her most enduring creation was "Josiah Allen's Wife," named Samantha, who narrated various travel stories and opinion pieces. The Allens traveled around the United States and the world in volumes like 'Samantha in Europe' (1895), 'Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition' (1904), and 'Samantha at Coney Island and a Thousand Other Islands' (1911). Samatha also shared opinions in 'Samantha on the Race Problem' (1892) and 'Samantha on the Woman Question' (1914). On women's suffrage, Samantha declared, "Josiah Allen, you think that for a woman to stand up straight on her feet, under a blazin’ sun, and lift both her arms above her head, and pick seven bushels of hops, mingled with worms and spiders, into a gigantic box, day in, and day out is awful healthy, so strengthenin’ and stimulatin’ to wimmin, but when it comes to droppin’ a little slip of clean paper into a small seven by nine box, once a year in a shady room, you are afraid it is goin’ to break down a woman’s constitution to once." (from 'My Opinions on Betsey Bobbets', 1876). Holley's popular brand of satire brought ideas of women's rights and temperance into public conversation, and her work was often compared to that of Mark Twain. In fact, Holley struck up a friendship with one of Twain's illustrators, True Williams. Interestingly, unlike Samantha, Holley never married and rarely traveled, even turning down invitations to the women's suffrage and temperance conventions. In 'Samantha at Saratoga,' the Allens have made their way to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they have run-ins with locals and take walks through town. Montgomery cites, sometimes in passing, "Josiah Allen's Wife" multiple times, most notably in Chapter 38 of 'Anne of Green Gables'. Read more of Samantha's adventures here.

Genre

novel

Type of Item

contemporaneous