Saturday, September 26, 2009

My Grammie's A Bobblehead!!!!

How cool is this?????

Just when I think I've seen it all...along comes this:
The Hannah Duston Bobblehead, created by the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Hannah Duston (1657–c. 1736) is believed to be the first woman honored in the United States with a statue. In 1697, Hannah and her newborn baby were taken as captives by Abenaki Indians during a raid on Haverhill, Mass. The Abenaki “dash’d out the Brains of the infant, against a Tree” and forced the recuperating mother to march through the wilderness with one foot bare. On March 30, at an island in Penacook, N.H., she killed and scalped her captors. The event became well known, due in part to the account by Cotton Mather in his "Magnalia Christi Americana" (1702) and retold by, among others, John Greenleaf Whittier in his short story "The Mother’s Revenge" (1831). Two monuments were erected to Hannah Duston’s memory, one in Haverhill, Mass., dedicated in 1879, and the other at the site of her escape on Penacook Island, dedicated in 1874.
Price : $15.95
Bet your Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandmother doesn't have a bobble head in her honor.
Nyah nyah na nyah nah!
(For those who may not know...Hannah Duston was my ancestor, and I blogged her story a few years ago. If you are interested, you can read the story; a link is posted on my sidebar as Dustin Family Saga. By the way, Hannah also is available as a commemorative Jim Beam bottle as well. The girl has style, don't you think? )

5 comments:

Lovella ♥ said...

GET OUT!. . .Oh Jill .. .how unbelievable. You win! .. .

That is just crazy. So does your family get for each bobble head sold? I'd be checking that out if I were you!

Does it look like her?

Unknown said...

This really reminds me of a book I read a few years ago with the same type of storyline about "Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people." That is the inside flap of the book from Amazon.com.
I read this book years ago and thought of it when you gave Mary's story...It makes me wonder if the reality could have been some type of basis for the fiction story. During the massacre, a newborn baby also had his brains dashed out against a tree.

The story was riveting, and since you are a librarian, I figured you would be interested in hearing about the unrelated book that your post made me think about...

I miss you, Jill.

Denise said...

Hi Jill,

Thanks for that link.I will try to connect with some of the people mentioned in the article. If I ever find a transcript from the anniversary, I will be happy to pass it on.

Thank you for thinking of me as a possible illustrator for your book. But in all honesty, I wouldn't be suitable. My style is too cute and colorful, and not realistic enough. I think you'll want someone who paints (I do cut paper) in a realistic style. Besides, figures are NOT my strong point. You'll need someone with strong figure drawing skills. But you needn't worry about any of it. When a publisher accepts your story, they will assume the responsibility of finding the perfect illustrator. They have access to thousands of illustrators and are very good at picking the one that will help bring your story to life.

Have you ever heard of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators? SCBWI is a great organization to join if you want to get published. They are great at educating those wanting to write and illustrate for chidlren. Lots of editors speak at their conferences so it's a nice place to make connections. Their website is scbwi.org if you are interested.

I am also working on a kids book (as you may have guessed) about Hannah, but my target audience is totally different from yours. Mine is a young adult novel, told from Samuel's view point. It will be fiction, based on fact, with no illustrations. Our books may actually complement each other.

I'm pleased that we've made this connection. My email is denise@ortakales.com if you want to email further. It's impossible to keep doing this through blogger!

Take care,
Denise Ortakales

Vicki said...

How unreal is that?!!!!!

I do remember reading your posts about Hannah Duston so long ago. This is definitely an unusual way to recognize a strong woman!

Judy said...

Wow...what a story! Real life is better than fiction. Have those 'strong woman' genes carried on through the ages?